GRE3 Flashcards
agile
Acrobatic, quick and well-coordinated in movement, able to think quickly in an intelligent way:
and agile person/mind
caustic
capable of burning, severely sarcastic or unkind remark:
Her caustic reply really hurt my feelings and my reputation.
caustic chemicals could burn things
genial
kind and friendly:
Bob is such a genial person, helping others daily.
septuagenarian
a person who is between 70 and 79 years old:
Anyone living who was born before World War II is now at least a septuagenarian.
hoary
(of a person) very old and white- or grey-haired, old:
No need to give too much of a shock to their hoary old constitutions.
pusillanimous
weak and cowardly (= not brave); frightened of taking risks:
He’s too pusillanimous to stand up to his opponents.
punctilious
extremely attentive to punctilios/detail:
He was always punctilious in his manners.
dissemble
to give a false or misleading appearance to; conceal the truth or real nature of:
to dissemble one’s incompetence in business. He accused the government of dissembling.
spry
nimble, quick and light in movement; moving with ease; agile:
He was amazingly spry for a man of almost 80.
sobriquet
nickname, title:
These charms have earned the television programme’s presenter the sobriquet ‘the thinking woman’s crumpet’.
revere
to respect and admire someone very much. venerate:
The child revered her mother.
syncopation
temporary irregularity in musical rhythm:
syncopated jazz rhythms
euphemism
the substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought to be offensive, a polite word or phrase that is used to avoid saying something embarrassing or offensive:
Passed away’ is a euphemism for ‘died’.
guile
clever but sometimes dishonest behaviour that you use to deceive someone, insidious cunning in attaining a goal; crafty or artful deception, sneakiness:
The boys from Porkys used their cunning and guile to catch a peek at the girls showering.
sophism
deceptively false argument
lure
to attract, entice, or tempt; allure:
It seems that he was lured into a trap.
They had been lured to the big city by the promise of high wages.
credulous
willing to believe or trust too readily, marked by or arising from credulity:
a credulous rumor.
Opposite: incredulous (skeptical)
obtuse
not observant, not quick or alert in perception, 90<180
sanction
authoritative permission or approval or punishment:
We have the sanction of our company to undertake this procedure;
The actor believes he has a case for sanctioning the publishers and intends to seek sanctions against them unless they withdraw the unauthorized biography.
enigma
a puzzling or inexplicable occurrence or situation:
His disappearance is an enigma that has given rise to much speculation.
ploy
(n.) a maneuver or stratagem, as in conversation, to gain the advantage (trick someone):
The phone call was just a ploy to get rid of her.
artifice
ploy, a clever trick or stratagem:
The Trojan horse was an artifice designed to get the soldiers inside the walls.
expedient
appropriate to a purpose; convenient; practical:
The management has taken a series of expedient measures to improve the company’s financial situation.
bestow
to give someone an important present or a public reward for their achievements:
The trophy was bestowed upon the winner.
lavish
done in excess:
lavish spending.
penitent
feeling or expressing remorse for misdeeds,, showing or feeling regret for wrongdoing, repentant:
“I’m sorry,” she said with a penitent smile.
It was hard to be angry with him when he looked so penitent.
repent
to regret and feel sorry for something you did:
she felt repent when she got a bad grade in her report card.
you should repent all of your sins to the preist to become closer to God.
desultory
(adj.) inconsistant:
She made a desultory attempt at conversation.
He wandered around, clearing up in a desultory way.
contentious
argumentative:
a contentious decision/policy/issue/subject
She has some rather contentious views on education.
pugnacious
inclined to quarrel or fight readily; quarrelsome; belligerent; combative:
I found him pugnacious and arrogant.
hackneyed
very common, boring, unoriginal, overused, repeated too often:
The plot of the film is just a hackneyed boy-meets-girl scenario.
polemic/polemical
controversial argument against an opinion/ argumentative/ controversial person:
The candidate’s polemic against his opponent was vicious and small-minded rather than well reasoned and convincing.
frugal
economic, prudent in saving and spending:
The man was filled with frugality that he ordered a cheap meal.
opulence/opulent
excess, abundance, wealth/ luxurious and expensive:
an opulent lifestyle. an opulent hotel.
