GRE FLASHCARDS (P)
Terms
undefined, object
copy deck
- paean
- song of praise or joy
- palatial
- magnificent
- palimpsest
- parchment used for second time after original writing has been erased
- pall
- grow tiresome
- pallet
- small, poor bed
- palliate
- ease pain; make less severe or offensive
- pallid
- pale; wan
- palpable
- tangible; easily perceptible
- panacea
- cure-all; remedy for all diseases
- pandemic
- widespread; affecting the majority of people
- pander
- cater to the low desires of others
- panegyric
- formal praise
- pantomime
- acting without dialogue
- papyrus
- ancient paper made from stem of papyrus plant
- parable
- short, simple story teaching a moral
- paradigm
- model; example; pattern
- paradox
- something apparently contradictory in nature; statement that looks false but is actually correct
- paragon
- * model of perfection
- parallelism
- state of being parallel; similarity
- parameter
- limit; independent variable
- paraphernalia
- equipment; odds and ends
- parasite
- animal or plant living off another; toady; sycophant
- pariah
- social outcast
- parity
- equality; close resemblance
- parlance
- language; idiom
- parley
- conference
- parochial
- narrow in outlook; provincial; related to parishes
- paroxysm
- fit or attack of pain, laughter, rage
- parquet
- floor made of wood strips inlaid in a mosaic-like pattern
- parry
- ward off a blow; deflect
- partisan
- * one-sided; prejudiced; committed to a party
- pastiche
- imitation of another's style in musican composition or in writing
- pastoral
- rural
- patent
- open for the public to read; obvious
- pathological
- * pertaining to disease
- pathos
- tender sorry; pity; quality in art or literature that produces these feelings
- patina
- green crust on old bronze works; tone slowly taken by varnished painting
- patois
- local or provincial dialect
- patrician
- noble; aristocratic
- paucity
- * scarcity
- pauper
- very poor person
- peccadillo
- slight offense
- pecuniary
- pertaining to money
- pedagogue
- teacher
- pedagogy
- teaching; art of education
- pedant
- scholar who overemphasizes book learning or technicalities
- pedantic
- * bookish; showing off learning
- pedestrian
- ordinary; unimaginative
- peerless
- having no equal; incomparable
- pejorative
- negative in connotation; having a belittling effect
- pell-mell
- in confusion; disorderly
- pellucid
- transparent; limpid; easy to understand
- penchant
- * strong inclination; liking
- pendant
- hanging down from something
- pendulous
- hanging; suspended
- penumbra
- partial shadow (in an eclipse)
- penury
- * severe poverty; stinginess
- peon
- landless agricultural worker; bond servant
- percussion
- striking one object against another sharply
- perdition
- damnation; complete ruin
- peregrination
- journey
- peremptory
- demanding and leaving no choice
- perennial
- * something long-lasting
- perfidious
- * treacherous; disloyal
- perforate
- pierce; put a hole through
- perfunctory
- * superficial; not thorough; lacking interest, care, or enthusiasm
- perigree
- point of moon's orbit when it is nearest the Earth
- peripatetic
- walking about; moving
- perjury
- false testimony while under oath
- permeable
- * penetrable; porous; allowing liquids or gas to pass through
- pernicious
- very destructive
- peroration
- conclusion of an oration
- perpetual
- everlasting
- perpetuate
- make something last; preserve from extinction
- perquisite
- any gain above stipulated salary
- personable
- attractive
- perspicacious
- having insight; penetrating; astute
- perspicuity
- clearness of expression; freedom from ambiguity
- perspicuous
- plainly expressed
- pert
- impertinent; forward
- pertinacious
- stubborn; persistent
- peruse
- read with care
- pervasive
- * spread throughout
- perverse
- stubbornly wrongheaded; wicked and unacceptable
- perversion
- corruption; turning from right to wrong
- pestilential
- causing plague; baneful
- pestle
- tool for mashing or grinding substances in a hard bowl
- petrify
- turn to stone
- petulent
- touchy; peevish
- pharisaical
- pertaining to the Pharisees, who paid scrupulous attention to tradition; self-righteous; hypocritical
- phenomena
- observable facts; subjects of scientific investigation
- philanthropist
- lover of mankind; doer of good
- philatelist
- stamp-collector
- philistine
- narrow-minded person
- philology
- study of language
- phlegmatic
- * calm; not easily disturbed
- phoenix
- symbol of immortality or rebirth
- phylum
- major classification, second to kingdom, of plants and animals; division
- physiognomy
- face
- physiological
- pertaining to the science of the function of living organisms
- piebald
- of different colors; mottled; spotted
- piecemeal
- one part at a time; gradually
- pied
- variagated; multicolored
- piety
- * devoutness; reverence for God
- pillage
- plunder
- pillory
- punish by placing in a wooden frame; subject to criticism and ridicule
- pine
- languish, decline; long for; yearn
- pinion
- restrain
- piquant
- pleasantly tart-tasting; stimulating
- pique
- provoke or arouse; annoy
- piscatorial
- pertaining to fishing
- pitfall
- hidden danger; concealed trap
- pith
- core or marrow; essense; substance
- pittance
- small allowance or wage
- placate
- * pacify; conciliate
- plaintive
- mournful
- plait
- braid; intertwine
- plasticity
- * ability to be molded
- platitude
- * trite remark; commonplace statement
- platonic
- purely spiritual; theoretical; without sensual desire
- plaudit
- enthusiastic approval; round of applause
- plausible
- having a show of truth but open to doubt; specious
- plebeian
- common; pertaining to the common people
- plenary
- complete; full
- plenitude
- abundance; completeness
- plethora
- * excess; overabundance
- pliant
- flexible; easily influenced
- plight
- condition; state (especially a bar state or condition); predicament
- pluck
- courage
- plumage
- feathers of a bird
- plumb
- vertical
- plummet
- * fall sharply
- plutocracy
- society ruled by the wealthy
- podiatrist
- doctor who treats ailments of the feet
- polemic
- controversy; argument in support of point of view
- polemical
- aggressive in verbal attach; disputatious
- politic
- expedient; prudent; well devised
- polity
- form of government of nation or state
- polyglot
- speaking several languages
- pomposity
- self-important behaviour; acting like a stuffed shirt
- ponderous
- weighty; unwieldy
- pontifical
- pertaining to a bishop or pope; pompous or pretentious
- pore
- study industriously; ponder; scrutinize
- porous
- * full of pores; like a sieve
- portend
- foretell; presage
- portent
- sign; omen
- posterity
- descendants; future generations
- postulate
- self-evident truth
- posture
- assume an affected pose; act artificially
- potable
- suitable for drinking
- potentate
- monarch; sovereign
- poultice
- soothing application applied to sore and inflamed portions of hte body
- practicable
- feasible
- pragmatic
- * practical (as opposed to idealistic); concerned with the practical worth or impact of something
- pragmatist
- practical person
- prate
- speak foolishly; boast idly
- prattle
- babble
- preamble
- * introductory statement
- precarious
- * uncertain; risky
- precedent
- preceeding in time, rank, etc.
