GRE Barron's 5-6

Question 1

astral

Answer 1

relating to the stars. She was amazed at the number of astral bodies the new telescope revealed.

Question 2

astringent

Answer 2

binding; causing contraction; harsh or severe. The astringent quality of the unsweetened lemon juice made swallowing difficult.

Question 3

astronomical

Answer 3

enormously large or extensive. The government seemed willing to spend astronomical sums on weapons development.

Question 4

astute

Answer 4

wise; shrewd; keen. The painter was an astute observer, noticing every tiny detail of her model’s appearance and knowing exactly how important each one was.

Question 5

asunder

Answer 5

into parts; apart. A fierce quarrel split the partner ship asunder.

Question 6

asylum

Answer 6

place of refuge or shelter; protection. The refugees sought asylum from religious persecution in a new land.

Question 7

atavism

Answer 7

resemblance to remote ancestors rather than to parents; reversion to an earlier type; throwback. In his love for gardening, Martin seemed an atavism to his Tuscan ancestors who lavished great care on their small plots of soil.

Question 8

atrocity

Answer 8

brutal deed; 残虐行為. In time of war, many atrocities are committed by invading armies.

Question 8

atrophy

Answer 8

wasting away. Polio victims need physiotherapy to prevent the atrophy of affected limbs.

Question 8

attentive

Answer 8

alert and watchful; considerate; thoughtful. Spellbound, the attentive audience watched the final game of the tennis match, never taking their eyes from the ball.

Question 9

attenuate

Answer 9

make thinner; weaken or lessen (in density, force, degree). The long, dry spell attenuated the creek to the merest trickle.

Question 10

attest

Answer 10

testify; bear witness. Having served as a member of a grand jury, I can attest that our system of indicting individuals is in need of improvement.

Question 11

attrition

Answer 11

gradual decrease in numbers; reduction in the work force without firing employees; wearing away of opposition by means of harassment. In the 1960s urban churches suffered from attrition as members moved from the cities to the suburbs.

Question 12

atypical

Answer 12

not normal. The child psychiatrist reassured Mrs. Keaton that playing doctor was not atypical behavior for a child of young Alex’s age. “Perhaps not,” she replied, “but charging for house calls is!”

Question 13

audacious

Answer 13

daring; bold, 大胆な、斬新な、厚かましい. Audiences cheered as Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia made their audacious, death-defying leap to freedom and escaped Darth Vader’s troops.

Question 14

augment

Answer 14

increase; add to. Armies augment their forces by calling up reinforcements.

Question 15

augury

Answer 15

omen; prophecy. He interpreted the departure of the birds as an augury of evil.

Question 16

august

Answer 16

impressive; majestic. Visiting the palace at Versailles, she was impressed by the august surroundings in which she found herself.

Question 16

auspicious

Answer 16

favoring success. With favorable weather conditions, it was an auspicious moment to set sail. Thomas, however, had doubts about sailing: a paranoid, he became suspicious whenever conditions seemed auspicious.

Question 17

austere

Answer 17

forbiddingly stern; severely simple and unornamented. The headmaster’s austere demeanor tended to scare off the more timid students, who never visited his study willingly.

Question 18

authenticate

Answer 18

prove genuine. An expert was needed to authenticate the original Van Gogh painting, distinguishing it from its imitation.

Question 19

autocratic

Answer 19

having absolute, unchecked power; dictatorial. A person accustomed to exercising authority may become autocratic if his or her power is unchecked.

Question 20

avarice

Answer 20

greediness for wealth. Montaigne is correct in maintaining that it is not poverty, but rather abundance, that breeds avarice: the more shoes Imelda Marcos had, the more she craved.

Question 21

aver

Answer 21

assert confidently or declare; as used in law, state formally as a fact. The self-proclaimed psychic averred that, because he had extrasensory perception on which to base his predictions, he needed no seismographs or other gadgets in order to foretell earthquakes.

Question 22

averse

Answer 22

reluctant; disinclined. The reporter was averse to revealing the sources of his information.

Question 23

aversion

Answer 23

firm dislike. Bert had an aversion to yuppies; Alex had an aversion to punks. Their mutual aversion was so great that they refused to speak to one another.

Question 24

avert

Answer 24

prevent; turn away. She averted her eyes from the dead cat on the highway.

