GRE_3000_List19 Flashcards
pontificate
to speak or express opinions in a pompous or dogmatic way
[E] pontificate to show a sense of superiority
[A] condescend
[P] pontification; pontifical;
porous
admitting the passage of gas or liquid through pores or interstices
[E] Lava rock as a porous structure which makes the material lightweight and highly moisture-retentive.
[S] passable; penetrable; permeable; pervious;
[A] impassable
[P] porosity
portentous
1 being or showing a sense of evil
[E] an eerie and portentous stillness
[S] baleful; direful; doomy; foreboding; inauspicious; minatory;
[A] auspicious; propitious;
2 eliciting amazement or wonder
[E] The way in which he brings together opposing forces was truly portentous.
[S] amazing; astonishing; fabulous; marvelous;
[A] ordinary;
poseur
an affected or insincere person
[E] She is such a poseur and you will never know if she is really crying or pretending.
[S] grandstander; poser
posit
to assume or affirm the existence of
[E] The committee posited that he was qualified for the election.
[S] assume; postulate; presuppose; premise;
[A] falsify;
potable
1 a beverage, especially an alcoholic beverage
[E] Potables are offered at bar counter for free.
[S] beverage; spirits
[A] soft drink
2 suitable for drinking
[E] Price of the potable water has soared.
[S] edible;
[A] undrinkable;
potentate
one who has the power and position to rule over others
[E] a son of potentates
[S] authority; autocrat; monarch
[A] figurehead
potentiate
to make effective or active, or more effective or more active
[E] additives to potentiate the drug
[S] activate; energize; intensify;
[A] deactivate; abate; attenuate; dwindle; moderate;
pout
to show displeasure, especially by thrusting out the lips or wearing a sullen expression
[E] She pouted and didn’t say a word to anyone all morning.
[S] grump; mope; sulk
[A] grin
practitioner
one who practices a profession
[E] medical practitioner
[S] expert; guru; professional; virtuoso;
[A] fledging; quack
prate
to talk long and idly
[E] They have been prating on the phone for hours.
[S] babble; chat; chatter; gabble; jabber; prattle; twitter;
[A] prater;
precarious
1 dangerously lacking in security and stability;
[E] a precarious livelihood
[S] delicate; fragile; sensitive;
[A] firm; stable; safe;secure;
2 dependent on uncertain premise
[E] His entirely argument relies on a precarious assumption.
[S] ambiguous; doubtful; dubious; equivocal;
[A] indubitable; unambiguous;
precipice
a very steep or overhanging place [E] a precipice too steep to climb [S] bluff; cuff; crag; escarpment; palisade; [A] ridge; [P] precipitous;
precipitate
1 acting or done with excessive or careless speed
[E] the army’s precipitate withdrawal from the field of battle
[S] cursory; flying; headlong; hurried; overhasty; precipitous;
[A] deliberate; leisurely;
[P] precipitation
2 to cause to happen, especially suddenly or prematurely
[E] precipitate an international crisis
[S] accelerate, escalate, expedite, hasten, impel,
[A] enfetter, hamper, handicap, obstruct.
precipitation
1 something precipitated as a deposit on the earth of hail, mist, rain, sleet, or snow.
[E] The storm brought several inches of precipitation.
[S] sediment;
2 excited and often showy or disorderly speed
[E] I fear that I may have acted with some precipitation on this matter, so I would like to reconsider.
[S] haste, hastiness, hustle, precipitousness,
[A] deliberation
precipitous
1 very steep, perpendicular, or overhanging in rise or fall
[E] a precipitous gorge
[S] abrupt; arduous; sheer;
[A] level
2 acting or done with excessive or careless speed
[E] The soon regretted their precipitous actions in international affairs.
[S] cursory; overhasty
[A] deliberate; leisurely;
preempt
1 to appropriate, seize, or take for oneself before others
[E] The naughty children had preempted front-row seats that were reserved for the guests of honor.
[S] appropriate; expropriate; arrogate;
[P] preemptive
2 to replace with something considered to be of greater value or priority
[E] The special newscast preempted the usual television program.
[S] replace; supersede.
preen
1 to smooth or clean with the beak of bill
[S] plume
[A] rumple
2 to dress or groom with elaborate care
[E] She always preens herself in an elaborate suit before going to the opera.
[S] groom; plume; primp;
3 to take pride or satisfaction in
[E] He always preens himself on his ancestry.
[S] gloat; plume;
[A] efface
preponderant
having superior weight, force, importance or influence [E] a preponderant misconception [S] dominant; paramount; predominant; [A] secondary; subsidiary; [P] preponderance;
prepossessing
serving to impress favorably
[E] He was fascinated by her prepossessing appearance at first glance.
