gre prep vocab tpantin
Terms
undefined, object
copy deck
- seamy
-
unwholesome, sordid
from: the inside of a garment
antonym: salubrious - welter
-
noun
a confused mass; a jumble or muddle: a welter of anxious faces
antonym: calm - vituperative
-
vituperate: to use or address with harsh or abusive language; reviling, abusive
complimentary - viable
-
practical, workable, capable of living
from: Latin vita, life - veracious
- truthful
- venerate
- to regard with respect, to revere
- truculent
-
fierce and cruel; eager to fight
1. fierce; cruel; savagely brutal.
2. brutally harsh; vitriolic; scathing: his truculent criticism of her work.
3. aggressively hostile; belligerent. - substantiate
- established by evidence, supported
- striated
- marked with bands
- stolid
-
not easily stirred or moved mentally; unemotional; dull, impassive.
"Republicans hailed Kemp as a quick-tongued charmer who would . . . appear in attractive contrast to the stolid Al Gore." - to stint
-
to be frugal; get along on a scanty allowance
"Don't stint on the food. They stinted for years in order to save money." - specious
-
apparently good or right though lacking real merit; superficially pleasing or plausible; pleasing to the eye but deceptive
from: Latin specere, to look - soporific
-
causing or tending to cause sleep.
"soporific speech" - solicitus
-
1. anxious or concerned (usually fol. by about, for, etc., or a clause): "solicitous about a person's health."
2. anxiously desirous: "solicitous of the esteem of others."
3. eager (usually fol. by an infinitive): "He was always solicitous to please."
4. careful or particular: "a solicitous housekeeper"
from: Latin sollus, whole, entire - to secrete
-
second def:
to place out of sight; hide; conceal: "squirrels secreting nuts in a hollow tree trunk."
in this sense, from: Latin secretus, secret - to satiate
-
1. To satisfy (an appetite or desire) fully.
2. To satisfy to excess.
from: Latin sat-, enough - to sanction
-
1. to authorize, approve, or allow: an expression now sanctioned by
2. to impose a sanction on; penalize, esp. by way of discipline - salubrious
-
healthful
from: Latin salus, health
antonym: ~seamy - reticent
-
quiet; reserved; reluctant to express thoughts or feelings
(adjective) - repudiate
-
to reject, to disown
from: Latin repudiare, to reject, refuse - reprobate
-
–noun
1. a depraved, unprincipled, or wicked person: a drunken reprobate.
2. a person rejected by God and beyond hope of salvation.
–adjective
3. morally depraved; unprincipled; bad.
4. rejected by God and beyond hope of salvation. - relegate
-
to forcibly assign, especially to a lower place or position
(verb) - refractory
-
1. Stubbornly disobedient; unmanageable.
2. Resisting ordinary treatment or cure.
3. Difficult to melt or work; capable of enduring high temperature. - recondite
-
dealing with very profound, difficult, or abstruse subject matter
from: Latin recondere, to hide
antonym: exoteric - rarified
-
having low density "light headed from the rarified mountain air"
reserved for an elite group - quiescent
- being at rest; quiet; still; inactive or motionless: "a quiescent mind"
- proscribe
-
1. to ostracize
2. to denounce or condemn (a thing) as dangerous or harmful; prohibit.
antonym: prescribe - propitiate
- to conciliate (an offended power); appease: "propitiate the gods with a sacrifice."
- conciliate
- to overcome the distrust or hostility of; placate; win over: "to conciliate an angry competitor."
- prodigal
- wastefully or recklessly extravagant: "prodigal expenditure."
- probity
- integrity and uprightness; honesty
- pristine
-
1. having its original purity; uncorrupted or unsullied.
2. of or pertaining to the earliest period or state; primitive - prevaricate
-
to deliberately avoid the truth; to mislead
To stray from or evade the truth; equivocate. See Synonyms at lie2. - precipitate
-
9. rushing headlong or rapidly onward.
10. proceeding rapidly or with great haste: a precipitate retreat.
11. exceedingly sudden or abrupt: a precipitate stop; a precipitate decision.
