Confusing Words Flashcards
1
Q
Covet
A
(from the car corvette, everyone wishes to have it)
Desire
To wish for
‘‘It was the job he coveted for so long and came to regard as his right.’’
2
Q
Covert
A
'’They have been supplying covert military aid to the rebels.’’
3
Q
Convulsion
A
Turmoil
Upheaval
a violent social or political upheaval
-
‘‘The country was in ruin and convulsion.’’
4
Q
Contravene
A
“Some portions of the bill may contravene state law.’’
5
Q
Incursion
A
'’Government forces were able to halt the rebel incursion.’’
6
Q
Discursion
A
Haphazard
7
Q
Precipitate
A
'’If you decide to throw your class project in a trash masher just because someone in your class had a similar idea, then your actions might be described as precipitate.’’
8
Q
Perspicacious
A
Keen Perception
Discern
-
‘‘it offers quite a few facts to the perspicacious reporter”
9
Q
Peripatetic
A
On foot
To Travel or to wander
-
‘‘She worked as a peripatetic journalist for most of her life.’’
10
Q
peregrinate
A
on foot
to travel or to wander
‘‘It was a rather lengthy peregrination, as he would put it, and not what they wanted to hear.’’
11
Q
Irenic
A
'’governments are continuously searching for irenic solutions to world problems’’
12
Q
Relic
A
'’The most interesting Roman relic is “London Stone.”
13
Q
Curt
A
'’The boss was rather curt with him’’
14
Q
Terse
A
'’Derek’s terse reply ended the conversation.’’
15
Q
Illuminate
A
To enlighten
16
Q
Illusory
A
'’It seemed to an idealistic and illusory dream.’’
17
Q
Ominous
A
'’Gabriel’s ominous warning suddenly made sense.’’
18
Q
Numinous
A
'’an archaeologist uncovered a numinous artifact from the civilization’s ceremonial chamber’’
19
Q
Momentary
A
Lasting a very short time
20
Q
Moment
A
Significant
21
Q
Commensurate
A
(co-measure)
Proportionate
-
‘‘We offer a competitive salary commensurate to experience.’’
22
Q
Consumate
A
'’The company consummated its deal to buy a smaller firm.’’
23
Q
Commiserate
A
(miser -> miserable)
To express sympathy
-
‘‘How do you commiserate someone?
Just validate their complaint.’’
24
Q
Obliterate
A
To cancel
To completely destroy something
‘‘She tried to obliterate all memory of her father.’’
25
obeisance
Bootlicking
To bow down
-
''He made obeisance to the king''
26
obfuscation
to complicate
-
''when confronted with sharp questions they resort to obfuscation"
27
obviate
to make no longer necessary
prevent from happening
''''A peaceful solution would obviate the need to send a UN military force''
28
Obscure
To complicate
29
occult
to hide
difficult to understand
supernatural
-
''occulted their house from prying eyes by planting large trees around it''
30
opaque
difficult to understand
-
''The jargon in his talk was opaque to me.''
31
obtrusive
noticable in an annoying way
-
''The waiter was attentive without being obtrusive.''
32
obduracy
stubbornness
33
pellucid
clear
-
''The contract was pellucid and left no confusion about each party's responsibilities.''
34
peculiar
different
35
pristine
uncorrupted
36
pecuniary
money related / financial
-
''pecuniary aid pecuniary gifts''
37
demur
to object slightly
-
''normally she would have accepted the challenge, but she demurred''
38
demure
shy
-
''a demure young lady''
39
forsake
to give up / abandon
-
''He won't forsake his duty, she said and rose, agitated.''
40
foreground
to highlight
make (something) the most prominent or important feature.
-
"sexual relationships are foregrounded and idealized"
41
extirpate
(extra pait)
to destroy or remove something completely
-
''The police has a specific goal to extirpate crime in the neighborhood.''
42
exigency / exigent
(emergency)
urgent & critical
''women worked long hours when the exigencies of the family economy demanded it''
''I try not to be exigent with my students, but as a teacher I have to press them to get their work done.''
43
exiguous
meager
paltry
''Due to my exiguous knowledge of history, I was bound to lose quickly at the history trivia game.''
44
transgress
violate
contravene
-
''Orton's plays transgress accepted social norms''
45
recast
remodel
refashion
-
''His first novel, after being twice recast, appeared as The Celebrity, in 1898.''
46
recoil
to quickly move away from something shocking, frightening or disgusting
-
''We recoiled in horror at the sight of his wounded arm.''
47
recant
(Andrew Tate - Top G)
means that you no longer hold that belief
-
''Barnes was forced to apologize and recant''
48
rebuke
reject and refuse
-
''They rebuked their parents as feudalistic, their teachers as too strict controllers.''
49
humdrum
boring af
unoriginal
-
''Is it simply a way for women to escape the humdrum of daily life?''
50
hamstring
powerless
impair
-
''The mayor tried to hamstring our efforts by cutting the budget."
51
Indignant
Anger because of injustice
-
''It was an indignant, nationwide protest.''
52
Indigent
Poor
-
''He compelled the wealthy to share their riches with the indigent and helpless''
53
Indigenous
Built in
-
''India's 1st Indigenous Aircraft Carrier''
(originating or occurring naturally in a particular place)
54
sartorial
fashionable
-
''They accused him of having poor sartorial taste.''