- precept
- practical rule guiding conduct
- precipice
- cliff; dangerous position
- precipitant
- something that causes a substance in a chemical solution to separate out in solid form
- precipitate
- throw headlong; hasten
- precipitous
- steep; overhasty
- précis
- concise summing up on main points
- preclude
- make impossible; eliminate
- precocious
- advanced in development
- precursor
- * forerunner
- predilection
- partiality; preference
- preeminent
- outstanding; superior
- preempt
- head off; forestall by acting first; appropriate for oneself; supplant
- preen
- make oneself tidy in appearance; feel self-satisfaction
- prefatory
- introductory
- prehensile
- capable of grasping or holding
- prelate
- church dignitary
- premonitory
- serving to warn
- preponderance
- superiority of power, quantity, etc.
- prerogative
- privilege; unquestionable right
- presage
- foretell
- prescience
- ability to foretell the future
- presentiment
- feeling something will happen; anticipatory fear; premonition
- prestige
- impression produced by achievements or reputation
- presumptuous
- * arrogant; taking liberties
- pretentious
- ostentatious; pompous; making unjustified claims; overambitious
- preternatural
- beyond that which is normal in nature
- pretext
- excuse
- prevail
- induce; triumph over
- prevaricate
- * lie
- primogeniture
- seniority by birth
- primordial
- existing at the beginning (of time); rudimentary
- pristine
- * characteristic of earlier times; primitive; unspoiled
- privation
- * hardship; want
- privy
- secret; hidden; not public
- probe
- explore with tools
- probity
- * uprightness; incorruptibility
- problematic
- * doubtful; unsettled; questionable; perplexing
- proclivity
- inclination; natural tendency
- procurement
- obtaining
- prodigal
- * wasteful; reckless with money
- prodigious
- marvelous; enormous
- prodigy
- highly gifted child; marvel
- profane
- violate; desecrate; treat unworthily
- profligate
- dissipated; wasteful; wildly immoral
- profound
- * deep; not superficial; complete
- profusion
- overabundance; lavish expenditure; excess
- progenitor
- ancestor
- prognosticate
- predict
- prohibitive
- * tending to prevent the purchase or use of something; inclined to prevent or forbid
- proletarian
- member of the working class; blue collar guy
- proliferate
- * grow rapidly; spread; multiply
- prolific
- abundantly fruitful
- prolixity
- tedious wordiness; verbosity
- promiscuous
- mixed indiscriminantly; haphazard; irregular, particularly sexually
- promontory
- headland
- prompt
- cause; provoke; provide a cue for an actor
- promulgate
- proclaim a doctrine or law; make known by official publication
- prone
- inclined; prostrate
- propagate
- multiply; spread
- propellant
- substance that propels or drives forward
- propensity
- * natural inclination
- prophylactic
- used to prevent diseases
- propinquity
- nearness; kinship
- propitiate
- * appease
- propitious
- favorable; fortunate; advantageous
- propound
- put forth for analysis
- propriety
- * fitness; correct conduct
- propulsive
- driving forward
- prosaic
- dull and unimaginative; matter-of-fact; factual
- proscenium
- part of stage in front of curtain
- proscribe
- * ostracize; banish; outlaw
- proselytize
- induce someone to convert to a religion or belief
- prosody
- art of vesification
- prostrate
- stretch out full on ground
- protean
- versatile; able to take on many forms
- protocol
- diplomatic etiquette
- protract
- prolong
- proturberance
- protrusion; bulge
- provenance
- origin or source of something
- provender
- dry food; fodder
- provident
- displaying foresight; thrifty; preparing for emergencies
- provincial
- pertaining to a province; limited in outlook; unsophisticated
- provisional
- tentative
- proviso
- stipulation
- provocative
- arousing anger or interest; annoying
- prowess
- extraordinary ability; military bravery
- proxy
- unauthorized agent