GRE4 Flashcards
frantic
wild; distraught as from fear or worry; Ex. frantic with fear:
The lady was frantic when she walked through the mysterious woods.
petrify
make rigid, harden, make hard as stone,to benumb or paralyze with astonishment, horror, or other strong emotion:
I think you petrified poor Jeremy - he never said a word the whole time you were here.
vex
to irritate; annoy; provoke, exasperate:
His noisy neighbors often vexed him.
anomaly
abnormality, something unusual:
There are some anomalies in the data.
torpid
inactive or sluggish, slow; dull; apathetic; lethargic:
I felt so torpid because i had no energy left to do my chores at home.
cogitate
think deeply about:
The philosopher cogitated about the meaning of life very deeply.
docile
compliant, submissive, manageable, controllable (opposite: froward):
After many hours of training, the wild horse became more docile.
munificent
giving, generous, bountiful:
A former student has donated a munificent sum of money to the college.
reconcile
make peace with, to bring into agreement or harmony:
It is sometimes difficult to reconcile science and religion.
farcical
ludicrous; absurd:
The playwright’s farcical comedy had the audience laughing hysterically.
ludicrous
causing laughter because of absurdity; provoking or deserving derision; ridiculous; laughable:
a ludicrous lack of efficiency.
puerile
childish, foolish jejune, juvenile:
You need to stop acting in such a puerile manner and act your age.
superannuated
obsolete, outdated, no longer for use:
At the age of 70 years, my grandfather was superannuated from the Army.
perfidious
faithless; treacherous; deceitful, recreant, unable to be trusted, or showing no loyalty:
She described the new criminal bill as a perfidious attack on democracy.
perturb
to disturb, agitate, alarm, annoy, bewilder, bother, bug:
He seemed slightly perturbed by the news.
purge
to clean, purify:
She wanted to purge herself of guilt.
exhilarate
to make very happy:
The rollercoaster proved it was able to both exhilarate and scare in equal measures.
abstemious
moderate in appetite, (opposite: gluttonous):
The athlete’s abstemious diet did not give her enough energy.
gluttonous
tending to eat and drink excessively; voracious:
The man was so gluttonous, he would often eat until he fell asleep.
acerbic
sour, bitter, acrid, or astringent in taste:
I don’t like Sweet Tarts because they are too acerbic.
loquacious
very talkative, garrulous:
One of the student is very loquacious that she’s disrupting the class, so she got detention.
Austere
strict in manner, astringent:
the olympics committee were very austere about their rules.
inexorable
Austere, strict, pitiless, cruel, unstoppable, inflexible:
Despite his pleas for forgiveness, Bob’s inexorable father still grounded him for a week
malign
(verb.) defame, attack with words, bash.
(adj.) having or showing an evil disposition; malevolent; malicious. pernicious; baleful; injurious:
She describes pornography as ‘a malign industry’.
exculpate
absolve, vindicate, free from guilt,charge:
The pilot of the aircraft will surely be exculpated when all the facts are known.
exonerate
exculpate, vindicate, absolve, to free from accusation:
He was exonerated of all blame by the investigation.
mercurial
changeable; capricious, volatile; fickle; flighty;
She was entertaining but unpredictable, with mercurial mood swings.erratic
rapacious
greedy, avaricious:
a rapacious landlord/businessman
dither
vacillate, hesitate:
Stop dithering and tell me which one you want!
apace
(adverb.) with speed; QUICKLY:
The project is coming on apace
impetuous
characterized by sudden or rash action, abrupt, harried, QUICKLY:
she was so impetuous that she had married him even before I had a chance to warn her.
precipitate
to hasten the occurrence of; bring about prematurely, accelerate, hastily, or suddenly, bring QUICKLY:
The war was precipitated by an invasion.
inscrutable
DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND, abstruse, arcane, cryptic, esoteric, turbid:
The killer left no clues, and the murder remains an inscrutable mystery.
perplex
to confuse, perplexing = DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND:
He seemed a little perplexed by the question.
astute
clever, shrewd, SMART:
an astute businesswoman
canny
shrewd, cautious, prudent, intelligent, SMART:
a canny businessman
erudite
characterized by great knowledge; learned or scholarly, educated, SMART:
He’s the author of an erudite book on Scottish history.
