gre vocabulary s
Terms
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- skimp
- provide scantily; live very economically. They were forced to skimp on necessities in order to make their limited supplies last the winter.
- skiff
- small, light sailboat or rowboat. Tom dreamed of owning an ocean-going yacht but had to settle for a skiff he could sail in the bay.
- skeptic
- doubter; person who suspens judgment until having examined the evidence supporting a point of view. I am a skeptic about the new health plan; I want some proof that it can work.
- sinuous
- winding; bending in and out; not morally honest. The snake moved in a sinuous manner.
- singular
- unique; extraordinary, odd. Though the young man tried to understand Father William's singular behavior, he sit will found it odd that the old man incessantly stood on his head.
- sinister
- evil. we must defeat the sinister forces tht seek our downfall.
- sinewy
- tough; strong and firm. The steak was too sinewy to chew.
- sinecure
- well-paid position with little responsibility. My job is no sinecure; i work long hours and have much responsibility.
- simulate
- feign. She simulated insanity in order to avoid punishment for her crime.
- simplistic
- oversimplified. Though Jack's solution dealt adequately with one aspect of the problem, it was simplistic in failing to consider various complicating factors that might arise.
- simper
- smirk; smile affectedly. Complimented on her appearance, simpered.
- simile
- comparison of one thing with another. Using word like or as.
- simian
- monkeylike. (Tommy) Lemurs are nocturnal mamals and have many simian characteristics, although they are less itnelligent than monkeys.
- silt
- sediment deposited by running water. The harbor channel must be dredged annually to remove the silt
- sidereal
- relating to the stars. Although hampered by optical and mechanical flaws, the orbiting Hubble space telescope has relayed extraordinary images of distant sidereal bodies.
- sibylline
- prophetic; oracular. Until their destruction by fire in 83 B.C., the sibylline book were often consulted by the Romans.
- sibling
- brother or sister. We may not enjoy being siblings, but we cannot forget that we still belong to the sam family.
- shyster
- lawyer using questionabl methods. On L.A. law, respectable attorney Brackman was horrified to learn that his newly discovered half brother was a cheap shyster.
- shunt
- turn aside; diver; sidetrack. If the switchman failed to shunt the Silver Streak onto a side track, the train would low right into union station.
- shun
- keep away from. Cherishing his solitude, the recluse shunned the company of other human beings
- shrewd
- cleve; astute. A shrewd investor, she took clever advantage of the cluctuations of the stock market.
- shirk
- avoid (responsibility, work); malinger. Brian has a strong sense of duty; he would never shirk any responsibility.
- shimmer
- glimmer intermittently. The moonlight shimmered on the water as the moon broke through the clouds for a moment.
- sherbet
- flavored dessert ice. I prfer raspberry sherbet to ice cream since it is less fattening.
- sheathe
- place into a case. As soon as he recognized the approaching men, he sheathed his dagger and hailed them as friends.
- sheaf
- bundle of stalks of grain; any bundle of things tied together. The lawyer picked up a sheaf of papers as she rose to question the witness.
- shaving
- very thin piece, usuall of wood. As the carpenter pared away the edge of the board with his plane, a small pile of shavings began to accumulate on the floor.
- shard
- fragment, generally of pottery. The archaeologist assigned several students the task of reassembling earthenware vessels from the shards he had brought back from the expedition.
- sham
- pretent. She shammed sickenss to get out of going to school
- shrew
- scolding woman. No one wanted to marry Shakespeare's Kate because she was a shrew.
- shambles
- wreck; mess. After the hurricane, the Carolina coast was a shambles. After the New Year's Eve party, the host's apartment was a shamble
- shackle
- chain; fetter. The criminal's ankles were shackled to prevent his escape
- sextant
- navigation tool used to determine a ship's latitude and longitude. Given a clear night, with the aid of his sextant and compass he could keep the ship safely on course.
- severity
- harshness; intensity; sternness; austerity. The severtiy of Jane's migraine attack was so great that she took to her bed for a week.
- sever
- cut, separate. Dr. Guillotin invented a machine that could neatly sever an aristocratic head from its equally aristocratic body. Unfortunately, he couldn't collect any severance pay.
- servitude
- slavery; compulsory labor. Born a slave, Douglass resented his life os servitude and plotted to escape to the North.
- servile
- slavish; cringing. Constantly fawning on his employer, humble Uriah Heep was a servile creature
- serrated
- having a sawtoothed edge. The beech tree is one of many plants that have serrated leaves.
