GRE "I" Flashcards
(5 cards)
Innocuous
Something innocuous is harmless and doesn’t produce any ill effects. Many germs are innocuous. As are most bug bites. Even television, in small doses, is typically innocuous. Innocuous can also mean inoffensive. An innocuous question is unlikely to upset anyone.
not injurious
not noxious –
although some spiders are poisonous, most are :innocent
Everyone found Nancy’s banter innocuous—except for Mike, who felt like she was intentionally picking on him.
it was an innocuous remark
Involved
We are involved in many things, from studying to socializing. For something to be involved, as far as the GRE is concerned, means it is complicated, and difficult to comprehend.
Complicated, difficult to comprehend, or highly detailed
The physics lecture became so involved that the undergraduate’s eyes glazed over.
🔹 The instructions were so involved that even experts struggled to follow them.
🔹 Her novel features an involved plot with dozens of characters and timelines.
Imbibe
Literally, to imbibe is to drink, usually copiously. Figuratively, imbibe can refer to an intake of knowledge or information.
To drink (especially alcohol) — literally,
or to absorb ideas or knowledge — figuratively.
im + bibe = if we replace b by p, pipe = to absorb or drink wine/wisdom
Plato imbibed Socrates’ teachings to such an extent that he was able to write volumes of work that he directly attributed, sometimes word for word, to Socrates.
🔹 The students eagerly imbibed the professor’s wisdom.
🔹 She imbibed the values of her adopted culture.
🔹 He sat by the fire, slowly imbibing a glass of wine.
Inundate
To inundate is a synonym for to deluge, which means to flood. Figuratively, to be inundated means to be overwhelmed by too many people or things.
To flood or overwhelm, either literally (with water) or figuratively (with things like information, tasks, or emotions).
“in—under—date” → you’re under a flood of deadlines!
The newsroom was inundated with false reports that only made it more difficult for the newscasters to provide an objective account of the bank robbery.
🔹 The office was inundated with complaints after the software update.
🔹 She was inundated with emotions after hearing the news.
Intimate
Just as tender doesn’t relate to two people in love, neither does intimate, at least in the GRE sense.
The secondary meaning for intimate is to suggest something subtly.
At first Manfred’s teachers intimated to his parents that he was not suited to skip a grade; when his parents protested, teachers explicitly told them that, notwithstanding the boy’s precocity, he was simply too immature to jump to the 6th grade.
