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GRE Studying > Deck 5 > Flashcards

Deck 5 Flashcards

1
Q

Prowess

A

(noun): exceptional bravery and/or skill. Think: PROWL LIONESS. While on the PROWL, the LIONESS displayed her PROWESS by bringing down a woolly mammoth.

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2
Q

Morose:

A

(adjective): gloomy. Think: NO ROSE. “The Bachelor” contestant was MOROSE because after the ceremony was over she had NO ROSE.

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3
Q

Transitory

A

(adjective): existing only briefly. Think: TRANSIT STORY. I found romance on the subway, but alas, our love was TRANSITORY: it was a public TRANSIT STORY that only lasted until her stop.

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4
Q

Venal

A

(adjective): corrupt or corruptible. Think: VENEREAL disease. Nuns with VENEREAL disease are, most likely, VENAL: they broke their oaths of chastity.

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5
Q

Ignominy

A

(noun): deep disgrace. Think: IGNORED MANY. Joe Paterno IGNORED MANY of the crimes that were being committed at Penn State; his legacy is now one of IGNOMINY.

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6
Q

Flounder

A

(verb): to act clumsily or ineffectively. Think: FLOP UNDER. Bad dancers FLOUNDER (verb) through clubs like flounders (noun) that FLOP UNDER the seat of the boat once they’re caught.

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7
Q

Luminary

A

(noun): one regarded for his brilliant achievements. Think: ILLUMINATE. It would take a LUMINARY like Stephen Hawking to ILLUMINATE quantum physics for me.

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8
Q

Sedentary

A

(adjective): inactive; lazy. Think: SOFA DENT. SEDENTARY people make SOFA DENTS because they sit on the cushions for hours at a time.

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9
Q

Mitigate

A

(verb): to lessen or make less severe. Think: MITT GATE. The thief wore oven MITTS to climb the spiked GATE of the mansion to MITIGATE the pain in his hands.

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10
Q

Dyspeptic

A

(adjective): grumpy. Think: PEPTO-Bismol. This PEPTO-Bismol will prevent indigestion and the resulting DYSPEPTIC mood.

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11
Q

Pepper

A

(verb): to hit rapidly and repeatedly. Think: PEPPER (noun). When I first met my girlfriend’s father, he PEPPERED me with questions so much that I felt as if they were little bits of PEPPER hitting me.

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12
Q

Sophomoric

A

(adjective): immature. Think: SOPHOMORE-ONIC. SOPHOMORES act MORONIC since they’re immature and are more SOPHOMORIC than seniors.

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13
Q

Barbarous

A

(adjective): crude; uncivilized; cruel; violent. Think: BARBARIAN. Are you surprised that the BARBARIAN you’re dating was BARBAROUS enough to try to eat your goldfish?

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14
Q

Legerdemain

A

(noun): sleight of hand; a display of skill. Think: LEDGER’S DOMAIN. Heath LEDGER’s DOMAIN was the silver screen; his acting LEGERDEMAIN captivated audiences.

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15
Q

Usurp

A

(verb): to illegally take by force. Think: U SLURP. I know you’re an anteater, but if you USURP my ant farm and U SLURP up my ants, I’ll be really angry.

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16
Q

Resigned

A

(adjective): reluctantly accepting of a bad situation. Think: RESIGNATION. After being implicated in Watergate, Nixon was RESIGNED and offered his RESIGNATION from office.

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17
Q

Grandstand

A

(verb): to show off. Think: HANDSTAND. If you’re doing a HANDSTAND, it’s probably to GRANDSTAND for an audience.

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18
Q

Daunt

A

(verb): to intimidate or discourage. Think: DON’T! My mean old aunt Mildred would often DAUNT me when I was younger by screaming, “DON’T!” whenever I got too loud.

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19
Q

Onus

A

(noun): burden; obligation. Think: ON US. Since we broke the vase, the ONUS is ON US to pay for it.

