GRE Barron's 27-28

Question 1

inviolable

Answer 1

secure from corruption, attack, or violation; unassailable. Batman considered his oath to keep the people of Gotham City safe inviolable: nothing on earth could make him break this promise.

Question 2

invocation

Answer 2

prayer for help; calling upon as a reference or support. The service of Morning Prayer opens with an invocation during which we ask God to hear our prayers.

Question 3

invoke

Answer 3

call upon; ask for. She invoked her advisor’s aid in filing out her financial aid forms.

Question 4

iota

Answer 4

very small quantity. She hadn’t and iota of common sense.

Question 5

irate

Answer 5

angry. When John’s mother found out that he had overdrawn his checking account for the third month in a row, she was so irate that she could scarcely speak to him.

Question 6

irksome

Answer 6

annoying; tedious. He found working on the assembly line irksome because of the monotony of the operation he had to perform.

Question 7

irrefutable

Answer 7

indisputable; incontrovertible; undeniable. No matter how hard I tried to find a good comeback for her argument, I couldn’t think of one: her logic was irrefutable.

Question 7

irreparable

Answer 7

not able to be corrected or repaired. Your apology cannot atone for the irreparable damage you have done to her reputation.

Question 8

irrepressible

Answer 8

unable to be restrained or held back. My friend Kitty’s curiosity was irrepressible: she poked her nose into everybody’s business and just laughed when I warned her that curiosity killed the cat.

Question 9

irreproachable

Answer 9

blameless; impeccable. Homer’s conduct at the office party was irreproachable; even Marge had nothing bad to say about how he behaved.

Question 10

irretrievable

Answer 10

impossible to recover or regain; irreparable. The left fielder tried to retrieve the ball, but it flew over the fence, bounced off a wall, and fell into the sewer: it was irretrievable.

Question 11

irreverence

Answer 11

lack of proper respect. Some people in the audience were amused by the irreverence of the comedian’s jokes about the pope; others felt offended by his lack of respect for their faith.

Question 12

irrevocable

Answer 12

unalterable; irreversible. As Sue dropped the “Dear John” letter into the mailbox, she suddenly had second thoughts and wanted to take it back, but she could not: her action was irrevocable.

Question 13

jabber

Answer 13

chatter rapidly or unintelligibly. Why does the fellow insist on jabbering away in French when I can’t understand a word he says?

Question 14

jaded

Answer 14

fatigued; surfeited. He looked for exotic foods to stimulate his jaded appetite.

Question 15

jaunty

Answer 15

lighthearted; animated; easy and carefree. In Singing in the Rain, Gene Kelly sang and danced his way through the lighthearted title number in a properly jaunty style.

Question 16

jettison

Answer 16

throw overboard; を投げ捨てる. In order to enable the ship to ride safely through the storm, the captain had to jettison much of his cargo.

Question 16

jocund

Answer 16

merry. Santa Claus is always cheerful and jocund.

Question 17

jollity

Answer 17

gaiety; cheerfulness. The festive Christmas dinner was a merry one, and old and young alike joined in the general jollity.

Question 18

jostle

Answer 18

shove; bump; ぶつかる. In the subway he was jostled by the crowds.

Question 18

jovial

Answer 18

Good-natured; merry. A frown seemed out of place on his invariably jovial face.

Question 19

jubilation

Answer 19

rejoicing; 歓喜、祝賀. There was great jubilation when the armistice was announced.

Question 20

judicious

Answer 20

sound in judgement; wise. At a key moment in his life, he made a judicious investment that was the foundation of his later wealth.

Question 21

juncture

Answer 21

crisis; joining point. At this critical juncture, let us think carefully before determining the course we shall follow.

Question 22

ken

Answer 22

range of knowledge. I cannot answer your question since this matter is beyond my ken.

Question 23

killjoy

Answer 23

grouch; spoilsport; 楽しみに水を差す人. At breakfast we had all been enjoying our bacon and eggs until that killjoy John started talking about how bad animal fats and cholesterol were for our health.

