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Vocab Flashcards

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GRE® Vocabulary flashcards
1
Q

eminence

A

fame or recognized superiority, especially within a sphere or profession

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2
Q

notoriety; notorious

A

famous for some bad quality or deed

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3
Q

egregious

A

outstandingly bad; shocking

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4
Q

precarious

A

Not securely held or in position

uncertain, dependent on chance

(“Take pre-care so it doesn’t fall!”; “Why should I pre-care if it’s up to chance?”)

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5
Q

equity

A

the quality of being fair and impartial

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6
Q

fortuitous

A

happening by accident or luck

“fortunate accident”

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7
Q

fastidiousness

A

very concerned about accuracy and detail, cleanliness

“Fast to clean up but can’t be fast when paying attention to every detail”

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8
Q

didactic

A

intended to teach, scholastic

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9
Q

iconoclasm

A

attacking cherished beliefs or established institutions;

destroy images used in worship

(“icon-breaker”)

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10
Q

polemical

A

strongly critical, controversial writing or speech; harsh

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11
Q

copious

A

abundant in quantity

profuse in speech or ideas

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12
Q

acerbic

A

sharp and direct, cutting;

sour or bitter

(“acerbic acid”; “acidic tone”)

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13
Q

miserly

A

person who hoards wealth;

a pitiable small quantity

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14
Q

diffidence

A

modesty or shyness; self-consciousness

“She was self-conscious cause she was different”

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15
Q

tenuous

A

very weak or slight, insubstantial

“thin”

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16
Q

ephemeral

A

lasting for a very short time

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17
Q

egalitarian

A

the belief in the equality of all people, especially in political, economic or social life

(“egal” = “equal”)

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18
Q

mercurial

A

Subject to sudden or unpredictable changes of mind or mood;

“mercury made them crazy!”

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19
Q

lionization

A

to treat as a celebrity

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20
Q

foreground

A

The most prominent or important position

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21
Q

caprice

A

a sudden unaccountable change of mood or behavior;

fad, whimsy

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22
Q

aesthetics

A

of pleasing appearance

a set of principles underlying the work of an artist/artistic movement

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23
Q

modicum

A

small quantity of something considered valuable

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24
Q

demur

A

objecting to or hesitating over something

“delay”

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25
Q

demure

A

Modest

“demure dress”

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26
Q

schism

A

a division between strongly opposed sections caused by differences in opinion or belief

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27
Q

sartorial

A

related to tailoring, clothes or style of dress

“sart” the clothes

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28
Q

panache

A

flamboyant confidence of style or manner;

a tuft of plume or feathers

(“Pana-shay”)

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29
Q

quixotic

A

unrealistic and impractical; romantic

“this quick sand is an ideal fantasy but unrealistic”

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30
Q

brandish

A

wave or flourish as a threat or in anger or excitement

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31
Q

attenuation

A

a reduction of force, effect or value of something

you attend to the baby to reduce it’s crying

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32
Q

innocuous

A

harmless

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33
Q

remedial

A

giving as a remedy or cure

“remedy”

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34
Q

benign

A

gentle, kindly, mild or favorable, not harmful

“be kind”

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35
Q

antedate

A

to precede in time

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36
Q

antiquate

A

old fashioned or out of date

“anti-date”

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37
Q

inundate

A

flood; overwhelm someone with things to be dealt with

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38
Q

trite

A

overused and unimportant;

lacking originality or freshness

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39
Q

arbitrary

A

based on random choice rather than reason; subjective

unrestrained and autocratic (absolute power) in the use of authority

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40
Q

deference

A

humble submission; respectful

“I defer to you out of respect”

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41
Q

obsequious

A

obedient to an excessive degree

“Ob-seqious”=”ob-edient”

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42
Q

intransigent

A

unwilling to change one’s views

“in-trans” = “not change”

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43
Q

allegory

A

can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning

“the allies put a secret message in the text”

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44
Q

probity

A

honesty and decency

probity = integrity; “probus” = “good”

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45
Q

disapprobation

A

strong disapproval

“disapprove”