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20
Q

Physiological

A

(adjective): related to the body. Think: PHYSICAL. I knew I wasn’t just imagining I was ill because my PHYSIOLOGICAL symptom, a fever of 0, was PHYSICAL.

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21
Q

Loquacious

A

(adjective): very talkative. Think: QUACK QUACK. The LOQUACIOUS duck just wouldn’t shut up: “QUACK QUACK, I’m a duck, QUACK QUACK, blah blah blah.”

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22
Q

Aver

A

(verb): to state confidently; to declare. Think: VERIFY. After I VERIFY that the blood sample from the crime scene matches your DNA, I’ll AVER that you are the killer.

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23
Q

Corroborate

A

(verb): to support with evidence. Think: CO-ROBBER. When robbing a bank, use a CO-ROBBER who will CORROBORATE your story.

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24
Q

Fallible

A

(adjective): capable of making an error. Think: FAIL-ABLE. Jenkins! The rookie agent you picked is FALLIBLE - for him, the mission is extremely FAIL-ABLE.

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25
Q

Ingenious

A

(adjective): extremely clever. Think: GENIE GENIUS. The GENIE granted me one wish, which I used to wish for unlimited wishes. “You’re a GENIUS!” he said. I know, I know.

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26
Q

Tempestuous

A

(adjective): stormy. Think: TEMPERS. Our hot TEMPERS make US have a TEMPESTUOUS relationship.

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27
Q

Squelch

A

(verb): to crush or silence. Think: SQUASH and SQUISH. SQUELCH the ant uprising! SQUASH them! SQUISH them!

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28
Q

Frenetic

A

(adjective): wildly excited or active. Think: FRENZY of ENERGY. Have you ever watched a pug play? It’s FRENETIC - like a chubby little FRENZY of ENERGY.

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29
Q

Badger

A

(verb): to annoy or pester. Think: BAD JERK. Good jerks can get laughs, but a BAD JERK will just BADGER you with his attempts at humor.

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30
Q

Vacuous

A

(adjective): stupid. Think: VACUUM. The beauty pageant contestant’s answer was so VACUOUS that the judges thought her brain had been VACUUMED out of her head.

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31
Q

Fastidious

A

(adjective): having very picky standards. Think: FAST TO TIDY. My roommate is FASTIDIOUS about cleaning; she gets mad if I am not FAST to TIDY UP the apartment.

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32
Q

Lumber

A

(verb): to move with clumsiness. Think: LUMBER (noun). Frankenstein would LUMBER (verb) around as if his limbs were made of LUMBER (noun).

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33
Q

Vernacular

A

(noun): the way a certain group uses language. Think: VERB KNACK. Once you develop a KNACK for the way we use VERBS, you’ll have become familiar with our VERNACULAR.

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34
Q

Politesse

A

(noun): politeness. Think: POLITENESS. French maids are trained to show POLITENESS at all times; their POLITESSE is without equal.

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35
Q

Nuance

A

(noun): a subtle or slight distinction. Think: NEW ANTS. Forgive me for not picking up on the NUANCE of today’s experiment - I couldn’t tell it had NEW ANTS compared to yesterday’s - ants all look the same to me.

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36
Q

Substantiate

A

(verb): to support with proof or evidence. Think: SUBSTANCE. You won’t be able to SUBSTANTIATE your claim that I ate your lunch without evidence that has more SUBSTANCE.

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37
Q

Machination

A

(noun): a crafty scheme. Think: MACHINE NATION. I don’t trust C-PO and RD; I bet they have MACHINATIONS designed to create a MACHINE NATION in which we are slaves.

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38
Q

Apothegm

A

(noun): a short, wise remark. Think: POCKET THE GEM. “POCKET THE GEM!” is a good APOTHEGM to remember if you’re training to be a jewelry store robber.

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39
Q

Dupe

A

(verb): to trick. Think: DOPE. A DOPE is easy to DUPE.

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40
Q

Nonplussed

A

(adjective): bewildered or confused. Think: NO PLUS. The calculator you loaned me made me NONPLUSSED during the test because it had NO PLUS button.