Question 24

kindle

Answer 24

start a fire; inspire. One of the first things Ben learned in the Boy Scouts was how to kindle a fire by rubbing two dry sticks together.

Question 25

kindred

Answer 25

related; similar in nature or character. Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn were two kindred spirits.

Question 25

knave

Answer 25

untrustworthy person; rogue; scoundrel. Any politician nicknamed Tricky Dick clearly has the reputation of a knave.

Question 25

knead

Answer 25

mix; work dough. Her hadns grew strong from kneading bread.

Question 26

knit

Answer 26

contract into wrinkles; grow together. Whenever David worries, his brow knits in a frown. When he broke his leg, he sat around the house all day waiting for the bones to knit.

Question 27

knotty

Answer 27

intricate; difficult; tangled. What to Watson had been a knotty problem to Sherlock Holmes was simplicity itself.

Question 28

laborious

Answer 28

demanding much work or care; tedious. In putting together his dictionary of the English language, Doctor Johnson undertook a laborious task.

Question 29

laceration

Answer 29

torn, ragged wound. The stock-car driver needed stitches to close the lacerations he received in the car crash.

Question 29

lachrymose

Answer 29

producing tears. His voice has a lachrymose quality that is more appropriate at a funeral than a class reunion.

Question 30

lackadaisical

Answer 30

lacking purpose or zest; halfhearted; languid. Because Gatsby had his mind more on his love life than on his finances, he did a very lackadaisical job of managing his money.

Question 31

lackluster

Answer 31

dull. We were disappointed by the lackluster performance.

Question 32

laggard

Answer 32

slow; sluggish. The sailor had been taught not to be laggard in carrying out orders.

Question 33

lament

Answer 33

grieve; express sorrow. Even advocates of the war lamented the loss of so many lives in combat.

Question 34

lampoon

Answer 34

ridicule. This article lampoons the pretensions of some movie moguls.

Question 35

languid

Answer 35

weary; sluggish; listless; 元気がない、緩慢な. Her siege of illness left her languid and pallid.

Question 36

languish

Answer 36

lose animation or strength. Left at Miss Minchin's school for girls where her father went off to war, Sarah Crewe refused to languish; instead, she did her grief and actively befriended her less fortunate classmates.

Question 37

languor

Answer 37

lassitude; depression. His friends tried to overcome the languor into which he had fallen by taking him to parties and to the theater.

Question 38

lank

Answer 38

long and thin. Lank, gaunt, Abraham Lincoln was a striking figure.

Question 39

larceny

Answer 39

theft. Because of the prisoner's record, the district attorney refused to reduce the charge from grand larceny to petty larceny.

Question 39

larder

Answer 39

pantry; place where food is kept. The first thing Bill did on returning home from school was to check what snacks his mother had in the larder.

Question 40

largess

Answer 40

generous gift. Lady Bountiful distributed largess to the poor.

Question 41

lateral

Answer 41

coming from the side. In order to get good plant growth, the gardener must pinch off all lateral shoots.

Question 42

latitude

Answer 42

freedom from narrow limitations. I think you have permitted your son too much latitude in this matter.

Question 43

lavish

Answer 43

liberal; wasteful. The actor's lavish gifts pleased her.

Question 44

lax

Answer 44

careless. We dislike restaurants where the service is lax and inattentive.

Question 45

leaven

Answer 45

cause to rise or grow lighter; enliven. As bread dough is leavened, it puffs up, expanding in volume.

Question 46

lechery

Answer 46

gross lewdness; lustfulness; 好色、みだら、わいせつな行為. In his youth he led a life of lechery and debauchery; he did not mend his ways until middle age.

Question 47

leery

Answer 47

suspicious; cautious. Don't eat the sushi at this restaurant; I'm a bit leery about how fresh it is.

Question 48

leeway

Answer 48

room to move; margin. When you set a deadline, allow a little leeway.

