Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

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


See full index

GRE > Vocab B > Flashcards

Vocab B Flashcards

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

Baleful

A

sinister, pernicious, ominous

The basilisk is a notoriously cranky, albeit mythical, creature whose baleful glare is fatal

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

Bane

A

Cause of injury, source of harm, source of persistent frustration..

Even for those who recognize that smoking is far more of a bane than a benefit, quitting can be a struggle.

Baneful = causing harm or ruin/destructive.

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

beatify

A

to bless, make happy, or ascribe a virtue to: to regard as saintly

She was described in such a glowing way; every single quality she possessed was beautified.

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

bedizen

A

to adorn, especially in a cheap, showy manner; festoon, caparison

The speakeasy was bedizened with every manner of tawdry decoration

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

Beguile

A

to influence by trickery, flattery, to mislead

He used a fake identity to beguile the investigator

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

belie

A

a false impression of to misrepresent

Carlos’s disapproving countenance was belied by the twinkle in his eye, making it hard to believe that he was angry at all

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

bellicose

A

belligerent, pugnacious, warlike

the bully’s bellicose demeanor hid a tender side, but he was too busy getting into fights to reveal it.

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

Benign

A

favorable, harmless

though we were afraid the tumor would be fatal, a biopsy showed that it was in fact benign.

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

bent

A

leaning, inclination, proclivity, tendency

Puck was notorious for his mischievous bent, wherever there was trouble to be stirred up, he was certain to be found.

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

blandish

A

to coax with flattery, toady or fawn

The minister was famous for his ability to blandish his way from obscurity to vicarious power;if seemed as if every ruler was receptive to bootlicking

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

blithe

A

carefree, merry

Step’s blithe disregard for what her peers might think made her the perfect hero for a clever yet moving coming of age teen movie.

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

boisterous

A

loud, noisy, rough, lacking restraint

after a while, out neighbors became reconciled to our boisterous weekend gathering, even joining us on occasional the rest of the time they were probably wearing earplugs.

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

bolster

A

to provide support or reinforcement

He hoped his frequent references to legal theory would bolster his argument, but all they did was make him seem pompous.

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

bombastic

A

pompous; grandiloquent

The self-important leader’s speech was so bombastic that even his most loyal followers were rolling their eyes, and no one else could even figure out what he was talking about

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

boor

A

a rude or insensitive person, lout, yokel

I have learned never to take a boor to dine with royalty; last time we had tea with the Queen of England my boorish boyfriend put his feet on the table.

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

bridling

A

to control or hold back, restrain

upon her 18th birthday she moved out of her parents’ house and away from their bridling control.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

Broach

A

bring up, announce, begin to talk about

To broach the subject of her truly hideous brooch would have been impolitic. There’s no way I could have managed to say anything nice about it.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

Brook

A

endure, countenance

Our drill sergeant made it very clear she would brook no insubordination; even any quiet grumbling would be grounds for endless pushups.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

Bucolic

A

Rustic and pastoral; characteristics of rural areas and their inhabitants.

Pastoral poetry tends to depict bucolic wonderlands of shepherds tending their flocks in verdant meadows, but poets always leave out the part about getting up at five’o clock in the morning to take those flocks out to graze.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

Burgeon

A

To grow rapidly or flourish

When wildflowers burgeon in april and may we know that spring has truly arrived

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

Burnish

A

To polish, rub to a shine

Be careful about burnishing certain old lamps, you never know which ones is going to have a genie in it.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

byzantine

A

labyrinthine, complex

Tom’s byzantine explanation of why he missed curfew was confusing even to his parents who were used to his convoluted punishment-avoiding strategies.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

Cacophony

A

harsh, jarring, discordant sound dissonance

the cacophony coming from the construction site next door made it impossible to concentrate on the rest

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

cadge

A

to sponge, beg, mooch

He is always cadging change from me, which added up to be a lot of money over time, so eventually I presented him with a loan statement and started charging interest.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

Canjole

A

to inveigle, coax, wheedle, sweet talk

Even though I resolve not to give in, my dog is always able to cajole an extra dog biscuit out of me just by looking at me with his big brown eyes

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

calumniate

A

to slander, make false accusation

Rom calumniated his rival by accusing him of having been unfaithful, but it backfired because when the truth came out, Tom ended up looking petty and deceitful.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

canny

A

careful, cautious, knowing

Knowing all aspects of how to run her business, Emily has canny eyes for making a deal

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
28
Q

Canon

A

established set of principles or code of law, often religious in nature

She was forever violating the canons of polite conversation by asking questions that were far too personal for the circumstances.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
29
Q

Capricious

A

inclined to change one’s mind impulsively; erratic; unpredictable

Lee’s capricious behavior this weekend should not have come to much of a shock; its not as if he’s usually all that stable and predictable.

30
Q

Cardinal

A

of basic importance or consequences; primary

His cardinal error was in failing to bribe his sister; other while his parents might never have found out about the party and grounded him.

31
Q

carnality

A

something relating to the body or flesh

though the book was primarily concerned with spiritual matters, its descriptions of earthly pleasures were sometimes shocking in their sheer carnality.

32
Q

castigation

A

severe criticism or punishment.

Harriet’s expression as she slunk out of the room indicated that the castigation she has received was even worse than expected, and that we were probably in from a similar tongue-lashing.

33
Q

catalyst

A

a substance that accelerates the rate of a chemical reaction without itself changing, a person or thing that causes change

34
Q

causality

A

The relationship between cause and effect

35
Q

caustic

A

burning or stinging causing corrosion

Even washing her hands repeatedly could not stop the stinging of the caustic bleach she has used on her clothes

36
Q

censure

A

to criticize severely; to officially rebuke

Though the board censured the gallery for holding the exhibition, the event continued as planned, and even drew larger crowds than expected before the boards outspoken disapproval.