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41
Q

Tangible

A

(adjective): able to be touched. Think: TANGO-BLE If you can dance the TANGO with someone - if she’s TANGO-BLE - then she’s perforce TANGIBLE.

42
Q

Soporific

A

(adjective): causing sleep. Think: SLEEPOVER-IFIC. That boring movie is perfect for our slumber party - it’s SLEEPOVER-IFIC because it’s SOPORIFIC.

43
Q

Importune

A

(verb): to nag; to persistently insist. Think: “I’M POOR” TUNE. The homeless man at the end of my block always IMPORTUNES us for money with his little “I’M POOR” TUNE.

44
Q

Circumvents

A

(verb): avoids; gets around something. Think: CIRCUMFERENCE VENTS. She CIRCUMVENTS the guards by crawling around the enemy base’s CIRCUMFERENCE through the VENTS.

45
Q

Articulate

A

(adjective): using clear, expressive language. Think: ARTICLE. Oscar Wilde was so ARTICULATE that his conversational speech could be used as a newspaper ARTICLE without any editing.

46
Q

Winsome

A

(adjective): charming and pleasing. Think: WIN SOME hearts. She’ll probably WIN SOME hearts at the dance due to her WINSOME manner.

47
Q

Patois

A

(noun): the speech/slang used by a certain group. Think: PATIO SPEECH. PATIO SPEECH during barbecues is more likely to contain PATOIS than speech in the office.

48
Q

Diaphanous

A

(adjective): so flimsy as to be see-through. Think: DIANA’S FAN. Princess DIANA’s delicate rice-paper FAN was DIAPHANOUS.

49
Q

Sedulous

A

(adjective): careful; hardworking; diligent. Think: SCHEDULE US. Our SEDULOUS hairstylist is always able to SCHEDULE US since she’s so efficient.

50
Q

Primordial

A

(adjective): original; existing since the beginning. Think: PRIMARY ORDER. The Big Bang is PRIMORDIAL because it has the PRIMARY position in the ORDER of events.

51
Q

Circumspect

A

(adjective): cautious. Think: CIRCLE INSPECT. When you rent a car, walk in a CIRCLE to INSPECT it for dents; if you’re not CIRCUMSPECT now, they may charge you later.

52
Q

Divisive

A

(adjective): creating disunity. Think: DIVIDE. Yoko Ono had a DIVISIVE effect on The Beatles, DIVIDING the group into two parts.

53
Q

Schadenfreude

A

(noun): enjoyment from others’ troubles. Think: SHADY FREUD. If your psychologist giggles about your divorce he has SCHADENFREUDE and is a SHADY FREUD.

54
Q

Embroiled

A

(verb): in a difficult situation. Think: ON BROIL. I was EMBROILED in a dangerous situation when I got locked in an oven set on “BROIL”.

55
Q

Reductive

A

(adjective): related to making something smaller or simpler. Think: REDUCE. REDUCTIVE Spark Notes REDUCE brilliant works of literature into basic summaries.

56
Q

Ingenuous

A

(adjective): completely sincere; naive. Think: GENIUS WITHOUT THE “I” IS NO GENIUS AT ALL. The young actress, being an innocent INGENUE, was too INGENUOUS to realize the director was trying to seduce her.

57
Q

Totalitarian

A

(adjective): relating to a government with total power. Think: TOTAL power. Our TOTALITARIAN dictator uses his TOTAL power to make us eat TOTAL cereal daily - he’s a control freak.

58
Q

Idiosyncrasy

A

(noun): a weird trait. Think: ‘N SYNC-CRACY. I might seem idiotic to suggest an ‘N SYNC-CRACY where ‘N SYNC rules our nation, but it’s just my IDIOSYNCRASY.

59
Q

Penchant

A

(noun): a liking for something. Think: PENDANT ENCHANT. If a girl wears a low hanging PENDANT to ENCHANT the boys, they’ll soon have a PENCHANT for her.

