GRE 4
Terms
undefined, object
copy deck
- austere
- severe or stern in appearance; undecorated
- gewgaw
- a trinket; a bauble
- insensible
- numb; unconscious
- chancellor
- legal official or high rank
- prandial
- of or pertaining to a meal, especially dinner
- verdure
- greenness
- occlude
- block, obstruct
- cistern
- reservoir or water tank
- pate
- head (as the seat of the intellect)
- seasonable
- opportune; occurring at the right time
- dilatory
- intended to delay
- prodigal
- lavish, wasteful
- parlous
- fraught with danger; hazardous
- ligneous
- like wood
- ruminate
- chew over and over (mentally or, like cows, physically); mull over(ponder)
- circumvent
- outwit; baffle; avoid; get around
- apostle
- one who pioneers an important reform movement, cause, or belief; a passionate adherent; a strong supporter
- abrade
- scrape the skin off of
- alkali
- anything that will neutralize an acid, as lime, magnesia, etc
- aquiline
- curved; hooked; of or like an eagle
- aberrant
- deviating from the norm; incorrect
- abbess
- the lady superior of a nunnery
- voluptuary
- a person devoted to luxury and the gratification of sensual appetites
- chimerical
- fantastically improbably; highly unrealistic
- psychopomp
- a person who conducts spirits or souls to the other world
- lilliputian
- extremely small
- taper
- a candle, esp. a very slender one.
- perspicacious
- acutely perceptive
- mytheme
- the smallest chunk of a myth
- seine
- net for catching fish
- solstice
- point or time at which the sun is farthest from the equator
- rara avis
- a rare or unique person or thing
- canonical
- following accepted standards
- mien
- demeanor; also, aspect; appearance
- scuttle
- scrap; discard; sink a ship by cutting holes in the hull
- apocryphal
- (of a story) widely believed but untrue
- gaunt
- lean and angular; emaciated; bony; barren
- rapacious
- greedy, esp for money; grasping
- Ides
- the fifteenth day of March, May, July, and October, and the thirteenth day of the other months
- disport
- amuse; divert
- savory
- pleasant in taste; tasty; pleasing, attractive, or agreeable
- circumambient
- surrounding; encompassing
- sectarian
- of a sect; narrow-minded; parochial
- credulous
- too trusting
- conflagration
- great fire
- fester
- rankle; produce irritation or resentment
- animalcule
- an animal of microscopic smallness
- rococo
- ornate; highly decorated
- abjure
- renounce or reject solemnly
- parlance
- particular way of speaking or use of words; phraseology
- filigree
- delicate ornamental lacelike metalwork
- wayworn
- wearied by traveling
- maelstrom
- violent whirlpool; violent or turbulent situation
- achillean
- invulnerable
- lumen
- unit of light energy (one candle's worth)
- palpitate
- tremble, beat rapidly and irregularly
- ravening
- rapacious; seeking prey
- ingenuous
- unsophisticated; artless
- lucre
- money; profit
- ciliated
- having minute hairs
- ontology
- the branch of metaphysics that deals with the nature of being
- annals
- a record of events in their chronological order, year by year
- abdicate
- resign and renounce one's powers
- limn
- draw; outline; describe
- mire
- a swamp, bog, or marsh; ground of this kind, as wet, slimy soil of some depth or deep mud
- dapple
- a small contrasting blotch; also, to mark with spots
- apiculture
- bee-keeping
- palaver
- idle talk; also, to talk idly
- legion
- numerous
- go to seed
- weaken; deteriorate
- disputatious
- argumentative; fond of argument
- metier
- an occupation, especially in which one excels
- rusticate
- banish to the country; dwell in the country
- chauvinist
- blindly devoted patriot
- roseate
- rosy; optimistic
- rendition
- a surrender
- paunchy
- * having an enlarged, swollen, or protruding abdomen
- cormorant
- a gluttonous or greedy person
- malinger
- evade responsibility by pretending to be ill
- chaplain
- a person who says the prayer, invocation, etc., for an organization or at an assembly
- choler
- anger
- kvetch
- to complain habitually
- opprobrium
- public disgrace
- rubric
- title or heading (in red print); directions for religious ceremony; protocol
- land of Nod
- sleep
- arcane
- understood or known by only a few
- puissant
- potent; wielding great power
- palsied
- paralysed
- sextant
- navigation tool used to determine a ship's latitude and longitude (by using the stars)
- extempore
- without premeditation or preparation
- sedition
- conduct or language inciting rebellion
- gibe
- mock; make jeering remarks
- billingsgate
- foul language
- lode
- long deposit of an ore
- fin de siecle
- characteristic of the close of the century; sophisticated; world-weary
- dudgeon
- a state or fit of intense indignation
- dour
- sullen; gloomy; stubborn
- ineffable
- indescribable in words
- fustian
- pompous or pretentious language
- dispatch
- speediness; prompt execution; message sent with speed
- apothegm
- compact pithy saying
- loll
- lounge about
- maculated
- spotted; stained
- otiose
