GRE Major Tests Chapter 9 Flashcards
Anecdote
a brief amusing story
ex) Her anecdote about her crowded flight was very funny.
Celerity
speed
ex) In order to work as a ball person during a tennis game, you must be able to run with great celerity.
Dexterous
skillful with hands
ex) Since I do not often use my left hand, I’am not dexterous when I use it for writing.
Extraneous
irrelevant
ex) If you want a good night’s sleep, it’s important to remove any extraneous light and sound.
Incoherent
not clear
ex) The speaker spoke so rapidly that his words were incoherent to most in the audience.
Maladroit
clumsy, unskillful
ex) When the maladroit waiter served us, he spilled wine on my dress.
Pallid
pale
ex) If you have a high fever and your skin is pallid, it’s certain you have a virus.
Presumptuous
assuming too much
ex) The students were presumptuous to think their teacher would not give them a quiz on a Monday.
Scrupulous
careful, diligent
ex) He is a scrupulous employee who always checks his work for accuracy.
Unequivocal
clear, obvious
ex) The experiment must be repeated because the results are not unequivocal.
Animosity
hatred
ex) Why do you have such animosity towards me?
Censorious
disapproving, critical
ex) censorious comments
Dichotomy
a division into two parts, difference between two opposite things
ex) His dichotomy of heaven and hell became an excellent essay.
Extrapolate
extend, predict on the basis of known data
ex) We can extrapolate the number of new students entering next year.
Incongruous
not fitting in
ex) How incongruous of a fat doctor telling me to lose weight.
Malady
illness
ex) Her respiratory malady required her to carry oxygen with her.
Palpable
easily felt
ex) Because the bank was being robbed, the sense of fear among the patrons was palpable.
Pretentious
pompous, acting more special than warranted
ex) The weight loss product seemed pretentious.
Scrutinize
examine carefully
ex) I know how you like to scrutinize a thing to death.
Unfetter
set free
ex) Once the bird was unfettered and out of the cage, it flew up in the sky.
Annex
a building which is an addition to an existing building
ex) Our house is so small we must build an annex before my husband’s mother can move in with us.
Censure
blame
ex) If he receives another censure from his boss, he will more than likely lose his job.
Didactic
intended to teach, instructive
ex) The textbook was didactic without being completely boring.
Extrinsic
irrelevant, coming from the outside of something
ex) You have to consider any extrinsic factors in the success of the business.
Inconsequential
unimportant, insignificant
ex) At the end of the day, everything is inconsequential except for family.
Malediction
a curse
ex) The witch’s malediction made the young princess fall into a deep sleep.
Panacea
remedy for all ills
ex) Unfortunately there is no panacea that will make cancer instantly vanish from your body.
Prevaricate
speak misleadingly
ex) During the hearings the witness was willing to prevaricate in order to protect his friend.
Scuttle
sink
ex) The shark scuttled the ship.
Unfrock
to remove a priest from his position
ex) The pope was unfrocked because he cursed many times in his tweets.
Annex
take possession of, seize, capture
ex) The government planned to annex the islands.
Cerebral
intellectual
ex) You may not realize the high level of cerebral strategy involved, which is even more crucial than physical skill.
Diffident
lacking confidence
ex) Because she felt unattractive, Mary was diffident and kept to herself at parties.
Fallacious
false
ex) What he says is often fallacious.
Inconspicuous
not easily seen, not noticeable
ex) Since I do not like to wear flashy accessories, I always purchase inconspicuous jewelry.
Malefactor
a wrong-doer, one who does evil
ex) For several years, the detective pursued the malefactor who had brutally killed the two children.
Paradigm
example, model, way of looking at things
ex) His programming paradigm has taken the computer world by storm.
Pristine
unspoiled
ex) Because there were few tourists on the island, the beaches were still pristine and beautiful.
Seminary
an institution in which priests are trained
ex) A U.S. based religious institution is trying to set up a seminary in our town.
Unprecedented
never having happened before
ex) The internet has erased distance and given people unprecedented access to each other.
Anomaly
something which does not fit in a pattern
ex) In order to find the anomaly, scientists had to repeat the experiment over a hundred times.
Certitude
certainty
ex) He believes with certitude that he is the best candidate for the job.
Digress
wander off the subject
ex) Because abortion is difficult for me to talk about, I will digress from this topic.
Falter
hesitate
ex) Because that horse has a tendency to falter at the gate, the odds that he will win the race are low.
Indelible
cannot be wiped out
ex) An indelible memory.
Malinger
deliberately avoid work
ex) The lazy student tried to malinger when it was time to work on his essay.
Paradox
apparently contradictory statement
ex) The idea of being cruel to be kind is a paradox because cruelty is not normally associated with kindness.
Proclivity
tendency towards
ex) As a young child, the award-winning singer had a proclivity for music.
Sensuous
appealing to the sense
ex) Her voice was rather deep and very sensuous.
Unscathed
unharmed
ex) I came through all those perils unscathed.
