GRE Major Tests Chapter 14 Flashcards
Ascetic
without luxuries
ex) He chose the live an ascetic life because of his strict religious beliefs.
Coercion
force
ex) Leadership by coercion would not produce the results we see.
Diurnal
active in daytime
ex) Because bats are not active during the day, they are not diurnal creatures.
Fortuitous
happening by chance
ex) The decrease in unemployment is not a fortuitous result.
Innovate
create, introduce something new
ex) The purpose of this program is to inspire young people to innovate products.
Meticulous
very careful
ex) This accounting job requires a meticulous person.
Pejorative
derogatory
ex) A pejorative remark usually brings about an angry response from the listener.
Puerile
childish
ex) Your jokes are puerile and not appropriate for a woman of your years.
Sporadic
not continuous, occurring occasionally
ex) The doctor decided to hospitalize my mother because of her sporadic heartbeat.
Verbose
talkative
ex) The verbose man took thirty minutes to give me a simple answer.
Assiduous
thorough, diligent
ex) With an assiduous attitude, we will finish this project.
Cogent
lucid
ex) The angry husband hired a detective to find cogent proof of his wife’s extramarital affair.
Divert
entertain, distract
ex) The change of scenery helped divert my attention from my miserable past.
Fractious
irritable, difficult to control
ex) The fractious child would not listen to a word his mother said.
Inscrutable
mysterious
ex) Not even the leading experts in criminology could understand the killer’s inscrutable motives.
Mettle
courage, bravery
ex) To prove his mettle, he had to spend an hour alone in the haunted house.
Pellucid
transparently clear
ex) The swimming people in the school is so pellucid that the tiles at the bottom are visible,
Punctilious
paying attention to small details
ex) Pharmacists must be very punctilious because the actions they take could lead to or result in fatalities.
Spurious
false
ex) To win elections, politicians often make spurious promises to voters.
Verbosity
using too may words
ex) His speeches who always marred by verbosity.
Assuage
to calm
ex) Knowing that my grandfather pulled through heart surgery does assuage my nerves.
Cogitate
think over something, ponder
ex) If you cogitate on your destiny for too long, you will miss out on your life.
Docile
gentle and easily lead
ex) The wild dog was far from docile.
Fraudulent
fake, false
ex) Corrupt leaders were chosen in a fraudulent election.
Insentient
unfeeling
ex) It’s arrogant to presume animals to be insentient.
Milieu
environment
ex) As the son of a legendary pianist, Henry grew up in a musical milieu.
Pensive
in a thoughtful mood
ex) Unrequited love caused her to be in a very pensive mood.
Purloin
steal
ex) He was shocked when her best friend tried to purloin her favorite necklace.
Stagnant
still, not moving
ex) Because his current salary has been stagnant for years, he is looking for a new job.
Vertigo
dizziness
ex) Because she suffers from vertigo, it is difficult for her to walk in a straight line.
Astute
perceptive
ex) The astute thing to do at night is study your vocabulary.
Collage
picture made of/from fragments of other pictures
ex) I made a collage out of all the pictures I took today.
Dogmatic
having stubbornly held opinions
ex) I don’t mean to be dogmatic, but I’am certain I’am correct on this issue.
Frivolous
not serious
ex) Students who consider test instructions to be frivolous often fail exams.
Insipid
dull
ex) The soup lacks the night seasoning and tastes insipid.
Mire
swamp, muddy ground
ex) Her shoes were stuck in the mire.
Penury
poverty
ex) Many people in third world countries live in penury and misery.
Pusillanimous
cowardly
ex) The pusillanimous girl would not stand up to the school bully.
Staid
dull, serious
ex) When people describe my boss, they describe him as a staid man who never smiles.
Vestigial
not developed
ex) Although it cannot fly, the bird still has vestigial wings.
Asylum
place of refuge or safety
ex) Seeking asylum from their homelands, many people have fled to the United States in the hopes of having a better life.
Collate
arrange in order
ex) It took me a moment or two to collate this new information.
Dolt
stupid person
ex) He is a dolt for forgetting to bring his money.
Frugal
economical
ex) Stop being so frugal and just buy me a real gold necklace.
Instigate
to start, provoke
ex) The road construction will definitely instigate major traffic delays during rush hour.
Misanthrope
hater of the rest of mankind
ex) Living in a crime filled city will turn anyone into a nervous misanthrope.
Perceptive
observant
ex) You’re far more perceptive than most.
Pyromania
compulsion to start fires
ex) The arsonist had pyromania.
Stanza
section of a poem
ex) The second stanza of the poem contains rhyming lines.
Vignette
small sketch, a short but meaningful account
ex) In my short film class, I shot a vignette about the life of a homeless teenager.
