GRE Vocabulary 8 Flashcards
Nonchalant (adj)
Having an air of easy unconcern or indifference.
He was surprisingly nonchalant about winning the award.
Oscillate (v)
To move in one direction and then back again many times.
Ostentatious (adj)
Displaying wealth in a way that is meant to attract attention.
She had driven to Prague in her Porsche, telling how ostentatious she might appear.
Overwrought (adj)
Very excited or upset.
The witness became overwrought as she described the crime.
Pacific (adj)
Calm, collected.
A pacific gesture.
Palatable (adj)
Having a pleasant or agreeable taste.
A very palatable local red wine.
Perennial (adj)
Year round.
His perennial distrust of the media.
Perfidy (n)
The act of betraying someone or something, the state of not being loyal.
It was an example of his perfidy.
Perfunctory (adj)
Carried out without real interest, feeling, or effort.
The violinist delivered a perfunctory performance that displayed none of the passion and warmth he was once known for.
Pernicious (adj)
Destructive.
The pernicious influences of the mass media.
Perspicacity (n)
Clarity of thought and expression.
The perspicacity of her remarks.
Perturb (v)
Disturb, agitate.
They were perturbed by her capricious behavior.
Placate (v)
To soothe or mollify especially by concessions.
The administration placated protesters by agreeing to consider their demands.
Placid (adj)
Calm and steady.
A placid, contented man.
Pivotal (adj)
Of vital or critical importance.
Japan’s pivotal role in the world economy.
Pragmatic (adj)
Practical, sensible.
A pragmatic approach to politics.
Predilection (n)
Predisposition towards something.
Your predilection for pretty girls.
Preside (v)
To occupy the place of authority.
The prime minister will preside at an emergency cabinet meeting.
Prevaricate (v)
To speak or act in an evasive way.
He seemed to prevaricate when journalists asked pointed questions.
Probity (n)
The quality of a person who is completely honest.
Financial probity.
Proclivity (n)
An inclination or predisposition toward something.
A proclivity for hard work.
Prodigal (n) (adj)
Characterized by profuse or wasteful expenditure.
The government wished to clip the wings of the local authority prodigals.
Pugnacious (adj)
Showing a readiness or desire to fight or argue.
He was a short man with heavy shoulders, a slight potbelly, puffy blue eyes, and a pugnacious expression.
Quandary (n)
A situation in which you are confused about what to do.
Kate was in a quandary.
Quash (v)
To suppress or extinguish summarily and completely.
His conviction was quashed on appeal.
Quibble (v)
To argue or complain about small, unimportant things.
The only quibble about this book is the price.
Quiescent (adj)
[kwee-es-uh nt]
Being at rest; quiet.
A quiescent mind.
Rancor (n)
Bitter, rankling resentment
The rancor between de Blasio and Moskowitz has at least some roots in policy disagreements.
Recalcitrant (adj)
Resisting authority or control; not obedient or compliant.
A class of recalcitrant fifteen-year-olds.
Recess (n)
A receding part or space, as a bay or alcove in a room.
Redoubtable (adj)
That is to be feared, formidable.
He was a redoubtable debater.
Sagacious (adj)
Having or showing acute mental discernment and keen practical sense; shrewd
A sagacious lawyer.
Salubrious (adj)
Favorable to or promoting health, healthful.
Salubrious air.
Salutary (adj)
Producing good effects; beneficial.
It failed to draw salutary lessons from Britain’s loss of its colonies.
Satiate (v)
To satisfy to the full.
He folded up his newspaper, his curiosity satiated.
Scruple (n)
A moral or ethical consideration or standard that acts as a restraining force.
I had no scruples about eavesdropping.
Sedentary (adj)
Characterized by or requiring a sitting posture.
A sedentary occupation.
Sediment (n)
The matter that settles to the bottom of a liquid.
Sordid (adj)
Morally ignoble or base, vile.
Sordid methods.
Specious (adj)
[spee-shuh s]
Apparently right though lacking real merit; plausible.
Specious arguments.
Sporadic (adj)
Intermittent, happening at unpredictable intervals.
Sporadic fighting broke out.
Spurious (adj)
Not genuine, of doubtful origin.
Separating authentic and spurious claims.
Squalor (n)
Filth and misery.
They lived in squalor and disease.
Stark (adj)
Bluntly or sternly plain; not softened or glamorized:
The stark reality of the schedule’s deadline.
Stoic (adj)
Emotionless.
A look of stoic resignation.
Stratum (n)
[strey-tuh m]
A layer of material, naturally or artificially formed.
A stratum of ancient foundations.
Stria (n)
A slight or narrow furrow, ridge, stripe, or streak, especially one of a number in parallel arrangement:
Striae of muscle fiber.
Strident (adj)
Having a shrill, irritating quality or character.
A strident tone in his writings.
Stringent (adj)
Rigorously binding or exacting, strict.
Stringent guidelines on air pollution.
