Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

GRE > Beyond the Key Terms 2 > Flashcards

Beyond the Key Terms 2 Flashcards

1
Q

abjure

A

to renounce or reject solemnly; to recant; to avoid

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

adumbrate

A

to foreshadow or initiate; to suggest or outline sketchily; to obscure or overshadow

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

anathema

A

a solemn or ecclesiastical (religious) curse; accursed or throughly loathed person or thing

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

anodyne

A

soothing; something that assuages or allays pain or comforts

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

apogee

A

farthest or highest point; culmination; zenith

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

apostate

A

one who abandons long-held religious or political convictions

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

apotheosis

A

deification; glorification to godliness; an exalted example; a model of excellence or perfection

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

asperity

A

severity, rigor; roughness, harshness; acrimony, irritability

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

asseverate

A

at aver, allege, or assert

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

assiduous

A

diligent, hard-working, sedulous

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

augury

A

omen, portent

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

bellicose

A

belligerent, pugnacious, warlike

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

calumniate

A

to slander, to make a false accusation; calumny means slander, aspersion

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

captious

A

disposed to point out trivial faults; calculated to confuse or entrap in argument

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

cavil

A

to find fault without good reason

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

celerity

A

speed, alacrity; think accelerate

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

chimera

A

an illusion; originally, an imaginary fire-breathing she-monster

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

contumacious

A

insubordinate, rebellious; contumely means insult, scorn, aspersion

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

debacle

A

rout, fiasco, complete failure

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

denouement

A

an outcome or solution; the unraveling of a plot

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

descry

A

to catch sight of

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

desuetude

A

disuse

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

desultory

A

random; aimless; marked by a lack of plan or purpose

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

diaphanous

A

transparent, gauzy

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

diffident

A

reserved, shy, unassuming; lacking in self-confidence

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

dirge

A

a song of grief or lamentation

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

encomium

A

glowing and enthusiastic praise; panegyric, tribute, eulogy

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
28
Q

eschew

A

to shun or avoid

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
29
Q

excoriate

A

to ensure scathingly, to upbraid

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
30
Q

execrate

A

to denounce, to feel loathing for, to curse, to declare to be evil

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
31
Q

exegesis

A

critical examination, explication

32
Q

expiate

A

to atone or make amends for

33
Q

extirpate

A

to destroy, to exterminate, to cut out, to excind

34
Q

fatuous

A

silly, inanely foolish

35
Q

fractious

A

quarrelsome, rebellious, unruly, refractory, irritable

36
Q

gainsay

A

to deny, to dispute, to contradict, to oppose

37
Q

heterodox

A

unorthodox, heretical, iconoclastic

38
Q

imbroglio

A

difficult or embarrassing situation

39
Q

indefatigable

A

not easily exhaustible; tireless, dogged

40
Q

ineluctable

A

certain, inevitable

41
Q

inimitable

A

one of a kind, peerless

42
Q

insouciant

A

unconcerned, carefree, heedless

43
Q

inveterate

A

deep rooted, ingrained, habitual

44
Q

jejune

A

vapid, uninteresting, nugatory; childish, immature, puerile

45
Q

lubricious

A

lewd, wanton, greasy, slippery

46
Q

mendicant

A

a beggar, supplicant

47
Q

meretricious

A

cheap, gaudy, tawdry, flashy, showy; attracting by false show

48
Q

minatory

A

menacing, threatening (think Minotaur, a threatening creature)

49
Q

nadir

A

low point, perigee

50
Q

nonplussed

A

baffled, bewildered, at a loss for what to do or think

51
Q

obstreperous

A

tending to become more rigid, conventional, sterile, and reactionary with age; literally, turned into bone

52
Q

palliate

A

formal praise, eulogy, encomium; panegyrical means expressing elaborate praise

53
Q

parsimonious

A

cheap, miserly

54
Q

pellucid

A

transparent, easy to understand, limpid

55
Q

peroration

A

the concluding part of a speech; flowery, rhetorical speech

56
Q

plangent

A

pounding, thundering, resounding

57
Q

prolix

A

long-winded, verbose; prolixity means verbosity

58
Q

propitiate

A

to appease, to conciliate; propitious means auspicious, favorable

59
Q

puerile

A

childish, immature, jejune, nugatory

60
Q

puissance

A

power, strength; puissant means powerful, strong

61
Q

pusillanimous

A

cowardly, craven

62
Q

remonstrate

A

to protest, to object

63
Q

sagacious

A

having sound judgement; perceptive, wise; like a sage

64
Q

salacious

A

lustful, lascivious, bawdy

65
Q

salutary

A

remedial, wholesome, causing improvement

66
Q

sanguine

A

cheerful, confident, optimistic

67
Q

saturnine

A

gloomy, dark, sullen, morose

68
Q

sententious

A

aphoristic or moralistic; epigrammatic; tending to moralize excessively

69
Q

stentorian

A

extremely loud and powerful

70
Q

stygian

A

gloomy, dark

71
Q

sycophant

A

toady; servile, self-seeking flatterer; parasite

72
Q

tendentious

A

biased; showing marked tendencies

73
Q

timorous

A

timid, fearful, diffident

74
Q

tyro

A

novice, greenhorn, rank amateur

75
Q

vitiate

A

to corrupt, to debase, to spoil, to make ineffective

76
Q

voluble

A

fluent, verbal, having easy use of spoken language

GRE (12 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions