Barron's Essential Words for the GRE - Sheet2 Flashcards

1
Q

Bucolic

A

characteristics of the countryside; rustic; pastoral

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2
Q

Burgeon

A

to fourish

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3
Q

Burnish

A

to polish

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4
Q

Buttress

A

to reinforce; support

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5
Q

Cacophonous

A

unpleasant or harsh-sounding

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6
Q

Cadge

A

to beg; sponge

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7
Q

Callous

A

think-skinned; insensitive

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8
Q

Calumny

A

false and malicious accusation; slander

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9
Q

Canard

A

false, deliberately misleading story

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10
Q

Canon

A

an established principle; a basis or standard for judgment; a group of literary works

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11
Q

Cant

A

insincere talk; language of a particular group

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12
Q

Cantankerous

A

irritable; ill-humored

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13
Q

Capricious

A

fickle

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14
Q

Captious

A

fault finding; intended to entrap, as in argument

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15
Q

Cardinal

A

of foremost importance

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16
Q

Carnal

A

of the flesh or body; related to physical appetites

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17
Q

Carping

A

to find fault; complain

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18
Q

Cartography

A

science of making maps

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19
Q

Caste

A

any of the hereditary social classes of Hindu society; social stratification

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20
Q

Castigation

A

punishment; chastisement; criticism

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21
Q

Cataclysm

A

a violent upheaval that causes great destruction and change

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22
Q

Catalyst

A

something causing change

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23
Q

Categorical

A

absolute; without exception

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24
Q

Caucus

A

smaller group within an organization

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25
Q

Causal

A

involving a cause

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26
Q

Caustic

A

sarcastically biting; burning

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27
Q

Celestial

A

concerning the sky or heavens; sublime

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28
Q

Centrifugal

A

moving away from a center

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29
Q

Centripetal

A

moving or directed toward a center

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30
Q

Champion

A

to defend or support

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31
Q

Chasten

A

to correct by punishment or reproof; to restrain or subdue

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32
Q

Chicanery

A

trickery; fraud

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33
Q

Chivalry

A

the qualities idealized by knighthood such as bravery and gallantry toward women

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34
Q

Churlish

A

rude; boorish

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35
Q

Circuitous

A

roundabout

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36
Q

Clairvoyant

A

one who can predict the future; psychic

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37
Q

Clamor

A

noisy outcry

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38
Q

Clique

A

small, exclusive group

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39
Q

Cloister

A

to confine; seclude

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40
Q

Coagulate

A

thicken; congeal

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41
Q

Coalesce

A

to cause to become one

42
Q

Coda

A

concluding part of a literary or musical composition; something that summarizes or concludes

43
Q

Codify

A

to systemize

44
Q

Cognizant

A

informed; conscious; aware

45
Q

Collage

A

artistic composition of materials pasted over a surface; an assemblage of diverse elements

46
Q

Commensurate

A

proportional

47
Q

Compendium

A

brief, comprehensive summary

48
Q

Complacent

A

self-satisfied

49
Q

Complaisant

A

overly pollite; willing to please; obliging

50
Q

Complement

A

something that completes or make up a whole

51
Q

Compliant

A

yielding

52
Q

Compunction

A

uneasiness caused by guilt

53
Q

Concave

A

curving inward

54
Q

Conciliatory

A

overcoming distrust or hostility

55
Q

Concoct

A

to invent

56
Q

Concomitant

A

existing concurrently

57
Q

Condone

A

to overlook voluntarily; forgive

58
Q

Confound

A

to baffle; perplex; mix up

59
Q

Congenial

A

similar in taste and habits; friendly; suited to

60
Q

Conjugal

A

pertaining to marriage agreement

61
Q

Connoisseur

A

a person possessing expert knowledge or training; a person of informed and discriminating taste

62
Q

Conscript

A

person compulsorily enrolled for military services

63
Q

Consecrate

A

to declare sacred

64
Q

Contend

A

to assert

65
Q

Contentious

A

quarrelsome; causing quarrels

66
Q

Contiguous

A

touching; neighboring; connecting without a break

67
Q

Continence

A

self-control; abstention from sexual activity

68
Q

Contrite

A

very sorrowful for a wrong

69
Q

Contumacious

A

disobedient; rebellious

70
Q

Conundrum

A

riddle; puzzle with no solution

71
Q

Convention

A

practice widely observed in a group; custom; accepted technique or device

72
Q

Converge

A

to approach; come together; tend to meet

73
Q

Convex

A

curved outward

74
Q

Convivial

A

sociable

75
Q

Convoluted

A

twisted; complicated

76
Q

Copious

A

abundant; plentiful

77
Q

Coquette

A

woman who flirts

78
Q

Cornucopia

A

horn overflowing with fruit and grain; state of abundance

79
Q

Cosmology

A

study of the universe as a totality; theory of the origin and structure of the universe

80
Q

Covert

A

hidden; secret

81
Q

Covetous

A

desiring something owned by another

82
Q

Cozen

A

to mislead by trick or fraud; deceive

83
Q

Crave

A

cowardly

84
Q

Credence

A

acceptance of something as true

85
Q

Credo

A

statement of belief or principle; creed

86
Q

Daunt

A

to discourage; intimidate; dishearten

87
Q

Dearth

A

scarcity

88
Q

Debauchery

A

corruption

89
Q

Decorum

A

proper behavior

90
Q

Defame

A

to malign; harm someone’s reputation

91
Q

Default

A

to fail to act

92
Q

Deference

A

respect; regard for another’s wish

93
Q

Defunct

A

no longer existing

94
Q

Delineate

A

to represent or depict

95
Q

Demographic

A

related to population balance

96
Q

Demotic

A

pertaining to people

97
Q

Demur

A

to express doubt

98
Q

Denigrate

A

to slur someone’s reputation

99
Q

Denizen

A

an inhabitant; a regular visitor

100
Q

Denouement

A

outcome; unraveling of the plot of a play or work of literature