perspicacious
quick in noticing, understanding, or judging things accurately, SMART:
The perspicacious lawyer made his case to the judge and ended up winning the case.
libertine
a person who is morally or sexually unrestrained,freethinker profligate, lustful, immoral CORRUPT:
libidinous
full of sexual lust; lustful; lewd; lascivious CORRUPT:
Fuelled by Sex and the City images of libidinous women emerging triumphant from tangled bedsheets.
licentious
sexually/morally unrestrained; lascivious; libertine; lewd CORRUPT:
The young girls chose to leave the park because of the coarse and licentious men who approached them
reprobate
(adv,berb) a depraved, unprincipled, or wicked person CORRUPT:
Every time I see you, you’re drunk, you old reprobate!
ribald
vulgar or indecent in speech, language, abusive, or irreverent; scurrilous.CORRUPT :
The American radio host Howard Stern is known for his ribald humor.
salacious
ustful or lecherous, obscene; grossly indecent.CORRUPT:
Provocative outfits and salacious speech may, perhaps paradoxically, indicate sexual repression.
sordid
morally ignoble, filthy, CORRUPT:
I do not waste my time examining the sordid affairs of celebrities.
turpitude
depravity, immorality CORRUPT:
acts/crimes of moral turpitude
Fealty
fidelity; faithfulness, devotedness, commitment TRUTH:
Her Fealty to God has given her peace of mind.
Indubitable
cannot be doubted TRUTH:
Indubitable evidence.
probity
integrity and uprightness; honesty.TRUTH:
Her probity and integrity are beyond question.
veracious
truthful; honest TRUTH:
a veracious witness.
verity
truthfulness TRUTH:
to question the verity of a statement.
apocryphal
(adj.) doubtful story, questionable, fake, mythical FALSE:
It’s a good story but I dare say it’s apocryphal.
Canard
a false or baseless, usually derogatory story, report, or rumor FALSE:
the whole story about him is just a canard
chicanery
trickery or deception by quibbling or sophistry FALSE:
The investigation revealed political chicanery and corruption at the highest levels.
duplicity
deceitfulness,dishonesty, dissemblance FALSE:
He was warned not to trust the villagers, who were known for their duplicity.
equivocate
to use ambiguous or unclear expressions, usually to avoid commitment or in order to mislead, hide the truth FALSE:
She accused the minister of equivocating, claiming that he had deliberately avoided telling the public how bad the problem really was.
Ersatz
an artificial or inferior substitute or imitation FASLE:
I’m allowed to eat ersatz chocolate made from carob beans, but it’s a poor substitute for the real thing.
feign
pretend, fake, forge FALSE:
He feigned illness to avoid having to work.
perfidy
deliberate breach of faith or trust; faithlessness; treachery FALSE:
The king was so shocked at Jason’s perfidy that he had him beheaded.”
prevaricate
speak falsely or misleadingly FALSE:
He accused the minister of prevaricating.
specious
deceptive, apparently good or valid but lacking real merit FALSE:
a specious argument/claim
spurious
not genuine, not true, not valid FALSE:
Television personalities often make spurious comments to provoke discussion.
acrimonious
caustic, stinging, or bitter BITING:
an acrimonious divorce
asperity
harshness or sharpness of tone, temper, or manner; severity roughness, severity; tartness BITING:
the asperity of her manner
mordant
biting or caustic in thought, manner BITING:
It was bleak and filled with mordant humor, but reviewers didn’t think much of it.
mordacious
bitting, sharp or caustic in style, tone, BITING:
The mordacious compliments of his fellow mates discouraged him to such an extent that he considered giving up art for good.
trenchant
scathing, acerbic, caustic BITTING:
trenchant criticism/views
accolade
any award, honor, or laudatory notice, recognition of achievement PRAISE:
The play received accolades from the press.
encomium
a formal expression of high praise; eulogy PRAISE:
An encomium by the President greeted the returning hero.
minatory
menacing; threatening, baleful, baneful HARMFUL:
I would have left the cave if it weren’t for that minatory dog standing at the exit.
craven
cowardly; contemptibly timid; pusillanimous TIMID:
a craven act of terrorism
insipid
not interesting, exciting, or colorful BORING:
a dull, insipid man
pedestrian
prosaic or dull BORING:
a pedestrian commencement speech.
