week 3 Flashcards
arbiter
(noun)
AR-bit-er
Also arbitrate (verb)
Definition: Judge, umpire, person empowered to decide matters at hand
Usage: Professional mediators arbitrate disputes. / The principal said, “As the final arbiter of what is and is not appropriate in the classroom, I demand that you take down that poster of the rapper Ice-T and his scantily-clad wife Coco.”
Related Words: Adjudicator (judge or arbitrator, esp. a judge of a competition)
More Info: An arbitrator is officially appointed to settle a dispute; an arbiter is more someone whose opinion is valued, as in the expression “arbiter of good taste.”
ardent
(adj)
AR-dent
Also ardor (noun)
Definition: Very passionate, devoted, or enthusiastic
Usage: He was an ardent heavy metal lover and became offended anytime someone referred to Poison as a “hair band.” / They were so in love that not even meeting each other’s awful relatives could dampen their ardor.
Related Words: Fervent, Fervid, and Perfervid all mean “passionate, fiery, deeply enthusiastic” and come from a common root relating to heat.
More Info: Don’t confuse ardor with arduous, which means very difficult. Ardor comes from a Latin word meaning “to burn”, which we can think of here in the sense of “burning with passion.”
arrogate
(verb)
AIR-oh-gayt
Definition: Claim or take presumptuously or without the right to do so
Usage: In order to build the oil pipeline, the government arrogated the land of many small farmers who are still fighting for compensation. / The bride’s mother arrogated the right to decide on the venue, the food, and even the wedding dress!
Related Words: The verb Appropriate has two meanings: set aside or authorize for a particular purpose; take for one’s own use. The second meaning is a synonym for arrogate.
Memory Trick: To arrogate is to arrogantly take what doesn’t belong to you.
ascribe
(verb)
uh-SCRIBE
Definition: Assign or credit to a certain cause or source
Usage: He ascribed his good grades to diligent studying. / The young boy ascribed to his imaginary friend all the powers he wished he had himself—being able to fly, having dozens of friends, and never having to eat his broccoli.
Related Words: Impute (attribute or ascribe)
More Info: Ascribe contains the root “scribe,” meaning “write.”
aseptic
(adj)
uh-SEP-tick or ay-SEP-tick Also septic (adj), sepsis (noun)
Definition: Free from germs; lacking vitality, warmth, or emotion
Usage: It is very important to perform surgery in an aseptic environment, lest a patient contract sepsis (a systemic infection) and die. / Not only did Marlene dump Tom via email, but the email was so aseptic she might as well have been sending an interoffice memo. “That was ice cold,” said Tom.
More Info: A septic tank is a place under a house where sewage is stored. Since putting “a-“ before a word means “without,” it makes sense that, if septic means “infected or putrefying,” then aseptic would be the opposite.
asperity
(noun)
uh-SPARE-ih-tee
Definition: Rigor, severity; harshness or sharpness of tone; roughness of surface
Usage: Used to a more lax school environment, the freshman at military school was shocked by the asperity of punishments meted out for even the most minor offenses, as well as the asperity with which his drill sergeant bossed him around. / The asperity of her cheap, scratchy sweater made her wish she could afford cashmere.
More Info: Asperity describes a wide variety of unpleasant things: hardship, people speaking to us in an unnecessarily harsh way, or physical roughness.
aspersions
(noun)
uh-SPER-zhunz
Also asperse (verb)
Definition: Damaging remarks, defamation, slander
Usage: He could no longer work with his duplicitous business partner, who acted friendly to his face but then spewed aspersions about him behind his back. / If you asperse me one more time, I will sue you for libel!
Related Words: Slander, Traduce, and Defame all mean “to speak maliciously and falsely of”
More Info: Aspersions is often used in the phrase “to cast aspersions,” which has the sense of throwing or tossing insults or malicious lies about someone. One additional (rare) meaning of aspersion is “to sprinkle, such as for baptism.” So, it’s not a long leap to imagine spattering or sprinkling someone with insults.
assail
(verb)
uh-SAIL
Also assailant (noun)
Definition: Attack violently, assault
Usage: One strategy for winning in boxing is to simply assail your opponent with
so many blows that he becomes disoriented. / The debate team assailed the
opposition with more evidence than they could respond to.
Related Words: Batter (beat persistently or hard)
More Info: Assail simply means attack, so it can be used metaphorically the same
way you would use attack, such as in “assailing one’s homework with great
energy.”
assiduous
(adj)
uh-SID-joo-uss
Definition: Persevering, diligent, constant
Usage: Through assiduous effort over a substantial period of time, anyone can
develop a prodigious vocabulary.
Related Words: Sedulous, Tenacious
More Info: Assiduous contains a variant of the root “sed,” meaning “to sit” (as in
sedated or sediment). Think of assiduous as “sitting” in your chair until you finish
your work.
attenuate
(verb)
uh-TEN-yoo-ayt
Definition: Weaken or thin out
Usage: When you pull a piece of bubblegum so it becomes long and thin, you are
attenuating it. / Sadly, the day care center was so understaffed that the carers’
efforts were attenuated, and many of the children barely received any attention at
all.
More Info: When you attenuate something, it becomes tenuous, which means thin
or weak (a tenuous argument).
anomaly
(noun)
uh-NOM-ah-lee
Also anomalous (adj)
Definition: Deviation from what is common; inconsistency
Usage: While the cosmetics division of this company has many female executives, it is an anomaly—in the
rest of the company, sadly, only 4% of management positions are filled by women.
