GRE Barron's 1-2 Flashcards

1
Q

abase

A

lower; degrade; humiliate

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2
Q

abash

A

embarrass

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3
Q

abet

A

assist, usually in doing something wrong; encourage

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4
Q

abhor

A

detest; hate

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5
Q

ablution

A

washing;

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6
Q

abnegation

A

renunciation; self-sacrifice

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7
Q

abominable

A

detestable; extremely unpleasant; very bad

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8
Q

abominate

A

loathe; hate

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9
Q

abortive

A

unsuccessful; fruitless

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10
Q

abrasive

A

rubbing away

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11
Q

abridge

A

condense or shorten

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12
Q

abrogate

A

v. abolish

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13
Q

absolve

A

v. pardon (an offense)

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14
Q

abstain

A

v. refrain;

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15
Q

abstruse

A

adj. Obscure; profound; difficult to understand

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16
Q

abut

A

v. border upon; adjoin.

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17
Q

accede

A

v. agree

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18
Q

acclaim

A

v. applaud; announce with great approval

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19
Q

acclimate

A

v. adjust to climate or environment; adapt

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20
Q

acclivity

A

n. sharp upslope of a hill

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21
Q

accolade

A

n. award of merit.

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22
Q

accomplice

A

n. partner in crime

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23
Q

accord

A

n. agreement

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24
Q

accost

A

approach and speak first to a person. When the two young men accosted me, I was frightened because I thought they were going to attack me.

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25
Q

accoutre

A

equip. The fisherman was accoutred with the best that the sporting goods store could supply.

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26
Q

acerbic

A

bitter or sour in nature; sharp and cutting. Noted for her acerbic with and gossiping, Alice had a pillow in her home embroidered with the legend “If you can’t say something good about someone, sit right here by me.”

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27
Q

acerbity

A

bitterness of speech and temper. The meeting of the UN Assembly was marked with such acerbity that observers held little hope of reaching any useful settlement of the problem.

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28
Q

acetic

A

vinegary. The salad had an exceedingly acetic flavor.

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29
Q

acidulous

A

slightly sour; sharp; caustic. James was unpopular because of his sarcastic and acidulous remarks.

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30
Q

acme

A

peak; highest point.

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31
Q

acquiesce

A

assent; agree passively. Although she appeared to acquiesce to her employer’s suggestions, I could tell she had reservations about the changes he wanted made.

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32
Q

acquittal

A

deliverance from a charge; 無罪放免. His acquittal by the jury surprised those who had thought him guilty.

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33
Q

acrid

A

sharp; bitterly pungent. The acrid odor of burnt gunpowder filed the room after the pistol had been fired.

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34
Q

acrimonious

A

bitter in words or manner. The candidate attacked his opponent in highly acrimonious terms.

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35
Q

acrophobia

A

fear of heights. A born salesman, he could convince someone with a bad case of acrophobia to sign up for a life membership in a sky-diving club.

36
Q

actuate

A

motivate. I fail to understand what actuated you to reply to this letter so nastily.

37
Q

acuity

A

sharpness. In time his youthful acuity of vision failed him, and he needed glasses.

38
Q

acumen

A

mental keenness. Her business acumen helped her to succeed where others had failed.

39
Q

adage

A

wise saying; proverb. There is much truth in the old adage about fools and their money.

40
Q

adamant

A

hard; inflexible. In this movie Bronson played the part of a revenge-driven man, adamant in his determination to punish the criminals who destroyed his family.

41
Q

addendum

A

addition; appendix to book. Jane’s editor approved her new comparative literature text but thought it would be even better with an addendum on recent developments in literary criticism.

42
Q

addle

A

muddle; drive crazy; become rotten. This idiotic plan is confusing enough to addle anyone.

43
Q

adept

A

expert at. She was adept at the fine art of irritating people.

44
Q

adhere

A

stick fast. I will adhere to this opinion until proof that I am wrong is presented.

45
Q

adherent

A

supporter; follower. In the wake of the scandal, the senator’s one-time adherents quietly deserted him.

46
Q

adjuration

A

solemn urging. Her adjuration to tell the truth did not change the witnesses’ testimony.

47
Q

adjutant

A

staff officer assisting the commander; assistant. Though Welington delegated many tasks to his chief adjutant, Lord Fitzroy Somerset, Somerset was in no doubt as to who made all major decisions.

48
Q

adorn

A

decorate. Wall paintings and carved statues adorned the temple.

49
Q

adroit

A

skillful. Her adroit handling of the delicate situation pleased her employers.

50
Q

adulation

A

flattery; admiration. The rock starthrived on the adulation of his groupies and yes-men.

51
Q

advent

A

arrival. Most Americans were unaware of the advent of the Nuclear Age until the news of Hiroshima reached them.

52
Q

adventitious

A

accidental; casual. She found this adventitious meeting with her friend extremely fortunate.

