GRE Cards Deck H Flashcards
hardy
adj
Definition: Bold, brave, capable of withstanding hardship, fatigue, cold, etc.
Usage: While the entire family enjoyed the trip to South America, only the hardier members even attempted to hike to the top of Ecuador’s tallest volcano.
Related Words: Robust (strong, vigorous, full-bodied), Hale (vigorous, healthy)
More Info: Hardy, unsurprisingly, comes from “harden,” in the sense of “make brave.” Hardy is also an English last name; the adventurous Hardy Boys are the heroes of a series of young adult novels popular since their debut in 1927.
haven
noun
Definition: Harbor or port; refuge, safe place
Usage: The relief workers set up the camp as a haven from persecution.
Related Words: Succor (relief, aid), Asylum (refuge or sanctuary; refuge granted by a country to a foreigner persecuted in her or her own country). Asylum was once used to mean a care facility for the mentally ill, orphans, etc., but this usage is generally considered insensitive today.
hearken
verb
Also hark (verb)
Definition: Listen, pay attention to
Usage: The simple lifestyle and anachronistic dress of the Amish hearken back to an earlier era. / “Hearken, students!” said the old-fashioned music teacher. “We are going to practice ‘Hark, the Herald Angels Sing.”
More Info: Hark is a variant of hearken and has the same meaning. The expression hearken back or hark back is much more common in modern usage than hearken alone, and means to turn back to something earlier or return to a source
heterogeneous
adj
Definition: Different in type, incongruous; composed of different types of elements
Usage: Rather than build the wall with plain brick, we used a heterogeneous mixture of stones—they are not only different colors, but a variety of sizes as well.
Related Words: Homogeneous (of the same kind) is the opposite of heterogeneous.
More Info: The Latin root “gen” means “birth, produce, race” and appears in generate, genus, gender, genocide. “Hetero” means “different” and appears in heterodox (unorthodox).
hierarchy
noun
Definition: A ranked series; a classification of people according to rank, ability, etc.; a ruling body
Usage: The activist, accustomed to groups ruled by consensus, was quite surprised to find that the Eco-Action Coalition was led by a strict hierarchy—members followed orders from district leaders, district leaders from regional leaders, and regional leaders from the national head.
Related Words: Echelon (a level, rank or grade; the people at that level). Stratum (a layer, esp. one of a number of parallel layers, such as in sedimentary rock or the Earth’s atmosphere; plural is strata, as in “Of all the strata of society, the middle class is the stratum hit hardest by the recession.”)
More Info: A hierarchy was originally a ranked division of angels.
hodgepodge
noun
Definition: Mixture of different kinds of things, jumble
Usage: The comedian’s book wasn’t a proper memoir, but more a hodgepodge of old bits, personal stories that went nowhere, random political opinions, and childhood photos.
Related Words: Heterogeneous means “made up of diverse elements.” Medley, Farrago, Potpourri, Pastiche and Olio are all words for mixtures of diverse things.
More Info: Hodgepodge comes from hotchpotch, a stew of meat and vegetables.
homogeneous
adj
Definition: Of the same kind; uniform throughout
Usage: While Sweden seems to have solved many of its social ills, critics point out that Sweden’s largely homogeneous population doesn’t present the challenges extant in a more diverse nation with many cultures and languages.
Related Words: Heterogeneous (different in type, incongruous; composed of different types of elements) is the antonym of homogeneous.
More Info: The Latin root “gen” means “birth, produce, race” and appears in generate, genus, gender, genocide. “Homo” means “same” and appears in the biology term homologous (having the same relation or structure, as in human arms and bat wings).
hyberbole
noun
Definition: Deliberate exaggeration for effect
Usage: Oh, come on. Saying “That movie was so bad it made me puke” was surely hyperbole. I strongly doubt that you actually vomited during or following The Back-Up Plan.
Related Words: Overstatement is similar in meaning.
More Info: Hyperbole shares a root (meaning “throw”) with ballistics—think of it as throwing your statement quite a bit past the mark.
halcyon
adj
Definition: Calm and peaceful, carefree; prosperous, successful, happy
Usage: Installing drywall wasn’t the career he’d planned for—every day he reminisced about the halcyon days of his high school football career, when he was treated like a god, and he had not a care in the world other than the next big game.
Related Words: Tranquil, Pacific, and Placid also mean peaceful.
More Info: The halcyon, in classical mythology, was a bird whose nest floated on the sea and who could charm the waves into calmness.
hallmark
noun
Definition: A mark of indication of quality, purity, genuineness, etc.; any distinguishing characteristic
Usage: Signature red soles are the hallmark of Christian Louboutin’s shoes. / Fast-paced rhymes, an angry tenor, and personal attacks on celebrities are hallmarks of Eminem’s music.
Related Words: An earmark is also any distinguishing mark, such as a mark on an animal’s ear to show ownership. Earmark can also be a verb meaning “allocate or set aside” (to earmark funds for a project). An earmark is neutral, but a hallmark generally has more positive connotations.
More Info: The Goldsmiths’ Company of London made gold and silver articles stamped with a mark. The company was located in Goldsmiths’ Hall—thus, a “hall mark.”
hand-wringing
noun
Definition: Grasping, squeezing, etc. of the hands as an expression of nervousness, guilt, etc.; extend debate over what to do about an issue
Usage: There has been much hand-wringing (or wringing of hands) over falling test scores, with so-called “experts” acting as if the world will end if students do 1% worse in math and science.
hapless
adj
Definition: Unlucky, unfortunate
Usage: Hiring this hapless new office manager was a mistake—he’s always losing and breaking things, as though bad luck simply follows wherever he goes.
Related Words: Bootless (useless), Woebegone (beset with woe—that is, grief or distress)
More Info: Hap is a very rare old word meaning “luck or lot.”
harangue
noun, verb
Definition: Long, intense verbal attack, esp. when delivered publicly, to speak to someone or a group of people, often for a long time, in a forceful and sometimes angry way, especially to persuade them
Usage: A drunk in the station was haranguing passers-by.
Related Words: Tirade, Diatribe, and Fulmination are all words for bitter, angry speeches or attacks
Memory Trick: What do you call a large ape who always yells at you? A harangutan! (That’s the worst joke on all of these flashcards—we promise).
harrow
(noun, verb)
Also harrowing (adj)
Definition: Farming tool that breaks up soil (noun); painfully disturb or distress (verb)
Usage: Let’s start our garden together—you harrow, and I’ll follow behind you planting the seeds. / The bus ride across Siberia was a harrowing experience—the roads were all ice, and the ancient, barely heated vehicle seemed to be lacking both headlights and brakes.
More Info: Shakespeare may have been the first to use harrow in a metaphorical way (“I could a tale unfold whose lightest word would harrow up thy soul”—Hamlet).
hedge
verb
Definition: Avoid commitment by leaving provisions for withdrawal or changing one’s mind; protect a bet by also betting on the other side, to limit something severely
Usage:
We’ve got permission, but it’s hedged about/around with strict conditions.
to try to avoid giving an answer or taking any action.
Stop hedging and tell me what you really think.
Related Words: Equivocate, Waffle, Vacillate, and Tergiversate (waver, use unclear language to deceive or avoid committing), Ambivalent (unable to decide, or wanting to do two contradictory things at once), Palter (talk insincerely; bargain or haggle)
More Info: A hedge fund is an investment fund that hedges risk with a variety of methods, such as short selling and derivatives.