- ineffective; also, being at leisure; also, of no use
- scurrilous
- abusive; obscene; indecent
- clangor
- sound of repeated clanging
- checkered
- marked by great changes of fortune
- fiat
- command; arbitrary order
- chicanery
- deception by means of craft
- gangrene
- decay in body tissue caused by insufficient blood supply (usually after an injury)
- secession
- formal withdrawal
- saccharine
- cloying sweet; characteristic of sugar
- parsimonious
- cheap, miserly
- palmy
- marked by prosperity
- appurtenance
- something added to a more important thing
- chisel
- swindle or cheat
- fetter
- shackle; restrict the freedom of
- antemeridian
- before noon
- seminal
- creative; providing a basis for further development
- logorrhea
- excessive talkativeness
- peccadillo
- small sin or fault
- crepuscular
- pertaining to twilight
- habitue
- one who habitually frequents a place
- alloy
- debase by mixing with something inferior
- patois
- dialect spoken by the common people of a region and differing from the standard language of the country
- esoteric
- meant for understanding by the few
- gerrymander
- change voting district lines in order to favour a political party
- parochial
- confined or restricted as if within the borders of a parish : limited in range or scope
- patina
- a superficial layer
- lout
- clumsy person
- riparian
- of or pertaining to the bank of a river
- sang-froid
- coolness in trying circumstances
- germinal
- pertaining to germs; creative
- aestival
- of or belonging to the summer
- bete noire
- something or someone particularly detested or avoided
- unctuous
- marked by a false or smug earnestness or agreeableness
- ferret
- drive or hunt out of hiding; expel
- Promethean
- boldly original
- stertorous
- characterized by stertor, or heavy snoring
- termagant
- a scolding, nagging, bad-tempered woman
- repatriate
- to restore or return to the country of origin, allegiance, or citizenship
- blandishment
- speech or action intended to coax someone into doing something
- lineaments
- features of the face; distinctive contours of the face
- quiddity
- the essence or nature of a thing
- imperious
- commanding
- fulsome
- offensive from excess of praise
- doggerel
- poor verse
- florid
- ornate; flushed with rosy colour
- septic
- of or causing sepsis; putrid; producing putrefaction
- provident
- showing forethought; providing for future needs
- toothsome
- delicious; attractive; luscious
- macerate
- soften by soaking in liquid; waste away
- fiasco
- total failure
- docket
- program as for a trial; list of things to be done
- litotes
- understatement for emphasis
- roister
- to engage in noisy revelry; carouse
- churlish
- boorish; rude
- frowsty
- stuffy; musty; ill-smelling
- peroration
- conclusion of a speech; flowery, rhetorical speech
- pedant
- someone who shows off learning
- genteel
- striving to convey an appearance of refinement
- coxcomb
- a vain, showy fellow
- wassail
- an expression of good wishes on a festive occasion, especially in drinking to some one
- effrontery
- extreme boldness; presumptuousness
- foment
- arouse or incite
- fetid
- malodorous; foul
- aboveboard
- without concealment, fraud or trickery
- malcontent
- person dissatisfied with the existing state of affairs
- woebegone
- woeful; also, run-down
- adjudge
- to award or bestow by formal decision
- cipher
- nonentity; worthless person or thing; secret code
- gambol
- romp; skip about; leap about playfully
- regatta
- sporting event at which races are held between rowing-boats or yachts
- specious
- deceptively attractive
- rubicund
- having a healthy reddish color; ruddy; florid
- dissolution
- disintegration; looseness in morals; sensual indulgence
- scrappy
- quarrelsome
- aplomb
- poise; compusure in difficult situations; assurance
- parochial
- restricted to a small area or scope; narrow; limited; provincial
- dossier
- file of documents on a subject or person; file
- retrograde
- moving backwards
- daedal
- skillful; artistic; ingenious
- sepulcher
- tomb
- apoplexy
- stroke; loss of blood due to too much blood in the brain
- hovel
- a miserable dwelling
- gloss
- brief explanatory note or translation of a difficult expression
- multivalent
- having various meanings
- mace
- ceremonial staff; clublike medieval weapon
- tenebrous
- dark; gloomy
- belfry
- a bell tower, either attached to a church or other building or standing apart
- chaffing
- bantering; joking
- glutinous
- sticky; viscous; gluey
- stolid
- unemotional; lacking sensitivity
- depredation
- preying upon and plundering
- plethora
- excess
- folderol
- foolishness; nonsense
- crescendo
- steadily increasing volume or force
- dyad
- a couple; two
- abominate
- loathe; hate
- remit
- to transmit (money) in payment; to refrain from exacting a fee or penalty
- firebrand
- piece of burning wood; hothead; person who stirs up trouble
- scrimmage
- disorderly fight
- watchword
