GRE Barron's 15-16 Flashcards

1
Q

dishearten

A

discourage. His failure to pass the bar exam disheartened him.

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2
Q

disheveled

A

untidy. Your disheveled appearance will hurt your chances in this interview.

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3
Q

disinter

A

dig up; unearth. They disinterred the body and held and autopsy.

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4
Q

disjunction

A

act or state of separation; disunity. Believing the mind could greatly affect the body’s health, the holistic doctor rejected the notion of a necessary disjunction of mind and body.

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5
Q

dislodge

A

remove (forcibly). Thrusting her fist up under the choking man’s lower ribs, Margaret used the Heimlich maneuver to dislodge the food caught in his throat.

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6
Q

dismantle

A

take apart. When the show closed, they dismantled the scenery before storing it.

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7
Q

dismember

A

cut into small parts. When the Austrian Empire was dismembered, several new countries were established.

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8
Q

dispassionate

A

calm; impartial. Known in the company for his cool judgement, Bill could impartially examine the causes of a problem, giving a dispassionate analysis of what had gone wrong, and go on to suggest how to correct the mess.

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9
Q

dispatch

A

speediness; prompt execution; message sent with all due speed. Young Napoleon defeated the enemy with all possible dispatch; he then sent a dispatch to headquarters, informing his commander of the great victory.

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10
Q

dispel

A

scatter; drive away; cause to vanish. The bright sunlight eventually dispelled the morning mist.

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11
Q

disperse

A

scatter. The police fired tear gas into the crowd to disperse the protesters.

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12
Q

dispirited

A

lacking in spirit. The coach used all the tricks at his command to buoy up the enthusiasm of his team, which had become dispirited at the loss of the star player.

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13
Q

disport

A

amuse. The popularity of Florida as a winter resort is constantly increasing; each year, thousands more disport themselves at Miami and Palm Beach.

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14
Q

disputatious

A

argumentative; fond of arguing. Convinced he knew more than his lawyers, Tony was a disputatious client, ready to argue about the best way to conduct the case.

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15
Q

disquietude

A

uneasiness; anxiety. When Holmes had been gone for a day, Watson felt only a slight sense of disquietude, but after a week with no word, Watson’s uneasiness about his missing friend had grown into a deep fear for Holmes’s safety.

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16
Q

disquisition

A

a formal systematic inquiry; an explanation of the results of a formal inquiry. In his disquisition, he outlined the steps he had taken in reaching his conclusions.

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17
Q

dissertation

A

formal essay. In order to earn a graduate degree from many of our universities, a candidate is frequently required to prepare a dissertation on some scholarly subject.

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18
Q

dissimulate

A

pretend; conceal by feigning. Although the governor tried to dissimulate his feelings about the opposing candidate, we all knew he despised his rival.

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19
Q

dissipate

A

squander; waste; scatter. He is a fine artist, but I fear he may dissipate his gifts if he keeps wasting his time playing Trivial Pursuit.

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20
Q

dissuade

A

persuade not to do; discourage. Since Tom could not dissuade Huck from running away from home, he decided to run away with his friend.

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21
Q

distant

A

reserved or aloof; cold in manner. Her distant greeting made me feel unwelcome from the start.

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22
Q

distraught

A

upset; distracted by anxiety. The distraught parents frantically searched the ravine for their lost child.

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23
Q

diurnal

A

daily. A farmer cannot neglect his diurnal tasks at any time; cows, for example, must be milked regularly.

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24
Q

divine

A

perceive intuitively; foresee the future. Nothing infuriated Tom more than Aunt Polly’s ability to divine when he was not telling the truth.

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25
Q

docile

A

obedient; easily managed. As docile as he seems today, that old lion was once a ferocious, snarling beast.

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26
Q

doddering

A

shaky; infirm from old age; よぼよぼの. Lear’s cruel daughters treat him as a doddering old fool, too aged and infirm to be taken seriously.

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27
Q

doff

A

take off. A gentleman used to doff his hat to a lady.

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28
Q

dogged

A

determined; stubborn. Les Miserables tells of Inspector Javert’s long, dogged pursuit of the criminal Jean Valijean.