60
Q

Composure

A

(noun): calmness. Think: COMPOSER’S CALM POSE. Even though he was performing his music for kings and queens, the composer’s CALM POSE showed his COMPOSURE.

61
Q

Sophistry

A

(noun): deceptive reasoning. Think: SOPHISTICATED TRICKERY. Sophocles’ SOPHISTRY was so SOPHISTICATED that his TRICKERY made his character Oedipus kill his dad and marry his mom.

62
Q

Naysayer

A

(noun): one who denies, opposes, or refuses something. Think: NAY SAYER. Of course the NAYSAYER was the only one to SAY “NAY” to my plan.

63
Q

Novel

A

(adjective): strikingly new. Think: NOVICE. When I was an internet NOVICE, the idea of email was NOVEL to me.

64
Q

Aseptic

A

(adjective): sterile; extremely clean. Think: ANTISEPTIC. Purell, an ANTISEPTIC, renders germs harmless and makes your hands ASEPTIC.

65
Q

Macabre

A

(adjective): gruesome; horrible. Think: MASSACRE. The MASSACRE of the tourists by jungle cannibals was truly MACABRE.

66
Q

Magisterial

A

(adjective): having strong authority; kingly. Think: MAJESTY. If people are greeting you by saying “Your MAJESTY”, you’re probably looking MAGISTERIAL - wear that outfit again!

67
Q

Timorous

A

(adjective): fearful. Think: TIMID OF US. Tim felt TIMID around US since he was TIMOROUS.

68
Q

Alleviate

A

(verb): to soothe or lessen the severity of. Think: ALEVE. Allison’s headache was so bad that she took four ALEVE pills to ALLEVIATE the pain.

69
Q

Surpassing

A

(adjective): really, really great. Think: SUPER PASS. If you’re SUPER at running, you’ll PASS everyone due to your SURPASSING speed.

70
Q

Reprobate

A

(adjective): evil. Think: RE-PROBED IT. The aliens who gave Cartman an anal probe on “South Park” would be even more REPROBATE if they RE-PROBED IT.

71
Q

Perverse

A

(adjective): bad; wrong; corrupt. Think: PERVERTS. PERVERTS like peeping toms are PERVERSE; they should be locked up.

72
Q

Scofflaw

A

(noun): a contemptuous law-breaker. Think: SCOFF at the LAW. A SCOFFLAW will SCOFF at the LAW he just broke since he has no respect for it.

73
Q

Raconteur

A

(noun): a good storyteller. Think: RECOUNT. Jack White named one of his bands The RACONTEURS because they were so good at RECOUNTING stories via song.

74
Q

Retrospection

A

(noun): the act of thinking about the past. Think: RETRO. RETROSPECTION about the 980s is a RETRO-INSPECTION that can lead to wearing neon clothes and leg warmers.

75
Q

Refracted

A

(verb): distorted or changed from an initial direction. Think: REFLECTED FRACTURED. The prism REFRACTED the white light and REFLECTED it, FRACTURED, into a rainbow of colors.

76
Q

Voluminous

A

(adjective): large or numerous. Think: VOLUMES. I gave up on reading her diary after realizing how VOLUMINOUS it was - it had 8 VOLUMES!

77
Q

Automaton

A

(noun): one who acts in a robotic way. Think: AUTOMATION. Working on an assembly line where AUTOMATION has replaced creativity can make you feel like an AUTOMATON.

78
Q

Myopic

A

(adjective): shortsighted. Think: MY OLD PIC. Putting MY OLD PIC on Match.com was MYOPIC; in person, people said I was older than they’d thought I’d be.

79
Q

Clemency

A

(noun): mercy. Think: CLEMENS MERCY. The pitcher Roger CLEMENS was shown MERCY by the jury and found not guilty - an act of CLEMENCY, since he was accused of taking steroids.

80
Q

Stratagem

A

(noun): a clever scheme. Think: STRATEGY GEM. The general’s battlefield STRATEGY was such a GEM that most historians call it a STRATAGEM.

