GRE_3000_List27 Flashcards
verdant
green with vegetation; covered with green growth
[E] verdant fields;
[S] leafy; luxuriant;
[A] infertile; sterile;
veritable
being in fact the thing named and not false
[E] a veritable manuscript
[S] authentic; genuine;
[A] bogus; fake
vernacular
1 a nonstandard language;
[E] phrases that occur in the common vernacular
[S] argot; cant; dialect;
2 used in or suitable for speech
[E] write essays in a very easy-to-read, vernacular style
[S] conversational;
[A] bookish;
vertigo
a dizzy confused state of mind
[E] He had a dreadful attack of vertigo at the top of the tower.
[S] dizziness; giddiness;
[A] sobriety;
vestige
the smallest quantity or trace
[E] A few strange words carved on a stone were the only vestige of the lost civilization.
[S] residual;
[P] vestigial;
vestigial
having a simple structure and reduced size and function during the evolution of the species
[E] snake that has vestigial limbs
[S] incomplete; rudimentary; undeveloped;
[A] adult; ripe;
veto
to forbid or prohibit authoritatively;
[E] The president vetoed the bill.
[S] blackball; disallow;
[A] accredit; approbate;
viable
capable of being done [E] a viable solution to the problem [S] achievable; attainable; doable; [A] infeasible; [P] viability;
vicarious
substitute for another
[E] use internet as a vicarious form of social life
[S] surrogate; substitute;
[P] firsthand;
vicissitude
natural change or mutation visible in nature or in human affairs. [E] vicissitude of daily life [S] fluctuation ; [A] uniformity; [P] vicissitudinous;
vignette
a vivid representation in words of someone or something
[E] The general’s memoirs are filled with revealing vignettes os some of the war’s most compelling personalities.
[S] definition; depiction; portrayal;
vilify
to utter slanderous and abusive statements against;
[E] be vilified by the press because of her radical views
[S] asperse; blacken; calumniate; defame;
[A] acclaim; applaud;
[P] vilification;
vindictive
disposed to seek revenge
[E] vindictive hatred for his brother
[S] avenging; resentful;
[A] forgiving; merciful; relenting;
viscid
having a glutinous consistency
[E] viscid tree resin
[S] adherent; adhesive; clingy;
[A] slick;
viscous
viscid
[E] viscous syrup that takes forever to pour from a narrow-neck bottle.
[S] glutinous; syrup;
[A] fluid; watery;
vitiate
1 to reduce the value or impair the quality of
[E] Too many grammatical errors can vitiate the soundness of your writing, so double check is recommended before submission.
[S] blemish; deface;
[A] recondition;
2 to debase in moral;
[E] Penchant for coarse language vitiates what is otherwise a refined literary style.
[S] abase; corrupt;
[A] elevated; ennoble;
[P] vitiated;
vitriolic
bitterly scathing [E] vitriolic criticism [S] acerbic; harsh; [A] nonabrasive; [P] vitriol
volition
the act or power of making one’s own choice or decisions
[E] beyond his volition or control
[S] choice; decision;
[A] coercion; duress;
voluptuous
given to or spent in enjoyments of luxury, pleasure, or sensual gratifications
[E] They spent a long and voluptuous holiday in Venice;
[S] carnal; epicurean; luscious; lush;
[A] ascetic; spartan;
[P] voluptuary
votary
a person who is fervently devoted, as to a leader or ideal; a faithful follower
[E] votaries of the religious leader
[S] acolyte; devotee;
[A] bellwether; apostate;
vouch
to declare to be true
[E] willing to vouch for her integrity
[S] attest; avouch; warrant;
waffle
to talk or write foolishly
[E] The lecturer could waffle on for hours
[S] babble; blather; drivel; gabble; prattle;
[A] articulate;
waft
to float easily and gently
[E] Heavenly aromas wafted form the kitchen.
[S] buoy; drift; hang;
[A] flounder; sink;
wag
1 a humorous or droll person [E] Some wag wrote a droll satire on the scandal. [S] comedian; comic; droll; 2 to move to and fro or up and down [E] The dog waged its tails [S] swish; switch; waggle;
wane
to decrease in size [E] The moon wanes and waxes. [S] ebb; moderate; [A] burgeon ; escalate; wax; [P] waning;
warmonger
one who urges or attempts to stir up war
[E] Fortunately, the warmongers met with overwhelming opposition.
