GRE Words Flashcards
(42 cards)
Abase
v.
Syn: lower; humiliate
Ant: exalt; elevate; honor; raise; promote
Usage: To add insult to injury, he further abased her by
throwing the report at her in the presence of the rest of the staff.
abash
v.
Syn: embarrass
Ant: encourage; cheer; animate; embolden; incite
Usage: The writer felt abashed seeing the amount of attention he was receiving.
abdicate
v.
Syn: renounce; give up; relinquish
Ant: occupy; retain; maintain
Usage: He abdicated his entire estate and retired into the forest, spending the rest of his life in a log cabin.
aberrant
adj.
Syn: abnormal; deviant
Ant: normal
Usage: Normally a calm and steady worker, recently Jim’s behavior has been noted to be aberrant.
abeyance
n.
Syn: suspended action; inactivity; cessation; suspension
Ant: continuance
Usage: But these rights of adulthood are in abeyance during the period of pupilage or nonage.
abjure
v. [æbˈdʒʊr] Syn: renounce; repudiate; retract Ant: claim; assert; profess; vindicate; retain; maintain, hold Usage: To save his skin, he simply adjured every statement they had made, humbling under their pressure.
abnegation
n. [ˌæbnəˈgeɪʃən]
Syn: repudiation; self-sacrifice; relinquishment
Ant: assertion; retention; maintenance; hold
Usage: But this abnegation of responsibility is bringing with it the anarchy, chaos, and violence in society.
abominate
v. [əˈbɑməˌneɪt]
Syn: loathe; hate
Ant: love; abide
Usage: He has such a loathsome personality that any sane person would abominate him.
abrasive
adj. [əˈbreɪsɪv]
Syn: caustic; corrosive; rubbing away;
tending to grind down or abrade;
causing irritation, annoyance, or bad feelings
Ant: calm; mild; soothing; likable
Usage: The builder explained that the material was abrasive and hence would easily crumble to powder.
abridge
v. [əˈbrɪdʒ]
Syn: condense or shorten
Ant: lengthen, append
Usage: The key issues are listed below in an abridged version of the mail sent to him.
abrogate
(adj) [AB-ruh-geyt]
Syn: abolish; nullify
Ant: approve; establish; sanction; support
Usage: It was Abraham Lincoln who took the initiative to abrogate slavery in America.
abscission
(n)
Syn: removal by cutting off, as in surgery; separation; section
Ant: joining; recombination
Usage: The doctor explained that the planned abscission of the patient’s toe was a necessary amputation to save his life from the spreading infection.
abscond
ABSCOND (v) [ab-SKOND] [æbˈskɑnd]
Syn: depart secretly and hide, escape
Ant: appear; emerge; show; stay; remain
Usage: The culprit is said to be absconding with the bank robbery proceeds.
abstain
ABSTAIN (v) [ab-STEYN]
Syn: refrain; hold oneself back voluntarily from an action or practice
Syn: participate; act; consume
Usage: On every Tuesday of the month, Jim abstains from consuming meat and alcohol.
abstemious
ABSTEMIOUS (adj) [ab-STEE-mee-uh s] [(æbˈstimiəs]
Syn: Sparing in eating and drinking; temperate
Ant: intemperate; gluttonous; greedy
Usage: Roderick chooses to remain abstemious when the rest of his colleagues meet up for drinks.
abstinence
(n) [AB-stuh-nuhns] [ˈæbstənəns]
Syn: self-restraint; restraint from eating, drinking, having sex, or indulging any other appetites
Ant: indulging; consumption; participation
Usage: Spiritual ascetics preach a complete abstinence from the pleasures of world.
abstruse
ABSTRUSE (adj) [ab-STROOS] [æbˈstrus]
Syn: obscure; profound
Ant: evident; visible; obvious
Usage: It’s clever, fun and makes a fairly abstruse point very neatly for even the most inexperienced to understand.
abut
ABUT (v) [uh-BUHT]
Syn: border upon; adjoin
Ant: separate
Usage: A gravel terrace abuts the rear of the main house with a further brick path to the side of the farmhouse kitchen.
accede
ACCEDE (v) [ak-SEED]
Syn: agree; approve; assent
Ant: antagonize, dissent; demur; protest
Usage: Shelly acceded to the request of Jill and stayed back for group study.
accessible
ACCESSIBLE (adj) [ak-SES-uh-buh l]
Syn: easy to approach; obtainable
Ant: inaccessible; hard to reach
Usage: The cliff-top at Skorda is easily accessible through a ski lift.
accessory
ACCESSORY (n) [ak-SES-uh-ree]
Syn: additional object; useful but not essential thing
Ant: necessity; essential item
Usage: Today a trendy cellphone is not just a gadget, but also a fashion accessory to flaunt in public.
gadget
GADGET (n) [ˈgædʒɪt]
A small specialized mechanical or electronic device;
Syn: contrivance
Usage: These gadgets used to be seen only in designer kitchens, but are now included in less expensive ones too.
flaunt
FLAUNT (v) [flɔːnt]
Syn: display proudly and ostentatiously; show off;
Usage: One secret he learned very early on was not to flaunt his success.
indulge
INDULGE (v)
Syn: yield to; pander; gratify
Usage: You can indulge yourself without spending a fortune.
