GRE Major Tests Chapter 25

Question 1

Alleviated

Answer 1

made less severe [alleviation (n); alleviate (v)]

ex) When I have migraines, aspirin doesn’t alleviate the pain for me.

Question 2

Apostrophe

Answer 2

1. punctuation mark 2. appeal to someone not present (a figure of speech)
   ex) You should always include apostrophes in your text.

Question 3

Centurion

Answer 3

roman soldier (commander of a company of 100 soldiers)

ex) The Roman centurion lead his group of one hundred soldiers into battle.

Question 4

Emollient

Answer 4

softening (a); something which softens (n)

ex) The lotion was a great emollient for her dry skin.

Question 5

Fusillade

Answer 5

long burst of gunfire

ex) Before the trial started, the defense fired a fusillade of motions to have the case dismissed.

Question 6

Inerrancy

Answer 6

infallibility, inability to make mistakes [inerrant (a)]

ex) Fundamentalist theology tends to stress Biblical inerrancy and Biblical literalism.

Question 7

Mince

Answer 7

1. chop into small pieces 2. walk with tiny steps 3. speak in an affected manner
   ex) Minced some garlic and added it to the stew.

Question 8

Palpate

Answer 8

medical term meaning to examine with the hands

ex) The skin of the lower neck must be palpated for cysts and infection.

Question 9

Platitude

Answer 9

unoriginal, obvious saying

ex) Because I have heard your platitude a hundred times, it means nothing to me now.

Question 10

Quibble

Answer 10

1. (v) to argue about minor matters, to play on words when finding fault 2. (n) a minor verbal point in an argument
   ex) We should not quibble over a small detail like borrowed money before your surgery.

Question 11

Apprehension

Answer 11

slight fear, sense of something unfavorable

ex) With recent job cuts, Kate is apprehensive about losing her job.

Question 12

Conniving

Answer 12

discreetly working to complete a dishonest task, cunning, scheming [connive (v)]

ex) Alan’s wife is a conniving woman who only married him for his money.

Question 13

Derision

Answer 13

being laughed at or ridiculed, mockery [deride (v)]

ex) The kids erupted in derision when a handicapped man entered in the classroom.

Question 14

Epigram

Answer 14

short, witty saying

ex) At his daughter’s wedding, Jason shared a heartwarming epigram he had written.

Question 15

Lassitude

Answer 15

lack of energy, weariness

ex) After the long race, Jack experienced a feeling of lassitude.

Question 16

Pedantic

Answer 16

giving too much importance to details and formal rules

ex) My father is a pedantic man who usually misses all the vacation fun because he is busy reviewing travel documents.

Question 17

Phenomenology

Answer 17

branch of science concerned with things as they are perceived, not directly derived from theory

ex) The Phenomenology of Spirit, regarded as an introduction, suffers from a different fault.

Question 18

Precipitate

Answer 18

to bring about especially abruptly

ex) The rising level of unemployment is going to precipitate a huge crowd at the welfare office.

Question 19

Renege

Answer 19

to not fulfill a promise

ex) The property buyers will be sued if they renege on the terms of the contract.

Question 20

Armada

Answer 20

fleet of ships

ex) During the war a country’s navy sent its armada to attack its enemy.

Question 21

Dawdler

Answer 21

slow person who falls behind others [dawdle (v)]

ex) Stop dawdling and help me with these packages!

Question 22

Dross

Answer 22

something worthless, impurities left after refining

ex) My cheap husband bought me a dross ring that turned my finger green.

Question 23

Expiate

Answer 23

atone, make amends for

ex) To expiate for breaking his neighbor’s window, John shoveled snow for three months.

Question 24

Hack

Answer 24

1. chop roughly 2. person who writes to earn money 3. hired horse
   ex) Unfazed by Gabe’s attempt to hack him into pieces, Rhyn sat beside him.

Question 25

Prone

Answer 25

1. vulnerable to 2. horizontal

ex) Jack is prone to be quite talkative after he has consumed several beers.

Question 26

Propensity

Answer 26

tendency, inclination

ex) My mother has a propensity to drink when she gets anxious.

Question 27

Scabbard

Answer 27

cover for a sword

ex) The pirate pulled his sword out of the scabbard attached to his belt.

Question 28

Skiff

Answer 28

small boat

ex) The fisherman hoped that the small skiff would be able to hold all of the fish he caught.

Question 29

Umbrage

Answer 29

1. shadow 2. offense, sense of injury

ex) Don’t take umbrage to my biblical views!

Question 30

Dilettantism

Answer 30

dabbling esp. in the arts [dilettante (n) = person who dabbles]

ex) Because Peter studied music composition for eight years, he is definitely not a dilettante in the field of music.

Question 31

Enervate

Answer 31

weaken

ex) The alcohol appeared to enervate Jason’s ability to focus at work.

Question 32

Malevolent

Answer 32

having evil intentions [malevolence(n)]

ex) How malevolent of you to wish that I was dead!

Question 33

Neophyte

Answer 33

new convert, tyro

ex) Because Jack had no experience with the financial markets, everyone on the trading team considered him to be a neophyte.

Question 34

Panegyric

Answer 34

speech praising someone, laudatory words

ex) After the princess died a popular singer wrote a panegyric to honor her life.

Question 35

Presage

Answer 35

forewarn of, indicate

ex) The changing of the terror alert color may presage a possible terrorist attack.

Question 36

Serration

Answer 36

jagged edge

ex) Those pinkish ones with the patterns and the wavy lines and the serration, or whatever you call it.

Question 37

Slight

Answer 37

1. minor (a) 2. perceived insult (v) and (n)

ex) I have a slight cold.

Question 38

Tare

Answer 38

1. weed 2. allowance made for container when weighing

ex) Peas are part of the Legume family, and a flowering legume plant is referred to as a tare.

Question 39

Unprepossessing

Answer 39

unattractive

ex) A wardrobe makeover would help the young woman replace her outdated and unprepossessing clothing in an attractive collection.

Question 40

Aberration

Answer 40

deviation from the normal

ex) Shelley’s angry retort was an aberration from her normally quiet demeanor.

Question 41

Cant

Answer 41

insincere talk

ex) An example of cant is two panhandlers speaking to each other in a language that others won’t understand.

Question 42

Disinter

Answer 42

to take out of the grave or tomb, to unbury, to exhume, to dig up

ex) They needed to disinter the body to retest for forensic evidence.

Question 43

Facade

Answer 43

1. front elevation of building 2. false appearance or demeanor
   ex) His facade of disinterest infuriated her.

Question 44

Impeding

Answer 44

hindering [impede (v); impediment (n)]

ex) If you do not eat while you are sick, the lack of nutrients will impede your recovery.

Question 45

Lacuna

Answer 45

gap, missing part [plural = lacunae]

ex) The story’s plot was missing, creating a lacuna in the middle of the text.

Question 46

Monolithic

Answer 46

united in purpose, forming a single unit

ex) Unfortunately there was no way to make the monolithic project smaller.

Question 47

Pied

Answer 47

multicolored

ex) The young children rode the tan and brown pied colored pony at the birthday party.

Question 48

Roster

Answer 48

list of names

ex) A new student was added to the teacher’s roster, causing her to be short one desk.

Question 49

Seemly

Answer 49

appropriate (of behavior), decorous

ex) We found it seemly to book a flight at Houston International since it’s the closest airline to my house.