Stymie (v)
To hinder, block, or thwart.
The changes must not be allowed to stymie new medical treatments.
Succinct (adj)
[suh k-singkt]
Characterized by conciseness or verbal brevity.
Use of short, succinct sentences.
Transient (adj)
Temporary.
A transient cold spell.
Trepidation (n)
Fear.
The men set off in fear and trepidation.
Turbid (adj)
Not clear or transparent because of stirred-up sediment
The turbid waters near the waterfall
Ubiquitous (adj)
Present everywhere.
His ubiquitous influence was felt by all the family.
Unfeigned (adj)
Sincere, genuine.
A broad smile of unfeigned delight.
Unimpeachable (adj)
Morally sound.
An unimpeachable witness.
Untenable (adj)
Not able to be maintained or defended against attack.
This argument is clearly untenable.
Vacillate (v)
Move back and forth on a subject.
I vacillated between teaching and journalism.
Vacuous
[vak-yoo-uh s]
Without contents, empty
A vacuous way of life.
Vociferous (adj)
Crying out noisily; clamorous.
A vociferous manner of expression.
Wanderlust (n)
A strong, innate desire to rove or travel about.
A man consumed by wanderlust.
Wheedle (v)
To endeavor to influence (a person) by smooth, flattering, or beguiling words or acts
She wheedled him into going with her.
Volatile (v)
Easily causing vapors.
Volatile solvents such as petroleum ether, hexane, and benzene.
Zenith (n)
The pinnacle of something.
In 1977, punk was at its zenith.
Abjure (v)
To renounce or give up under oath; forswear:
To abjure allegiance.
Condign (adj)
Well-deserved, fitting.
Condign punishment was rare when the criminal was a man of high social standing.
Debonair (adj)
Courteous, gracious, and having a sophisticated charm.
All the men looked debonair and handsome in white tie and tails.
Inveigle (v)
[in-vey-guh l]
To entice, lure, or ensnare by flattery or artful talk.
To inveigle a person into playing bridge.
Philistine (n)
A person who is lacking in cultural values, intellectual pursuits, aesthetic refinement.
I am a complete philistine when it comes to paintings.
Suffuse (v)
To spread throughout.
Her cheeks were suffused with color.
Mettlesome (adj)
Spirited, courageous.
Their horses were beasts of burden, not mettlesome chargers.
Compuction (n)
Moral restraint
Contravene (v)
To come or be in conflict with.
He contravened the Official Secrets Act.
Limn (v)
To represent in drawing or painting
Miss Read limns a gentler world in her novels.
Obloquy (n)
Discredit, disgrace, or bad repute resulting from public blame, abuse, or denunciation.
Abuse and obloquy were heaped upon the Ministers from every quarter.
Abate (v)
To reduce in amount, degree, intensity.
The storm suddenly abated.
Abdicate (v)
To renounce or relinquish a throne, right, power.
The government was accused of abdicating its responsibility.
Aberrant (adj)
Departing from the right, normal.
This somewhat aberrant behavior requires an explanation.
Abrade (v)
To wear off or down by scraping.
It was a landscape slowly abraded by a fine, stinging dust.
Abridge (v)
To reduce or lessen in scope.
An abridged text of his speech.
Abscond (v)
Go missing.
The barman absconded with a week’s takings.
Abstruse (adj)
Difficult to understand.
An abstruse philosophical inquiry.
Accolade (n)
An expression of praise or admiration.
The hotel has won numerous accolades.
Acerbic (adj)
Harsh or severe, as of temper or expression.
Acerbic criticism.
Acumen (n)
Keen insight, shrewdness.
Remarkable acumen in business matters.
Adhesion (n)
The act of sticking together.
The adhesion of the gum strip to the paper.
Admonish (v)
Scold, reprimand.
She admonished me for appearing at breakfast unshaven.
Adroit (adj)
Skillful.
He was adroit at tax avoidance.
Adulate (v)
To show excessive admiration or devotion to.
He was adulated in the press.
Affable (adj)
Pleasantly easy to approach and to talk to; friendly; cordial; warmly polite:
An affable and courteous gentleman.
Affluent (n)
Having an abundance of wealth, property.
The affluent societies of the western world.
Aggrandize (v)
To make great or greater in power, wealth, rank
He cares for nothing save to aggrandize his children, by fair means or foul, and this is his sole desire.
Affront (n)
A deliberate act or display of disrespect.
An affront to the king.
Agrarian (adj)
Rural, agricultural.
Brazil is rapidly diversifying its agrarian economy.
Alacrity (n)
Cheerful readiness, promptness, or willingness:
We accepted the invitation with alacrity.
Vug (n)
A cavity in rock, lined with mineral crystals.
Petrous (adj)
Like stone, especially in hardness, stony, rocky.
Tautology (n)
Needless repetition of an idea, especially in words.
Gambol (v)
To skip about, as in dancing or playing; frolic.
The mare gamboled towards Constance.