12. done or made without sufficient deliberation; overhasty; rash: a precipitate marriage.
from Latin praeceps, steep - pragmatic
- of or pertaining to a practical point of view or practical considerations.
- placate
-
to appease or pacify, esp. by concessions or conciliatory gestures: to placate an outraged citizenry.
syn: propitiate - plegmatic
-
1. not easily excited to action or display of emotion; apathetic; sluggish.
2. self-possessed, calm, or composed. - petulant
- easily irritated or annoyed
- pervasive
- to become spread throughout all parts of: "Spring pervaded the air," "the pervasive odor of garlic"
- perfunctory
-
cursory; done without care or interest
1. performed merely as a routine duty; hasty and superficial: perfunctory courtesy.
2. lacking interest, care, or enthusiasm; indifferent or apathetic: In his lectures he reveals himself to be merely a perfunctory speaker. - cursory
- going rapidly over something, without noticing details; hasty; superficial: a cursory glance at a newspaper article.
- perfidious
-
deliberately faithless; treacherous; deceitful: a perfidious lover.
[Origin: 1590–1600; < L perfidiÅsus faithless, dishonest. See perfidy, -ous] - perennial
-
recurrent through the year or many years; happening repeatedly
1. lasting for an indefinitely long time; enduring: her perennial beauty.
2. (of plants) having a life cycle lasting more than two years.
3. lasting or continuing throughout the entire year, as a stream.
4. perpetual; everlasting; continuing; recurrent. - penury
- extreme poverty; destitution.
- penchant
-
a strong inclination, taste, or liking for something: "a penchant for outdoor sports."
syn: propensity - pathological
- pertaining to disease
- opprobrium
-
1. Disgrace; infamy; reproach mingled with contempt.
2. A cause or object of reproach or disgrace. - officious
- objectionably aggressive in offering one's unrequested and unwanted services, help, or advice; meddlesome: "an officious person."
- prodigious
- abundant size, force, or extent; extraordinary
- occlude
-
to close, shut, or stop up
from Latin claudere, to close - obviate
-
To prevent by interception; to anticipate and dispose of or make unnecessary.
After lunch he packed and stepped into the shower: Ronald Rosenthal spent a good portion of his life in planes and he knew that hot water immediately before and after a flight obviated most of its bad effects.
-- Neil Gordon, The Gun Runner's Daughter - obsequious
- characterized by or showing servile complaisance or deference; fawning
- obsurate (noun/adj)
-
unmoved by persuasion, pity, or tender feelings; stubborn; unyielding.
"an obdurate sinner"
syn: ~reprobate - neophyte
- novice
- mollify
-
to soften in feeling or temper, as a person; pacify; appease.
syn: propitiate, placate - mitigate
-
1. to lessen in force or intensity, as wrath, grief, harshness, or pain; moderate.
2. to make less severe: to mitigate a punishment. - maverick
-
a lone dissenter
from texas rancher, Samuel Maverick, who left his calves unbranded - malinger (n. malingerer)
- to pretend illness, esp. in order to shirk one's duty, avoid work, etc
- levity
-
1. Lightness of manner or speech, especially when inappropriate; frivolity.
2. Inconstancy; changeableness. - latent
-
present but not visible, apparent, or actualized; existing as potential: latent ability.
from Latin latere, to lie hidden - lassitude
-
1. weariness of body or mind from strain, oppressive climate, etc.; lack of energy; listlessness; languor.
2. a condition of indolent indifference: the pleasant lassitude of the warm summer afternoon. - indolence
-
having or showing a disposition to avoid exertion; slothful: an indolent person.
from Latin in-dolens, dolere, to be painful, to be in pain - irascible
-
easily angered; prone to temperamental outbursts
(adjective) - invective`
- vehement or violent denunciation, censure, or reproach.
- inveigh
- to protest strongly or attack vehemently with words; rail (usually fol. by against): to inveigh against isolationism.