Parsimony
excessive frugality, extreme or excessive economy; stinginess; niggardliness, thrift:
She’s too parsimonious to heat the house properly.
skulk
move secretly:
The thief skulked in the shadows.
convene
to come together or assemble, usually for some public purpose,to arrange a meeting, or to meet for a meeting:
The committee convenes three times a year.
inept
unskillful maladroit (lacking adroitness): He is inept at mechanical tasks. She is inept at dealing with people.
flub
to perform poorly; blunder; bungle: He flubbed the last shot and lost the match.
rescind
to abrogate; annul; revoke; repeal, to invalidate (an act, measure, etc.) by a later action or a higher authority,to abolish by formal or official means; annul by an authoritative act; repeal: to abrogate a law:
The policy of charging air travellers for vegetarian meals proved unpopular and has already been rescinded.
hubris
excessive pride or self-confidence; arrogance:
He was punished for his hubris.
cordial
friendly, gracious:
a cordial invitation
enrapture
delight beyond measure:
We were enraptured by her singing.
mortify
to humiliate or shame:
I told her she’d upset John and she was mortified.
scrutinize
to examine something very carefully::
The evidence was carefully scrutinized.
defy
to challenge the power of; resist boldly or openly:
to defy parental authority.
Some of these children openly defy their teachers.
flout
to intentionally not obey a rule, law, or custom,to treat with disdain, scorn, or contempt; scoff at; mock:
Many motorcyclists flout the law by not wearing helmets.
The orchestra decided to flout convention/tradition, and wear their everyday clothes for the concert.
baleful
evil, angry, threatening:
She gave him a baleful look that scared him.
pernicious
causing insidious harm or ruin; ruinous; injurious; hurtful:
The storm was very pernicious (Destructive) in strength.
John was a very pernicious (Spiteful) person.
He also had a very pernicious (Evil) nature.
His words were pernicious (Malicious) in there content.
tremulous
characterized by trembling, as from fear, nervousness, or weakness:
He watched her tremulous hand reach for the teacup.
In a tremulous voice she whispered: “Who are you people?”
trepidation
(unease) tremulous fear, alarm, or agitation; perturbation.trembling or quivering movement; tremor:
It was with trepidation that I accepted Klein’s invitation.
insouciant
cheerfully free from concern, worry, or anxiety; carefree; nonchalant:
Sarah had a very ‘insouciant’ attitude toward her failed math exam.
Jacob took to the news with much ‘insouciance.’ [He didn’t much care about the news, or what effect it may have.]
vitriolic
caustic, very caustic; scathing: vitriolic criticism:
His answer was vitriolic, and I drew back, surprised by his caustic tone.
galvanize
to excite, stimulate:
His words galvanized the team into action.
vilipend
to vilify; depreciate, defame:
she falsely vilipended the Canadians over the 9-11 bombers.
engender
to create, produce:
We want to engender loyalty to our products.
predilection
a preference toward someone or something:
She has a predilection for chocolate.
pellucid
clear in meaning, expression, or style, lucid, luminous:
The newly made glass was very pellucid.
affable
pleasantly easy to approach and to talk to; friendly; cordial:
“He was an affable sort of man, very approachable and easy to talk to.”
militant
vigorously active and aggressive, especially in support of a cause:
the militant protestors should be stopped.
asinine
silly, stupid, foolish, fatuous:
It is surprising that supposedly intelligent people can make such asinine statements.
perspicuous
clearly expressed or presented; lucid, pellucid, luminous, articulate
stymie
to hinder, block, or thwart, prevent from achieving a purpose:
In our search for evidence, we were stymied by the absence of any recent documents.
decimate
destroy in great amount, annihilate, extirpate:
The population was decimated by a plague.
extricate
to free or release from entanglement; disengage:
to extricate someone from a dangerous situation.
plutocracy
the rule or power of wealth or of the wealthy, a government or state in which the wealthy class rules: It's time we put an end to plutocracy.
subjugate
to bring under complete control or subjection; conquer; master, to defeat people or a country and rule them in a way which allows them no freedom:
If some peoples pretend that history or geography gives them the right to subjugate other races, nations, or peoples, there can be no peace.
multifarious
diverse, numerous, varied:
The newspaper report detailed the fraudster’s multifarious business activities.
congregate
assemble, come together, convene:
A crowd congregated around the entrance to the theatre, hoping to catch a glimpse of the stars of the show.
distraught
extremely upset and unhappy, mentally deranged; crazed, deeply agitated:
The woman was distraught at the thought that something had happened to her son.
succumb
to give in and relinquish in defeat:
She’s trying to lose weight, but she always succumb to chocolate ice cream!
stolid
unemotional, impassive, phlegmatic:
Marcus’ stolid face revealed none of the thoughts that danced in his mind.
gullible
easily to be tricked, credulous, too trusting:
He’s a guy who made hundreds of million using fake science and cheap emotion to dupe gullible juries.
susceptible
easily accessible, vulnerable, easily influenced or harmed by something:
She isn’t very susceptible to flattery.