53
Q

adversary

A

opponent; enemy. Batman struggled to save Gotham City from the machinations of his wicked adversary, the Joker.

54
Q

adverse

A

unfavorable; hostile. The recession had a highly adverse effect on Father’s investment portfolio: he lost so much money that he could no longer afford the butler and the upstairs maid.

55
Q

adversity

A

poverty; misfortune. We must learn to meet adversity gracefully.

56
Q

advert

A

refer (to). Since you advert to this matter so frequently, you must regard it as important.

57
Q

advocate

A

urge; plead for. The abolitionists advocated freedom for the slaves.

58
Q

aegis

A

shield; defense. Under the aegis of the Bill of Rights, we enjoy our most treasured freedoms.

59
Q

affable

A

easily approachable; warmly friendly. Accustomed to cold, aloof supervisors, Nicholas was amazed at how affable his new employer was.

59
Q

affix

A

attach or add on; fasten. First the registrar had to affix his signature to the license; then he had to affix his official seal.

60
Q

affliction

A

state of distress; cause of suffering. Even in the midst of her affliction, Elizabeth tried to keep up the spirits of those around her.

60
Q

affront

A

insult; offense; intentional act of disrespect. When Mrs. Proudie was not seated beside the Archdeacon at the head table, she took it as a personal affront and refused to speak to her hosts for a week.

61
Q

agape

A

openmouthed. She stared, agape, at the many strange animals in the zoo.

62
Q

agglomeration

A

collection; heap. It took weeks to assort the agglomeration of miscellaneous items she had collected on her trip.

63
Q

aggressor

A

attacker. Before you punish both boys for fighting, see whether you can determine which one was the aggressor.

64
Q

aghast

A

horrified; dumbfounded. Miss Manners was aghast at the crude behavior of the fraternity brothers at the annual toga party.

65
Q

agitate

A

stir up; disturb. Her fiery remarks agitated the already angry mob.

66
Q

agnostic

A

one who is skeptical of the existence of a god or any ultimate reality. Agnostics say we can neither prove nor disprove the existence of God; we simply have no way to know.

67
Q

agog

A

highly excited; intensely curious. We were all agog at the news that the celebrated movie star was giving up his career in order to enter a monastery.

68
Q

agrarian

A

pertaining to land or its cultivation. As a result of its recent industrialization, the country is gradually losing its agrarian traditions.

69
Q

alienate

A

make hostile; separate. Her attempts to alienate the two friends failed because they had complete faith in each other.

70
Q

alimentary

A

supplying nourishment, 食物の、栄養の. The alimentary canal in our bodies is so named because digestion of foods occurs there. When asked for the name of the digestive tract, Sherlock Holmes replied, “Alimentary, my dear Watson”.

71
Q

allege

A

state without proof. Although it is alleged that she has worked for the enemy, she denies the allegation and, legally, we can take no action against her without proof.

71
Q

allegiance

A

loyalty. Not even a term in prison could shake Lech Walesea’s allegiance to Solidarity, the Polish trade union he had helped to found.

72
Q

allegory

A

story in which characters are used as symbols; fable. Pilgrim’s Progress is an allegory of the temptations and victories of the human soul.

73
Q

allude

A

refer indirectly. Try not to mention divorce in Jack’s presence because he will think you are alluding to his marital problems with Jill.

73
Q

allusion

A

indirect reference. When Amanda said to the ticket scalper, “One hundred bucks? What do you want, a pound of flesh?” she was making an allusion to Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice.

74
Q

aloof

A

apart; reserved. Shy by nature, she remained aloof while all the rest conversed.

75
Q

aloft

A

upward. The sailor climbed aloft into the rigging.

76
Q

altercation

A

noisy quarrel; heated dispute. In that hot-tempered household, no meal ever came to a peaceful conclusion; the inevitable altercation sometimes even ended in blows.

76
Q

altruistic

A

unselfishly generous; concerned for others. In providing tutorial assistance and college scholarships for hundreds of economically disadvantaged youths, Eugene Lang performed a truly altruistic deed.

77
Q

amass

A

collect. The miser’s aim is to amass and hoard as much gold as possible.

78
Q

ambidextrous

A

capable of using either hand with equal ease. A switch-hitter in baseball should be naturally ambidextrous.

78
Q

ambience

A

environment; atmosphere. She went to the restaurant not for the food but for the ambience.

79
Q

amble

A

moving at an easy pace. When she first mounted the horse, she was afraid to urge the animal to go faster than a gentle amble.

80
Q

ambulatory

A

able to walk; not bedridden. Calvin was a highly ambulatory patient; not only did he refuse to be confined to bed, but also he insisted on riding his skateboard up and down the halls.

81
Q

amend

A

correct; change, generally for the better. Hoping to amend his condition, he left Vietnam for the United States.