GRE Major Tests Chapter 23

Question 1

Abysmal

Answer 1

very deep, very bad

ex) Since Troy did not study for the test, he earned an abysmal score on the exam.

Question 2

Approbation

Answer 2

approval [opp. disapprobation]

ex) I need to write a powerful resume to gain approbation from an employor.

Question 3

Bent (n)

Answer 3

inclination, aptitude

ex) He’s bent on having a doctor’s degree before he’s thirty.

Question 4

Cadge

Answer 4

get by begging

ex) By flirting with the bartender, the pretty girl was able to cadge free drinks.

Question 5

Debacle

Answer 5

disaster

ex) When the movie was released, it was called a debacle by the critics.

Question 6

Extemporize

Answer 6

speak without preparation or rehearsal [extemporaneous (a)]

ex) The pianist was able to extemporize and play a piece without music or preparation.

Question 7

Incumbents

Answer 7

occupiers of a job or position

ex) After twenty years in office, the incumbent politician is finally retiring from politics.

Question 8

Lambaste

Answer 8

attack verbally

ex) The rude shopper continued to lambaste the sales clerk for not moving quick enough.

Question 9

Noisome

Answer 9

disgusting

ex) The dog’s noisome odor is making me physically ill.

Question 10

Pastiche

Answer 10

work (usually artistic) which imitates, or is composed of parts taken from varied sources

ex) The mix of country, pop, and soul music made the album a fascinating pastiche of sounds.

Question 11

Arboreal

Answer 11

living in trees, concerned with trees

ex) It is easy for the deer to hide in the fallen leaves of its arboreal habitat.

Question 12

Centrifuge

Answer 12

device to separate substances by spinning them at high speed

ex) In the nuclear plants, scientists take every precaution as they separate uranium in a centrifuge.

Question 13

Cloistered

Answer 13

isolated

ex) Although the girl was quite shy, she tried hard to not cloister herself in the corner at parties.

Question 14

Disabuse

Answer 14

make someone aware of an error in thinking

ex) f you wish to continue to believe that falsehood, I will not disabuse you by telling you the truth.

Question 15

Engendering

Answer 15

causing, bringing into being [engender (v)]

ex) The restaurant hoped the act of giving out free ice cream would engender customer loyalty.

Question 16

Intemperate

Answer 16

excessive, immoderate [intemperance (n)]

ex) When Barbara drinks, she becomes intemperate and cannot regulate her actions.

Question 17

Lugubrious

Answer 17

sad, gloomy

ex) In his first novel, the mysterious postman is the perfect example of a lugubrious character.

Question 18

Nonplussed

Answer 18

confused

ex) While our host and hostess argued during dinner, my wife and I were nonplussed and not sure of whether or not to intervene.

Question 19

Pedagogy

Answer 19

science of education, teaching

ex) The school boasts the most progressive pedagogy and a 100% graduation rate.

Question 20

Satiate

Answer 20

satisfy, fill completely [satiable (a); satiation (n)]

ex) Hopefully this feast I am preparing will satiate your hunger.

Question 21

Slake

Answer 21

quench, satisfy

ex) To slake dehydration, the athletes drank sports drink before, during, and after the triathlon.

Question 22

Artless

Answer 22

without effort, without trickery, simple

ex) An artless, naive girl.

Question 23

Comeliness

Answer 23

beauty, prettiness [comely (a)]

ex) Although she has the comeliness of a model, the short beauty queen is too petite for a runway.

Question 24

Doff

Answer 24

take off (esp. of a hat)

ex) The only time he failed to doff his hat before leaving for work is when he quarreled with his wife.

Question 25

Don

Answer 25

put on (esp. of clothes)

ex) When you put a hat on, this is an example of when you don a hat.

Question 26

Erudition

Answer 26

learning, scholarly knowledge [erudite (a)]

ex) Your lack of erudition as a college graduate indicates that you have acquired little knowledge.