Among particularly susceptible children, the disease can develop very fast.
obdurate
very stubborn in his mind and unmoved by persuasion, persistently impenitent, obstreperous:
By moving exhortations to virtue, she softened and converted several obdurate sinners.
impervious
not permitting penetration or passage, recondite:
the tent seems impervious to rain and snow.
oblivious
not aware of something, unmindful; unconscious; unaware:
She seemed completely oblivious to what was happening around her.
enervate
enfeeble, weaken, deprive by force:
I find this heat very enervating.
Shouted abuse from the fans could easily enervate a professional sports player.
intricate
complex, complicated, hard to understand, elusive:
an intricate pattern
pedantic
ostentatious in one’s learning:
Strength in verbal skills-sophisticated manner considered pedantic in some environments.
ardent
zealous, eager, enthusiastic:
an ardent supporter of Arsenal
aggravate
to make worse, exacerbate:
Rest and avoid activities that aggravate your pain, especially weight bearing activities.
obviate
to prevent and eliminate:
A peaceful solution would obviate the need to send a UN military force.
rudimentary
(adj.) elementary, baisc:
college student must have a rudimentary knowledge of geometry.
paltry
utterly worthless, ridiculously small:
My paltry salary isn’t enough to support my extravagant lifestyle.
exigent
requiring immediate action or aid; urgent:
The patient was losing blood so rapidly that it was exigent to stop the source of the bleeding.
poignant
very emotionally sad, distressing, Evoking a keen sense of sadness or regret:
It’s a poignant story about a poor family’s struggle to survive.
fecund
fruitful, productive, prolific:
He has a fecund imagination that turned into many useful inventions
appellation
a name, title, or designation, sobriquet:
As a child, he received the appellation ‘Mouse’.
aphorism
A concise and often witty statement of wisdom or opinion, such as “Children should be seen and not heard,” or “People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.”:
Oscar Wilde was famous for such aphorisms as ‘Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes’.
bucolic
rural area suited for sheepherding..etc:
The painting shows a typically bucolic scene with peasants harvesting crops in a field.
concert
to plant or act together:
They were able to concert a settlement of their differences.
contrive
concert, come up with (an idea, plan, explanation, theory, or priciple) after a mental effort:
They contrived to meet in secret.
excogitate
to think out; devise; invent, to study intently and carefully in order to grasp or comprehend fully:
In order to fully comprehend Epictetus’s philosophy of life, I had to excogitate each individual aspect of his handbook.
consecrate
to make or declare sacred:
to consecrate a new church building.
expurgate
to amend by removing words, passages, etc., deemed offensive or objectionable:
Most children read an expurgated version of Grimms’ fairy tales.
levy
to officially collect, demand money (taxt):
A new tax was levied on consumers of luxury goods.
perfunctory
(adjective) performed with hasty and superficial, done quickly, without taking care or interest, done in a routinely manner:
Many of the colleges and community colleges, moreover, fail to provide more than perfunctory courses.
halcyon
calm; peaceful; tranquil, happily calm:
She recalled the halcyon days of her youth.
amalgamate
to mix or merge so as to make a combination; blend; unite; combine:
The different offices will be amalgamated as/into employment advice centres.
mundane
bland, hackneyed, common; ordinary; banal; unimaginative:
The solution in this case is far more mundane: tighter control of opiates.
intrepid
fearless; dauntless, having temerity: an intrepid explorer.
expound
to explain; interpret:
She uses her newspaper column to expound her views on environmental issues.
conjure
imagine, make up, Make (something) appear unexpectedly or seemingly from nowhere as if by magic:
Somehow the hobo managed to conjure a delicious stew from three cans of beans and some herbs.
leverage
n. strategic advantage:
The trick to being both manager and employee is getting leverage on yourself.
excruciate
to inflict severe pain upon; torture:
The headache excruciated him.
copious
large in quantity or number; abundant; plentiful, exorbitant in amount:
copious amounts of food.
chastise
to criticize severely, to scold:
Do not use the record to insult, chastise, or denigrate the patient.
