GRE_3000_List20 Flashcards
prowl
to roam through stealthily, as in search of prey or plunder
[E] I prowled the shop, looking for sales.
prudish
marked by prudery
[E] By the prudish standards of the 19th century, any depiction of the nude was scandalous.
[S] nice-nelly; prim; puritanical;
pseudonym
a fictitious name
[E] Mark Twain in the pseudonym of the American writer Samuel L. Clemens.
[S] alias;
pucker
to cause to become gathered, contracted, and wrinkled.
[E] pucker my limps
puckish
mischievous; impish
[E] She had a puckish smile on her face.
[S] devilish; prankish; waggish
[A] sober; grave; staid;
puerile
immature; lacking in adult experience or maturity;
[E] puerile remarks
[S] adolescent; green; immature; unfledged; unformed; unripened;
[A] adult; mature;
puissance
power; might;
[E] The president pledged to put the full puissance of the nation into the war effort.
[S] potency; force; sinew;
[A] impotence;
pulchritude
great physical beauty and appeal
[A] ugliness; homeliness; hideousness;
pulverize
to pound, crush, or grind to powder or dust; to bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of
[E] Bits of pulverized rock filled the air.
[A] solidify; build; construct; erect;
pun
the usually humorous use of a word in such a way as to suggest two or more of its meanings or the meaning of another word similar in sound.
[E] He’s a skillful pilot whose career has – no pun intended – really taken off.
punctilious
strictly attentive to minute details of form in action or conduct
[S] decorous; starchy; stilted
[A] remiss; casual; unceremonious;
pundit
a person who gives opinions in an authoritative manner usually through the mass media.
[E] The new laptop has gotten thumbs-up from industry pundits.
[S] savant; scholar;
puny
of inferior size, strength, or significance; weak
[E] I wouldn’t mess with him – he makes bodybuilders look puny in comparison.
[S] diminutive; dwarfish; slight; subnormal;
[A] enormous; considerable; grand; husky; overscale;
purlieu
1 a place for spending time or socializing
[E] The restaurant, the preferred purlieu of the theatergoing crowd, is always packed an hour or two before showtimes.
[S] haunt; rendezvous;resort;
2 an adjoining region or space
[E] We stopped at one of the several pubs in the purlieus of the stadium.
[S] backyard; neighborhood; vicinage; vicinity;
purloin
to steal, often in a violation of trust
[E] fearing that someone might attempt to purloin a copy of the script for the show’s season finale
[S] appropriate; filch; pilfer; snitch; thieve;
purvey
to supply
[E] a little shop purveying handmade merchandise
quack
a pretender to medical skills
[E] Don’t bother to see that guy, I have heard that he is only a quack with no actual training.
[S] charlatan; fake; fraud; phony;
[A] honest practitioner;
quaff
to drink heartily
[E] He stopped at a bar and quaffed a few beers.
[S] gulp; swig; swill;
quail
to shrink back in fear; cower
[E] She quailed at the thought of seeing him again.
[S] blench; cringe; recoil; shrink; wince;
[A] become resolute;
quandary
a state of perplexity or doubt
[E] I’ve had two job offers, and I’m in a real quandary about which one to accept.
[S] double bind
[A] state of complete certainty;
quarantine
enforced insolation or restriction of free movement imposed to prevent the speed of contagious disease.
[E] The cows will be kept in quarantine for another two weeks.
quash
to put a stop to sth. by the use of force
[E] quash a rebellion
[S] repress; squelch; subdue; suppress;
[A] engender; foment;
quell
1 to put down forcibly; suppress; [E] quell riot; [S] quash; repress 2 to pacify [E] quell fears [S] dumb; extinguish; mute; [A] foment; instigate; rouse;
querulous
habitually complaining
[E] a querulous voice
[S] crabby; cranky; grouchy; grumpy;
[A] forbearing; stoic; tolerant;
quibble
1 to find fault or criticize for petty reasons; cavil
[E] She spent the entire evening quibbling about the historical inaccuracies in the television series on World War II.
[S] carp; cavil; fuss; niggle; nitpick
2 a minor objection or criticism
[E] My only quibble about the trip was that it rained a lot.
quixotic
having or marked by a tendency to be guided more by ideals than by reality.
[E] She had quixotic dreams about the future.