[S] alluring; attractive; captivating;
[A] abhorrent; hideous; repulsive;
preposterous
contrary to nature, reason, or common sense
[E] a preposterous conclusion of quantum mechanics.
[S] absurd; asinine; fallacious; fatuous; ludicrous;
[A] commonsensical;
presumptuous
1 overstepping due bounds
[E] Under such circumstance his demand for attention was utterly presumptuous.
[S] audacious; bold; brash; impertinent; insolent;
[A] courteous; decorous; genteel;
2 having a feeling of superiority
[E] The presumptuous doctor didn’t even bother to explain to me the treatment that I would be receiving.
[S] assumptive; bumptious; cavalier; peremptory
pretense
1 the act of pretending; a false appearance or action intended to deceive
[E] There is too much pretense in his piety.
[S] affection; camouflage; deceit; masquerade;
[A] sincerity
2 an exaggerated sense of one’s importance that shows itself in the making of excessive or unjustified claims.
[S] assumption; hauteur; pomposity; imperiousness;
[A] humility
prevaricate
to stray from or evade the truth
[E] During the hearings the witness did his best to prevaricate.
[S] equivocate; fabricate; falsify
[P] prevarication
primordial
being or happening first in sequence of time
[E] primordial forms of life
[S] ancient; early; primal; primeval; primitive
[A] recent;
primp
to dress, adorn or arrange in a careful or finicky manner
[E] She primps herself for hours before a date.
[S] preen; dress up
privation
lack of what is needed for existence
[E] The constant privation of sleep war starting to affect his work.
[S] deprivation; loss
[A] repletion;
proclivity
a natural propensity or inclination
[E] show artistic proclivities at an early age
[S] aptitude; disposition; learning; partiality; penchant; predilection; propensity;
[A] aversion; antipathy; disinclination;
proffer
to offer for acceptance;tender
[E] She proffered her assistance in helping the two sides reach a compromise.
[S] extended; give; tender; trot out;
[A] retain; withhold;
profligate
1 recklessly wasteful; wildly extravagant;
[E] leading a profligate life
[S] extravagant; squandering
[A] parsimonious; frugal;
2 someone who spends money freely
[E] Profligate who could not really afford the grand style he maintained at Monticello, Jefferson died deeply in debt.
[S] fritterer; wastrel;
3 a person who has sank below the moral standard
[E] A drunken profligate, he was given to wretched excess in every aspect of life.
[S] debauchee; rake; rakehell;
profundity
something profound or abstruse
[E] His books are a mixture of playfulness and profundity.
[S] deepness; profoundness;
[A] superficiality
prolix
tending to speak or write at excessive length
[E] He habitually transforms brief anecdotes into prolix sagas that exhaust his listeners.
[S] diffuse; garrulous; rambling; windy;
[A] pithy; taciturn; terse;
promulgate
to make known openly or publicly
[E] The law was promulgated in June 1988.
[S] annunciate; declare; enunciate; herald;
[A] keep secret;
propitious
favorably disposed; pointing toward a happy outcome
[E] propitious sign
[S] auspicious; encouraging; fair; heartening; optimistic; promising;
[A] dim; discouraging; inauspicious;
prosaic
being of the type that is encountered in the normal course of events
[E] prosaic advise
[S] commonplace; everyday; routine; unexceptional;
[A] abnormal; exceptional;
proselytize
to persuade to change one’s religious faith
[E] The efforts of early missionaries to proselytize the Native Americans were largely unproductive.
[S] convert
protean
displaying great diversity or variety; versatile;
[E] He loved to show of his protean talent.
[S] adaptable; universal; all-around
[A] static;
protuberant
thrusting out from a surrounding or adjacent surface often as a rounded mass [E] protuberant eyes [A] depressed; [P] protuberance; [A] concavity;
providential
happening as if through divine intervention
[E] a providential escape
[S] lucky; fluky; fortuitous;
[A] mishap
provincial
limited in perspective
[E] an artist who has been criticized for being provincial
[S] insular; parochial; sectarian;
[A] ecumenical; tolerant;
provisory
depending on a proviso; conditional;
[E] a provisory permit to block off the street while movie scenes were being shot.
[S] interim; provisional;
[A] permanent;unconditional;
ponderous
1 of very high weight [E] a ponderous machine [S] cumbersome; heavy; hefty; massive; [A] ethereal; gossamer; 2 oppressively or unpleasant dull [E] a ponderous sermon no one really cares [S] dreary; dull; flat; insipid; [A] absorbing; engrossing; gripping;