trite
hackneyed BORING
prosaic
BORING
quotidian
usual or customary; everyday, ordinary BORING:
Television has become part of our quotidian existence.
inhibit
to prohibit; forbid, restrain, hinder, arrest WEAKEN:
Their threats inhibited witnesses from giving evidence.
stultify
ridicule, to cause to appear, foolish or ridiculous WEAKEN:
She felt the repetitive exercises stultified her musical technique so she stopped doing them.
vitiate
make worse, exacerbate WEAKEN
abet
to encourage, support, ASSIST
ancillary
(adj) assisting, supplementary ASSIST:
Campaigning to change government policy is ancillary to the charity’s direct relief work.
corroborate
verify, validate to make more certain; confirm ASSIST:
A witness corroborated his account of the accident.
countenance
approval or favor; encouragement; moral support ASSISTE:
The company does not countenance corporate espionage.
mainstay
a central cohesive source of support and stability ASSIST:
Cattle farming is the mainstay of the country’s economy.
stalwart
strong and brave; valiant ASSIST:
a stalwart knight.
churlish
like a churl; boorish; rude HOSTILE:
They invited me to dinner and I thought it would be churlish to refuse.
curmudgeon
a crusty irascible cantankerous old person full of stubborn ideas HOSTILE:
he was a curmudgeon who never had anything good to say about his neighbors.
malevolent
evil; harmful; injurious HOSTILE:
a malevolent inclination to destroy the happiness of others.
misanthropic
unsociable HOSTILE:
His misanthropic character is why we believe he has few friends in the world.
vindictive
hateful, revengeful HOSTILE:
She was incredibly vindictive in that vengeful thoughts flew across her mind whenever anyone crossed her.
STUBBORN
inexorable, intransigent, obdurate, obstinate, recalcitrant,
implacable
inexorable, inflexible, intractable,not to be appeased, or mollified, STUBBORN:
The obstinate donkey was so implacable he just would not stop.
intractable
impossible to control, manage or solve STUBBORN:
We are facing an intractable problem.
refractory
hard or impossible to manage STUBBORN: The refractory class was unable to get anything done.
renitent
resisting pressure; resistant. persistently opposing; STUBBORN:
The dam, which had been renitent for decades, finally collapsed.
untoward
not favorable, troublesome, unruly, onerous STUBBORN:
If nothing untoward happens we should be there by midday.
BEGINNING/YOUNG
burgeoning, incipient, nascent
callow
immature or inexperienced BEGINNING/YOUNG:
Mark was just a callow youth of sixteen when he arrived in Paris.
inchoate
not yet completed or fully developed; begining, BEGINNING/YOUNG:
She had a child’s inchoate awareness of language.
GENEROUS/KIND
altruistic, munificent, philanthropic,
beneficent
altruistic, benevolent, benign GENEROUS/KIND:
I made a Beneficent amount of money for the homeless babies
clement
merciful, calm, mild (weather) GENEROUS/KIND:
It’s very clement for the time of year.
largess
generous bestowal of gifts, generosity GENEROUS/KIND:
The national theatre will be the main beneficiary of the millionaire’s largess.
magnanimous
generous in forgiving an insult or injury, noble, giving and kind, GENEROUS/KIND:
Arsenal’s manager was magnanimous in victory, and praised the losing team.
unstringing
generous, benevolent, GENEROUS/KIND:
She was quite unstinting in her praise.
GREEDY
avaricious, rapacious, venal
covetous
inordinately or wrongly desirous of wealth or possessions; GREEDY:
Western companies are casting covetous eyes on the bargain-priced companies of eastern Europe.
mercenary
greedy for money, acquisitive GREEDY:
“The drug company was denounced as mercenary for seeking only to increase its profits.”
miserly
greedy, stingy, GREEDY:
‘The miserly old man wouldn’t buy any cookies from the girl scouts.
penurious
extremely stingy; parsimonious; miserly GREEDY:
The penurious school system had to lay off several teachers.
TERSE
laconic, pithy, succinct, taciturn
compendious/compendium
in a brief form; concise TERSE:
a compendious history of the world.
curt
brief; concise; terse; laconic TERSE:
“He expected a friendly greeting, but her responses were curt and rude.”
OVERBLOWING/WORDY
bombastic, garrulous, loquacious, verbose, prolix
circumlocution
the use of more words than necessary to express an idea OVERBLOWING/WORDY: ‘Economical with the truth’ is a circumlocution for ‘lying’.