[S] impractical; ideal; starry; utopian; visionary;
[A] clear-eyed
quotidian
everyday; commonplace;
[E] plagued by a quotidian coughing;
[S] ubiquitous; ordinary;
[A] remarkable; striking;
rabble
a disorganized or disorderly crowd of people
[E] The crown prince was reminded that even the rabble deserved his attention and compassion.
[S] riffraff; scum; rag; trash; unwashed;
rabid
extremely zealous or enthusiastic; fanatical;
[E] soccer fans whose rabid enthusiasm makes them go berserk when their team wins
[S] delirious; ferocious; feverish; fierce; frantic; frenetic; violent;
[A] logical; detached
racy
vigorous
[E] vivid writing and a racy plot that keeps the readers turning the pages.
[S] animate; brisk; frisky; jaunty; vivacious;
[A] tame;dead;
raffish
marked by or suggestive of flashy vulgarity or crudeness
[E] The dowager cringed at the thought of raffish tourists tromping all over her rugs.
[S] crass; lowbred; uncouth; uncultivated; vulgar;
[A] civilized; genteel; ultrarefined;
raffle
discarded or useless material
[E] The front lawn was littered with the raffle that the workers had left behind.
[S] chaff; deadwood; debris; effluvium; offal; riffraff; scrap; spilth
rakish
having or showing lowered moral character or standards
[E] He wore his hat in a rakish angle;
[S] debased; debauched; demoralized; depraved; reprobate;
[A] pure; uncorrupted;
rambunctious
being rough or noisy in a high-spirited way
[E] The beach in often taken over by packs of rambunctious young people, so don’t go there expecting peace and quite.
[S] boisterous; raucous; tumultuous;
[A] tranquil; serene;
ramshackle
appearing ready to collapse;
[E] a ramshackle cabin in the woods
[S] rickety; shaky; tottering;
[A] concrete; firm; sturdy
rancor
a bitter deep-seated ill will
[E] A good man terminates a friendship without rancor.
[S] animosity; animus; antagonism; antipathy; jaundice;
[A] amity; harmony; rapport; rapprochement;
rankle
to cause anger
[E] It rankles me when some schools can’t even afford paper and pencils for the students.
[S] aggravate; enrage; exasperate;
[A] gratify; please;conciliate; mollify;
rant
1 a long angry speech
[E] After complaining about the hotel’s lousy service, the woman went off on another rant about the condition of her room.
[S] castigation; diatribe; harangue; lambasting; philippic; reprimand
[A] encomium; eulogy; rhapsody; tribute;
2 to speak or write in a noisy, angry or violent manner
[E] The old expert ranted that nobody paid any attention to his opinion.
[S] fulminate; huff;
[A] grumble; murmur;
rapacious
1 having a huge appetite
[E] The manager at the buffet restaurant was apparently astonished by a team of rapacious professional basketball players.
[S] edacious; esurient; gluttonous; ravenous; voracious;
2 excessively grasping or covetous;
[E] Some companies are rapacious and hardly looking for the long term value;
[S] acquisitive; avaricious; avid; mercenary; grasping;
[A] content; sated; satiated;
rapport
a friendly relationship marked by ready communication and mutual understanding
[E] His good rapport with his students was one of the reasons why the school board named him Teacher of the Year.
[S] amity; rapprochement;
[A] animosity; antagonism; antipathy; rancor;
rapprochement
establishment of or state of having cordial relations
[E] a new era of rapprochement between China and Russia
[S] rapport; amity;
[A] animosity
rapscallion
a mean, evil, or unprincipled person
[E] an unsafe place frequented by drunkards and rapscallions
[S] brute; evildoer; knave; miscreant; rascal; varlet;
[A] saint; cavalier; chevalier;
raspy
1 harsh an dry in sound [E] The dying man was speaking in a raspy and barely discernible voice; [S] cacophonous; coarse; croaky; gruff; [A] mellifluous; gentle; 2 easily irritated or annoyed [E] Overwork tends to make him raspy. [S] choleric; fiery; grouchy; irascible; pettish; [A] amiable; agreeable;
ratiocination
the thought processes that have been established as leading to valid solutions to problems.
[E] As an expert in ratiocination, the detective Sherlock Holmes has few rivals.
[S] deduction; intellection; reason; sense;
rave
1 to make an exaggerated display of affection or enthusiasm
[E] Critics raved about the new play.
