GRE Power Vocab - C Flashcards
Cacophony
n. harsh, jarring, discordant sound, dissonance
for a related word dissonance
Cadge
v. to sponge, beg, or mooch
Cajole
v. to inveigle, coax, wheedle, sweet talk
Calumniate
v. to slander, make a false accusation
Calumny means slander, aspersion
Canny
adj. careful, cautious, knowing
Canon
n. an established set of principles or code of laws, often religious in nature
Canonical means following or in agreement with accepted, traditional standards
Capricious
adj. inclined to change one’s mind impulsively; erractic; unpredictable
having caprices (suddent changes of mind or actions) makes you capricious, which then means that you can be described as tending toward capriciousness
Cardinal
adj. of basic importance or consequence; primary
Carnality
n. something relating to the body or flesh
Carnal desires are those that relate to bodily or sexual appetite
It may seem a little odd, but the word carnage is related - it means physical remains
Castigation
n. severe criticism or punishment
Catalyst
n. a substance that accelerates the rate of a chemical reaction without itself changing; a person or thing that causes change
To catalyze is to act as a catalyst, to bring about
Causality
n. the relationship between cause and effect
Caustic
adj. burning or stinging; causing corrosion
Censure
v. to criticize severely; to officially rebuke
n. a judgment involving condemnation; the act of blaming or condemning
Censorious is an adjective that means tending to or expressing censure
Chaos
n. a condition of confusion or unpredictability
Chaotic is an adjective that describes a state of chaos
Originally, the Greek word for chaos meant space, or emptiness (think chasm), but now it has more to do with disorder
Chary
adj. wary; cautious; sparing
Chasten
v. to chastise or correct; subdue
Chastened as an adjective means corrected, punished, or humbled
Chauvinist
n. one blindly devoted to a group of which one is a member
a male chauvinist believes in the inferiority of women to men. This term is often followed by the word pig
Chic
adj. stylish and fashionable; sophistication in dress
Chicanery
n. trickery or subterfuge
Chimera
n. an illusion
Chimera was a fire-breathing monster in Greek mythology; body was an amalgam of different animals and seeing one was a bad omen. These negative connotations do not remain
Chimerical means illusory or improbable
Choleric
adj. tending toward anger
Churlish
adj. boorish, vulgar, loutish; difficult and intractable
a churl is someone who is churlish
Circumscribe
v. to enclose within bounds; limit or confine, especially narrowly
Clangorous
adj. making a loud, resonant sound
Coalesce
v. to come together; to fuse or unite
Coda
n. concluding section to a musical or literary piece, something that concludes or completes
Cogent
adj. appealing forcibly to the mind or reason; convincing
Color
v. to cahnge as if by dyeing, influence, distort, or gloss over
this definition is often tested on the GRE
Commensurate
adj. matching, corresponding, or proportionate in degree, size, amount, or other property
Complaisance
n. the willingness to comply with the wishes of others
Complaisant means showing a willingness to please
don’t be confused with complacent, which means self-satisfied
Confound
v. to cause to be confused; to frustrate
con- (com-) often means joining or bringing things together. Confound means to mix together or confuse things. To be confused is to be confounded
Connoisseur
n. an informed and astute judge in matters of taste; expert
Consequential
adj. pompous, self-important
the primary definition is logically following; important
Contemn
v. to scorn or despise
don’t confuse with condemn which seems very similar but means to pronounce judgement against
Contentious
adj. argumentative; quarrelsome; causing controversy or disagreement
Contiguous
adj. sharing a border; touching; adjacent
Contrite
adj. regretful; penitent; seeking foregiveness
Contrition is regret or remorse
Convention
n. a generally agreed-upon practice or attitude
Convoluted
adj. complex or complicated
Corrigible
adj. capable of being set right, correctable, reparable
Corrigibility, a noun, is the capacity to be set right
the opposite of corrigible is incorrigible, meaning not reformable, uncontrolable, recalcitrant
Countenance
v. to approve of or tolerate
Countenance can also be a noun, in which case it means mein, face, composure
Cozen
v. to deceive, beguile, hoodwink
for related word, see guile
Craven
adj. contemptibly fainthearted, pusillanimous, lacking any courage
Credulous
adj. tending to believe too readily; gullible
Crescendo
n. a gradual increase in intensity, particularly in music
usually, cresendo is used to describe music or sound, but it can be used in more figurative ways as well
Culpable
adj. deserving blame
Culpability is blameworthiness
for a related word, see exculpate
Cynicism
n. an attitude or quality of belief that all people are motivated by selfishness
Some who displays cynicism is called a cynic