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46
Q

acquisitive

A

excessively interested in acquiring money or material things

“aqui” = “aquire” = “greedy”

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47
Q

profligate

A

recklessly extravagant or wasteful

“he was pro-flinging things everywhere”

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48
Q

reprobate

A

an unprincipled person;

a sinner destined for damnation

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49
Q

libertine

A

disregard for morality, especially in sexual matters

“liberty” = “free” = “free to be a piece of shit”

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50
Q

licentious

A

promiscuous; disregarding rules

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51
Q

dissolute

A

lax in morals

“not soluble in morals”

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52
Q

fractiousness

A

irritable and quarrelsome; difficult to control

“ready to fracture your friendship by fighting with you”

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53
Q

erroneous

A

wrong

“error”

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54
Q

antithetical

A

directly opposed or contrasted; mutually incompatible

(“anti-theory = not possible; they are opposites”

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55
Q

immutable

A

unchanging over time

“can’t mute = can’t change how loud it is”

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56
Q

perfunctory

A

carried out with a minimum of effort or reflection

“per-funt = not per-fect because they didn’t think about it or try”

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57
Q

paradigm

A

a typical example or pattern

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58
Q

archetype

A

a typical example; representative or symbol

“an arch-type symbol”

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59
Q

profundity

A

deep insight, great depth of knowledge, quality or emotion

“profound in depth”

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60
Q

acuity

A

sharpness of thought, vision or hearing

“acio” from harry potter gets one specific thing

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61
Q

inimical

A

unfriendly or hostile

“enemy-ical”

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62
Q

pellucid

A

translucently clear; easily understood

“pel-lucid”

63
Q

enigmatic

A

difficult to interpret or understand; mysterious

“enigma”

64
Q

anachronistic

A

belonging to a period other than that being portrayed

“ana-chronical” = not chronologically consistent

65
Q

ploddingly

A

develop at a slow but constant pace, but lacking in excitement or imagination

66
Q

impetuous

A

without thought or care;

moving rapidly and forcefully

(“impet” = impact forcefully without thought or care)

67
Q

superfluous

A

unnecessary, unneeded due to being more than enough

“super-flow” = to flow over

68
Q

venal

A

corrupt

69
Q

unscrupulous

A

having no moral principles, unethical

70
Q

scrupulous

A

diligent, thorough;

very concerned to avoid doing wrong

(OCD in both respects = meticulous AND morally obsessed)

71
Q

assiduous

A

to show great care and perseverance

“assid” = “assess” = to assess carefully

72
Q

sedulous

A

showing dedication and diligence

“Sed was a dedicated dad and father”

73
Q

zeal

A

showing great energy or enthusiasm toward a cause; passion

“Hazzah! = Ha-zeal!”

74
Q

nuance

A

a subtle difference

75
Q

estrangement

A

alienate; no longer affectionate

“estranged” wife = not only moved out but also a bad relationship

76
Q

indemnity

A

to compensate for harm or loss

to secure against damage or loss

(opposite of “condemn” = not harming or taking away, but protecting or compensating for loss)

77
Q

row

A

a loud uproar or quarrel

“he splashes a lot when he rows and it’s super loud and so I fight with him”

78
Q

pithy

A

concise and forcefully expressive

79
Q

pith

A

the essence of something; the main point

80
Q

stigmatize

A

to condemn

“mark with stigmata = jesus was condemned to death”

81
Q

marginalize

A

to treat as insignificant or peripheral

“on the margin so you didn’t even see it”

82
Q

peripheral

A

on the edge;

of secondary or minor important, marginal

83
Q

tangential

A

erratic, unrelated

relating to a tangent

84
Q

incidental

A

accompanying but not a major part of something; occurring by chance along with something else;

liable to happen as a consequence

85
Q

liability

A

being responsible for something, burden;

a person who is likely to cause embarrassment or put you at a disadvantage

86
Q

proselytize

A

Convert or attempt to convert someone from one belief to another

87
Q

salubrious

A

Healthy, pleasant

88
Q

dissident

A

in opposition to official policy

89
Q

accede

A

agree to a demand

90
Q

belie

A

disguise or contradict; betray

“You be lyin”