- serpentine
- winding, twisting. The car swervved at every curve in the serpentine road
- serenity
- calmness, placidity. The serentiy of the sleepy town was shattered by a tremendous explosion.
- sere
- parched; dry. After the unseasonably dry winter the Berkely hills looked dusty and sere.
- sequester
- isolate; retire from public life; segregate; seclude. To prevent the jurors from hearing news barodcasts about the case, the judge decided to sequester the jury.
- sepulcher
- tomb. Annabel Lee was buried in a sepulcher by the sea.
- septic
- putrid; producing putrefaction. The hospital was in such a filthy state that we were afraid that many of the patients would suffer from the septic poisoning.
- sentinel
- sentry; lookout. Though camped in enemy territory, Bledosoe ignored the elementary precaution of posting sentinels around the encampment.
- sentient
- capable of sensation; aware; sensitive. In the science fiction story, the hero had to discover a way to prove that the rocklike extraterrestral creature was actually a sentient, intelligent creature.
- setentious
- terse; concise; aphoristic, simplistic but effective quote, maxim. After reading so mnay reducndant speeches, I find his sententious style particularly pleasing.
- sensuous
- pertaining to the physical sense; operating through the sense. She was stimulated by the sights, sounds, and smells baout her; se was enjoyin her sensuous experience.
- sententious
- terse, concise; aphoristic. After reading so many redundant speeches, I find his sententious style particularly pleasing.
- sensual
- pertaining to the physical sense; carnal; voluptuous. I cannot understand what caused him to drop his sensual way of life and become so ascetic.
- senility
- old age; feeblemindedness of old age. Most of the decisions are being made by the junior members of the company because of the senility of the president.
- seminary
- school for training future minister; secondary school, especially for young women. Sure of his priestly vocation, Terrence planned to pursue his theologifal training at the local Roman Catholic seminary.
- seminal
- germinal; influencing future development; related to seed or semen. Although Freud has generally been regarded as a seminal thinker who shaped the course of psychology, his psychoanalytic methods have come under attack recently.
- semblance
- outward appearance; guise. Although this book has a semblance of wisdom and scholarship, a careful examination will reveal many errors and omissions.
- seismic
- pertaining to earthquakes. The Richter scale is a measurement of seismic disturbances.
- seine
- net for catching fish. When the shad run during the spring, you may see fishermen with seines along the banks of our coastal river.
- seethe
- disturbed; boil. The nation was seething with discontent as the noblemen continued their arrogant ways.
- seep
- ooze; trickle. During the rainstorm, water seeped through the crack in the basement wall and damanaged the floor boards.
- seemly
- proper; appropriate. Lady Bracknell did not think it was seemly for Ernest to lack a proper family: no baby abandoned on a doorstep could grow up to mayy her daughter.
- seedy
- run-down; decrepit; disreputatble. I would rather stay in dormitory lodgings in a decent youth hostel than have a room of my own in a seedy downtown hotel.
- sedulous
- diligent. The young woman was so sedulous that she received a commedation for her hard work.
- sedition
- resistance to authority; insubordination. her words, though not treasonous in themselve, were calculated to arouse thoughts of sedition.
- sedentary
- requiring sitting. Sitting all day at the computer, Sharon grew to resent the esdentary nature of her job.
- sedate
- composed; grave. The parens were worried because they felt their son was too quiet and sedate.
- secular
- worldly; not pertaining to church matters. temporal. The church leaders decided not to interfere in secular matters.
- sect
- separate religious body; faction. As university chaplain, she sought to address universal religious issues and not limit herself to the concerns of any one.
- secrete
- hide away or cache; produce and release a substance into an organism. The pack rat secretes odds and ends in its nest; the pancrease secretes insulin in the islets of Langerhans.
- secession
- withdrawal. The secession of the Southern states provided Lincoln with his first major problem after the inauguration.
- seasoned
- experienced. Though pleased with her new batch of rookies, the basketball coach wished she had a few more seasoned players on the team.
- sear
- char or burn; brand. Accidentally brushing against the hot grill, she seared her hand badly.
- seamy
- sordid; unwholesome. In the Godfather, Michael Corleone is unwilling to expose his wife and children to the seamy side of his life as the son of a Mafia don.
- scuffle
- struglle confusedly; move off in a confused hurry. The twins briefly scuffled, wrestling to see which of them would get the toy. When their big brother yelled, "Let ogo of my Gameboy!" They scuffled off down the hall.
- scrutinize
- examine closely and critically. Searching for floawas, the sergeant scrutinzied every detail of the private's uniform.