Related Words: Aberration (departing from normal; mental irregularity or deviation in morality)
More Info: The word “anomaly” sometimes pops up in discussions of the supernatural. The show X-Files
was about the investigation of anomalies.
antagonize
(verb)
an-TAG-uh-nize
Also antagonistic (adj)
Definition: Make hostile or unfriendly
Usage: “Josie! Stop antagonizing your little brother! Give him back that firetruck and tell him you’re
sorry for pulling his hair!”
Related Words: Provoke (anger, enrage, stir up, incite to action)
More Info: When discussing literature or films, the protagonist is the main character and the antagonist is
the main adversary (The Joker is Batman’s antagonist).
antipathy
(noun)
an-TIP-uh-thee
Definition: Deep dislike, aversion, or repugnance, sometimes without reason
Usage: As an environmentalist, Mr. Subramanian had nothing but antipathy for the mining company
drilling in and polluting his hometown.
Related Words: Loathing (strong aversion, dislike, or disgust)
More Info: Don’t confuse antipathy with apathy, which means “indifference, not caring.” Antipathy is the
opposite of sympathy (note that the root “path” means “feeling”).
apathy
(noun)
APP-uh-thee
Also apathetic (adj)
Definition: Not caring; absence of feeling; lack of interest or concern
Usage: Many parents of teenagers are concerned by their indolent teens’ apathy about the future. Few
teens are totally apathetic, however—many get quite excited about video games, flirting, or trips to the
mall.
Related Words: Indifferent (apathetic or impartial), Lukewarm (moderately warm; having little
enthusiasm)
More Info: Don’t confuse apathy with antipathy, which means “deep dislike, aversion, or repugnance.”
apocryphal
(adj)
uh-POCK-riff-ull
Also Apocrypha (noun)
Definition: Of questionable authenticity; false
Usage: I’m sorry, but this putative letter from George Washington that you found at a garage sale is
clearly apocryphal—it is riddled with anachronisms (for instance, Washington was long dead by the time
silent films were invented), and also, Washington most certainly didn’t refer to Martha Washington as
“hey baby.”
Related Words: Ersatz (artificial, synthetic, serving as a substitute), Faux (fake, imitation, as in “faux fur”),
Specious (pleasing to the eye but deceptive)
More Info: The word “Apocrypha” often refers to books that have been rejected for inclusion in (various
versions of) the Bible, either due to dubious authenticity or because the Church considered them useful,
but not divinely inspired. Obviously, different authorities disagree about what exactly is included in the
Apocrypha.
appease
(verb)
uh-PEEZ
Definition: Pacify, satisfy, relieve; concede to belligerent demands, sometimes at the expense of
principles
Usage: My mother is so angry she wasn’t the first person we called when the baby was born—I’m hoping
to appease her by spending Christmas at her house this year.
Related Words: Placate, Mollify, and Assuage are near-synonyms
More Info: “Appeasement” is commonly associated with British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s
policy towards Germany between 1937–1939—as it turned out, giving the Sudetenland to Hitler didn’t
actually create “Peace in Our Time.” Today, appeasement is associated with cowardice and giving in to
bullies.
appreciable
(adj)
uh-PREESH-yuh-bull
Definition: Enough to be perceived, considerable
Usage: She ruefully concluded that the “Pot Pie Diet” was a scam and had made no appreciable
difference in her appearance—after four weeks, she had lost three-quarters of a pound.
Related Words: A near-antonym is Negligible—both words can refer to small amounts, but an appreciable
amount or difference is large enough to matter, and a negligible amount or difference is so small it can
safely be ignored.
arbitrary
(adj)
AR-bi-trayr-ee
Definition: Based entirely on one’s discretion; capricious, unreasonable, or having no basis
Usage: The judge’s rulings were truly arbitrary—one defendant got community service for stealing a
television, and another got three years for the same crime. / It doesn’t really matter which brand of
baking soda you buy—just arbitrarily pick one so we can get out of this grocery store before dinnertime.
More Info: Arbitrary looks a lot like arbiter for good reason—originally, something arbitrary was
something that was uncertain because it depended on an arbiter’s decision. As indicated by the definition
above, arbitrary can be neutral or negative.
(adj)
ar-CANE
Also arcanum (noun)
Definition: Known or understood by only a few; obscure, secret
Usage: To win at Jeopardy, you must be full of arcane knowledge. / The wizard’s shop was full of
arcanum, from Latin-to-Ancient Greek dictionaries to entire books on magic spells relating only to
elephants.
Related Words: Esoteric, Abstruse
More Info: Arcane comes from the Latin “arca,” for “box”—arcanum is information that is metaphorically
shut up in a box.
arcane
archaic
(adj)
ar-CAY-ick
Also archaism (noun)
Definition: Characteristic of an earlier period, ancient, primitive
Usage: The school’s archaic computer system predated even floppy disks—it stored records on tape
drives! / Sometimes, when you look a word up in the dictionary, certain definitions are marked
“archaic”—unless you are a Shakespeare scholar, you can safely ignore those archaisms.
Related Words: Obsolete (out of date, no longer used), Antediluvian (extremely old, before the Biblical
flood)
More Info: “Archaic” is especially used to describe language common to an older time but rare today,
such as “thou” or “forsooth.” If a word appears in a dictionary with “archaic” next to a secondary
meaning, that meaning is unlikely to be tested on the GRE.
