GRE supplemental 5 Flashcards
(95 cards)
1
Q
ingratiating
A
adj. intended to gain approval or favor; sycophantic
2
Q
amenable
A
adj. agreeable; responsive to suggestion
3
Q
astringent
A
adj. having a tightening effect on living tissue; harsh; severe;
n. something with a tightening effect on tissue
4
Q
contiguous
A
adj. sharing a border; touching; adjacent
5
Q
credulous
A
adj. tending to believe too readily; gullible
n. credulity
6
Q
cynicism
A
n. attitude or quality of belief that all people are motivated by selfishness
7
Q
decorum
A
n. polite or appropriate conduct or behavior
8
Q
derision
A
n. scorn, ridicule, contemptuous treatment
9
Q
desiccate
A
v. to dehydrate; to make dry or dull
10
Q
disparage
A
v. to slight or belittle
11
Q
fawn
A
v. to flatter or praise excessively
12
Q
flout
A
v. to show contempt for, as in a rule or convention
13
Q
garrulous
A
adj. pointlessly talkative; talking too much
14
Q
glib
A
adj. marked by ease or informality; nonchalant;
adj. lacking in depth; superficial
15
Q
immutable
A
adj. not capable of change
16
Q
impetuous
A
adj. hastily or rashly energetic; impulsive and vehement
17
Q
indifferent
A
adj. having no interest or concern; showing no bias or prejudice
18
Q
inimical
A
adj. damaging; harmful; injurious
19
Q
intrepid
A
adj. steadfast and courageous
20
Q
laconic
A
adj. using few words; terse
21
Q
maverick
A
n. an independent individual who does not go along with a group or party
22
Q
mercurial
A
adj. characterized by rapid and unpredictable change in mood
23
Q
mollify
A
v. to calm or soothe; to reduce in emotional intensity
24
Q
neophyte
A
n. a recent convert; a beginner; novice
25
obfuscate
v. to deliberately obscure; to make confusing
26
plethora
n. an overabundance; a surplus
27
pragmatic
adj. practical rather than idealistic
28
presumptuous
adj. overstepping due bounds; taking liberties
29
probity
n. adherence to highest principles; complete and confirmed integrity; uprightness
30
proclivity
n. a natural predisposition or inclination
31
propensity
n. a natural inclination or tendency; penchant
32
prosaic
adj. dull; lacking in spirit or imagination
33
pungent
adj. characterized by strong, sharp smell or taste
34
rarefy
v. to make or become thin, less dense; to refine
35
recondite
adj. hidden, concealed; difficult to understand, obscure
36
renege
v. to fail to honor a commitment; to go back on a promise
37
sedulous
adj. diligent; persistent; hard-working
38
spendthrift
n. one who spends money wastefully
39
tacit
adj. implied; not explicitly stated
40
terse
adj. brief and concise in wording
41
tout
v. to publicly praise or promote
42
trenchant
adj. sharply perceptive; keen; penetrating
43
unfeigned
genuine; not false or hypocritical
44
untenable
adj. indefensible; not viable; uninhabitable
45
variegated
adj. multicolored; characterized by a variety of patches of different color
46
vexation
n. annoyance; irritation
47
vituperate
v. to use harsh condemnatory language; to abuse or censure severely or abusively; to berate
48
volatile
adj. readily changing to a vapor; changeable; fickle; explosive
49
dilettante
n. one with amateurish or superficial interest in the arts or a branch of knowledge; amateur; patron of the arts
50
proffer
v. to hold out (something) to someone for acceptance; offer
| n. an offer or proposal
51
dysphemism
n. unpleasant or derogatory term used instead of a pleasant or neutral one
52
euphemism
n. a mild or indirect word used to replace one considered too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing
53
falsify
v. to alter so as to mislead; forge
v. to prove to be false
v. fail to fulfill; remove the justification for
54
transmute
v. to change in form, nature, or substance
55
sardonic
adj. grimly mocking or cynical
56
laconic
adj. using very few words
57
gull
v. to fool or deceive (someone)
| n. a person who is fooled or deceived
58
protract
v. to prolong;
| v. to draw to scale
59
collude
v. to conspire; come to a secret understanding for a harmful purpose
60
prattle
v. to talk at length in a foolish or inconsequential way
61
truculent
adj. eager or quick to argue or fight; aggressively defiant
62
effrontery
n. insolent or impertinent behaviour
63
impertinent
adj. not showing proper respect; rude;
| adj. irrelevant
64
guileless
adj. devoid of guile; innocent and without deception
65
protracted
adj. lasting for a long time or longer than usual or expected
66
virulent
adj. (of a disease or poison) extremely severe or harmful in its effects; (of a pathogen) extremely infective;
adj. bitterly hostile
67
discomfit
v. to make someone feel uneasy or embarrassed
68
mortify
v. to cause someone to feel embarrassed, ashamed, or humiliated;
v. to subdue by self-denial or discipline;
v. (archaic; of flesh) to be affected by gangrene or necrosis
69
oblique
adj. indirect; slanting (i.e. neither parallel or perpendicular);
adj. (grammar) denoting any case other than the nominative or vocative
70
antediluvian
adj. pertaining to a time before the Flood; ridiculously old fashioned
71
gentrify
v. renovate and improve (esp. a house or district) so that it conforms to middle class taste; make more refined or dignified
72
aplomb
n. self-confidence or assurance (esp. in a demanding situation)
73
superannuate
trans. v. to retire (someone) with a pension
74
jeremiad
n. a long, mournful complaint or lamentation; a list of woes
75
philippic
n. a bitter attack or denunciation (esp. a verbal one)
76
superannuation
n. regular payment made by an employee into a pension fund; a pension paid to a retired person; the process of superannuating an employee
77
superannuated
adj. belonging to a superannuation plan;
| adj. obsolete through age or new technological or intellectual developments
78
reify
v. to make (something abstract) more concrete or real
79
quandary
n. a state of perplexity or uncertainty over what to do in a difficult situation; a difficult situation; a practical dilemma
80
strident
adj. loud and harsh; grating;
| adj. presenting a point of view in an excessively and unpleasantly forceful way
81
vapid
adj. lacking liveliness, briskness, or force; flat, dull;
| adj offering nothing that is stimulating or challenging
82
concerted
adj. jointly arranged, planned or carried out; coordinated;
adj. strenuously carried out; done with great effort;
adj. (of music) arranged in several parts of equal importance
83
perambulate
v. to walk or travel through or around a place or area (esp. for pleasure in a leisurely way)
84
transmogrify
v. to transform (esp. in a surprising or magical manner)
85
effervesce
v. (of a liquid) to give off bubbles;
| v. be vivacious and enthusiastic
86
restive
adj. (of a person) unable to keep still or silent and becoming increasingly difficult to control;
adj. (of a horse) refusing to advance, stubbornly standing still or moving backward or sideways
87
supercilious
adj. behaving or looking as though one thinks one is superior to others
88
slovenly
adj. messy and dirty;
| adj. careless; excessively casual
89
wag
n. a person who makes facetious jokes
90
vituperative
adj. bitter and abusive
91
basal
adj. forming or belonging to a bottom layer or base
92
acquiescent
v. to accept something reluctantly but without protest
93
draconian
adj. (of laws or their application) excessively harsh and severe
94
superciliary
adj. pertaining to the eyebrow or the region over the eye
95
stilted
adj. (of a manner of talking or writing) stiff and self-conscious or unnatural;
adj. standing on stilts