37
Q

Chaos

A

a condition of confusion or unpredictability

Some seem to thrived on chaos in the workplace, but lucy relishes a clean desk and predictable schedule

38
Q

chary

A

wary cautious, sparing

Claudette was chary with her praise lest to go to fredrick’s head.

39
Q

Chasten

A

to Chastise or correct, subdue

The “Time out” seems to have become a common parental means of chastening younger children, somewhat similar to being forced to sit in the corner wearing a dunce cap, but without the element of public humiliation

40
Q

Chauvinist

A

one blindly devoted to a group of which one is member

She was such a party chauvinist; her blind devotion made her refuse to acknowledge the changes underway that wound lead to the party’s downfall.

41
Q

Chic

A

stylish and fashionable; sophistication in dress

42
Q

Chicanery

A

trickery or subterfuge

Bernard’s reputation for legal chicanery made judges and prosecutor distrust him, but his clients had a hard time seeing past his successes.

43
Q

Chimera

A

An illusion

44
Q

Choleric

A

tending toward anger

45
Q

Churlish

A

boorish, vulgar, loutish, difficult and intractable

46
Q

circumscribe

A

enclose within bounds, limit or confine, especially narrowly.

The legislative and judicial branches of government serves to circumscribe the power of the president.

47
Q

clangorous

A

making a loud, resonant sound.

She thought that living in the country would be peaceful, and was therefore surprised by constant noise stemming from the clangorous cowbells tied around the cow’s neck.

48
Q

coalesce

A

to come together; to fuse or unit

It took major internal crisis for the rival factions to coalesce around a single goal

49
Q

coda

A

concluding section to a musical or literary piece, something that concludes or completes.

The presentation of the lifetime achievement award was a fitting coda both to the evening and to his years of work with the organization.

50
Q

Cogent

A

appealing forcibly to the mind or reason; convincing.

I’ll only let you borrow the Ferrari if you can give me a cogent reason for why you need to drive more than one hundred miles per hour.

51
Q

color

A

to changes as if by dyeing, influence, distort, or gloss over.

Knowing that he had lied about his previous experience colored our evaluation of his application.

52
Q

Commensurate

A

matching, corresponding, or proportionate in degree, size, amount, or other property

Only if the team won the national championship would the fans feel the team’s performance was commensurate with its potential

53
Q

complaisance

A

the willingness to comply with the wishes of other

A “yes man” is characterized by his complaisance.

54
Q

confound

A

to cause to be confused; frustrated

By the time my roommate and i parted ways, out things were such a confounded mes that it was hard to remember what belonged to whom.

55
Q

connoisseur

A

an informed and astute judge in matters of taste, expert

An internationally recognized connoisseur of wines, Natasha was often hired as a consultant for private collectors.

56
Q

Consequential

A

pompous, self-important

Although he thought himself a respected and well-liked man, his consequential air was intensely annoying to those around him. He seemed to think he was the best time since sliced bread.

57
Q

Contemn

A

to scorn or despise

I contemn their attempts to curry favor;nothing is more contemptible than sycophant.

58
Q

contentious

A

argumentative; quarrelsome; causing controversy or disagreement

Sometimes lydia’s contentious nature really drove me crazy; it seemed as if she argued with everything I said simply out of habit or some sort of strange pleasure.

59
Q

Contiguous

A

sharing a border; touching; adjacent

The contiguous U.S. included all the states except Hawaii and Alaska, since they are the only ones that don’t share at least one border with another state.

60
Q

Contrite

A

regretful; penitent; seeking forgiveness.

Wayne was hardly contrite for the practical joke he pulled; even though he said he was sorry, the twinkle in his eye and barely suppressed grin seemed to indicate otherwise.

61
Q

convention

A

a generally agreed-upon practice or attitude

The convention of wearing a bridal veil was apparently begun by the roman, who though the veil would protect the bride from evil spirits.

62
Q

convoluted

A

complex or complicated

Cynthia’s convoluted response to the question made her listeners think she was concealing something; it was as if she hoped they would forget the question as they tried to follow her answer.

63
Q

Corrigible

A

capable of being set right, correctable, reparable

stuttering is often a highly corrigible speech impediment, which can be corrected through speech therapy.

64
Q

countenance

A

To approve of or tolerate

Her refusal to countenance any of what she called :back talk” made her unpopular babysitter, but even the children had to admit that things were less chaotic when she was around.

65
Q

Cozen

A

to deceive, beguile, hoodwink

The corrupt televangelist cozened millions of dollars out of his viewers by convincing them that he would perform miracles to make them all win the lottery.

66
Q

Craven

A

contemptible fainthearted, pusillanimous, lacking any courage

His craven cowardice in refusal to admit his mistake meant that a completely innocent person was punished.

67
Q

credulous

A

tending to believe too readily; gullible

That sculpture in the lobby was so obviously a fake that it would convince only the most credulous person; after all, the “gold” left something that looked suspiciously like paint on out fingers when we touch the sculpture.

68
Q

crescendo

A

A gradual increase in intensity, particularly in music

The audience’s attention was held rapt as the orchestra worked its way to a crescendo, filling every nook in the hall with thunderous sound.

69
Q

culpable

A

deserving blame

Pat could hardly be thought culpable for spilling the cranberry juice on the floor, since he wasn’t even in the room at the time.

70
Q

cynicism

A

an attitude or quality of belief that all people are motivated by selfishness

Tricia’s cynicism was matched only by her own selfishness; she believed no one else was altruistic because she never was herself.

GRE (5 decks)

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