91
Q

imperious

A

arrogant and domineering

“Imperial = relating to an empire”

92
Q

penitential

A

feeling or showing sorrow and regret for having done wrong

relating to penance

“penance = penitence = penitential = repentance”

93
Q

austerity

A

sternness or severity of manner or attitude

extreme plainness and simplicity

94
Q

intractable

A

hard to control or deal with; difficult or stubborn

95
Q

prosaic

A

lacking poetic beauty; commonplace, unromantic

96
Q

prodigal/ prodigality

A

lavish and wastefully extravagant; excessive spending

97
Q

hackneyed

A

unoriginal and trite

98
Q

restive

A

unable to keep still or silent

“restive = restless”

99
Q

vociferous

A

intense and outspoken, clamorous

“raise your voice”

100
Q

circumscribe

A

restrict within limits

“circumcision - setting a limit of length”

101
Q

indecorous

A

not keeping with good taste; improper and unseemly

102
Q

unseemly

A

not proper or appropriate

103
Q

recalcitrant

A

uncooperative attitude toward authority or discipline

intractable, obstinate, unmanageable

104
Q

preclude

A

prevent something from happening

“stop it before it can conclude”

105
Q

delimit

A

determine the limits or boundaries of

“determine the limit”

106
Q

obstinate

A

stubbornly refusing to change one’s opinion or course action despite persuasion

107
Q

sardonic

A

grimly mocking or cynical

108
Q

banal

A

obvious and boring

109
Q

vapid

A

obvious and boring

110
Q

Disinterestedness

A

unbiased, impartial

111
Q

Impenetrable

A

Can mean impossible to understand

112
Q

Volubility

A

Talking a lot

113
Q

Providential

A

Occurring at a favorable time, opportune

114
Q

Ethos

A

Characteristic spirit

115
Q

Tumultuous

A

Excited, confused or disorderly, uproarious

116
Q

repudiate

A

refuse, reject, deny

117
Q

recapitulate

A

summarize and state again the main points of

118
Q

patent

A

easily recognizable; obvious

119
Q

pervasive

A

spreading widely (especially unwelcome)

120
Q

arcane

A

understood by few; mysterious or secret

121
Q

laudable

A

deserving praise, admirable

122
Q

cunning

A

skillfully achieving one’s ends by deceit or evasion

attractive

123
Q

vexation

A

state of being annoyed, frustrated or worried

124
Q

laconic

A

using few words; brief

125
Q

irresolute

A

uncertain; hesitant

126
Q

munificent

A

very generous (opposite of maleficent)

127
Q

solicitous

A

anxious, concerned, interested

128
Q

taciturn

A

reserved, untalkative

129
Q

mendacity

A

untruthfulness

130
Q

prevarication

A

deliberately mislead

131
Q

baseness

A

lack of morals

132
Q

avarice

A

greed, acquisitiveness

133
Q

doctrinaire

A

dogmatic, inflexible

134
Q

eclectic

A

wide-ranging

135
Q

judicious

A

wise; using good judgement

136
Q

cynical

A

distrustful of sincerity or integrity

137
Q

debased

A

reduced in quality or value; immoral

138
Q

pedestrian

A

dull, plodding

139
Q

jettison

A

throw, drop or reject

140
Q

sanguine

A

optimistic; blood-red in color

141
Q

equivocal

A

ambiguous

142
Q

pernicious

A

harmful; especially gradually

143
Q

discomfit

A

embarrass; make to feel uneasy; disconcert

144
Q

abash

A

embarrassed

145
Q

florid

A

flushed or red-faced

excessively intricate

146
Q

defamatory

A

damaging a good representation

147
Q

calumnious

A

false and slanderous

148
Q

inveigle

A

to persuade with deception or flattery

149
Q

finagle

A

to obtain by dishonest means

150
Q

timorous

A

showing fear or lack of confidence

151
Q

forthright

A

direct, straightforward

152
Q

Modish

A

Conforming to what is popular

153
Q

Equivocal

A

Ambiguous

154
Q

Recrudescence

A

The reoccurance of an undesirable condition

GRE Vocab (3 decks)

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