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29
Q

doldrums

A

blues; listlessness; slack period; 憂鬱、不振、低迷. Once the excitement of meeting her deadline was over, she found herself in the doldrums.

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30
Q

doleful

A

mournful; causing sadness. Eeyore, the lugubrious donkey immortalized by A. A. Milne, looked at his cheerful friend Tigger and sighed a doleful sigh.

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31
Q

dolorous

A

sorrowful; 悲しみに満ちた. The conflict between Lancelot’s love for Guinevere and his loyalty to King Arthur led to Arthur’s “dolorous death and departing out of this world.”

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32
Q

dolt

A

stupid person; dunce. The heroes of Dumb and Dumber are, as the title suggests, a classic pair of dolts.

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33
Q

domicile

A

home. Although his legal domicile was in New York City, his work kept him away from his residence for many years.

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34
Q

domineer

A

rule over tyrannically. Students prefer teachers who guide, not ones who domineer.

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35
Q

don

A

put on. When Clark Kent had to don his Superman outfit, he changed clothes in a convenient phone booth.

36
Q

dote

A

be excessively fond of; show signs of mental decline. Not only grandmothers bore you with stories about their brilliant grandchildren; grandfathers dote on the little rascals, too.

36
Q

dour

A

sullen; stubborn. The man was dour and taciturn.

36
Q

douse

A

plunge into water; drench; extinguish; をずぶぬれにする、(火を)消す. They doused each other with hoses and water balloons.

37
Q

dowdy

A

slovenly; untidy. She tried to change her dowdy image by buying a fashionable new wardrobe.

38
Q

downcast

A

disheartened; sad. Cheerful and optimistic by nature, Beth was never downcast despite the difficulties she faced.

39
Q

drab

A

dull; lacking color; cheerless. The Dutch woman’s drab winter coat contrasted with the distinctive, colorful native costume she wore beneath it.

40
Q

draconian

A

extremely severe. When the principal canceled the senior prom because some seniors had been late to school that week, we thought the draconian punishment was far too harsh for such a minor violation of the rules.

41
Q

dregs

A

sediment; worthless residue. David poured the wine carefully to avoid stirring up the dregs.

42
Q

drivel

A

nonsense; foolishness. Why do I have to spend my days listening to such idiotic drivel?

43
Q

droll

A

queer and amusing. He was a popular guest because his droll anecdotes were always entertaining.

44
Q

drone

A

idle person; male bee. Content to let his wife support him, the would-be writer was in reality nothing but a drone.

45
Q

drudgery

A

menial work; 退屈な重労働、苦役. Cinderella’s fairy godmother rescued her from a life of drudgery.

46
Q

ductile

A

malleable; flexible; pliable. Copper is an extremely ductile material: you can stretch it into the thinnest of wires, bend it, even wind it into loops.

47
Q

dulcet

A

sweet sounding. The dulcet sounds of the birds at dawn were soon drowned out by the roar of traffic passing our motel.

48
Q

dumbfound

A

astonish. Egbert’s perfect score on the GRE dumbfounded his classmates, who had always considered him to be utterly dumb.

49
Q

duress

A

forcible restraint, especially unlawfully. The hostages were held under duress until the prisoners’ demands were met.

50
Q

dutiful

A

respectful; obedient. When Mother told Billy to kiss Great-Aunt Hattie, the boy obediently gave the old woman a dutiful peck on her cheek.

51
Q

dwindle

A

shrink; reduce. The food in the lifeboat gradually dwindled away to nothing; in the end, they ate the ship’s cook.

52
Q

dyspeptic

A

suffering from indigestion; 消化不良の、胃弱の、気難しい、不機嫌な. All the talk about rich food made him feel dyspeptic.

53
Q

earthy

A

unrefined; coarse. His earthy remarks often embarrassed the women in his audience.

54
Q

ebb

A

recede; lessen. Sitting on the beach, Mrs. Dalloway watched the tide ebb: the waters receded, drawing away from her as she sat there all alone.

55
Q

eclipse

A

darken; extinguish; surpass. The new stock market high eclipsed the previous record set in 1985.