- scrupulous
- conscientious; extremely thorough. Though Alfred is scrupulous in fulfilling his duties at work, he is less conscientious about his obligations to his family and friends.
- seclusion
- isolation; solitude. One moment she loved crowds, the next, she sought seclusion.
- surrilous
- obscene; indecent. Your scurrilous remarks are especially offensive because they are untrue.
- scruple
- fret about; hesitate, for ethical reasons. Fearing thta her husband had become involved in an affair, she did not scruple to read his dairy.
- scourge
- lash; whip; sever punishment. Thy feared the plague and regarded it as a deadly scourge
- scotch
- stamp out; thwart; hinder. Heather tried to scotch the rumor that she had stolen her best friend's fiance.
- scoff
- mock; ridicule. He scoffed at dentists until he had his first toothache.
- scintillate
- sparkle; flash. I enjoy her dinner parties because the food is excellent and the converstaion scintillates.
- scintilla
- shred; least bit. You have not produced a scintilla of evidence to support your argument.
- schism
- division; split. Let us not widen the schism by further bickering
- schematic
- relating to an outline or diagram; using a system of symbols. In working out the solution to an anltical logic question, you may find it helpful to construct a simple schematic diagram illustrating the relationshps between the items of information given in the question.
- scenario
- plot, outline; screenplay; opera libretto. Scaramouche startled the other actors in the commedia troupe when he suddenly departed from their customary scenario and began to improvise
- scavenge
- hunt through discarded materials for usable items; search, especially for food. If you need car parts that the dealers no longer stock, try scavenging for odd bits and pieces at the auto wrechers' yards.
- scapegoat
- someone who bears the blame for others. After the Challenger disaster, NASA searched for scapegoats on whom they could cast the blame.
- scanty
- meager; insufficient. Thinking hihs helping of food was scanty, Oliver Twist asked for more
- scale
- climb up; ascend. To locate a book on the top shelf of the stacks, Lee had to scale an execptionally rickety ladder
- scaffold
- temporary platform for workers; bracing framework; platform for execution. Before painting the house, the workers put up a scaffold to allow them to work on the second story.
- scad
- a great quantity. Refusing Dave's offer to lend him a shirt, hil replied, "No thanks; I've got scads of clothes."
- scabbard
- case for a sword blade; sheath. The drill master told the recruit to wipe the blood from his sword before slipping it back into the scabbard.
- savory
- tasty; pleasing, attractve, or agreeable. Julia Child's recipes enable amateur chefs to create savory delicacies for their guests.
- savor
- enjoy; have a distinctive flavor, smell, or quality. Relishing his triumph, Costner especially savored the chagrin of the fcritics who had predicted his failure.
- savant
- scholar. Our faculty includes many world-famous savants
- saunter
- stroll, slowly. As we sauntered through the park, we stopped freqeutnly to admire the spring flowers.
- satry
- half-human, half-bestial being in the cour of Dionysus, portrayed as wanton and cunning. He was like a satyr in his lustful conduct
- saturnine
- gloomy. Do not be misled by his saturnine countenance, he is not as gloomy as he looks.
- saturate
- soak thoroughly. Thorough watering is the key to lawn care; you must saturate your new lawn well to encourage its growth.
- satrical
- mocking. The humor of cartoonist Gary Trudeau often is satirical; throuh the comments of the Doonesbury characters, Trudeau ridicules political corruption and folly.
- satire
- form of literature in which irony, sarcasm, and ridicule are employed to attack vice and folly. Gulliver's travels which is regarded by many as a tale for children, is actually a bitter satire attacking human soly.
- satiate
- satisfy fully. Having stuffed themselves with goodies until they were satiated, the guests were so full they were ready for a nap
- satellite
- small body revolving around a large one. During the first few years of the Space Age, hundreds of satellites were launched by Russia and the United States.
- sate
- satisfy to the full; cloy. Its hunger sated, the lion dozed
- sartorial
- pertaining to tailors. He was as famous for the sartorial splendor of his attire as he was for his acting.
- sardonic
- disdainful; sarcastic; cynical. The sardonic humor of nightclub comedians who satirize or ridicule patrons in the audience strikes some people as ausing and others as rude.
- sarcasm
- scornful remark; stinging rebuke. Though Raplh pretended to ignore the mocking comments of his supposed friends. their sarcasm wounded him deeply.
- sap
- diminish; undermine. The element kryptonite had an unhealthy effect on Superman: it sapped his strength.