Question 25

avid

Answer 25

greedy; eager for. He was avid for learning and read everything he could get.

Question 26

avocation

Answer 26

secondary or minor occupation. His hobby proved to be so fascinating and profitable that gradually he abandoned his regular occupation and concentrated on his avocation.

Question 27

avow

Answer 27

declare openly. Lana avowed that she never meant to steal Debbie's boyfriend, but no one believed her avowal of innocence.

Question 28

awry

Answer 28

distorted; crooked, 斜めに、不首尾に. He held his head awry, giving the impression that he had caught cold in his neck during the night.

Question 28

bacchanalian

Answer 28

drunken. Emperor Nero attended the bacchanalian orgy.

Question 29

badger

Answer 29

pester; annoy. She was forced to change her telephone number because she was badgered by obscene phone calls.

Question 29

badinage

Answer 29

teasing conversation. Her friends at work greeted the news of her engagement with cheerful badinage.

Question 30

baffle

Answer 30

frustrate; perplex. The new code baffled the enemy agents.

Question 31

bait

Answer 31

harass; tease. The school bully baited the smaller children, terrorizing them.

Question 32

baleful

Answer 32

threatening; menacing; sinister; foreshadowing evil. The bully's baleful glare across the classroom warned Tim to expect trouble after school.

Question 33

balk

Answer 33

stop short, as if faced with an obstacle, and refuse to continue. The chief of police balked at sending his officers into the riot-torn area.

Question 34

balk

Answer 34

foil; 妨げる、失敗させる. When the warden learned that several inmates were planning to escape, he took steps to balk their attempt.

Question 35

balm

Answer 35

something that relieves pain. Friendship is the finest balm for the pangs of disappointed love.

Question 36

balmy

Answer 36

mild; fragrant. A balmy breeze refreshed us after the sultry blast.

Question 37

banal

Answer 37

hackneyed; commonplace; trite; lacking originality. The hack writer's worn-out cliches made his comic sketch seem banal. He even resorted to the banality of having someone slip on a banana peel!

Question 37

bandy

Answer 37

discuss lightly or glibly; exchange (words) heatedly. While the president was happy to bandy patriotic generalizations with anyone who would listen to him, he refused to bandy words with unfriendly reporters at the press conference.

Question 38

bane

Answer 38

curse; cause of ruin. Lucy's little brother was the bane of her existence, scribbling on walls with her lipstick and pouring her shampoo down the drain.

Question 39

baneful

Answer 39

destructive; causing ruin or death. Anointment seems intended to apply the power of natural and supernatural forces to the sick and thus to ward off the baneful influences of diseases and of demons.

Question 40

bantering

Answer 40

good-naturedly ridiculing. They resented his bantering remarks because they misinterpreted his teasing as sarcasm.

Question 41

barefaced

Answer 41

shameless; bold; unconcealed. Shocked by Huck Finn's barefaced lies, Miss Watson prayed the good Lord would give him a sense of his unregenerate wickedness.

Question 42

baroque

Answer 42

highly ornate; (装飾が)過剰な、華美な. Accustomed to the severe, angular lines of modern skyscrapers, they found the flamboyance of baroque architecture amusing.

Question 43

barrage

Answer 43

barrier laid down by artillery fire; overwhelming profusion; 一斉射撃、連発. The company was forced to retreat through the barrage of heavy cannons.

Question 44

bask

Answer 44

luxuriate; take pleasure in warmth, 日光に当たる、恩恵を受ける. Basking on the beach, she relaxed so completely that she fell asleep.

Question 45

bastion

Answer 45

stronghold; something seen as a source of protection. The villagers fortified the town hall, hoping this improvised bastion could protect them from the guerrilla raids.

Question 46

bate

Answer 46

let down; restrain. Until it was time to open the presents, the children had to bate their curiosity.

Question 47

bawdy

Answer 47

indecent; obscene; 下品な. Jack took offense at Jill's bawdy remarks. What kind of young man did she think he was?

Question 48

beatific

Answer 48

showing or producing joy; blissful. When Johnny first saw the new puppy, a beatific smile spread across his face.

Question 49

beatify

Answer 49

bless or sanctify; proclaim someone dead to be one of the blessed.