Question 49

legerdemain

Answer 49

sleight of hand; 手品、ごまかし、あざむき. The magician demonstrated his renowned legerdemain.

Question 50

leniency

Answer 50

mildness; permissiveness. Considering the gravity of the offense, we were surprised by the leniency of the sentence.

Question 51

levitate

Answer 51

float in the air (especially by magical means). As the magician passed his hands over the recumbent body of his assistant, she appeared to rise and levitate about three feet above the table.

Question 52

levy

Answer 52

impose (a fine); collect (a payment). Crying “No taxation without representation!” the colonists demonstrated against England's power to levy taxes.

Question 53

lewd

Answer 53

lustful; わいせつな、下劣な. They found his lewd stories objectionable.

Question 54

liability

Answer 54

drawback; debts; 負債、不利(益)、障害. Her lack of an extensive vocabulary was a liability that she was able to overcome.

Question 55

libel

Answer 55

defamatory statement; act of writing something that smears a person's character; 名誉毀損、中傷すること. If Batman wrote that the Joker was a dirty, rotten, mass-murdering criminal, could the Joker sue Batman for libel?

Question 56

libidinous

Answer 56

lustful; 肉欲的な、みだらな. They objected to his libidinous behavior.

Question 57

licentious

Answer 57

amoral; lewd and lascivious; unrestrained. Unscrupulously seducing the daughter of his host, Don Juan felt no qualms about the immorality of his licentious behavior.

Question 58

ligneous

Answer 58

like wood. Petrified wood may be ligneous in appearance, but it is stonelike in composition.

Question 59

limber

Answer 59

flexible. Hours of ballet classes kept him limber.

Question 60

lineaments

Answer 60

features, especially of the face. She quickly sketched the lineaments of his face.

Question 61

linger

Answer 61

loiter or dawdle; continue or persist; 長居する、残存する、長居する. Hoping to see Juliet pass by, Romeo lingered outside the Capulet house for hours.

Question 61

lionize

Answer 61

treat as a celebrity. She enjoyed being lionized and adored by the public.

Question 62

liquidate

Answer 62

settle accounts; clear up; 清算する、一掃する. He was able to liquidate all his debts in a short period of time.

Question 63

list

Answer 63

tilt; lean over. That flagpole should be absolutely vertical; instead, it lists to one side.

Question 64

listless

Answer 64

lacking in spirit or energy. We had expected her to be full of enthusiasm and were surprised by her listless attitude.

Question 65

lithe

Answer 65

flexible; supple. Her figure was lithe and willowy.

Question 66

livid

Answer 66

Lead-colored; black and blue; ashen; enraged; 青黒い、青ざめた、激怒した. His face was so livid with rage that we were afraid that he might have an attack of apoplexy.

Question 67

loath

Answer 67

reluctant; disinclined. Romeo and Juliet were both loath for him to go.

Question 68

loathe

Answer 68

detest. Booing and hissing, the audience showed how much they loathed the villain.

Question 69

lode

Answer 69

Metal-bearing vein; 鉱脈、豊かな源泉. If this lode that we have discovered extends for any distance, we have found a fortune.

Question 70

lofty

Answer 70

very high. Though Barbara Jordan's fellow students used to tease her about her lofty ambitions, she rose to hold one of the highest positions in the land.

Question 71

loiter

Answer 71

hang around; linger. The policeman told him not to liter in the alley.

Question 72

loll

Answer 72

lounge about; だらしなく座る、だらだらと過ごす. They lolled around in their chairs watching television.

Question 73

longevity

Answer 73

long life. When he reached ninety, the old man was proud of his longevity.

Question 74

loom

Answer 74

appear or take shape (usually in an enlarged or distorted form); ぼんやりと［ヌッと・不気味に］現れる、巨大な姿を現す、そびえ立つ. The shadow of the gallows loomed threateningly above the small boy.

Question 75

lope

Answer 75

gallop slowly. As the horses loped along, we had an opportunity to admire the ever-changing scenery.