- a secret password; a word or phrase expressive of a principle or rule of action; slogan; a rallying cry; a cheer
- clerical
- of the clergy; doing the work of a clerk
- abbot
- the superior of a community of monks
- harridan
- a scolding, vicious woman
- aphasia
- loss of speech due to injury or illness
- madrigal
- pastoral song; song for several singers without instruments
- rheumatism
- any disorder of the extremities or back, characterized by pain and stiffness
- apposite
- appropriate, fitting
- apiary
- a place where bees are kept
- restive
- marked by impatience; fidgety
- rune
- one of the letters of an alphabet used by ancient Germanic peoples (cut on stone or wood); magic charm
- exegesis
- critical examination
- gambit
- action made to produce a future advantage
- manse
- a large and imposing residence
- papyrus
- tall reed-like water-plant with thick fibrous stems used by the Ancient Egyptians to make paper
- malaise
- uneasiness; vague feeling of ill health
- scimitar
- a curved, single-edged sword of Oriental origin
- anemometer
- an instrument for measuring the force or velocity of wind
- noisome
- harmful; offensive; destructive
- lodestar
- guiding principle
- fawn
- grovel
- maladroit
- clumsy; not skillful; awkward; bungling
- roan
- brown mixed with gray or white
- gauche
- clumsy (in social behavior); coarse and uncouth
- amatory
- designed to excite love
- engender
- produce; cause
- diaphanous
- sheer and light; delicately hazy; almost translucent
- actionable
- affording cause for instituting an action, as trespass, slanderous words
- perfervid
- marked by overwrought or exaggerated emotion; excessively fervent
- quizzical
- in a questioning manner, esp when amused; bantering; comically serious
- anticyclone
- an atmospheric condition of high central pressure, with currents flowing outward
- obsequious
- overly submissive and eager to please
- penury
- poverty, destitution
- fetish
- object believed to have spititual powers; object of excessive attention
- crapulous
- sick from, or marked by, excessive drinking
- perfunctory
- cursory; done without care or interest
- onerous
- troubling; burdensome
- dram
- a small drink of liquor; a small quantity of anything
- coruscate
- to give off or reflect bright beams or flashes of light
- dissimulate
- pretend; conceal by feigning; dissemble
- anhydrous
- withered
- seamy
- sordid; filthy; base; unwholesome
- doddering
- shaky; infirm with old age
- ferment
- agitation; commotion; unrest
- fervid
- intensely emotional; feverish
- repine
- to be fretfully discontented; fret; complain
- brio
- vigor; vivacity
- propitiate
- appease, conciliate
- hapless
- unfortunate
- diurnal
- daily; occurring during the daytime
- rankle
- to cause anger, irritation, or deep bitterness
- rigmarole
- a set of confused and meaningless statements; a long and complicated and confusing procedure
- cupola
- a dome; any of various domelike structures
- lugubrious
- weighty, mournful, or gloomy
- obviate
- prevent by anticipatory measures
- filial
- pertaining to or befitting a son or daughter
- scullion
- a kitchen servant who does menial work; a low or contemptible person
- tractable
- easy to control
- ambit
- circuit or compass; also, sphere of action or influence
- pugnacious
- given to fighting
- parse
- to resolve (as a sentence) into component parts of speech and describe them grammatically
- bluff
- good-naturedly direct, blunt, or frank; heartily outspoken; presenting a bold and nearly perpendicular front, as a coastline
- distrait
- absentminded; distracted
- tittle-tattle
- idle, trifling talk
- alderman
- a member of a municipal legislative body, who usually exercises also certain judicial functions
- dotage
- senility; feeblemindedness of old age
- clapper
- striker (tongue) of a bell
- philomath
- a lover of learning; a scholar
- decorum
- appropriateness of behaviour or conduct
- chassis
- framework and woking parts of an automobile
- quondam
- former; sometime
- grandee
- a man of elevated rank or station; a nobleman
- propitious
- favorable; fortunate; of good omen
- boudoir
- a woman's bedroom or private sitting room
- rout
- utter defeat
- flaneur
- idler
- roue
- a man devoted to a life of sensual pleasure
- antemundane
- pertaining to the time before the world's creation
- purblind
- having greatly reduced vision
- skittish
- inconstant; capricious; frivolous; not serious
- bitters
- a liquid, often an alcoholic liquor, in which bitter herbs or roots have steeped, used as a flavoring, esp. in mixed drinks, or as a tonic
- tenement
- a run-down and often overcrowded apartment house, esp. in a poor section of a large city
- clavicle
- collarbone
- persiflage
- to provide with an incentive; move to action; impel
- deprecation
- belittlement
- Machiavellian
- holding that craft and deceit are justified for pursuing political power
- requisition
- official, usu written, demand for (esp) the use of property or materials by an army in wartime or by certain people in an emergency