Question 50

beatitude

Answer 50

blessedness; state of bliss. Growing closer to God each day, the mystic achieved a state of indescribable beatitude.

Question 50

bedizen

Answer 50

dress with vulgar finery. The witch doctors were bedizened in their gaudies costumes.

Question 51

bedraggle

Answer 51

wet thoroughly. We were so bedraggled by the severe storm that we had to change into dry clothing.

Question 52

befuddle

Answer 52

confuse thoroughly. His attempts to clarify the situation succeeded only in befuddling her further.

Question 53

beget

Answer 53

father; produce; give rise to. One good turn may deserve another; it does not necessarily beget another.

Question 54

begrudge

Answer 54

resent; を出し渋る、をねたむ. I begrudge every minute I have to spend attending meetings.

Question 55

beguile

Answer 55

mislead or delude; cheat; pass time. With flattery and big talk of easy money, the con men beguiled Kyle into betting his allowance on the shell game.

Question 56

behemoth

Answer 56

huge creature; something of monstrous size or power. Sportscasters nicknamed the linebacker “The Behemoth.”

Question 56

beholden

Answer 56

obligated; indebted; 恩義を受けて. Since I do not wish to be beholden to anyone, I cannot accept this favor.

Question 57

behoove

Answer 57

be necessary or proper for; be incumbent upon. Because the interest of the rule and the ruled are incompatible, it behooves the rule to trust no one; to be suspicious of sycophants; to permit no one to gain undue power or influence; and, above all, to use guile to unearth plots against the throne.

Question 58

belabor

Answer 58

explain or go over excessively or to a ridiculous degree; assail verbally. The debate coach warned her student not to bore the audience by belaboring his point.

Question 59

beleaguer

Answer 59

besiege or attack; harass. The babysitter was surrounded by a crowd of unmanageable brats who relentlessly beleaguered her.

Question 60

belie

Answer 60

contradict; give a false impression. His coarse, hard-bit-ten exterior belied his innate sensitivity.

Question 61

belittle

Answer 61

disparage; deprecate. Parents should not belittle their children's early attempts at drawing, but should encourage their efforts.

Question 62

bellicose

Answer 62

warlike; pugnacious; naturally inclined to fight. Someone who is spoiling for a fight is by definition bellicose.

Question 63

belligerent

Answer 63

quarrelsome. Whenever he had too much to drink, he became belligerent and tried to pick fights with strangers.

Question 64

bemoan

Answer 64

lament; express disapproval of; を嘆く、を不満に思う. The widow bemoaned the death of her beloved husband. Although critics bemoaned the serious flaws in the author's novels, each year his latest book topped the best-seller list.

Question 65

bemused

Answer 65

confused; lost in thought; preoccupied. Jill studied the garbled instructions with a bemused look on her face.

Question 66

benediction

Answer 66

blessing. The appearance of the sun after the many rainy days was like a benediction.

Question 67

benefactor

Answer 67

gift giver; patron. Scrooge later became Tiny Tim's benefactor and gave him gifts.

Question 68

beneficent

Answer 68

kindly; doing good. The overgenerous philanthropist had to curb his beneficent impulses before he gave away all his money and left himself with nothing.

Question 69

beneficiary

Answer 69

person entitled to benefits or proceeds of an insurance policy or will. In Scrooge's will, he made Tiny Tim his beneficiary: everything he left would go to young Tim.

Question 70

benevolent

Answer 70

generous; charitable. Mr. Fezziwig was a benevolent employer who wished to make Christmas merrier for young Scrooge and his other employees.

Question 71

benison

Answer 71

blessing. Let us pray that the benison of peace once more shall prevail among the nations of the world.

Question 72

bent

Answer 72

determined; natural talent or inclination. Bent on advancing in the business world, the secretary-heroine of Working Girl had a true bent for high finance.

Question 73

bequeath

Answer 73

leave to someone by means of a will; hand down; を遺言でゆずる、を後世に残す. In his will, Father bequeathed his watch to Philip.

Question 74

berate

Answer 74

scold strongly. He feared she would berate him for his forgetfulness.

Question 75

bereavement

Answer 75

state of being deprived of something valuable or beloved. His friends gathered to console him upon his sudden bereavement.

Question 76

bereft

Answer 76

deprived of; lacking. The foolish gambler soon found himself bereft of funds.