[S] drool; effuse; rhapsodize;
[A] blame; censure; condemn; criticize; denounce;pan
2 to talk irrationally and wildly in or as if in delirium
[E] a man standing outside the city hall, raving like a lunatic about his tax bill.
[S] bluster; fulminate; huff;
[A] grumble; murmur;
ravel
1 to separate the various strands of
[E] Since the sweater is too small, you could ravel the yarnout and make something else with it.
[S] disentangle; extricate; unbraid; unsnarl; untwine; unweave
[A] braid; knit; plait;
2 to clarify by separating the aspects of
[S] clarify; elucidate; untangle;
[A] complex; perplex;
3 to tangle or complicate;
[E] a raveled story;
[S] complex; entangle;
[A] elucidate;
raze
to destroy completely
[E] Excavators were began to raze old school building.
[S] annihilate; decimate; demolish; devastate; pulverize; ruin; vaporize; wreck;
[A] construct; rear;
[P] razor;
reactionary
characterized by reaction, especially opposition to progress or liberalism; extremely conservative;
[E] reactionary rulers
[S] brassbound; conservative;
[A] liberal; radical;
ream
to criticize severely or angrily especially for personal failings
[E] You are going to get reamed out when the boss learns that you wrecked the company car.
[S] baste; berate; castigate; chastise;
[A] accredit; applaud; extol;
rebuff
to reject or criticize sharply
[E] She rebuffed an invitation from her colleagues.
[S] decline; snub;spurn
[A] accept; approve; welcome;
recalcitrant
1 marked by stubborn resistance to and defiance of authority or guidance
[E] The manager worried that the recalcitrant employee would try to undermine his authority.
[S] balky; contumacious; defiant;
[A] amenable; compliant;
[P] recalcitrancy;
recant
to withdraw or repudiate formally and publicly
[E] The man has refused after torture to recant his heresy.
[S] abjure; abnegate; forswear; renege;
[A] adhere; insist; maintain;
[P] recantation;
recessive
1 of, relating to, or designating an allele that dose not produce a characteristic effect when present with dominant allele
[E] a recessive disease
[S] dominant
2 not comfortable around people
[E] For such a recessive genius, the most comfortable thing is working alone in his lab.
[S] backward; coy; demure; diffident; introverted;
[A] extroverted;
[P] recession
recidivate
to return to a previous pattern of behavior, especially to return to criminal habits
[E] The suspect has recidivated for several times.
[S] regress; relapse; retrogress;
[A] habilitate; reclaim; regenerate;
[P] recidivism;
reciprocate
1 to move forward and backward alternately
[E] According to Marx’s economic principle, the average price of a certain product should be reciprocating over its value.
[S] fluctuate; oscillate; sway;
2 to return in kind or degree;
[E] They reciprocate the favor by driving their neighbor to the airport.
[S] recompense; repay; retaliate;
[A] owe
[P] reciprocal;
recluse
1 a person who lives away from others
[E] He was sick of cites and crowds, so he decided to go live by himself in the woods as a recluse.
[S] anchorite; eremite; hermit; isolate;
2 marked by withdraw from society
[E] a recluse poet who left a large number of literature legacies
[S] cloistered; hermetic; secluded; secluse; seclusive; sequestered;
[A] gregarious;
[P] reclusive;
reconnoiter
to make a preliminary inspection of, especially in order to gather military information
[E] The wide utilization of unmanned aerial vehicles makes it much less risky to reconnoiter a certain area.
[S] probe;scout;
[P] reconnaissance;
recumbent
lying down, especially in a position of comfort or rest
[E] lying recumbent on the floor
[S] decumbent; procumbent; prone; prostrate; reclining; supine;
[A] erect; upright;
recuperate
to recover health or strength
[E] He is gradually recuperating from a serious back injury.
[S] convalesce; heal; rally; recoup; rehabilitate;
[A] deteriorate; flag; wane;
[P] recuperative;
redoubtable
1 worthy of respect or honor [E] a surprising discovery by one of the most redoubtable figures in Egyptian archaeology. [S] bright; luminous; prestigious; [A] average; inferior; 2 arousing fear [E] His next opponent would be by far the most redoubtable adversary the young man had ever faced. [S] direful; dreadful; scary; [A] reassuring; consoling calming;
prowess
superior strength, courage, or daring, especially in battle
[E] his prowess on the football field
[S] bravery; courageousness; daring; gallantry; gut; intrepidity;
[A] timid; dastardliness; poltroonery;