55
sardonic
(sarcastic)
mocking
-
''She paused and her voice took on a sardonic tone''
56
sordid
dirty
repulsive
-
''There are lots of really sordid apartments in the city's poorer areas.''
57
elegiac
expressing sorrow
-
''Elegiac means "mournful or sad." The adjective elegiac is useful when you're talking about music, a movie, a book, or another work of art that has a sorrowful tone.''
58
eulogy
also eulogize
high praise
-
''he was eulogized as a rock star''
''a eulogy to the Queen Mother"''
59
euphemism
softer expression
substitution of an inoffensive expression that may otherwise offend
a boss telling an employee they are “let go” instead of “fired” aims to soften the blow.
-
''It was a euphemism for death among the old comrades.''
60
thrift
(thrift store)
careful spending
61
spendthrift
opposite of thrift
careless spending
-
''I remember him as a charming but irresponsible spendthrift.
62
tenuous
fragile
exiguous (this means meagre, small)
-
''the tenuous link between interest rates and investment''
(the very small link)
63
trenchant
keen / discern / sharp / strong / clear
incisive in expression or style
caustic (a negative meaning GRE can test on)
-
''He was shattered and bewildered by this trenchant criticism.''
''His comment was trenchant and perceptive.''
''Stockman became one of the President's most trenchant critics.''
''His trenchant views on the subject are well known.''
64
entrenched
firmly fixed
-
''Television seems to be firmly entrenched as the number one medium for national advertising.''
65
impassioned
(passion)
strong feelings
-
''Anatole France delivered an impassioned oration at the grave.''
66
impasse
deadlock
-
''the current political impasse''
67
passive
acceptance of what happens
-
'"the women were portrayed as passive victims"
68
invigorate
(from vigor)
full of energy
-
''A brisk walk in the cool morning air always invigorates me.''
69
rigorous
(from rigor)
strict
-
''She gave a vigorous defense of her beliefs.''
70
exonerate
vindicate
free from blame
-
'' Lyndon was exonerated from the accusation of cheating.
71
vindicate
exonerate
free from blame
-
''She will be completely vindicated by the evidence.''
72
culpable
blame worthy
-
''He's more culpable than the others because he's old enough to know better.''
73
excoriate
to criticize someone harshly
74
untenable
baseless and unfounded
75
celerity
swiftness of movement
-
''Other aspects of the work proceeded with similar celerity, and the tower was completed and fully operational by the following summer.''
76
forbear
to choose not to do
-
''He carefully forbore any mention of her name for fear of upsetting them.''
77
spartan
austere
simple
monk-like
78
ingenuous
(not genius)
naive
''Only the most ingenuous person would believe such a weak excuse!''
79
disingenuous
not sincere
-
''These people are lying, or at best being disingenuous''
80
utilitarian
functional
81
egalitarian
equal rights
-
''People have long dreamt of an egalitarian society.''
82
parochial
limited scope
outlook
-
''His parochial loyalty was such that he would rather face death than seek a new life in any other principality.''
83
provincial
limited scope
outlook
-
''She is too provincial to try foreign foods.''
84
fractious
quarrelsome
annoyed
-
''Children become fractious when they are tired.''
85
factious
divided
disagreeing
86
fallacious
illogical
misleading
-
''His argument is based on fallacious reasoning.''
87
fatuous
silly and pointless
-
"a fatuous comment"
88
potent
having great power, influence or effect
-
''Their most potent weapon was the Exocet missile''
89
pastiche
mixture / imitation of / kisi ki copy
-
''His earlier building designs were pastiches based on classical forms''
90
panacea
cure for all
-
''imprisonment continues to be the most trusted panacea for all crime.''
91
panache
flamboyant (attention grabbing)
-
''the vest does a fine job of adding some panache to the look''
92
stymied
to prevent
-
''Constantly texting with your friends will stymie your effort to finish your homework.''
93
staid
serious
boring
ill-fashioned
''Over the last few years he has taken the staid world of opera by storm.''
94
pejorative
insult
-
''The captain has come under fire for making pejorative remarks about teammates.''
95
prerogative
privilege
-
''Education was once the prerogative of the elite.''
96
damp
lessen the severity of
-
''refused to let the setbacks damp his drive for success''
97
contented
(from the word content)
happy
''Right now she felt more contented than she had ever felt in her life.''
98
contend
argue
-
''he contends that the judge was wrong''
99
contentious
argue
''In the mid 1980s, the debate on boxers vs. briefs seemed to be every bit as contentious as the Coca Cola vs. Pepsi debate.''
100
impetuous
(impatient)
acting or doing something quickly
-
''Someone impetuous acts too hastily or carelessly. Hotheaded, impulsive folks are impetuous.''
101
impecunious
(from pecuniar : financial)
having little or no money
-
''My impecunious uncle, who could not afford to buy his own books, usually ended up borrowing mine.''
102
surreptitious
mysterious
-
''low wages were supplemented by surreptitious payments from tradesmen''
103
serendipity
lucky
-
''a fortunate stroke of serendipity
104
proliferate
(pro + life)
increase
-
''After the monsoon rains, insects of all kinds begin to proliferate''
105
profligate
wasteful / extravagant
-
''She is well-known for her profligate spending habits''
106
prodigious
extraordinary in size or degree
-
''Since Stan's car accident, he has been taking prodigious amounts of pain pills''
