GRE Major Tests Chapter 25 Flashcards

1
Q

Alleviated

A

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

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

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2
Q

Apostrophe

A
  1. punctuation mark 2. appeal to someone not present (a figure of speech)
    ex) You should always include apostrophes in your text.
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3
Q

Centurion

A

roman soldier (commander of a company of 100 soldiers)

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

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4
Q

Emollient

A

softening (a); something which softens (n)

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

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5
Q

Fusillade

A

long burst of gunfire

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

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6
Q

Inerrancy

A

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

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

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7
Q

Mince

A
  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.
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8
Q

Palpate

A

medical term meaning to examine with the hands

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

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9
Q

Platitude

A

unoriginal, obvious saying

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

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10
Q

Quibble

A
  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.
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11
Q

Apprehension

A

slight fear, sense of something unfavorable

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

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12
Q

Conniving

A

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.

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13
Q

Derision

A

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

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

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14
Q

Epigram

A

short, witty saying

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

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15
Q

Lassitude

A

lack of energy, weariness

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

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16
Q

Pedantic

A

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.

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17
Q

Phenomenology

A

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.

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18
Q

Precipitate

A

to bring about especially abruptly

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

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19
Q

Renege

A

to not fulfill a promise

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

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20
Q

Armada

A

fleet of ships

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

21
Q

Dawdler

A

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

ex) Stop dawdling and help me with these packages!

22
Q

Dross

A

something worthless, impurities left after refining

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

23
Q

Expiate

A

atone, make amends for

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

24
Q

Hack

A
  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.
25
Prone
1. vulnerable to 2. horizontal | ex) Jack is prone to be quite talkative after he has consumed several beers.
26
Propensity
tendency, inclination ex) My mother has a propensity to drink when she gets anxious.
27
Scabbard
cover for a sword ex) The pirate pulled his sword out of the scabbard attached to his belt.
28
Skiff
small boat ex) The fisherman hoped that the small skiff would be able to hold all of the fish he caught.
29
Umbrage
1. shadow 2. offense, sense of injury | ex) Don't take umbrage to my biblical views!
30
Dilettantism
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.
31
Enervate
weaken ex) The alcohol appeared to enervate Jason's ability to focus at work.
32
Malevolent
having evil intentions [malevolence(n)] ex) How malevolent of you to wish that I was dead!
33
Neophyte
new convert, tyro ex) Because Jack had no experience with the financial markets, everyone on the trading team considered him to be a neophyte.
34
Panegyric
speech praising someone, laudatory words ex) After the princess died a popular singer wrote a panegyric to honor her life.
35
Presage
forewarn of, indicate ex) The changing of the terror alert color may presage a possible terrorist attack.
36
Serration
jagged edge ex) Those pinkish ones with the patterns and the wavy lines and the serration, or whatever you call it.
37
Slight
1. minor (a) 2. perceived insult (v) and (n) | ex) I have a slight cold.
38
Tare
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.
39
Unprepossessing
unattractive ex) A wardrobe makeover would help the young woman replace her outdated and unprepossessing clothing in an attractive collection.
40
Aberration
deviation from the normal ex) Shelley’s angry retort was an aberration from her normally quiet demeanor.
41
Cant
insincere talk ex) An example of cant is two panhandlers speaking to each other in a language that others won't understand.
42
Disinter
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.
43
Facade
1. front elevation of building 2. false appearance or demeanor ex) His facade of disinterest infuriated her.
44
Impeding
hindering [impede (v); impediment (n)] ex) If you do not eat while you are sick, the lack of nutrients will impede your recovery.
45
Lacuna
gap, missing part [plural = lacunae] ex) The story’s plot was missing, creating a lacuna in the middle of the text.
46
Monolithic
united in purpose, forming a single unit ex) Unfortunately there was no way to make the monolithic project smaller.
47
Pied
multicolored ex) The young children rode the tan and brown pied colored pony at the birthday party.
48
Roster
list of names ex) A new student was added to the teacher’s roster, causing her to be short one desk.
49
Seemly
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.