GRE Vocabulary 4 Flashcards
Aseptic (adj)
Free from the living germs of disease.
Prolix (adj)
Using or containing too many words; tediously lengthy.
He found the narrative too prolix and discursive.
Foolhardy (n)
Recklessly bold or rash.
It would be foolhardy to go into the scheme without support.
Picaresque (adj)
Rogues in episodes of satire
A picaresque adventure novel.
Raucous (adj)
Noisy, harsh, rowdy.
Raucous youths.
Providential (adj)
Opportune, fortunate, or lucky.
His appearance had seemed more than just providential.
Antipodal
Polar opposites.
Diametrically opposed to.
Pillory (n) (v)
Punish severely..
Attack or ridicule publicly.
Infelicitous (adj)
Inappropriate.
His illustration is singularly infelicitous.
Dilatory (adj)
Tending to delay.
He had been dilatory in appointing a solicitor
Overweening (adj)
Showing excessive confidence or pride.
Overweening ambition.
Neologism (n)
New words from older
words.
Lassitude (n)
Physical or mental weariness.
She was overcome by lassitude and retired to bed.
Locution (n)
Manner of speaking.
His impeccable locution.
Jocose (adj)
Joking manner.
A jocose allusion.
Rend (v)
Forcibly extract or take away.
Firemen had to rend him free of the burning car.
Stanch (v)
Stop the flow of.
He staunched the blood with whatever came to hand.
Solder (v)
Act of joining 2 metals.
The wires to this clip are soldered to the circuit board.
Demure (adj)
Characterized by shyness and modesty.
A demure little wife who sits at home minding the house
Insensible (adj)
Unconscious.
They knocked each other insensible with their fists.
Rail (v)
Bitter complaining.
He railed at human fickleness.
Noisome (adj)
Foul, offensive.
Noisome vapors from the smoldering waste.
Mellifluous (adj)
Pleasingly smooth and musical to hear.
Her low mellifluous voice.
Inveterate (adj)
Having a particular habit, activity, or interest that is long-established.
An inveterate gambler.
Coterie (n)
An exclusive group.
A coterie of friends and advisers.
Impugn (v)
To cause people to doubt someone’s character or qualities by criticizing them
Are you impugning my competence as a professional designer
Voluble (adj)
Glib, talkative.
She was as voluble as her husband was silent.
Misogynist (n)
Women hater.
A bachelor and renowned misogynist.
Pedagogy (n)
The art or science of teaching.
The relationship between applied linguistics and language pedagogy.
Ambient (adj)
Normal temperature.
Inquest (n)
A judicial inquiry to ascertain the facts relating to an incident.
They held an inquest into the murder.
Preen (v)
To dress (oneself) carefully or smartly.
He’s busy preening himself on acquiring such a pretty girlfriend.
Parry (v)
To ward off, avert.
He parried the blow by holding his sword vertically.
Guy (n)
A rope, cable used to guide and steady an object being hoisted or lowered.
Sallow (adj)
Pale white sickly.
His skin was sallow and pitted.
Plangent (adj)
Loud thundering noise.
The plangent sound of a harpsichord.
Peripatetic (adj)
Walking or traveling about.
The peripatetic nature of military life.
Rue (v)
To feel sorrow over; repent of; regret bitterly.
Ferguson will rue the day he turned down that offer.
Macerate (v)
Soak in liquid to soften.
Macerate the mustard seeds in vinegar.
Callow (adj)
Immature.
Earnest and callow undergraduates.
Wistful (adj)
Having or showing a feeling of vague or regretful longing.
A wistful smile.
Corroborate (v)
Support with proof.
The witness had corroborated the boy’s account of the attack.
Couch (v)
Frame in an indirect way.
The assurances were couched in general terms.
Innervate (v)
Supply with energy.
Impecunious (adj)
Poor.
They tend to lead an Impecunious existence.
Grovel (v)
To lie or crawl with the face downward and the body prostrate.
He grovelled at George’s feet.
Epicurean (adj)
Having luxurious tastes or habits, especially in eating and drinking.
An epicurean delight.
Hirsute (adj)
Hairy.
Their hirsute chests.
Countenance (n)
A person’s face or facial expression.
His impenetrable eyes and inscrutable countenance give little away.
Scurvy (n)
Despicable, strong dislike.
The ravages of scurvy.
Covert (adj)
Hidden, secretive.
Covert operations against the dictatorship.
Craven (adj)
Coward.
