Magoosh Vocab (Advanced Words) Flashcards
artless
(adj) without cunning or deceit
sedulous
(adj) done diligently and carefully
expansive
(adj) communicative, and prone to be talking in a sociable manner
lascivious
(adj) lecherous; sexually perverted
feckless
(adj) lazy and irresponsible
imbibe
(v) to drink or absorb as if drinking
Ex: I imbibed Tamora Pierce’s work to such an extent I could recite all her books by heart
apogee
(n) the highest point
apostate
(n) a person who has abandoned a religious faith or cause
hector
(v) to bully or intimidate
ponderous
(adj) weighted-down; moving slowly
exegesis
(n) a critical explanation or analysis, especially of a text
arrant
(adj) complete and wholly
Ex: an arrant fool
truculent
(adj) having a fierce, savage nature
saturnine
(adj) morose and gloomy
indigent
(adj) poor; having very little
(n) a poor or needy person
catholic
(adj) of broad scope; universal
anathema
(n) a detested person; the source of somebody’s hate
choleric
(adj) prone to outbursts of temper; easily angered
perfunctory
(adj) done routinely and with little interest or care
untoward
(adj) unfavorable; inconvenient
kowtow
(v) to bow or act in a subservient manner
precipitate
(adj) hasty or rash
(v) to cause to happen
pariah
(n) an outcast
supercilious
(adj) haughty and disdainful; looking down on others
overweening
(adj) arrogant; presumptuous
chary
(adj) cautious, suspiciously reluctant to do something
zeitgeist
(n) spirit of the times
byzantine
(adj) intricate and complex
fractious
(adj) irritable and is likely to cause disruption
turpitude
(n) depravity; a depraved act
Ex: remembered for his turpitude
imbroglio
(n) a confusing and potentially embarrassing situation
jejune
(adj) dull; lacking flavor
(adj) immature; childlike
factitious
(adj) artificial; not natural
sententious
(adj) to be moralizing, usually in a pompous sense
picayune
(adj) trifling or petty (a person)
venial
(adj) easily excused or forgiven; pardonable
bilious
(adj) irritable; always angry
expurgate
(v) to remove objectionable material
cupidity
(n) greed for money
peremptory
(adj) bossy and domineering
invective
(n) abusive or denunciatory language
Ex: The Internet unleashes the invective in us…
parvenu
(n) a person who has suddenly become wealthy, but not socially accepted as part of a higher class
limpid
(adj) having clarity in terms of expression
phantasmagorical
(adj) illusive; unreal
palimpsest
(n) something that has been changed numerous times but on which traces of former iterations can still be seen.
Ex: The campus was a palimpsest of the schools’s checkered past: a new commons next to a dilapidated dormitory and a remodeled church next to an ancient science building.
Pyrrhic
(adj) describing a victory that comes at such a great cost that the victory is not worthwhile.
jaundiced
(adj) to be biased against due to envy or prejudice
apotheosis
(n) exaltation to divine status; the highest point of development
Ex: the apotheosis of my career is yet to come
mulct
(v) to defraud or swindle
propitiate
(v) to placate or appease
impecunious
(adj) lacking money; poor
protean
(adj) readily taking on different roles; versatile
Pollyannaish
(adj) extremely optimistic
hedge
(v) to limit or qualify a statement; to avoid making a direct statement
mettlesome
(adj) filled with courage or valor
schadenfreude
(n) the joy from watching the suffering of others
fell
(adj) terribly evil
execrate
(v) to curse or hiss at
arch
(adj) to be deliberately teasing
quisling
(n) a traitor
benighted
(adj) fallen into a state of ignorance
histrionic
(adj) to be overly theatrical
tendentious
(adj) likely to lean towards a controversial view
sangfroid
(n) calmness or poise in difficult situations
blinkered
(adj) to have a limited outlook or understanding
remonstrate
(v) to make objections while pleading
sartorial
(adj) related to fashion or clothes
arriviste
(n) a social climber
excoriate
(v) to criticize very harshly
derelict
(adj) not doing one’s duties
n) abandoned (building
pecuniary
(adj) relating to or involving money
bowdlerize
(v) edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate
gaffe
(n) a socially awkward or tactless act
moribund
(adj) being on the point of death; declining rapidly losing all momentum in progress
solecism
(n) a mistake in grammar/speech or a socially awkward or tactless act
probity
(n) integrity, strong moral principals
anodyne
(n) something that relieves pain
(adj) inoffensive
maunder
(v) to wander aimlessly
(v) to speak rapidly or incessantly
enjoin
(v) give instructions to or direct somebody to do something with authority
punctilious
(adj) marked by precise accordance to details
anemic
(adj) lacking energy or vigor
impute
(v) to attribute (responsibility or fault) to something
Ex: I imputed my subpar performance on the test to a combination of stress and poor sleep.
