GRE vocabulary p3
Terms
undefined, object
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- politic
- expedent; prudent; well devised. Even though he was disappointed, he did not think it politic to refuse this offer.
- polemical
- aggressive in verbal attack; disputatious. Lexy was a master of polemical retori; she should have won a T-shirt with the slogan 'Born to debate'
- polemic
- controversy; argument in support of point of view. Her essays were, for the main part, polemics for the party's policy.
- polarize
- split into opposite extremes or camps. The abortion issue has polarized the country into pro-choice and anti-abortion camps.
- poignancy
- quality of being deeply moving; keenness of emotion. Watching the tearful reunion of the long-separated mother and chid, the social worker was touched by the poignancy of the scene.
- podium
- pedestal; raised platform. The audience applauded as the conductor made her way to the podium.
- pittance
- a small allowance or wage. He could not live on the pittance he received as a pension and had to look for an additional source of revenue
- pithy
- concise; meaningful; substantial; meaty. While other girls might have gone on and on about how uncool Elton was, Cher summed it up in one pithy remark: He's bogus !
- pith
- core or marroq; essence; substance. In preparing a pineapple for the table, first slice it in half and remove the woody central pith
- pitfall
- hidden danger; concea;ed trap. The preacher warned his flock to beware the pitfall of excessive pride, for pride brought on the angels' fall.
- piscatorial
- pertaining to fishing. he spent many happy hours at the lake in his piscatorial activities.
- pique
- irritation; resentment. She showed her pique at her loss by refusing to appear with the other contestants at the end of the competition.
- piquant
- pleasantly tart-tasting; stimulating. THe piquant sauce added to our enjoyment of the meal
- pious
- devout; religious. The challenge for church peopelt oday is how o be pious in the best sense, that is, to be devout without becoming hypocritical or sanctimonious
- pinnacle
- peak. We could see the morning sunlight illuminate the pinnacle while the rest of the mountain lay in shadow.
- pinion
- retrain. They pinioned his arms against his body but left his legs fere so that he could move about
- pine
- languish, decline; long for; yearn. Though she tried to be happy living with clara in the city, Heidi pined for the mountains and for her gruff but loving grandfather.
- pillory
- punish by placing in a wooden frame; subject to criticism and ridicule. Even though he was mocked and pilloried, he maintained that he was correct in his beliefs.
- pillage
- plunder, steal, rob. The enmy pillaged the quiet village and left it in ruins.
- pigment
- coloring matter. Van Gogh mixed various pigments with linseed oil to create his paints.
- piety
- devoutness; reverence for God. Living her life in prayer and good works, Mother Teresa exemplified the true spirit of piety.
- pied
- variegated; multicolored. The Pied Piper of Hamelin got his name from the multicolored clothing he wore
- piecemeal
- one part at a time; gradually. Tolstoy's War and Peace is too huge to finish in one sitting; I'll have to read it piecemeal.
- piebald
- of different colors; mottled; spotted. You should be able to identify Polka Dot in this race; he is the only piebald horse running.
- physiological
- pertaining to the science of the funtion of living organisms. To understand this disease fully, we must examine not only its physiological aspects but also its psychological elements.
- physiognomy
- face. He prided himself on his ability to analyze a person's character by studying his physiognomy.
- phylum
- major classification,s econd to kingdom of plants and animals; division. In sorting ou her hundred of packets of seeds, Katya decided to file them by phylum.
- phoenix
- symbol of immortality or rebirth. Like the legendary phoenix rising from its ashes, the city of San Francisco rose again after its destruction during the 1906 earthquake.
- phobia
- morbid fear. Her fear of flying was more than mere nervousness;it was a real phobia.
- phlegmatic
- calm; not easily disturbed. The nurse was a cheerful but phlegmatic person, unexcited in the face of sudden emergencies.
- philology
- study of language. The professor of philology advocated the use of Esperanto as an international language.
- philistine
- narrow-minded person, unculturered and exclusively interested in material gain. We need more men and women of culture and enlightenment; we have too many philistines among us.
- philatelist
- stamp collector. When she heard the value of the Penny Black Stamp, Phyllis was inspired to become a philatelist.
- philanthropist
- lover of mankind; doer of good. In his role as philantrhopist and public benefactor, John D Rockefeller, Sr.. donated millions to charity; as an individual; however, he was a tight-fisted old man
- philanderer
- faithless lover; flirt. Swearing he had never so much as looked at another woman, Jack assured Jill he was no philanderer
- phenomena
- observable facts; subjects of scientific investigation. We kept careful records of the phenomena we noted in the course of these experiments.
- pharisaical
- pertaining to the PHarisees, who paid scrupulous attention to tradition; self-rightenous; hy[ocritical. Walter Lippmann has pointed out that moralists who do not attemp to explain the moral code they advocate are often regarded as pharisaical and ignored.
- petulant
- touchy; peevish. If you'd had hardly any sleep for three ights and people kept on phoning and waking you up, you'd sound petulant, too.
- petty
- trivial; unimportant; very small. She had no major complaints to make about his work, only a few petty quibbles that were almost too minor to state.
- petrify
- turn to stone. His sudden and unexpected appearane seemed to petrify her.
- pestle
- tool for mashing or frinding substances in a hard bowl. from the way in which the elderly pharmacist pounted the drug with his pestle, young George could tell that his employer was agitated about something
- pessimism
- belief that life is basically bad or evil; gloominess. Considering how well you have done in the course so far, you have no real reason for such pessimism about your final grade.