A craven abdication of his moral duty.
Eugenics (n)
Study of hereditary improvement by genetic study.
Credence (n)
The likelihood of something being true; plausibility.
Being called upon by the media as an expert lends credence to one’s opinions.
Execrate (v)
Feel or express great loathing for.
I execrate any policy that interferes with the rights and freedoms of others.
Sempiternal (adj)
Eternal and unchanging.
The sempiternal sadness of the industrial background.
Credulous (adj)
Easily believing.
A ceremony staged for credulous tourists.
Plumb (v)
To examine closely.
She wanted to plumb her own childhood further.
Culpable (adj)
Deserving blame.
Mercy killings are less culpable than ‘ordinary’ murders.
Debase (v)
Lower the value of.
The love episodes debase the dignity of the drama.
Decadent (adj)
Morally reprehensible.
A decaying, decadent Britain.
Decorous (adj)
Well behaved.
Charlotte gave David a decorous kiss.
Decry (v)
To speak disparagingly of; denounce as faulty.
Lawyers decried the imprisonment of several journalists.
Artless (adj)
Not artificial; natural; simple.
An artless, naive girl.
Ascetic (adj)
One who gives up world life.
An ascetic life of prayer, fasting, and manual labor.
Ascendant (adj)
On the rise.
The newly ascendant liberal party
Ascribe (v)
To credit or assign, as to a cause or source.
He ascribed Jane’s short temper to her upset stomach
Assiduous (adj)
Hard working, diligent.
She was assiduous in pointing out every feature.
Astute (adj)
Having or showing an ability to accurately assess situations or people and turn this to one’s advantage.
An astute businessman.
Suppliant (n)
One who makes humble appeal or request.
She and the others who addressed high-ranking officials were not mere suppliants.
Atrophy (v)
Waste away((of body tissue or an organ)).
Their muscles atrophied from prolong exposure to harsh winters.
Anosmia (n)
Loss of smell.
Austere (adj)
Severe or strict in manner.
He was an austere man, with a rigidly puritanical outlook
Autonomous (n)
Independent in structure.
The federation included sixteen autonomous republics.
Rapacious (adj)
Greedy.
Rapacious landlords.
Avarice (n)
Extreme greed for wealth or material gain.
He was rich beyond the dreams of avarice.
Unflappable (adj)
Cannot be disturbed emotionally.
I prided myself on being unflappable even in the most chaotic circumstances.
Aver (v)
To assert or affirm with confidence.
He averred that he was innocent of the allegations.
Emasculate (v)
Weaken, to castrate.
He feels emasculated, because he cannot control his sons’ behavior.
Dormant (v)
Lying low.
Dormant butterflies.
Recumbent (adj)
Lying down.
Recumbent statues.
Dote (v)
Shower affection on.
She doted on her two young children.
Frangible (adj)
Fragile.
The frangible skull of an infant.
Dupe (v)
Cheat.
The newspaper was duped into publishing an untrue story.
Magnanimous (adj)
Charitable.
She should be magnanimous in victory.
Ebb (v)
Recede.
The tide was on the ebb.
Wizen (adj)
Wither, shrink with age.
Countermand (v)
Revoke or cancel (an order).
An order to arrest the strike leaders had been countermanded.
Ebullient (adj)
Bubbly, cheerful and enthusiastic.
She sounded ebullient and happy.
Apogee (n)
[ap-uh-jee]
Summit, the highest point.
A film which was the apogee of German expressionist cinema.
Ecclesiastical (adj)
Of the church or clergy.
The ecclesiastical hierarchy.
Eclectic (adj)
From diverse sources.
Universities offering an eclectic mix of courses.
Edify (v)
To teach or instruct.
Rachel had edified their childhood with frequent readings from Belloc.
Efficacious (adj)
Effective.
This treatment was efficacious in some cases.
Puerile (adj)
Childish, immature.
A puerile argument.
Effrontery (n)
Bold in your face attitude, audacity.
One juror had the effrontery to challenge the coroner’s decision.
Effusive (adj)
Showing or expressing gratitude or pleasure excessively.
An effusive welcome.
Tortuous (adj)
Full of twists, turns, or bends.
The route is remote and tortuous.
Debauchery (n)
Lustful behavior.
Malinger (v)
To pretend illness, especially in order to shirk one’s duty, avoid work
It was quick work; but Bowles had a college education—he had been only six hours a cowboy when he learned to malinger on the job.
