GRE “E” Flashcards
(6 cards)
Egregious
‘egregious’ meant standing out in a bad way. In sports, an egregious foul would be called on a player who slugged another player
Shockingly bad, flagrant, or outstandingly wrong — often in a way that’s hard to ignore.
Throwing egg in religious is bad
Flagrant Blatant
scores we get in GRE is outrageously bad (egregious)
- The dictator’s abuse of human rights was so egregious that many world leaders asked that he be tried in an international court for genocide.
🔹 The politician made an egregious error in judgment by lying under oath.
🔹 His egregious behavior got him banned from the tournament.
Erratic
Unpredictable, often wildly so, erratic is reserved for pretty extreme cases. An athlete who scores the winning point one game, and then botches numerous opportunities is known for his or her erratic play.
The stock market is notoriously erratic, as is sleep, especially if your stocks aren’t doing well.
Erratic can also mean strange and unconventional. Someone may be known for their erratic behavior.
Regardless of which meaning you are employing, you should not be erratic in your GRE prep.
Unpredictable, inconsistent, or lacking a fixed course
erotic scenes in movie are quite unpredictable
It came as no surprise to pundits that the President’s attempt at re-election floundered; even during his term, support for his policies was erratic, with an approval rating jumping anywhere from 30 to 60 percent.
🔹 The stock market has been behaving erratically since the announcement.
🔹 His erratic driving raised suspicions of intoxication.
🔹 She’s brilliant, but her erratic attendance makes her hard to work with.
Extant
Many think this word means extinct. Extant is actually the opposite of extinct.
A great mnemonic is to put the word ‘is’ between the ‘x’ and the ‘t’ in extant. This gives you existant
still in existence
Despite many bookstores closing, experts predict that some form of book dealing will still be extant generations from now.
Enervate
Most people think enervate means to energize. It actually means to sap the energy from.
energy evaporate
John preferred to avoid equatorial countries; the intense sun would always leave him enervated after he’d spent the day sightseeing.
Equivocate
People tend to think that equivocate has to do with equal. It actually means to speak vaguely, usually with the intention to mislead or deceive. More generally, equivocal can mean ambiguous. The related word unequivocal can also be confusing. To state something unequivocally is to state it in such a way that there is no room for doubt.
When someone equivocates, they don’t lie directly, but they dance around the truth or give vague, misleading answers.
To speak ambiguously or unclearly,
equal vocal sounds are unclear
The findings of the study were equivocal—the two researchers had divergent opinions on what the results signified.
🔹 When asked about his involvement, the senator began to equivocate.
🔹 She equivocated when her parents asked where she had been all night.
Expansive
The common definition of expansive is extensive, wide-ranging. The lesser known definition is communicative, and prone to talking in a sociable manner.
After a few sips of cognac, the octogenarian shed his irascible demeanor and became expansive,
speaking fondly of the “good old days”