engulf
to swallow up in or as in a gulf; submerge, to surround from everywhere:
The overflowing river has engulfed many small towns along its banks.
salutary
beneficial, helpful; healthful, wholesome:
a salutary reminder of the dangers of mountain climbing
dour
sullen; gloomy, in an unpleasant mood and not smiling or speaking to anyone:
The captain’s dour look depressed us all.
froward
(adjective) not easily controlled:
froward students sent to the office for chronic disciplinary problems.
absolve
to free from guilt or blame or their consequences, vindicate:
The court absolved her of guilt in his death.
limpid
lucid and clear/ calm and w/out distress of worry, insouciant:
The clouds were perfectly reflected in the limpid pool.
dissonance
disagreeable combination:
The dissonance of the music was doing my head right in.
pragmatic
practical, expedient:
a pragmatic approach to a problem
adulterate
to make worse by mixing and adding stuff:
Don’t you dare adulterate my ketchup with mustard.
antagonize
to provoke someone to be angry or unfriendly towards you:
He antagonized his colleagues by making changes without discussing them.
paucity
shortage, smallness of quantity; scarcity; scantiness:
a country with a paucity of resources.
Sybarite
a person devoted to luxury and pleasure:
I think of Paris Hilton as the ultimate sybarite, but with her inheritance I can’t say that I blame her!
wanton
done, shown, used, etc., maliciously or unjustifiably:
a wanton attack; wanton cruelty.
esurient
hungry; greedy:
he’s always esurient for more food.
peevish
easily irritated or annoyed, petulance:
a peevish, bad-tempered person
ecstasy
extremely delighted:
she was filled with ecstasy when she succeeded.
execrable
utterly detestable; abominable; abhorrent:
She’s always had execrable taste in men.
opine
to hold or express an opinion:
Ernest Rutherford opined that his work on radioactive substances would be of little or no practical use.
epigram
any witty, ingenious, or pointed saying tersely expressed:
One of Oscar Wilde’s most frequently quoted epigrams is “I can resist everything except temptation”.
blather
foolish, voluble very long talk:
His speech was full of the most amazing blather.
palaver
a long parley, blather, unnecessary work and trouble:
Organizing the annual office lunch was such a palaver, I swore I’d never do it again.
oratory
skill or eloquence in public speaking:
Obama has a powerful oratory.
inclement
severe, rough, or harsh, not kind or merciful:
inclement weather
jocund
cheerful; merry; gay; blithe; glad:
Hanging out with my high school friends always results in having a jocund time.
garrulous
excessively talkative in a rambling, roundabout manner, especially about trivial matters:
he is always garrulous in his conversations
extroverts
an outgoing, gregarious person:
That person is a real extrovert; he/she never wants to be alone, and can’t keep his/her mouth shut!
histrionic
overly dramatic, theatrical:
She put on a histrionic display of grief at her ex-husband’s funeral.
sententious
given to excessive moralizing; self-righteous:
It even, on occasion, goes so far as to parody the movies in their more sententious moments.
abet
to encourage, support, or countenance by aid or approval, usually in wrongdoing:
Mom did not abet my idea of sky diving.
sedulous
persevering; assiduous, persistently or carefully maintained: sedulous flattery:
Daphne was a SEDULOUS student whose hard work and determination earned her a number of college scholarships.
haphazard
characterized by lack of order or planning, by irregularity, or by randomness; not planned, organized, controlled, or done regularly:
The whole examination process seemed completely haphazard.
peculiar
strange; queer; odd, uncommon, unusual:
The wine had a peculiar, musty smell.
expedite
to speed up the progress of:
He was trying to expedite his application for a new passport.
assiduous
persistent, attentive, diligent:
salesmen must be assiduous to persuade customers.
pristine
having its original purity; uncorrupted or unsullied, immaculately clean and unused:
Washing machine for sale - only 2 months old and in pristine condition.
stoic
seeming unaffected by pleasure or pain, apathetic, detached, dispassionate, phlegmatic:
Even though the Titanic was sinking underneath them, and the passengers were frantic with fear, the band remained stoic until the end.
capricious
changing suddenly, unpredictable, whimsical, erratic:
The weather in New York City is capricious, especially in the springtime, with beach weather one day, and freezing rain the next.
scrupulous
punctiliously or minutely careful, precise, or exact, fastidious, meticulous:
fastidious
scrupulous, punctilious, meticulous:, very careful and precise:
She was very fastidious about her personal appearance.
