GRE supplemental 5 Flashcards
ingratiating
adj. intended to gain approval or favor; sycophantic
amenable
adj. agreeable; responsive to suggestion
astringent
adj. having a tightening effect on living tissue; harsh; severe;
n. something with a tightening effect on tissue
contiguous
adj. sharing a border; touching; adjacent
credulous
adj. tending to believe too readily; gullible
n. credulity
cynicism
n. attitude or quality of belief that all people are motivated by selfishness
decorum
n. polite or appropriate conduct or behavior
derision
n. scorn, ridicule, contemptuous treatment
desiccate
v. to dehydrate; to make dry or dull
disparage
v. to slight or belittle
fawn
v. to flatter or praise excessively
flout
v. to show contempt for, as in a rule or convention
garrulous
adj. pointlessly talkative; talking too much
glib
adj. marked by ease or informality; nonchalant;
adj. lacking in depth; superficial
immutable
adj. not capable of change
impetuous
adj. hastily or rashly energetic; impulsive and vehement
indifferent
adj. having no interest or concern; showing no bias or prejudice
inimical
adj. damaging; harmful; injurious
intrepid
adj. steadfast and courageous
laconic
adj. using few words; terse
maverick
n. an independent individual who does not go along with a group or party
mercurial
adj. characterized by rapid and unpredictable change in mood
mollify
v. to calm or soothe; to reduce in emotional intensity
neophyte
n. a recent convert; a beginner; novice
obfuscate
v. to deliberately obscure; to make confusing
plethora
n. an overabundance; a surplus
pragmatic
adj. practical rather than idealistic
presumptuous
adj. overstepping due bounds; taking liberties
probity
n. adherence to highest principles; complete and confirmed integrity; uprightness
proclivity
n. a natural predisposition or inclination
propensity
n. a natural inclination or tendency; penchant
prosaic
adj. dull; lacking in spirit or imagination
pungent
adj. characterized by strong, sharp smell or taste
rarefy
v. to make or become thin, less dense; to refine
recondite
adj. hidden, concealed; difficult to understand, obscure
renege
v. to fail to honor a commitment; to go back on a promise
sedulous
adj. diligent; persistent; hard-working
spendthrift
n. one who spends money wastefully
tacit
adj. implied; not explicitly stated
terse
adj. brief and concise in wording
tout
v. to publicly praise or promote
trenchant
adj. sharply perceptive; keen; penetrating
unfeigned
genuine; not false or hypocritical
untenable
adj. indefensible; not viable; uninhabitable
variegated
adj. multicolored; characterized by a variety of patches of different color
vexation
n. annoyance; irritation
vituperate
v. to use harsh condemnatory language; to abuse or censure severely or abusively; to berate
volatile
adj. readily changing to a vapor; changeable; fickle; explosive
dilettante
n. one with amateurish or superficial interest in the arts or a branch of knowledge; amateur; patron of the arts
proffer
v. to hold out (something) to someone for acceptance; offer
n. an offer or proposal
dysphemism
n. unpleasant or derogatory term used instead of a pleasant or neutral one
euphemism
n. a mild or indirect word used to replace one considered too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing
falsify
v. to alter so as to mislead; forge
v. to prove to be false
v. fail to fulfill; remove the justification for
transmute
v. to change in form, nature, or substance
sardonic
adj. grimly mocking or cynical
laconic
adj. using very few words
gull
v. to fool or deceive (someone)
n. a person who is fooled or deceived
protract
v. to prolong;
v. to draw to scale
collude
v. to conspire; come to a secret understanding for a harmful purpose
prattle
v. to talk at length in a foolish or inconsequential way
truculent
adj. eager or quick to argue or fight; aggressively defiant
effrontery
n. insolent or impertinent behaviour
impertinent
adj. not showing proper respect; rude;
adj. irrelevant
guileless
adj. devoid of guile; innocent and without deception
protracted
adj. lasting for a long time or longer than usual or expected
virulent
adj. (of a disease or poison) extremely severe or harmful in its effects; (of a pathogen) extremely infective;
adj. bitterly hostile
discomfit
v. to make someone feel uneasy or embarrassed
mortify
v. to cause someone to feel embarrassed, ashamed, or humiliated;
v. to subdue by self-denial or discipline;
v. (archaic; of flesh) to be affected by gangrene or necrosis
oblique
adj. indirect; slanting (i.e. neither parallel or perpendicular);
adj. (grammar) denoting any case other than the nominative or vocative
antediluvian
adj. pertaining to a time before the Flood; ridiculously old fashioned
gentrify
v. renovate and improve (esp. a house or district) so that it conforms to middle class taste; make more refined or dignified
aplomb
n. self-confidence or assurance (esp. in a demanding situation)
superannuate
trans. v. to retire (someone) with a pension
jeremiad
n. a long, mournful complaint or lamentation; a list of woes
philippic
n. a bitter attack or denunciation (esp. a verbal one)
superannuation
n. regular payment made by an employee into a pension fund; a pension paid to a retired person; the process of superannuating an employee
superannuated
adj. belonging to a superannuation plan;
adj. obsolete through age or new technological or intellectual developments
reify
v. to make (something abstract) more concrete or real
quandary
n. a state of perplexity or uncertainty over what to do in a difficult situation; a difficult situation; a practical dilemma
strident
adj. loud and harsh; grating;
adj. presenting a point of view in an excessively and unpleasantly forceful way
vapid
adj. lacking liveliness, briskness, or force; flat, dull;
adj offering nothing that is stimulating or challenging
concerted
adj. jointly arranged, planned or carried out; coordinated;
adj. strenuously carried out; done with great effort;
adj. (of music) arranged in several parts of equal importance
perambulate
v. to walk or travel through or around a place or area (esp. for pleasure in a leisurely way)
transmogrify
v. to transform (esp. in a surprising or magical manner)
effervesce
v. (of a liquid) to give off bubbles;
v. be vivacious and enthusiastic
restive
adj. (of a person) unable to keep still or silent and becoming increasingly difficult to control;
adj. (of a horse) refusing to advance, stubbornly standing still or moving backward or sideways
supercilious
adj. behaving or looking as though one thinks one is superior to others
slovenly
adj. messy and dirty;
adj. careless; excessively casual
wag
n. a person who makes facetious jokes
vituperative
adj. bitter and abusive
basal
adj. forming or belonging to a bottom layer or base
acquiescent
v. to accept something reluctantly but without protest
draconian
adj. (of laws or their application) excessively harsh and severe
superciliary
adj. pertaining to the eyebrow or the region over the eye
stilted
adj. (of a manner of talking or writing) stiff and self-conscious or unnatural;
adj. standing on stilts
