GRE beyond the Hit Parade

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Terms

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Alloy v: To commingle; to debase by mixing with something inferior; "unalloyed means pure"
Appropriate v: To take for one's own use, confiscate
August adj: majestic, venerable
broach v: bring up, announce, begin to talk about
brook v: to tolerate, endure, countenance
chauvinist n: a blindly devoted patriot
consequential adj: pompous, self-important (primary definitions are: logically following; important)
essay v: to test or try; experiment
"the newly born fawn essayed a few wobbly steps"
exact v: to demand, call for, require, take
"even a victorious war exacts a heavy price."
flag v: to sag or droop, to become spiritless, to decline: thihnk of a flag on a windless, in her flagging spirits
guy n/v: a rope, cord, or cable attached to something as a brace or guide; to steady or reinforce using a guy; Think GUIDE
Intimate v: to imply, suggest, or insinuate: "Are you intimidating that I cannot be trusted?"
Lumber v: To move heavily and clumsily
"lumbering giants on land, walruses are actually graceful swimmers"
meet adj: Fitting, proper
"It is altogether meet that Jackie Robinson is in the baseball hall of fame."
mince v: pronounce or speak affectedly, euphemize, speak too carefully
"Don't mince words"
nice adj: exacting, fastidious, extremely precise: "He made a nice distinction between the two cases."
obtain adj: to be established, accepted, or customary: "Those standards no longer obtain"
occult adj: hidden, concealed, beyond comprehension
pine v: to lose vigor (as through grief); to yearn
plastic adj: moldable, pliable, not rigid
prize v: to pry, to press or force with a lever; something taken by force, spoils: "The information was prized from him."
rail v: To complain about bitterly: "early american progressives railed against the railroad barons."
rent v/n: torn, past of rend: "He rent his garments;" An opening or tear caused by such: "A large rent in the fabric."
quail v: to lose courage, turn frightened
qualify v: to limit: "let me qualify that statement."
sap v: to enervate or weaken the vitality of
"That race sapped my strength"
scurvy adj: contemptible, despicable: "he was a scurvy old reprobate"
singular adj: exceptional, unusual, odd: "He was singularly well-suited for the job"
stand n: a group of trees
table v: to remove (as a parliamentary motion) from consideration: "they tabled the motion and will consider it again later."
tender v: to proffer or ofter "He tendered his resignation."
wag n: wit, joker
"Groucho Marx was a well known wag"
abjure v: to renounce or reject solemny; to recant; to avoid
adumbrate v: to foreshadow vaguely or intimidate; to suggest or outline sketchily; to obscure or overshadow
anodyne adj/n: soothing, something that assuages or allays pain or comforts
apostate n: one who abandons long-held religious or political convictions
apotheosis n: deification, glorification to godliness, an exalted example, a model of excellence or perfection
asperity n: severity, rigor; roughness, harshness; acrimony, irritability
calumniate v: to slander, make a false accusation; calumny means slander, aspersion
captious adj: disposed to point out trivial faults, calculated to confuse or entrap in argument
cavil v: to find fault without good reason
celerity n: speed, alacrity, think "accelerate"
chimera n: an illusion; originally an imaginary fire-breathing, she-monster
contumacious adj: insubordinate, rebellious; contumely means insult, scorn, aspersion
denouement n: an outcome or solution; the unraveling of a plot
descry v: to discriminate or discern
desuetude n: disuse: "after years of desuetude, my French skills were finally put to use"
desultory adj: random, aimless; marked by a lack of plan or purpose: "Her desultory performance impressed no one."
diaphanous adj: tranparent, gauzy
dirge n: song of grief or lamentation
encomium n: glowing and enthusiastic praise; panegyric, tribute, eulogy
eschew v: to shun or avoid: "She chose to eschew the movie theatre, preferring to watch DVDs at home."
excoriate v: to censure scathingly, to upbraid
execrate v: denounce, feel loating for, curse, declare to be evil
exegesis n: critical examination, explication
expiate v: to atone or make amends for: "Pia Zadora has expiated her movie career by good works and charity."
fatuous adj: silly, inanely foolish: "I would ignore such a fatuous comment"
fractious adj: quarrelsome, rebellious, unruly, refractory, irritable
gainsay v: to deny, dispute, contradict, oppose
heterodox adj: unorthodox, heretical, iconoclastic
imbroglio n: difficult or embarrassing situation
indefatigable adj: not easily exhaustible, tireless, dogged
ineluctable adj: certain, inevitable
inimitable adj: one of a kind, peerless
insouciant adj: unconcerned, carefree, heedless
inveterate adj: deep rooted, ingrained, habitual
jejune adj: vapid, uninteresting, nugatory; childish, immature, puerile
lubricious adj: lewd, wanton, greasy, slippery
mendicant n: a begger, supplicant
meretricious adj: cheap, gaudy, tawdry, flashy, showy; attracting by false show
minatory adj: menacing, threatening, (reminds ou of the minotaur)
nadir n: low point, perigee
nonplussed adj: baffled, bewildered, at a loss for what to do or think
obstreperous adj: noisily and stubbornly defiant, aggressively boisterous
palliate v: to make something seem less serious, to gloss over, to make less sever or intense
panegyric n: formal praise, eulogy, encomium; "panegyrical" means expressing elaborate praise.
pellucid adj: transparent, easy to understand, limpid
peroration n: the concluding part of a speech; flowery, rhetorical speech
plangent adj: pounding, thundering, resounding
prolix adj: long-winded, verbose: "prolixity" means verbosity: "Michael Gorbachev is famous for his prolixity"
propitiate v: to appease; to conciliate; "propitious" means auspicious, favorable
puerile adj: childish, immature, jejune, nugatory
puissance n: power, strength; "puissant" means powerful, strong: "The senator delivered a puissant speech to the convention
remonstrate v: to protest, object
salacious adj: lustful, lascivious, bawdy
salutary adj: remedial, wholesome, causing improvement
sanguine adj: cheerful, confident, optimistic
saturnine adj: gloomy, dark, sullen, morose
sententious adj: aphoristic or moralistic, epigrammatic; tending to moralize excessively
stentorian adj: extremely loud and powerful
stygian adj: gloomy, dark
sycophant n: toady, servile, self-seeking flatterer, parasite
tendentious adj: biased; showing marked tendencies
tyro n: novice, greenhorn, rank amateur
vitiate v: to corrupt, debase, spoil, make ineffective
voluble adj: fluent, verbal, having easy use of spoken language

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Deck Info

Number of cards 96