hagiographic
(adj) excessively flattering toward someone’s life or work
charlatan
(n) a flamboyant deceiver; one who attracts customers with tricks and jokes
effrontery
(n) audacious/arrogrant behavior that you have no right to
prolixity
(n) boring verbosity
Ex: My parent’s prolixity can be tiring.
lampoon
(v) criticize with satire
importune
(v) to beg persistently and urgently
approbatory
(adj) to express approval
perspicacious
(adj) acutely insightful and wise
mordant
(adj) biting and caustic in thought, manner, and style
redoubtable
(adj) inspiring fear or awe
temerity
(n) fearless daring
Ex: I have the temerity to apply to top schools.
artlessness
(n) the quality of innocence
immure
(v) to enclose, usually in walls
untenable
(adj) incapable of being defended or justified
Ex: the old theory proven wrong, became untenable to most people
apposite
(adj) remarkably appropriate
patent
(adj) glaringly obvious
intimation
(n) an indirect suggestion
corollary
(n) a practical consequence that follows naturally
Ex: A corollary of Super Storm Sandy was new sea walls for future storms.
obstreperous
(adj) noisily and stubbornly defiant; difficult to control
surreptitious
(adj) stealthy, taking pains not to be caught or detected
subterfuge
(n) a deception
imperious
(adj) arrogant superiority to and disdain toward views as unworthy
dispensation
(n) an exemption from a rule or obligation
Ex: White people are often given dispensation from many of society’s rules and policies.
presentiment
(n) a feeling of evil to come
Ex: I had a presentiment about taking the GRE
tempestuous
(adj) as if driven by turbulent or conflicting emotions; fluctuating and wild
Ex: tempestuous relationship
invidious
(adj) likely to cause resentment
lacerate
(v) to deeply hurt the feelings of; distress
recrimmination
mutual accusations
unpropitious
(adj) with little change of success (of a circumstance)
machinate
(v) to engage in plotting/a conspiracy, swear together
inimitable
(adj) defying imitation; matchless
inviolate
(adj) must be kept sacred
broadside
(n) a strong verbal attack
inanity
(n) the total lack of meaning or ideas
Ex: No point in making sense of inanity.
antic
(adj) ludicrously odd
Ex: the antic act was too extreme for the kids
unprpossessing
(adj) creating an unfavorable or neutral first impression
deign
(v) to do something that one considers below one’s dignity
rapprochement
(n) the reestablishment of cordial relations
Ex: Peter and I had a rapprochement.
browbeat
(v) to be bossy
baleful
(adj) threatening/foreshadowing evil
ersatz
(adj) not real or genuine; phony
apothegm
(n) a short, pithy instructive saying
Ex: Churchill is famous for his apothegms
empiricism
(n) any method that derives knowledge from experience
ineffable
(adj) too sacred to be uttered; defying expression or description
Ex: The numerous reasons I love Nozowa are ineffable.
chagrin
(n) strong feelings of embarrassment
(v) to feel shame; to hurt the pride of
effervescent
(adj) marked by high spirits or excitement
chimera
(n) something desired or wished for but it only an illusion and impossible to achieve
untrammeled
(adj) not confined or limited
Ex: Living untrammeled is a core American value.
appurtenant
(adj) supplying added support
epigram
(n) a witty saying
objurgate
(v) express strong disapproval of
solicitude
(n) the feeling of excessive concern
Ex: I do not appreciate my mother’s solicitude.