- perversion
- corruption; turning from right to wrong. In as much as he had no motive for his crimes, we could not understand his perversion
- perverse
- stubbornly wrongheaded; wicked and unacceptable. When Jack was in a perverse mood, he would do the opposite of whatever Jill asked him. When Hannibal Lecter was in a perverse mood, he ate the flesh of his victims
- pervasive
- spread throughout. Despite airing them for several hours, she could not rid her clothes of the pervasive odor of mothballs that clung to them.
- peruse
- read with care. After the conflagration that burned down her house, Joan closely perused her home insurance policy to discover exactly what benefits her coverage provided.
- perturb
- disturb greatly. The though that electricity might be leaking out of the empty light-bulb sockets perturbed my aunt so much that at night she crept about the house bulbs in the vacant spots. perturbation
- pertinent
- suitable; to the point. The lawyer wanted to know all the pertinent details
- pertinacious
- stubborn; persistent. She is bound to succeed because her pertinacious nature will not permit her to quit.
- perspicuous
- plainly expressed. Her perspicuous comments eliminated all possiblity of misinterpretation
- perspicuity
- clearness of expression; freedom from ambiguity. One of the outstanding features of this book is the perspicuity of its author; her meaning is always clear.
- perspicacious
- having insight; penetrating; astute. The brilliant lawyer was knwon for his perspicacious deductions.
- personable
- attractive. The individual I am seeking to fill this position must be personable since he or she will be representing us before the public.
- perquisite
- any gain above stipulated salary. The perquisites attached to this job make it even more attractive than the salary indivates.
- perpetuate
- make something last; preserve from extinction. Some critics attack The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn because they believe Twain's book perpetuates a false image if blacks in his country.
- perpetual
- everlasting. Ponce de Leon hoped to find the legendary fountain of perpetual youth
- perpetrate
- commit an offense. Only an insane person could perpetrate such a horrible crime.
- peroration
- conclusion of an oration. The peroration was largely hortatory and brough the audience to its feet clamoring for action at its close.
- pernicious
- very destructive. The Athenians argued that Socrates's teachings had a pernicious effect on young and susceptible minds; therefore, they condemned him to death
- permeable
- penetrable; porous; allowing liquids or gas to pass through. If your jogging clothes werent msde out of permeable fabric, you'd drown in your own sweat (figuratively speaking)
- perjury
- false testimony while under oath. Rather than lie under oath and perhaps be indicted for perjury, the wF
- periphery
- edge, especially of a round surface. He sensed that there were something just beyond the periphery of his vision.
- peripheral
- marginal; outer. We lived, not in central london, but in one of those peripheral suburbs that spring up on the outskirts of a great city.
- peripatetic
- walking about; moving. The peripatetic school of philosophy derives its name from the fact that Aristotle walked with his pupils whie discussing philosophy with them
- perimeter
- outer boundary. To find the perimeter of any quadrilateral, we add the lengths of the four sides
- perigee
- point of moon's orbit when it is nearest the earth. The rocket which was designed to take photographs the moon was launched as the moon approached its perigee
- perfunctory
- superficial' not thorough; lacking interest, care, or enthusiasm. The auditor's perfunctory inspection of the books overlooked many errors.
- perforate
- pierce; put a hole through. before you can open the aspirin bottle, you must first perforaye the plastic safety seal that covers tha cap.
- perfidious
- treacheous; disloyal. when caesar realized that brutus had betrayed him, he reproached his perfidious friend
- perennial
- something long-lasting. These plants are hardy perennials and will bloom for many years.
- peremptory
- demanding and leaving no choice. From Jack's peremptory knock on the door, Jill could tell he would not give up until she let in
- peregrination
- journey. Auntie Mame was a world traveler whose peregrinations took her from tijuana to timbuktu
- perdition
- damnation; complete ruin. praying for salvation, young Daedalus feared he was damned to eternal perdition.
- percussion
- striking one object against another sharply. The drum is a percussion instrument
- perceptive
- insightful; aware; wise. Although Maud was a generally perceptive critic, she had her blind spots: she could never see flaws in the work of her friends.
- peon
- landless agricultural worker; bond servant. The land reformers sought to liberate the peons and establish them as independent farmers.
- penury
- severe poverty; stinginess. When his pension fund failed, Georget feared he would end his days in penury. He became such a penny-pincher that he turned into a closefisted, penurious mister.
- penumbra
- partial shadow (in an eclipse). During an eclipse, we can see an area of total darkness and a lighter area, which is the penumbra.
- pensive
- dreamily thoughtful; thoughful with a hint of sadness; contemplative. The pensive lover gazed at the portrait of his beloved and sighed deeply.
- penitent
- repentant. When he realized the enormity of his crime, he became remorseful and penitent.
- pendulous
- hangingl suspended. The pendulous chandeliers swayed in the breeze as if they were about to fall from the ceiling.
- pendant
- hanging down from something. Her pendant earrings glistened int he light
- penchant
- strong punishment for sin. The Ancient Mariner said, "I have penance done and penance more will do. " to atone for the sin of killing the albatross.
- pellucid
- transparent; limpid; easy to understand. After reading these stodgy philosophers, i find his pellicid style very enjoyable.
- pell-mell
- in confusion; disorderly. The excited students dashed pell-mell into the stadium to celebrate the victory.
- pejorative
- negative in connotation; having a belittling effect. = Raymond. Instead of criticizing Clinton's policies, the Republicans made pejorative remarks about his character.
- peerless
- having no equal; incomparable. The reigning operativ tenor of his generation, to his admirers Luciano Pavarotti was peerless: no one could compare with him.
- pediatrician
- physician specializing in children's diseases. The family doctor advised the parents to consult a pediatrician about their child's ailment.
- pedestrian
- ordinary; unimaginative. Unintentionally boring, he wrote page after page of pedestrian prose