Question 77

berserk

Answer 77

frenzied; 凶暴な、荒れ狂った. Angered, he went berserk and began to wreck the room.

Question 78

beseech

Answer 78

beg; plead with. The workaholic executive's wife beseeched him to spend more time with their son.

Question 79

beset

Answer 79

harass or trouble; hem in. Many vexing problems beset the American public school system.

Question 80

besiege

Answer 80

surround with armed forces; harass (with requests). When the bandits besieged the village, the villagers holed up in the town hall and prepared to withstand a long siege.

Question 81

besmirch

Answer 81

soil, defile; (名声を)汚す. The scandalous remarks in the newspaper besmirch the reputations of every member of the society.

Question 82

bestial

Answer 82

beastlike; brutal; inhuman. According to legend, the werewolf was able to abandon its human shape and assume a bestial form.

Question 83

bestow

Answer 83

confer; 授ける、与える. He wished to bestow great honors upon the hero.

Question 84

betoken

Answer 84

signify; indicate. The well-equipped docks, tall piles of cargo containers, and numerous vessels being loaded all betoken Oakland's importance as a port.

Question 85

betroth

Answer 85

become engaged to marry. The announcement that they had become betrothed surprised their friends who had not suspected any romance.

Question 86

bevy

Answer 86

large group. The movie actor was surrounded by a bevy of starlets.

Question 87

bicameral

Answer 87

two-chambered, as a legislative body. The United States Congress is a bicameral body.

Question 88

bicker

Answer 88

quarrel. The children bickered morning, noon and night, exasperating their parents.

Question 89

biennial

Answer 89

every two years. Seeing no need to meet more frequently, the group held biennial meetings instead of annual ones.

Question 90

bifurcated

Answer 90

divided into two branches; forked. With a bifurcated branch and a piece of elastic rubber, he made a crude but effective slingshot.

Question 91

bigotry

Answer 91

stubborn intolerance. Brought up in a democratic atmosphere, the student was shocked by the bigotry and narrowness expressed by several of his classmates.

Question 92

bilious

Answer 92

suffering from a liver complaint; peevishly ill humored; むかつく、吐き気がする. If your tummy's feeling bilious, try Carter's Little Live Pills for fast relief.

Question 93

bilk

Answer 93

swindle; cheat. The con man specialized in bilking insurance companies.

Question 94

billowing

Answer 94

swelling out in waves; surging. Standing over the air vent, Marilyn Monroe tried vainly to control her billowing skirts.

Question 95

blanch

Answer 95

bleach, whiten. Although age had blanched his hair, he was still vigorous and energetic.

Question 96

blandish

Answer 96

cajole; coax with flattery; 機嫌を取る、まるめこむ. Despite all their sweet-talking, Suzi and Cher were unable to blandish the doorman into letting them into the hot new club.

Question 97

blare

Answer 97

loud, harsh roar or screech; dazzling blaze of light. I don't know which is worse: the steady blare of a boom box deafening your ears or a sudden blare of flashbulbs dazzling your eyes.

Question 98

blasé

Answer 98

bored with pleasure or dissipation. Although Beth was as thrilled with the idea of a trip to Paris as her classmates were, she tried to act supercool and blasé, as if she'd been abroad hundreds of times.

Question 99

blasphemy

Answer 99

irreverence; sacrilege; cursing. In my father's house, the Dodgers were the holiest of holies; to cheer for another team was to utter words of blasphemy.

Question 100

bleak

Answer 100

cold or cheerless; unlikely to be favorable. The frigid, inhospitable Aleutian Islands are bleak military outposts. It's no wonder that soldiers assigned there have a bleak attitude toward their posting.

Question 101

blighted

Answer 101

suffering from a disease; destroyed. The extent of the blighted areas could be sen only when viewed from the air.

Question 102

blithe

Answer 102

carefree and unconcerned (perhaps foolishly so); cheerful and gay. Micawber's blithe optimism that something would turn up proved unfounded, and he wound up in debtors' prison.

Question 103

bloated

Answer 103

swollen or puffed as with water or air. Her bloated stomach came from drinking so much water.

Question 104

bluff

Answer 104

rough but good-natured. Jack had a bluff and hearty manner that belied his actual sensitivity; he never let people know how thin-skinned he really was.