GRE Major Tests Chapter 23 Flashcards
Abysmal
very deep, very bad
ex) Since Troy did not study for the test, he earned an abysmal score on the exam.
Approbation
approval [opp. disapprobation]
ex) I need to write a powerful resume to gain approbation from an employor.
Bent (n)
inclination, aptitude
ex) He’s bent on having a doctor’s degree before he’s thirty.
Cadge
get by begging
ex) By flirting with the bartender, the pretty girl was able to cadge free drinks.
Debacle
disaster
ex) When the movie was released, it was called a debacle by the critics.
Extemporize
speak without preparation or rehearsal [extemporaneous (a)]
ex) The pianist was able to extemporize and play a piece without music or preparation.
Incumbents
occupiers of a job or position
ex) After twenty years in office, the incumbent politician is finally retiring from politics.
Lambaste
attack verbally
ex) The rude shopper continued to lambaste the sales clerk for not moving quick enough.
Noisome
disgusting
ex) The dog’s noisome odor is making me physically ill.
Pastiche
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.
Arboreal
living in trees, concerned with trees
ex) It is easy for the deer to hide in the fallen leaves of its arboreal habitat.
Centrifuge
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.
Cloistered
isolated
ex) Although the girl was quite shy, she tried hard to not cloister herself in the corner at parties.
Disabuse
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.
Engendering
causing, bringing into being [engender (v)]
ex) The restaurant hoped the act of giving out free ice cream would engender customer loyalty.
Intemperate
excessive, immoderate [intemperance (n)]
ex) When Barbara drinks, she becomes intemperate and cannot regulate her actions.
Lugubrious
sad, gloomy
ex) In his first novel, the mysterious postman is the perfect example of a lugubrious character.
Nonplussed
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.
Pedagogy
science of education, teaching
ex) The school boasts the most progressive pedagogy and a 100% graduation rate.
Satiate
satisfy, fill completely [satiable (a); satiation (n)]
ex) Hopefully this feast I am preparing will satiate your hunger.
Slake
quench, satisfy
ex) To slake dehydration, the athletes drank sports drink before, during, and after the triathlon.
Artless
without effort, without trickery, simple
ex) An artless, naive girl.
Comeliness
beauty, prettiness [comely (a)]
ex) Although she has the comeliness of a model, the short beauty queen is too petite for a runway.
Doff
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.
Don
put on (esp. of clothes)
ex) When you put a hat on, this is an example of when you don a hat.
Erudition
learning, scholarly knowledge [erudite (a)]
ex) Your lack of erudition as a college graduate indicates that you have acquired little knowledge.
Plaintive
sad, mournful
ex) During the funeral, I could only offer the widow my plaintive words.
Suborn
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.
Tendentious
dogmatic, biased
ex) I left my church because of the minister’s tendentious attitude about the importance of rejecting nonmembers.
Tortuous
indirect; winding
ex) Taking the tortuous pathway at night always made it difficult to see if anyone was behind or in front of us.
Verbiage
excessive or meaningless wordiness
ex) In an attempt to confuse the jury, the attorney used a lot of legal verbiage.
Atonement
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.
Complaisance
flexibility, willingness to please [complaisant (a)]
ex) Marsha’s complaisant character made her the perfect servant.
Daguerreotype
forerunner of the photograph
ex) Like the earlier daguerreotype, each image is unique, made one at a time in the camera.
Fawn
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.
Gregariousness
sociability, liking for crowds [gregarious (a)]
ex) If you want to be more approachable, show a gregarious smile.
Nascent
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.
Paean
praise, tribute (esp. in song)
ex) After losing the game, the team was disappointed not to sing their victory paean.
Reproof
scolding, criticism [reprove (v)]
ex) Angry letters of reproof were sent to the editor criticizing his latest opinion piece.
Scurvy
- disease due to lack of vitamin C 2. contemptible; rascally
ex) Many sailors died of scurvy due to lack of access to nutritional food.
Tutelary
serving as a guardian [tutelage (n)]
ex) With her tutelary powers, the fairy godmother protected Cinderella from all of the evil she faced.
Abscission
cutting, process causing leaves to fall off
ex) Abscission of leaves occurs during autumn, before winter sets in.
Contentious
causing argument [contention (n); contend (v)]
ex) The author wrote a contentious novel which caused a great deal of unrest.
Debilitating
weakening [debilitate (v)]
ex) Cancer can quickly debilitate an otherwise healthy person.
Foible
quirk, minor weakness
ex) Smoking is the foible that prevents Jenna from being healthy.
Importune
beg, solicit [importunate (a)]
ex) Most politicians importune voters for money as well as support.
Pertain
be relevant to [pertinent (a)]
ex) The x-rays displayed pertain to fracture in the patient’s left wrist.
Slew
glut, excess, to have killed something/someone
ex) The gladiator slew his competition with a thrust of his sword.
Toady
sycophant, flatterer
ex) In order to get a promotion, Amy has been acting like the manager’s toady by agreeing with everything he says.
Torrid
hot and steamy
ex) The firefighters had to prepare themselves physically and mentally for the torrid forest fire.
Veracious
true [veracity (n)]
ex) “Honest” Abraham Lincoln was known as a veracious president who stood for truth.