unstinting
(adj) very generous
atavism
(n) a reappearance of an earlier characteristic; a throwback
Ex: The current bob trend is an atavism to the 1920s.
solicitous
(adj) showing hovering attetiveness
enormity
(n) an act of extreme wickedness
Ex: The enormity of the Pol Pot’s regime…
fecund
(adj) intellectually productive
callow
(adj) young and unexperienced
conflate
(v) to mix together different elements and concepts
elegiac
(adj) expressing sorrow
conflagration
(n) a very intense and uncontrolled fire
pellucid
(adj) easily understood; transparently clear
pontificate
(v) to talk in a dogmatic and pompous manner
internecine
(adj) within a group or organization (of conflict)
Ex: the regime was finally destroyed by a internecine conflict between high ranking officers
impugn
(v) to attack as false or wrong
coterminous
(adj) being of equal extent or scope or duration
discursive
(adj) tending to depart from the main point (of a speech or writing)
dolorous
(adj) showing sorrow
bridle
(v) to retrain the power or action or limit excess
(v) to react with anger or take offense
desiccated
(adj) uninteresting, lacking vitality
afford
(v) to provide with an opportunity
Ex: My Fulbright affords a hands-on experience in Morocco.
obtuse
(adj) slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity; lacking insight or discernment
Ex: the most obtuse member
turgid
(adj) pompous and tedious (of language)
ethereal
(adj) characterized by lightness and insubstantially
doughty
(adj) brave; bold; courageous
facile
(adj) arrived at without due care or effort; lacking depth
Ex: The professor gave facile explanations to complex social problems
malingerer
(n) someone shirking their duty by pretending to be sick or incapacitated
unimpeachable
(adj) free of guilt; not subject to blame; beyond doubt or reproach
bromide
(n) a trite or obvious remark
desideratum
(n) something desired as a necessity
Ex: The desideratum of the environmental group…
aplomb
(n) great coolness and composure under strain
Ex: The IMAT team acted with aplomb during natural disasters.
stultify
(v) to cause one, through routine, to lose energy and enthusiasm
Ex: Over the course of weeks, I felt stultified by the Quantitative GRE books.
infelicitous
(adj) inappropriate
adjudicate
(v) to serve as a judge in a competition; to arrive at a judgement or conclusion
bereft
(adj) unhappy in love; suffering from unrequited love
(adj) sorrowful through loss or deprivation
exiguity
(n) the quality of being meager
palaver
(v) to speak (about unimportant matters) rapidly and incessantly
splenetic
(adj) very irritable
misattribute
(v) to falsely ascribe (especially of authorship)
Ex: I misattributed “Romeo & Juliette” to JR Tolken
extrapolate
(v) to draw from specific cases for more general cases
promulgate
(v) to state or announce
verisimilitude
(n) the appearance of truth
Ex: good novels are good because of their verisimilitude of reality
ebullient
(adj) joyously unrestrained
modicum
(n) a small or moderate or token amount
dissipate
(v) to squander money
(v) to disperse or scatter
abrogate
(v) revoke or relinquish formally; do away with
evanescent
(adj) tending to vanish like vapor
cataclysm
(n) an event resulting in great loss and misfortune
dissemble
(v) to conceal one’s true motives (prevaricate) usually through deceit
dissolution
(n) a living full of debauchery and indulgence in sensual pleasure
trenchant
(adj) force and vigor; especially in thought, expression, or intellect
Ex: trenchant analysis
pillory
(v) ridicule or expose to public scorn
simulacrum
(n) a representation of a person (sculpture)
(n) a bad imitation
obtain
(v) to be valid, applicable, true
Ex: Some cultural practices do not obtain universally.
capitulate
(v) to surrender (usually under agreed conditions)
canard
(n) a deliberately misleading fabrication
Ex: Trump’s canards
oblique
(adj) not straightforward; indirect
ineluctable
(adj) impossible to avoid or evade
concomitant
(adj) describing an event or situation that happens at the same time as or in connection with another
eponym
(n) the name derived from a person (real or imaginary); the person for whom something is named
