GRE Barron's 15-16

Question 1

dishearten

Answer 1

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

Question 2

disheveled

Answer 2

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

Question 3

disinter

Answer 3

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

Question 4

disjunction

Answer 4

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.

Question 5

dislodge

Answer 5

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.

Question 6

dismantle

Answer 6

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

Question 7

dismember

Answer 7

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

Question 8

dispassionate

Answer 8

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.

Question 9

dispatch

Answer 9

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.

Question 10

dispel

Answer 10

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

Question 11

disperse

Answer 11

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

Question 12

dispirited

Answer 12

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.

Question 13

disport

Answer 13

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

Question 14

disputatious

Answer 14

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.

Question 15

disquietude

Answer 15

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.

Question 16

disquisition

Answer 16

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.

Question 17

dissertation

Answer 17

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.

Question 18

dissimulate

Answer 18

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

Question 19

dissipate

Answer 19

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.

Question 20

dissuade

Answer 20

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

Question 21

distant

Answer 21

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

Question 22

distraught

Answer 22

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

Question 23

diurnal

Answer 23

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

Question 24

divine

Answer 24

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

Question 25

docile

Answer 25

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

Question 26

doddering

Answer 26

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.

Question 27

doff

Answer 27

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

Question 28

dogged

Answer 28

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

Question 29

doldrums

Answer 29

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.

Question 30

doleful

Answer 30

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

Question 31

dolorous

Answer 31

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.”

Question 32

dolt

Answer 32

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

Question 33

domicile

Answer 33

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

Question 34

domineer

Answer 34

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

Question 35

don

Answer 35

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

Question 36

dote

Answer 36

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.

Question 36

dour

Answer 36

sullen; stubborn. The man was dour and taciturn.

Question 36

douse

Answer 36

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.

Question 37

dowdy

Answer 37

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

Question 38

downcast

Answer 38

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

Question 39

drab

Answer 39

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

Question 40

draconian

Answer 40

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.

Question 41

dregs

Answer 41

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

Question 42

drivel

Answer 42

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

Question 43

droll

Answer 43

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

Question 44

drone

Answer 44

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

Question 45

drudgery

Answer 45

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

Question 46

ductile

Answer 46

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.

Question 47

dulcet

Answer 47

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

Question 48

dumbfound

Answer 48

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

Question 49

duress

Answer 49

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

Question 50

dutiful

Answer 50

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

Question 51

dwindle

Answer 51

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

Question 52

dyspeptic

Answer 52

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.

Question 53

earthy

Answer 53

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

Question 54

ebb

Answer 54

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.

Question 55

eclipse

Answer 55

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

Question 56

edict

Answer 56

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.

Question 57

edify

Answer 57

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

Question 58

eerie

Answer 58

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

Question 59

efface

Answer 59

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.

Question 60

effectual

Answer 60

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.

Question 61

effigy

Answer 61

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

Question 62

effluvium

Answer 62

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.

Question 63

effusion

Answer 63

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

Question 64

egregious

Answer 64

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

Question 65

egress

Answer 65

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.

Question 66

elated

Answer 66

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

Question 67

elliptical

Answer 67

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.

Question 67

eloquence

Answer 67

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

Question 68

elucidate

Answer 68

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

Question 69

elusive

Answer 69

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.

Question 70

emanate

Answer 70

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

Question 71

embargo

Answer 71

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

Question 72

embark

Answer 72

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.

Question 73

embezzlement

Answer 73

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

Question 74

embroil

Answer 74

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

Question 75

embryonic

Answer 75

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.

Question 76

emend

Answer 76

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.

Question 77

emetic

Answer 77

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

Question 78

emissary

Answer 78

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

Question 79

emolument

Answer 79

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

Question 80

enamored

Answer 80

in love. Narcissus became enamored of his own beauty.

Question 81

encipher

Answer 81

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.

Question 82

enclave

Answer 82

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

Question 83

encompass

Answer 83

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

Question 84

encroachment

Answer 84

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