56
Q

edict

A

decree (especially one issued by a sovereign); official command. The emperor issued an edict decreeing that everyone should come see him model his magnificent new clothes.

57
Q

edify

A

instruct; correct morally. Although his purpose was to edify and not to entertain his audience, many of his listeners were amused and not enlightened.

58
Q

eerie

A

weird. In that eerie setting, it was easy to believe in ghosts and other supernatural beings.

59
Q

efface

A

rub out; こすって消す、ぬぐい去る. The coin had been handled so many times that its date had been effaced.

60
Q

effectual

A

able to produce a desired effect; valid. Medical researchers are concerned because of the development of drug-resistant strains of bacteria; many once-useful antibiotics are no longer effectual in curing bacterial infections.

61
Q

effigy

A

dummy; かたどったもの、肖像. The mob showed its irritation by hanging the judge in effigy.

62
Q

effluvium

A

noxious smell. Air pollution has become a serious problem in our major cities; the effluvium and the poisons in the air are hazards to life.

63
Q

effusion

A

pouring forth; 流出、ほとばしり. The critics objected to her literary effusion because it was too flowery.

64
Q

egregious

A

notorious; conspicuously bad or shocking. She was an egregious liar; we all knew better than to believe a word she said.

65
Q

egress

A

exit. Barnum’s sign “To the Egress” fooled many people who thought they were going to see an animal and instead found themselves in the street.

66
Q

elated

A

overjoyed; in high spirits. Grinning from ear to ear, Bonnie Blair was clearly elated by her fifth Olympic gold medal.

67
Q

elliptical

A

oval; ambiguous, either purposely or because key words have been left out. An elliptical billiard ball wobbles because it is not perfectly round; and elliptical remark baffles because it is not perfectly clear.

67
Q

eloquence

A

expressiveness; persuasive speech. The crowds were stirred by Martin Luther King’s eloquence.

68
Q

elucidate

A

explain; enlighten. He was called upon to elucidate the disputed points in his article.

69
Q

elusive

A

evasive; baffling; hard to grasp. No matter how hard Tom tried to lure the trout into taking the bait, the fish was too elusive for him to catch.

70
Q

emanate

A

issue forth; 発する、放射する、広まる. A strong order of sulfur emanated from the spring.

71
Q

embargo

A

ban on commerce or other activity. As a result of the embargo, trade with the colonies was at a standstill.

72
Q

embark

A

commence; go on board a boat; begin a journey. In devoting herself to the study of gorillas, Dian Fossey embarked on a course of action that was to cost her her life.

73
Q

embezzlement

A

stealing. The bank teller confessed his embezzlement of the funds.

74
Q

embroil

A

throw into confusion; involve in strife; entangle. He became embroiled in the heated discussion when he tried to arbitrate the dispute.

75
Q

embryonic

A

undeveloped; rudimentary. The CEO reminisced about the good old days when the computer industry was still in its embryonic stage and start-up companies were being founded in the family garage.

76
Q

emend

A

correct, usually a text. In editing Beowulf for his new scholarly edition, Professor Oliver freely emended the manuscript’s text whenever it seemed to make no sense.

77
Q

emetic

A

substance causing vomiting. Ingesting an emetic like mustard is useful in some cases of poisoning.

78
Q

emissary

A

agent; messenger. The Secretary of State was sent as the president’s special emissary to the conference on disarmament.

79
Q

emolument

A

salary; compensation. In addition to the emolument this position offers, you must consider the social prestige it carries with it.

80
Q

enamored

A

in love. Narcissus became enamored of his own beauty.

81
Q

encipher

A

encode; convert a message into code. In one of Bond’s first lessons he learned how to encipher the messages he sent to Miss Moneypenny so that none of his other lady friends could read them.

82
Q

enclave

A

territory enclosed within an alien land. The Vatican is an independent enclave in Italy.

83
Q

encompass

A

surround or encircle; enclose; include. A moat, or deep water-filled trench, encompassed the castle, protecting it from attack.

84
Q

encroachment

A

gradual intrusion. The encroachment of the factories upon the neighborhood lowered the value of the real estate.