Question 27

Plaintive

Answer 27

sad, mournful

ex) During the funeral, I could only offer the widow my plaintive words.

Question 28

Suborn

Answer 28

bribe

ex) Due to the teen’s testimony, this evidence proved in court that the young man did suborn the teenager into committing robbery on his behalf.

Question 29

Tendentious

Answer 29

dogmatic, biased

ex) I left my church because of the minister’s tendentious attitude about the importance of rejecting nonmembers.

Question 30

Tortuous

Answer 30

indirect; winding

ex) Taking the tortuous pathway at night always made it difficult to see if anyone was behind or in front of us.

Question 31

Verbiage

Answer 31

excessive or meaningless wordiness

ex) In an attempt to confuse the jury, the attorney used a lot of legal verbiage.

Question 32

Atonement

Answer 32

making amends for sin or crime [atone (v)]

ex) Maggie is trying to atone for her bad behavior last night by acting like an angel today.

Question 33

Complaisance

Answer 33

flexibility, willingness to please [complaisant (a)]

ex) Marsha’s complaisant character made her the perfect servant.

Question 34

Daguerreotype

Answer 34

forerunner of the photograph

ex) Like the earlier daguerreotype, each image is unique, made one at a time in the camera.

Question 35

Fawn

Answer 35

to seek favor or approval by giving extra attention or praise, behave in a sycophantic way, grovel [fawning (a)]

ex) It was interesting to watch the greedy woman fawn over the wealthy old man.

Question 36

Gregariousness

Answer 36

sociability, liking for crowds [gregarious (a)]

ex) If you want to be more approachable, show a gregarious smile.

Question 37

Nascent

Answer 37

emerging, newly formed

ex) Since the nascent restaurant has only been open for two weeks, it does not have printed copies of its menu yet.

Question 38

Paean

Answer 38

praise, tribute (esp. in song)

ex) After losing the game, the team was disappointed not to sing their victory paean.

Question 39

Reproof

Answer 39

scolding, criticism [reprove (v)]

ex) Angry letters of reproof were sent to the editor criticizing his latest opinion piece.

Question 40

Scurvy

Answer 40

1. disease due to lack of vitamin C 2. contemptible; rascally
   ex) Many sailors died of scurvy due to lack of access to nutritional food.

Question 41

Tutelary

Answer 41

serving as a guardian [tutelage (n)]

ex) With her tutelary powers, the fairy godmother protected Cinderella from all of the evil she faced.

Question 42

Abscission

Answer 42

cutting, process causing leaves to fall off

ex) Abscission of leaves occurs during autumn, before winter sets in.

Question 43

Contentious

Answer 43

causing argument [contention (n); contend (v)]

ex) The author wrote a contentious novel which caused a great deal of unrest.

Question 44

Debilitating

Answer 44

weakening [debilitate (v)]

ex) Cancer can quickly debilitate an otherwise healthy person.

Question 45

Foible

Answer 45

quirk, minor weakness

ex) Smoking is the foible that prevents Jenna from being healthy.

Question 46

Importune

Answer 46

beg, solicit [importunate (a)]

ex) Most politicians importune voters for money as well as support.

Question 47

Pertain

Answer 47

be relevant to [pertinent (a)]

ex) The x-rays displayed pertain to fracture in the patient’s left wrist.

Question 48

Slew

Answer 48

glut, excess, to have killed something/someone

ex) The gladiator slew his competition with a thrust of his sword.

Question 49

Toady

Answer 49

sycophant, flatterer

ex) In order to get a promotion, Amy has been acting like the manager’s toady by agreeing with everything he says.

Question 50

Torrid

Answer 50

hot and steamy

ex) The firefighters had to prepare themselves physically and mentally for the torrid forest fire.

Question 51

Veracious

Answer 51

true [veracity (n)]

ex) “Honest” Abraham Lincoln was known as a veracious president who stood for truth.