81
Q

Conflate

A

(verb): to confuse. Think: CON INFLATED. The CON artist INFLATED the value of the racehorse by grooming it, making me CONFLATE sleek appearance with speed.

82
Q

Voracious

A

(adjective): having a huge appetite. Think: CARNIVORE ATE US. The CARNIVORE ATE US because of its VORACIOUS appetite.

83
Q

Milquetoast

A

(noun): a timid person. Think: MILHOUSE / MILKY TOAST. MILHOUSE is a MILQUETOAST - he’s about as tough as a piece of soggy, milky toast, since Bart Simpson bosses him around.

84
Q

Statuesque

A

(adjective): attractively tall. Think: STATUE ESQUIRE. I wanted to make a STATUE of the Esquire model because she was so STATUESQUE.

85
Q

Acidulous

A

(adjective): somewhat harsh. Think: ACID-ISH. I like Sour Patch Kids because their ACIDULOUS taste is ACID-ISH without being too painful.

86
Q

Bludgeon

A

(verb): to hit forcefully. Think: BLUDGERS. In Quidditch, the BLUDGERS are ten-inch, black, iron balls that fly around and sometimes BLUDGEON players.

87
Q

Eschew

A

(verb): to avoid. Think: AH-CHOO. ESCHEW people who say “AH-CHOO!” unless you want to catch their colds.

88
Q

Turbid

A

(adjective): stirred up and made unclear or muddy. Think: TAR BED. The lake became TURBID when storms disturbed particles from the TAR BED underneath its waters.

89
Q

Ragamuffin

A

(noun): a dirty, poor person or child. Think: RAGS on MUFFIN. The RAGS on your little MUFFIN make him look like a RAGAMUFFIN - shop at Baby Gap next time.

90
Q

Blase

A

(adjective): apathetic; unconcerned. Think: BLAH SAY. I’m a rock star, so I’m BLASE and “BLAH BLAH BLAH” is all I SAY even when blazingly hot girls try to talk to me.

91
Q

Pander:

A

(verb): to appeal to someone’s desire for selfish reasons. Think: PANDA logo. The American company that used a PANDA as its logo was accused of PANDERING to the Chinese market.

92
Q

Recrudescent

A

(adjective): reactivating. Think: RECRUITS SENT. The conflict in Afghanistan must be RECRUDESCENT since more RECRUITS are SENT there daily.

93
Q

Sacrosanct

A

(adjective): holy. Think: SACRED SANCTUARY. The temple was a SACRED SANCTUARY and was declared SACROSANCT to protect it from real estate developers.

94
Q

Vigilant

A

(adjective): watchful; alert. Think: VIGILANTE. If you want some street justice, hire a VIGILANTE - they are VIGILANT by nature.

95
Q

Adulation

A

(noun): excessive admiration. Think: A DULL ADORATION. ADULATION is A DULL ADORATION because it can get boring when someone is too into you.

96
Q

Foment

A

(verb): to encourage the growth of. Think: FORM IT! In Star Wars, Princess Leia FOMENTED the rebel group by telling the rebels to “FORM IT!”

97
Q

Sardonic

A

(adjective): mocking (in a mean way). Think: SARCASTIC SARDINES. When the seniors saw I ate sardines for lunch every day, they made SARDONIC, SARCASTIC comments.

98
Q

Sojourn

A

(noun): a temporary stay. Think: JOURNEY. If you JOURNEY somewhere, it’s probably for a SOJOURN unless you bought a one-way ticket.

99
Q

Terse

A

(adjective): brief and abrupt. Think: TERSE VERSE. Haikus are VERSES / That are as TERSE as the lives / Of gentle fruit flies.

100
Q

Synergy

A

(noun): combined action that produces mutually helpful results. Think: ‘N SYNC ENERGY. By forming a boy band and using SYNERGY, ‘N SYNC created more ENERGY than they would had they all gone solo.

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