Politicians are experts in circumlocution.
grandiloquent
speaking ostentatiously or expressed in a lofty style, often to the point of being pompous or bombastic OVERBLOWING/WORDY:
Her speech was full of grandiloquent language, but it contained no new ideas.
periphrastic
circumlocutory; roundabout, wordy, bombastic OVERBLOWING/WORDY:
turgid
inflated, overblown, tumid or pompous; bombastic: turgid language OVERBLOWING/WORDY:
a couple of pages of turgid prose
DICTATORIAL
authoritarian, hegemonic, dogmatic, imperious
despot
a king or other ruler with absolute, unlimited power; autocrat DICTATORIAL:
The king was regarded as having been a enlightened despot.
Tyrannical
unjustly cruel, harsh, or severe; arbitrary or oppressive; despotic DICTATORIAL:
a tyrannical ruler.
peremptory
(adj) imperious or dictatoria DICTATORIAL, positive or assertive in speech, tone, manner, etc:
He started issuing peremptory instructions.
HATED
abhorrence, antipathy, detestation, enmity, malice, odium,
anathema
a person or thing detested or loathed HATRED:
That subject is anathema to him.
antagonism
an active hostility or opposition, animosity, animus, antipathy HATRED:
There’s a history of antagonism between the two teams.
rancor
hatred; malice. bitterness, acerbity HATRED:
They cheated me, but I feel no rancour towards/against them.
fledgling
an inexperienced person BEGINNER/AMATEUR:
Luckily, the fledgling pilot’s egregious blunder was discovered before the plane was departed.
neophyte
a beginner or novice BEGINNER/AMATEUR: He’s a neophyte at chess.
novitiate
amateur, beginner, BEGINNER/AMATEUR:
proselyte
a person who has changed from one opinion, religious belief, sect, or the like, to another; convert. BEGINNER/AMATEUR:
The boy attempted to proselytize his mother into Christianity.
tyro
a beginner in learning anything; novice. BEGINNER/AMATEUR:
I look forward to seeing this young tyro’s next ballet.
LAZY/SLUGGISH
indolent, lassitude, lethargic, phlegmatic, torpid
inert
unmoving; lethargic; sluggish LAZY/SLUGGISH:
she’s fat and inert.
lackadaisical
without interest, vigor, or determination; listless; lethargic, showing little enthusiasm and effort LAZY/SLUGGISH:
The food was nice enough but the service was rather lackadaisical.
languid
lacking in vigor or vitality; slack or slow LAZY/SLUGGISH:
a languid manner.
quiescent
being at rest; quiet; still; inactive or motionless LAZY/SLUGGISH:
The political situation was now relatively quiescent.
slothful
sluggardly; indolent; lazy LAZY/SLUGGISH:
The man’s slothfulness is the reason for his attitude towards life.
PACIFY/SATISFY
ameliorate, appease, assuage, mitigate, mollify, placate,
defer
to put off (action, consideration, etc.) to a future time PACIFY/SATISFY:
The decision has been deferred by the board until next week.
propitiate
appease, assuage, atone, mollify, pacify, placate, satisfy PACIFY/SATISFY:
In those days people might sacrifice a goat or sheep to propitiate an angry god.
conciliate
appease, pacify, satisfy, win over PACIFY/SATISFY:
to conciliate an angry competitor.
satiate
to supply with anything to excess, so as to disgust or weary; surfeit., to satisfy to the full; sate. PACIFY/SATISFY:
He drank greedily until his thirst was satiated.
slake
to satisfy a thirst or a wish PACIFY/SATISFY:
After our long game of tennis, we slaked our thirst with a beer.
FORGIVE
absolve, exculpate, exonerate, vindicate
acquit
to relieve from a charge of fault or crime; declare not guilty FORGIVE:
They acquitted him of the crime. The jury acquitted her, but I still think she’s guilty.
expiate
to atone for; make amends or reparation for FORGIVE:
to expiate one’s crimes.
palliate
to relieve or lessen without curing; mitigate; alleviate FORGIVE:
The medical staff used strong narcotics to palliate the terminally ill patients pain.
redress
to set right, remedy; relief from wrong or injury FOrGIVE:
laws aimed at redressing racial inequality
