GRE Vocabulary 9 Flashcards
Mendacity (n)
Dishonesty.
People publicly castigated for past mendacity.
Consequential (adj)
Pompous self importance.
The new congress lacked consequential leaders.
Tremulous (adj)
Fearful.
Barbara’s voice was tremulous.
Mendicant (n)
Beggar.
Egress (v)
The act or an instance of going, especially from an enclosed place.
Direct means of access and egress for passengers.
Preternatural (adj)
Out of the ordinary.
Autumn had arrived with preternatural speed.
Fulminate (v)
To issue or pronounce with vehement denunciation, condemnation
The minister fulminated against legalized vice.
Gull (v)
To deceive, trick, or cheat.
He had been gulled into believing that the documents were authentic.
Rebus (n)
A representation of a word or phrase by pictures, symbols, etc.
Two gates and a head is a rebus for Gateshead.
Pedestrian (adj)
Commonplace or dull.
Disenchantment with their pedestrian lives.
Distrait (adj)
Inattentive because of distracting worries, fears, etc.
Irene was grave and distrait this morning, with a chilly reserve about her
Nefarious (adj)
Harmful, deceitful.
The nefarious activities of the organized-crime syndicates.
Factious (adj)
[fak-shuh s]
Given to causing factions.
A factious group was trying to undermine the government.
Ignoble (adj)
Of low character, aims.
His ignoble purposes.
Epithet (n)
Any word or phrase applied to a person or thing to describe an actual or attributed quality.
“Richard the Lion-Hearted” is an epithet of Richard I.
Anodyne (n)
A medicine that relieves or allays pain.
She had even refused anodynes.
Jejune (adj)
Juvenile, immature, childish
Jejune behavior.
Conciliatory
Intended or likely to placate or pacify.
A conciliatory approach.
Diaspora (n)
The settlement of a native people away from the homeland.
Welter (n)
A confused mass, a jumble or muddle
A welter of anxious faces.
Ruminate (v)
To meditate or muse, ponder.
We sat ruminating on the nature of existence.
Maudlin (adj)
Tearfully or weakly emotional; foolishly sentimental.
A maudlin story of a little orphan.
Convoke (v)
To come together in a conference.
She sent messages convoking a Council of Ministers.
Effluence (v)
The act of flowing out especially of a liquid.
Eschew (v)
To abstain or keep away from, shun.
To eschew evil.
Ambulatory (adj)
Related to walking or capable of walking.
An ambulatory ophthalmic service.
Rigmarole (n)
Tedious, exacting procedure
He went through the rigmarole of securing the front door.
Forswear (v)
To reject or renounce under oath.
To forswear an injurious habit.
Gastronomy (n)
The art or science of good eating.
Traditional American gastronomy.
Jibe (v)
To taunt, deride.
A jibe at his old rival.
Stentorian (adj)
Very loud or powerful in sound.
A stentorian voice.
Lachrymose (adj)
Tearful.
She was pink-eyed and lachrymose.
Abrogate (n)
To abolish by formal or official means
To abrogate a law.
Bemuse (v)
Confuse, bewilder.
Her bemused expression.
Expurgate (v)
To purge or cleanse of moral offensiveness.
An expurgated English translation.
Tumid (adj)
Swollen, or affected with swelling, as a part of the body.
A tumid belly.
Natty (adj)
Neatly or trimly smart in dress or appearance
A natty white uniform.
Sentinel (n)
A person or thing that watches or stands as if watching.
Soldiers stood sentinel with their muskets.
Winsome (adj)
Sweetly or innocently charming, engaging.
A winsome smile.
Reconnoiter (v)
To inspect, observe, or survey.
We are to reconnoiter along this road and down toward that bridge.
Malfeasance (n)
Bad public behavior.
Halcyon (adj)
Idyllic happy and peaceful.
The halcyon days of the mid 1980s, when profits were soaring.
Plenipotentiary (n)
A body or individual with proxy powers to act on behalf of another especially a government.
Filch (v)
To steal (especially something of small value), pilfer.
To filch ashtrays from fancy restaurants.
Fastness (adj)
The state of being fixed or firm.
The fastness of democratic institutions.
Bellwether (adj)
A person or thing that assumes the leadership or forefront, as of a profession or industry.
Paris is a bellwether of the fashion industry.
Camarilla (n)
A group of unofficial or private advisers to a person of authority, especially a group much given to intrigues and secret plots.
Interregnum (n)
Any period during which a state has no ruler or only a temporary executive.