- sanguine
- cheerful; hopeful. let us not be too sanguine about the outcome; something could go wrong.
- sanguinary
- bloody. The battle of Iwo Jima was unexpectedly sanguinary, with many casualties.
- sanctuary
- refuge; shelter; shrin; holy place. The tiny attic was Helen's sanctury to which she fled when she had to get away from her bickering parents and brothers.
- sanction
- approve; ratify. Nothing will convince me to sanction the engagement of my daughter to such a worthless young man.
- sanctimonious
- displaying ostentatious or hypocritical devoutness. You do not have to be so sanctimonious to prove that you are devout.
- salvage
- rescue from loss. All attempts to salvage the wrecked ship failed.
- salutary
- tending to improve; beneficial; wholemsome. The punishment had a salutary effect on thboy, as he became a model student.
- salubrious
- healthful. Many people with hay fever move to more salubrious sections of the country during the months of August and September
- sallow
- yellowish; sickly in color. We were disturbed by her sallow complexion, which was due to jaundice.
- saline
- salty. THe slightly saline taste of this mineral water is pleasant
- salient
- prominent, highlight. One of the salient features of that newspaper is its excellent editorial page.
- salacious
- lascivious; lustful. Chaucer's monk is not pious but salacious, a teller of lewd tales and ribald jests.
- sage
- person celebrated for wisdom. Hearing tales of a mysterious Master of All Knowledge who lived in the hils of Tibet, Sandy was possessed with a burning desire to consult the legendary sage.
- sagacious
- perceptive; shrewd; having insight. My father was a sagacious judge of character; he cold spot a phony a mile away.
- saga
- Scandinavian myth; any legend. This is a saga of the sea and the men who risk their lives on it.
- sadistic
- inclined to cruelty. If we are to improve condition in this prison, we must first ge rid of the sadistic warden.
- sacrosanct
- most sacred; inviolable. The brash insurance salesman invaded the sacrosanct privacy of the office of the president of the company.
- sacacrilegious
- desecrating; profane. His stealing of the altar cloth was a very sacrilegious act.
- saccharine
- cloyingly sweet. She tried to ingratiate herself, speaking sweetly and smiling a saccharine smile.
- saboteur
- one who commits sabotage; destroyer of property. Members of the Resistance acted as saboteurs, blowing up train lines to prevent supplies from reaching the Nazi army.
- ruthless
- pitiless; cruel. Captain Hook was a dangerous, ruthless villain who would stop at nothing to destroy Peter Pan.
- rusticate
- banish to the country; dwell in the country. I like city life so much that I can never understand how people can rrusticate in the suburbs.
- rustic
- pertaining to country people; uncouth. The backwoodsman looked out of place in his rustic attire.
- ruse
- trick; stategem. You will not be able to fool your friends with such an obvious ruse.
- runic
- mysterious; set down i an ancient alphabet. Tolkien's use of Old English words and inscriptios in the runic alphabet give The Lord of the Rings its atmosphere of antiquity.
- rummage
- ransack; thoroughly search. When we rummaged through the trunks in the attic, we found many souvenirs of our childhood days.
- ruminate
- chew over and over (mentally or like coward physically); mull over; ponder. Unable to digest quick the baffling events of the day, Reuben ruminated and them till four in the morning.
- ruffian
- bully; scoundrel. The ruffians threw stones at the police
- rue
- regret; lament; mourn. Tina rued the night she met Tony and wondered how she ever fell for such a jerk.
- rudimentary
- not developed; elementary; crude. Although my grandmother's English vocabulary was limited to a few rudimentary phrases, she always could make herself understood.
- ruddy
- reddish; healthy-looking. santa Claus's ruddy cheeks nicely complement Rudolph the Reindeer's bright red nose.
- rubric
- title or heading (in red print); directions for religious ceremony; protocol. In ordaining the new priests, the bishop carefully obvserved all the rubrics for the oridnation service.
- rubble
- fragments. Ten years after WWII, some of the rubble left by enemy bombings could still be seen.
- rout
- stampede; drive out, scare. The reinforcements were able to rout the enemy
- rousing
- lively; stirrin. 'And now, let's have a rousing welcome for TV's own Rosie O'Donnell, who'll lead us in a rousing rendition of 'The Star-Spangled Banner.'
- rotundity
- roundness; sonorousness of speech. Washington Irving emphasized the routunidity of the governor by describing his heidght and circumference.
- rotunda
- circular building or hall covered with a dome. His body lay in state in the rotunda of the Capitol.
