I's Flashcards
Iconoclast
Attacker of cherished beliefs or institutions.
A lifelong iconoclast, Ayn Rand wrote a controversial book entitled The Virtue of Selfishness.
Imminent
Ready to occur, impending.
In the face of imminent war, the nation looked to its leader for reassurance.
Immunity
The state of not being susceptible to disease; exemption from a duty or liability; exemption from legal punishment. Diplomatic immunity is an example of immunity meaning exemption from legal punishment.
Every year, New York City loses millions of dollars when United Nations diplomats don’t pay their parking tickets, since the diplomats have immunity from U.S. laws.
Impair
Make worse, weaken.
Playing in a rock band while failing to use earplugs will almost certainly impair your hearing over time.
Impartial
Unbiased, fair. Disinterested, dispassionate, and nonpartisan are all related to being fair and not having a bias or personal stake.
Judge Gonzales removed himself from the case because, having a personal connection to the school where the alleged violation took place, he did not think he could be appropriately impartial.
Impasse
Position or road from which there is no escape; deadlock, gridlock.
If the union won’t budge on its demands and the transit authority won’t raise salaries, then we are at an impasse.
Impede
Hold back, obstruct the progress of.
I didn’t realize graduate school would consist of so much group work; sadly, there’s always at least one person in every group who impedes the group’s progress more than helps it.
Impinge on
Trespass on, violate.
Civil liberties experts argued that a school system’s regulation of what its students do on Facebook outside of school is an impingement on their right to free speech.
Implode
Burst inward; metaphorically, to collapse or break down.
The startup struggled for years before it simply imploded - the management team broke into factions, all the clients were scared off, and employees who hadn’t been paid in weeks began taking the office computers home with them in retribution.
Imply
Hint at, suggest, “say without saying”.
Impute
To credit to, to attribute to; lay blame or responsibility for.
The ineffectual CEO was nevertheless a master of public relations - he made sure that all successes were imputed to him, and all of the failures were imputed to others.
Inadvertently
Accidentally, carelessly, as a side effect.
In attempting to perfect his science project, he inadvertently blew a fuse and plunged his family’s home into darkness.
Inasmuch
Since, because; usually inasmuch as
Inasmuch as a whale is not a fish, it will not be covered in this biology course specifically about fish.
Incentive
Something that encourages greater action or effort, such as a reward.
A controversial program in a failing school system uses cash payments as an incentive for students to stay in school.
Incidentally
Accidentally, not intentionally, Incidentally can also mean b the way and is used to introduce information that is only slightly related. Incidentals can refer to expenses that are “on the side” (The company given us $100 a day for meals and incidentals).
The environmental protection law was incidentally injurious to the rubber industry.
I think we should move forward with the new office. Incidentally, there’s a great Mexican restaurant opening up right across the street from it!
Incinerate
Burn, reduce to ashes, cremate.
Inconsequential
Insignificant, unimportant. The sense here is that the thing is so small that it doesn’t even have consequences.
You wrote a best-selling book and got a stellar review in the New York Times - whatever your cousin has to say about it is simply inconsequential.
Incorporate
Combine, unite; form a legal corporation; embody, give physical form to.
When a business incorporates, it becomes a separate legal entity; for instance, the business can be sued without personal consequences for the owners.
Local legend has it that ghosts can incorporate on one night of the year and walk among the living.
Indeterminate
Not fixed or determined, indefinite; vague.
The results of the drug trial were indeterminate; further trials will be needed to ascertain whether the drug can be released.
The lottery can have an indeterminate number of winners - the prize is simply divided among them.
Indicative
Indicating, suggestive of. Usually used as indicative of.
Your symptoms are indicative of the common cold.
Induce
Persuade or influence (a person to do something); bring about, cause to happen (to induce labor when a birth is not proceeding quickly enough).
Inert
Inactive; having little or no power to move.
All fo the missiles at the military museums are inert - they’re not going blow up.
When she saw her father’s inert body on the floor, she thought the worst, but fortunately he was just practicing very slow yoga.
Inevitable
Not able to be avoided or escaped; certain.
Benjamin Franklin famously said that only two things in life are inevitable : “death and taxes.”
Inexplicable
Not able to be explained.
Inextricably
In a way such that one cannot untangle or escape something. If you are inextricably tied to something (such as your family), then you have so many different obligations and deep relationships that you could never leave, disobey, etc.
Infer
Conclude from evidence or premises. Remember, on the GRE, infer means draw a definitely true conclusion. It does not mean “assume”!
Inform
Inspire, animate; give substance, essence or context to; be the characteristic quality of. Inform most commonly means “impart knowledge to”; thus, many students are confused when they see the word used in other ways on the GRE.
Her work as an art historian is informed by a background in drama; where others see a static tableau, she sees a protagonist, a conflict, a denouement.
Ingenuity
Inventive skill, imagination, cleverness, especially in design.
Ingrained
Deep-rooted, forming part of the very essence; worked into the fiber.
Religious observance had been ingrained in him since birth; he could not remember a time when he didn’t pray five times a day.
Inherent
Existing as a permanent, essential quality; intrinsic.
New research seems to support the idea that humans have an inherent sense of justice - even babies become upset at puppet shows depicting unfairness.
Initial
First, at the beginning. An initial deposit might be the money you put down to open a new bank account.
Inordinate
Excessive, not within proper limits, unrestrained.
Students taking GRE practice tests at home often take an inordinate number of breaks - remember, on the real thing, you can’t stop just because you’re tired or hungry.
Instrumental
Serving as a means of doing something. Just as you might call a weapon an instrument of war, saying He was instrumental in the restructuring has the sense that the person was used as an instrument in order to get something done.
Insular
Pertaining to an island; detached, standing alone; narrow-minded (like the stereotype of people from small towns or places).
The young actress couldn’t wait to escape the insularity of her small town, where life revolved around high school football and Taco Bell was considered exotic international cuisine.
Interplay
Interaction, reciprocal relationship or influence.
Bilingual readers will enjoy the interplay of English and Spanish in many of the poems in this anthology of the work of Mexican-American poets.
Intractable
Difficult to control, manage, or manipulate; hard to cure; stubborn.
That student is positively intractable! Last week, we talked about the importance of staying your seat during the lesson; this week, she not only got up mid-class, but she actually scrambled on top of a bookcase and refused to come down!
Back injuries often results in intractable pain; despite treatment, patients never feel fully cured.
Intrepid
Fearless, brave, enduring in the face of adversity.
The intrepid explorers volunteered for the first manned mission to Mars, despite the fact that scientists estimated the chance of success at just 40%.
Intrinsic
Belonging to the essential nature of a thing.
Despite all of the high-tech safety equipment, skydiving is an intrinsically dangerous proposition.
Communication is intrinsic to a healthy relationship.
Inundate
Flood, cover with water, overwhelm.
As the city was inundated with water, the mayor feared that many evacuees would have nowhere to go.
I can’t go out - I am inundated with homework!
Invaluable
Priceless; so valuable that the value cannot be measured.
Investiture
Investing; formally giving someone a right or title.
The former dean had her academic robes dry cleaned in preparation for her investiture as university president.
Involved
Complicate, intricate; confused or tangled.
The story is quite involved - are you sure you have time for it?
Invulnerable
Immune to attack; not vulnerable; impossible to damage, injure, etc.
Isotope
Forms of the same chemical element, but with different numbers of neutrons in the nucleus or different atomic weights. Different isotopes of the same element have almost (but not quite!) identical properties.