[S] belligerent; hawk; jingoist;
[A] dove; pacifist;
warp
1 to turn from a correct or proper course
[S] avert; deflect; divert;
[A] straighten;
2 to twist out of a natural or normal shape or condition
[E] The heat caused the wood to warp.
[S] deform; misshape;screw; torture;
[P] warped;
3 to change so much as to create a wrong impression or later the meaning of
[E] The faculty English translation really warps the meaning of original Chinese context.
[S] distort; falsify; twist;
[A] clarify;
wastrel
one who expends foolishly and self-indulgently
[E] He ended up being a wastrel and a drunkard;
[S] fritterer; profligate;
[A] economizer;
waylay
to lie in wait for or attack from ambush
[E] Unsuspecting tourists are often waylaid by gangs.
[S] ambush; assault; lurk;
welter
a state of wild disorder
[E] There was a swelter of pushing and shoving
[S] disturbance; furor;
[A] tranquility; order;
wheedle
to persuade or attempt to persuade by guile
[E] She pleaded and wheedled, but I would not be swayed.
[S] adulate;
[A] coerce; oblige;
whet
to sharping or rubbing on or with something
[E] whet the dagger with the grindstone
[S] edge; grind; hone; strop
[A] blunt;
whiff
1 a quick puff or slight gust especially of air, odor, gas, smoke, or spray
[E] A whiff of fresh air reinvigorated him.
[S] puff;
[A] blast;
2 an almost imperceptible sign of something
[E] Humanity is unregenerable and hates the language of conformity, since conformity has a whiff of the inhuman about it.
[S] flicker ; glimmer;
wince
shrink back from pain
[E] wince at the horrible corpses
[S] blench; quail ; quiver;
[A] confront; face;
windbag
an exhaustively talkative person
[E] With a windbag like that, who needs a wind farm to meet our energy needs?
[S] babbler; gabbler;
wizen
1 to become dry shrunken, and wrinkled often as a result of aging or of failing vitality [S] dry; mummify; shrivel; wither [A] revive; 2 dried up [S] faded; [A] blooming;
wobble
to move or proceed with an irregular rocking or staggering motion or unsteadily and clumsy from side to side
[E] The drunk stood up, wobbled and fell forward.
[S] rock; totter ;
[A] stabilize;
wrangle
1 an often noisy or angry expression of differing opinions
[E] There was a bit of a wrangle over how much money to give the high school for its sports programs
[S] altercation; dispute;
[A] harmony;
2 to quarrel angrily
[E] Local residents wrangled for hours about property taxes.
[S] altercate; bicker;
[A] wrangler;
wry
1 abnormally twisted [E] a wry smile [S] bending ; crooked; [A] common; normal; 2 stubborn in adherence to wrong opinion or principles; [S] headstrong; obstinate; [A] compliant; flexible;
xenophobe
one unduly fearful of what is foreign and especially of people of foreign origin
[E] But from what I know, no way could this thoroughly US-educated woman be a xenophobe.
[A] xenomania;
[P] xenophobia;
yokel
a naive or gullible inhabitant of a rural area or small town
[E] a lame comedy about the misadventures of yokels in the big city.
[S] bucolic; bumpkin;
[A] cosmopolitan;
zenith
culminating point
[E] at the zenith of his power
[S] acme; apex; apogee; climax; crescendo; crest;
[A] nadir;
zesty
appealingly piquant or lively
[E] a zesty sauce
[S] peppery ; piquant; pungent; salty; spicy;
[A] bland; insipid; vapid;zestless;
veracious
1 being in the habit of telling the truth
[E] He has a reputation for being very veracious, so people generally take his word for things.
[S] honest;
[A] prevaricating;
2 precise; accurate;
[E] a novel that presents a fairly veracious and unvarnished picture of the lives of affluent suburbanites.
[S] accurate;
[A] false; improper;
