GRE Major Tests Chapter 15 Flashcards
Atheist
person who does not believe in God
ex) Being an atheist, he did not attend church.
Colloquial
local and informal
ex) While my father always speaks formally at work, he addresses us in colloquial terms at home.
Dotard
foolish old man
ex) I was ashamed to lose my patience with such a dotard.
Furrow
groove
ex) Her brows furrow slightly.
Instigator
troublemaker
ex) She was the instigator of their quarrel.
Misnomer
wrong name
ex) The name she chose made no sense to anyone so we could only assume it was a misnomer.
Percipient
perceptive, insightful
ex) The real space is public, the apparent space is private to the percipient.
Quaff
drink down quickly
ex) My husband always has to quaff a pot of coffee before leaving for work.
Staunch
loyal
ex) The men and women who serve in out military are staunch defendants of our country.
Vilification
blackening someone’s name
ex) We have to do something about vilification.
Atrophy
waste away from lack of use, to weaken in ability or function
ex) When she stopped practicing the piano, her musical skills started to atrophy.
Collusion
plotting and planning
ex) The collusion between the two oil companies is being investigated by the justice department.
Drawl
speak slowly with words running together
He drawled an apology.
Furtive
hidden and secret
ex) Though he was furtive with his tears, I could still visibly see them
Insurgent
a rebel
ex) The soldiers were trained to shoot any enemy insurgent on sight.
Misogynist
hater of women
ex) According to the criminal profiler, only a person with misogyny could kill so Manu women so brutally.
Perdition
damnation
ex) The priest hoped he could save the troubled woman from perdition.
Quagmire
a situation from which it is hard to escape
ex) Many young people do not realize the quagmire to which occasional drug use can lead.
Stereotype
fixed image
ex) In some areas of France, citizens accept the stereotype of Americans as rude people.
Vindicate
prove right, remove blame
ex) If you want me to vindicate your point of view, you’re going to have to explain your ideas to me in a way that I can understand.
Attenuate
weaken
ex) Doctors claim taking the vaccine will attenuate the effects of the illness.
Commandeer
take possession of
ex) The taxi driver shot the escaped convict who was trying to commander his vehicle.
Drivel
nonsense
ex) Sometimes listening to my mother’s nonstop drivel makes my head hurt.
Futile
useless, hopeless
ex) It appears that filling out job applications in this troubled economy is a futile exercise.
Interminable
never-ending
ex) His friend complained about hid interminable tweets.
Misrepresentation
deliberately deceiving
ex) There are quite a few misrepresentations of historical facts in the college textbook.
Peremptory
in a commanding manner
ex) The prison guard spoke to the inmate in a peremptory tone.
Quaint
picturesque
ex) My grandmother’s quaint home is filled with knick-knacks from her childhood.
Stevedore
dockworker
ex) Stevedore has a very hard life.
Virtuoso
an accomplished musician
ex) Ruben is a musical virtuoso who runs his own school of music.
Augment
increase, make bigger
ex) Because I want to augment my income, i’am thinking about getting a second job.
Complacent
self-satisfied
ex) I’am rightfully not complacent with low quality service.
Droll
dryly amusing
ex) The droll performance by the children’s choir.
Galleon
ancient type of sailing ship
ex) The English galleon gradually developed more sail and gun power.
Intermittent
sporadic, irregular
ex) When the cops arrived the land intermittent noise had stopped.
Mitigate
lessen, make less severe
ex) Medicines are used to mitigate a patient’s suffering.
Perfidy
treachery, behavior that shows that someone cannot be trusted
ex) Because my brother was the one who attacked me, I know I could never forget the perfidy of the incident.
Quandary
dilemma
ex) Whether or not you should drink and drive is an easy decision, not a quandary.
Stifle
suppress
ex) The hot temperature is so stifling it is pulling all the energy out of my body.
Virulent
dangerous
ex) The firemen had to wear masks that would protect them from the virulent fumes.
Auspicious
favorable
ex) Everybody knows that the end of the year is an auspicious time to buy a car.
Complaint
easy to control
ex) The men were complaint.
Drone
monotonous noise, to speak with no emotion
ex) A drone of noises was audible through the closed window.
Gambol
frolic, leap
ex) They gambled about without a care.
Intransigence
stubbornness
ex) Because my father is usually intransigent, he rarely lets my mother have her way.
Modicum
small amount
ex) We collectively felt a modicum of relief.
Perfunctory
superficial, done routinely
ex) The beauty queen waved so often that her greeting was simply perfunctory.
Quarantine
isolation to prevent the spread of disease
ex) The animals are quarantined before they are allowed to enter a foreign nation.
Stoic
known for fortitude
ex) His features were stoic, his beautiful purple eyes.
Vital
essential
ex) Water is vital in order to survive in a desert.