- rote
- repitition. He recited the passage by rote and gave no indication he understood what he was saying also
- rostrum
- platform for speech-making; pulpit. The crowd murmured angrily and indicate that they did not care to listen to the speaker who was approaching the rostrum.
- roster
- list. They print the roster of players in the season's program.
- roseate
- rosy; optimistic. I am afraid you will have to alter your roseate views in the light of the distressing news that has just arrived.
- roil
- to make liquids murky y stirring up sediment; to disturb. Be careful when you pour not to rol the wine; if you stir up the sediment you'll destroy the flavor.
- rococo
- ornate; highly decorated. The rococo style in furniture and architecture, marked by scrollwork and execssive decoration, flourished during the middle of the 18th Century.
- robust
- vigorous; strong. After pumping iron and taking karate for 6 months, the little old lady was far more robust in health and could break a plank with her fist.
- rivulet
- small stream. As the rains continued, the trickle of water running down the hillside grew into a rivulet that threatened to wash away a portion of the slope.
- riveting
- absorbing; engrossing. The reviewer described Byatt's novel Possession as a riveting tale' absorbed in the story, she had finished it in a single evening.
- rigor
- severity. Many settlers could not stand the rigots of the New England winters.
- rigid
- stiff and unyielding; strict, hard and unbending. By living with a man to whom she was not married, George Eliot broke Victorian society's most rigid rule of respectable behavior.
- rig
- fix or manipulate. The ward boss was able to rig the election by bribing people to stuff the ballot boxes with ballots marked in his candidate's favor.
- rift
- opening; break. The plane was lost in the stormy sky until te pilot saw the city through a rift in the clouds.
- rifle
- abundant; current. iN the face of the many rumors of scandal, whicn are rife at the moment, it is beset to remain silent
- rider
- amendment of clause added to a legistlative bill, Senator Foghorm said he would support Senator Fillibuster's tax reform bill only if Fillibuster agreed to add an antipollution rider to the bill.
- riddle
- pierce with holds; permeate or spread throughout. With his machine gun, Tracy riddled the car with bullets till it looked like a slice of Swss cheese. During the proofreaders' strike, the newspaper was riddled with typos.
- ribald
- wanton; profane. Dixie chicks sang a ribald song that offended the bush administration.
- rhetoric
- art of effective communication; insincere or grandiloquent language. All writers, by necessity, msust be skilled in rhetoric.
- rhapsodize
- to speak or write in an exaggeratedly enthusiastic manner. She greatly enjoyed her Hawaiian vacation and rhapsodzed about it for weeks.
- revulsion
- sudden violent change of feeling; negative reaction. Many people in this country who admired dictatorships underwent a revulsion when they realized what Hitler and Mussolini were trying to do.
- revoke
- cancel; retracct. Repeat offenders who continue to drive under the incluence of alcohol face having their driver's licenses permanently revoked.
- revile
- attack with abusive language; vilify. Though most of his contemporaries reviled Captain Kidd as a notorious, bloody-handed pirate, some of his efllow merchant-captains believed him innocent of his alleged crimes.
- revert
- relapse; backslide; turn back to. Most of the time ANdy seemed sensitive and mature, but occasionally he would revert to his smart-alecky, macho, adolescnet self.
- reverie
- daydream; musing. She was awakened from her reverie by the teacher's question.
- reverent
- respectful; worshipful. Though I bow my head in church and ecite the prayers, sometimes I don't feel properly reverent.
- reverberate
- echo; restound. The tnire valley verberated with the sound of the church bells.
- revelry
- boisterous merrymaking. New Year's Eve is a night of reverlry
- retrospective
- looking back on the past. The Museum of Graphic Arts is holding a retrospective showing of the paintings of Michael Whelan over the past two decades.
- retrograde
- backwards; degenerate. Instead of advancing our civilization seems to have retrograded in ethics and culture
- retroactive
- taking effect before its enactment (as a law) or imposition (as a tax). Because the new pension law was retroactive to the first of the year, even though martha had retire in febryary she was eligible for the pension
- retrieve
- recover; find and bring in. the dog was intelligent and quickly learned to retrieve the game killed by the hunter.
- retribution
- vengeance; compensation; punishment for offenses. The evangelist maintained that an angry deity would exact retribution from the siners.
- retrench
- cut down; economize. If they were to be able to send their children to college, they would have to retrench.
- retract
- withdraw; take back. When i saw how Fred and his faternity brothers had trashed the frat house, I decided to retract my offer to let them use our summer cottage for the weekend.