Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

GRE vocab > S > Flashcards

S Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
GRE® Vocabulary flashcards GRE® Psychology flashcards
1
Q

Scathing

A

Adj

Witheringly scornful; severely critical:

She launched a scathing attack on the governor.

Synonym: scorching

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Salubrious

A

Adj

Health-giving; healthy; medicinal:

Vegetables are salubrious foods which provide essential nutrients.

Synonym: beneficial; therapeutic

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Salacious

A

Adj

(of writings, pictures, etc.) obscene; grossly indecent:

The newspapers once again filled their columns with salacious details.

Synonym: erotic

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Sagacious

A

Adj

having or showing acute mental discernment and keen practical sense; shrewd:

He is a sagacious businessman.

Synonym: astute; circumspect; perspicacious; prudent

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

Sanguine

A

Adj

optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad or difficult situation.

“he is sanguine about prospects for the global economy”

synonyms: optimistic, bullish, hopeful, buoyant, positive, confident, cheerful, cheery

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Spurious

A

Adjective

not being what it purports to be; false or fake.

“separating authentic and spurious claims”

synonyms: bogus, fake, false, counterfeit, forged

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Sullen

A

Adj

bad-tempered and sulky; gloomy.

“a sullen pout”

synonyms: surly, sulky

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Stanch

A

Verb

Stop the flow of blood from a wound.

Colleagues may have saved her life by stanching the flow.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Sycophant

A

Noun

a person who acts obsequiously toward someone important in order to gain advantage:

I thought you wanted a competent assistant, not a nodding sycophant.

Synonym: bootlicker

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Sequestration

A

Noun

The action of taking legal possession of assets until a debts has been paid or other claims have been met:

If such court injunctions are ignore, sequestration of trade union assets will follow.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Seditious

A

Adj

Inciting or causing people to rebel against the authority of a state or monarch:

He fell under suspicion for distributing seditious pamphlets.

Synonym: provocative

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Sacrosanct

A

Adj

Extremely sacred; beyond criticism:

Many people considered Mother Teresa to be sacrosanct and would not tolerate any criticism of her.

Synonym: holy; inviolable; off-limits.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

Salient

A

Adj

Prominent, of notable significance:

His most salient characteristic if his tendency to dominate every conversation.

Synonym: marked; noticeable; outstanding

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

Sardonic

A

Adj

Cynical; scornfully mocking:

Isabella was offended by the sardonic way in which her date made fun of her ideas and opinions.

Synonym: acerbic; caustic; sarcastic; satirical

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

Satiate

A

Verb

To satisfy fully or overindulge:

His desire for power was so great that nothing less than complete control of the country could satiate it.

Synonym: cloy; glut; gorge; surfeit

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

Scintilla

A

Noun

Trace amount:

This poison is so powerful that no more than scintilla of it is needed to kill a horse.

Synonym: atom; iota; speck

17
Q

Sentient

A

Adj

Aware; conscious; able to perceive:

The anesthetic didn’t work, and I was still sentient when the dentist started drilling!

Synonym: feeling; thinking

18
Q

Seraphic

A

Adj

Angelic, sweet:

Selena’s seraphic appearance belied her nasty, better personality.

Synonym: cherubic; heavenly.

19
Q

Sinecure

A

Noun

A well-paying job or office that requires little or no work:

The corrupt mayor made sure to set up all his relatives in sinecures within the administration.

20
Q

Slake

A

Verb

To calm down or moderate:

In order to slake his curiosity, Bryan finally took a tour backstage at the theater.

Synonym: moderate; quench; satisfy

21
Q

Sobriquet

A

Noun

Nickname:

One of Ronald Reagan’s sobriquets was “The Gipper.”

Synonym: alias; pseudonym

22
Q

Solecism

A

Noun

Grammatical mistake; blunder in speech:

“I ain’t going with you,” she said, obviously unaware of her solecism.

Synonym: blooper; faux pas; vulgarism

23
Q

Soporific

A

Adj

Causing sleep or lethargy:

The movie proved to be so soporific that soon loud snores were heard throughout the cinema.

Synonym: hypnotic; narcotic; slumberous; somnolent

24
Q

Spartan

A

Adj

Highly self-disciplined; frugal, austere:

When he was in training, the athlete preferred to live in a spartan room so he could shut out all distractions.

Synonym: restrained; simple

25
Q

Specious

A

Adj

Deceptively attractive; seemingly plausible but fallacious:

The student’s specious excuse sounded legitimate until his teacher called his home.

Synonym: ostensible; spurious; meretricious

26
Q

Sportive

A

Adj

Frolicsome, playful:

The lakeside vacation meant more sportive opportunities for the kids than the wine tour through France.

Synonym: frisky; merry

27
Q

Stasis

A

Noun

A state of static balance or equilibrium; stagnation:

The rusty, ivy-covered World War II tank had obviously been in stasis for years.

Synonym: inertia; standstill

28
Q

Stentorian

A

Adj

extremely loud:

Cullen couldn’t hear her speaking over the stentorian din of the game on TV.

Synonym: clamorous; noisy

29
Q

Stigma

A

Noun

a mark of shame or discredit:

In “The Scarlet Letter” Hester was required to wear the letter ‘A’ on her clothes as a public stigma for her adultery.

Synonym: blemish; blot; opprobrium

30
Q

Stolid

A

Adj

unemotional, lacking sensitivity:

The prisoner appeared stolid and unaffected by the judge’s harsh sentence.

Synonym: apathetic; impassive; phlegmatic

31
Q

Stratagem

A

Noun

Trick designed to deceive an enemy:

The Trojan horse must be one of the most successful military stratagems used throughout history.

Synonym: artifice; feint; maneuver; ruse

32
Q

Sublime

A

Adj

Lofty or grand:

The music was so sublime that it transformed the rude surroundings into a special place.

Synonym: august; grand; resplendent

33
Q

Sully

A

Verb

To tarnish, taint:

With the help of a public relations firm, he was able to restore his sullied reputation.

Synonym: besmirch, defile

34
Q

Supplant

A

Verb

to replace (another) by force; to take places of:

The overthrow of the government meant a new leader to supplant the tyrannical former one.

Synonym: displace; supersede

35
Q

Surfeit

A

Noun

excessive amount:

Because of the surfeit of pigs, pork prices have never been lower.

Synonym: plethora; repletion; surplus

36
Q

Surly

A

Adj

Rude and bad-tempered:

When asked to clean the windshield, the surly gas station attendant tossed a dirty rag at the customer and walked away.

Synonym: gruff; irascible; grumpy

37
Q

Sybarite

A

Noun

a person devoted to pleasure and luxury:

A confirmed sybarite, the nobleman fainted at the thought of having to leave his palace and live in a small cottage.

Synonym: hedonist; sensualist

38
Q

Symbiosis

A

Noun

cooperation, mutual helpfulness:

There is no other team with the privilege to have such a deep symbiosis with a football genius.

Synonym: association; interdependence

39
Q

Syncopation

A

Noun

temporary irregularity in musical rhythm:

A jazz enthusiast will appreciate the use of syncopation in this musical genre.

GRE vocab (27 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions