GRE Major Tests Chapter 17

Question 1

Bane

Answer 1

troublesome influence, something causing misery

ex) According to Stewart, her jealousy was the bane of their relationship.

Question 2

Condone

Answer 2

tacitly, support

ex) Good politician officers will not condone speeding.

Question 3

Eclectic

Answer 3

taking things from different sources

ex) She followed an unusual eclectic method for finishing her work.

Question 4

Genre

Answer 4

a category

ex) The game of his novel is comedy.

Question 5

Irascible

Answer 5

easily angered

ex) After my sister got dumped by her boyfriend, she was irascible all the time.

Question 6

Mundane

Answer 6

ordinary

ex) Mundane thinking will only take you so far in innovation.

Question 7

Perpetuated

Answer 7

caused to continue

ex) In his memory, let us perpetuate his desire to get more homeless people off the streets.

Question 8

Rancor

Answer 8

resentment, animosity

ex) I could almost see the rancor in his eyes when he challenged me to a fight.

Question 9

Strut

Answer 9

swagger, show off

ex) She was strutting around like a peacock to show off her new pants.

Question 10

Voluble

Answer 10

talkative

ex) She was voluble with excitement.

Question 11

Bard

Answer 11

poet

ex) People sometimes refer to William Shakespeare as the Bard.

Question 12

Condoning

Answer 12

overlooking, ignoring

ex) The government condoned the computer hacking among rival corporations.

Question 13

Edifice

Answer 13

building, structure, construction

ex) The church on the corner is the oldest edifice in the country.

Question 14

Germane

Answer 14

relevant

ex) The president will only respond the media questions that are germane to the economic crisis.

Question 15

Ire

Answer 15

anger

ex) Their ire was directed mainly at the government.

Question 16

Munificent

Answer 16

generous, charitable

ex) A munificent host who was presided over many charitable events at his mansion.

Question 17

Perpetuity

Answer 17

eternity

ex) As a devoted wife, I vow to love my husband in perpetuity.

Question 18

Rant

Answer 18

use bombastic language, complaining

ex) The last time I saw Tom, he was ranting about something.

Question 19

Stupefying

Answer 19

astonishing, shocking

ex) The results were stupefying.

Question 20

Voluminous

Answer 20

very large, spacious

ex) In their voluminous wine cellar, the couple kept hundreds of bottles of various types of alcohol.

Question 21

Bastion

Answer 21

fortress, stronghold

ex) The soldiers hid behind the bastion.

Question 22

Conflagration

Answer 22

big fire, conflict, war

ex) The conflagration destroyed the warehouses.

Question 23

Efface

Answer 23

wipe out

ex) If I could efface all my sad memories, I would be a very happy person.

Question 24

Germinal

Answer 24

just growing, not developed

ex) A germinal idea.

Question 25

Irksome

Answer 25

annoying, infuriating ex) Her loud music was irksome.

Question 26

Mutinous

Answer 26

very rebellious ex) The city was becoming mutinous.

Question 27

Personable

Answer 27

attractive, pleasant ex) The doctor was personable and made me feel better.

Question 28

Ratify

Answer 28

approve, consent ex) Until all of the countries ratify the treaty, the war will continue.

Question 29

Subpoena

Answer 29

summons to court ex) As soon as I received the subpoena, I knew I had to testify during the trial.

Question 30

Voracious

Answer 30

ravenous ex) The football player was a voracious eater who easily consumed two chickens during one meal.

Question 31

Befuddle

Answer 31

confuse ex) The befuddled old man could not remember where he lived.

Question 32

Confound

Answer 32

confuse ex) Without instructions, this unusual game will confound anyone.

Question 33

Effigy

Answer 33

a model of a person ex) It displays his trophies and his effigy in wax.

Question 34

Gibbering

Answer 34

making meaningless noises ex) Calm down! You sound like a gibbering idiot!

Question 35

Ironic

Answer 35

satiric, unexpected ex) It's ironic that computers break down so often, since they're meant to save people time.

Question 36

Myriad

Answer 36

in large numbers ex) Our house has been plagued with myriad insects this summer.

Question 37

Perspicacious

Answer 37

insightful ex) Using his perspicacious mind, he easily solved the mystery.

Question 38

Raucous

Answer 38

rough and unpleasant ex) He had a harsh laugh that could only be described as raucous.

Question 39

Substantiate

Answer 39

give supporting advice ex) They substantiated their claim by producing dated receipts.

Question 40

Waive

Answer 40

surrender, give up rights ex) Since Ted does not want to be responsible for anyone, he is going to waive his rights to his son.

Question 41

Begrudge

Answer 41

resent, to be envious of what one feels another does not deserve ex) James was the only team member to begrudge Carl of his role as Captain.

Question 42

Congeal

Answer 42

to solidify ex) Before I could put a bandage on, my blood begun to congeal on my cut.

Question 43

Effusive

Answer 43

gashing, demonstrative, expressing a lot of emotion ex) My serious professor rarely smiles and is hardly what I would describe as effusive.

Question 44

Glacial

Answer 44

hostile ex) He had a glacial stare.

Question 45

Irrational

Answer 45

unreasonable ex) Arachnophobia is an irrational fear of spiders.

Question 46

Navigable

Answer 46

suitable for sailing ex) This map shows which rivers are navigable and which aren't.

Question 47

Perspicacity

Answer 47

insight ex) His poor financial decision showed a lack of perspicacity regarding the stock market.

Question 48

Raze

Answer 48

destroy ex) The decision to drop the bomb should not be taken lightly as the power of the weapon could raze and entire town.

Question 49

Subterfuge

Answer 49

a trick ex) From now on, he will no longer subterfuge to his family and instead focus on living an honest lifestyle.

Question 50

Wane

Answer 50

grow less ex) Since sales have started to wane, the store is in danger of becoming unprofitable.