- intransigent
- refusing to compromise
- intractable
-
not easily controlled or directed; not docile or manageable; stubborn; obstinate: an intractable disposition.
from Latin trahere, to drag - insipid
-
1. without distinctive, interesting, or stimulating qualities; vapid: an insipid personality.
2. without sufficient taste to be pleasing, as food or drink; bland: a rather insipid soup - innocuous
- harmless; causing no damage
- insensible
-
any number of things:
unresponsive to feeling;
imperceptible;
not making sense - abscond
-
to depart clandestinely; to steal off and hide
(verb) - aberrant
-
deviating from the norm
(adjective) - aberration
-
something deviating from the norm
(noun) - alacrity
-
eager and enthusiastic willingness
(noun) - approbation
-
an expression of approval or praise
(noun) - assuage
-
to ease or lessen; to appease or pacify
(verb) - capricious
-
inclined to change one's mind impulsively; erratic, unpredictable
(adjective) - chicanery
-
trickery or subterfuge
(noun) - subterfuge
-
a (deceptive) artifice or expedient used to evade a rule, escape a consequence, hide something, etc.
(noun) - disabuse
-
to free (a person) from deception or error.
(verb) - effrontery
-
extreme boldness; presumptuousness
(noun) - enervate
-
to weaken, to reduce in vitality
(verb) - equivocate
-
to use ambiguous language with a deceptive intent
(verb) - equivocal
-
1. allowing the possibility of several different meanings, as a word or phrase, esp. with intent to deceive or misguide; susceptible of double interpretation; deliberately ambiguous: an equivocal answer.
2. of doubtful nature or character; questionable; dubious; suspicious: aliens of equivocal loyalty.
3. of uncertain significance; not determined: an equivocal attitude. - exigent
-
urgent, pressing; requiring immediate action or attention
(adjective) - extemporaneous
-
improvised; done without preparation
(adjective) - filibuster
-
intentional obstruction, especially using prolonged speechmaking to delay legislative action
(noun) - fulminate
-
to loudly attack or denounce
(verb) - ingenuous
-
artless; frank and candid; naive, lacking in sophistication or worldliness
1. characterized by an inability to mask your feelings; not devious; "an ingenuous admission of responsibility" [ant: artful]
2. lacking in sophistication or worldliness; "a child's innocent stare"; "his ingenuous explanation that he would not have burned the church if he had not thought the bishop was in it" [syn: innocent] - inured
-
accustomed to accepting something undesirable
"Though the food became no more palatable, he soon became sufficiently inured to it" (John Barth). - mundane
-
of the world; typical or of concerned with the ordinary
(adjective) - nebulous
-
vague, cloudy, lacking clearly defined form
(adjective) - noxious
-
harmful, injurious
(akin to nocére to do harm, inflict injury; see innocent) + -ius -ious]
(adjective) - obtuse
-
lacking sharpness of intellect
(adjective) - onerous
- troubling, burdensome
- paean
- a song or hymn of praise and thanksgiving
- perfidy
-
intentional breach of faith; treachery
(noun) - perspicacious
-
acutely perceptive; having keen discernment
(adjective) - perspicacity
-
1. keenness of mental perception and understanding; discernment; penetration.
2. Archaic: keen vision. - precipitate (adjective)
-
8. headlong: a precipitate fall down the stairs.
9. rushing headlong or rapidly onward.
10. proceeding rapidly or with great haste: a precipitate retreat.
11. exceedingly sudden or abrupt: a precipitate stop; a precipitate decision.
12. done or made without sufficient deliberation; overhasty; rash: a precipitate marriage. - precipitate (verb)
-
1. to hasten the occurrence of; bring about prematurely, hastily, or suddenly: to precipitate an international crisis.
2. to cast down headlong; fling or hurl down.
3. to cast, plunge, or send, esp. violently or abruptly: He precipitated himself into the struggle. - predilection
- a disposition in favor of something; preference
- prescience
-
foreknowledge of events; knowing of events before their occuring
(noun) - qualms
-
misgivings; reservations; causes for hesitancy
(noun) - solicitous
-
1. anxious or concerned (usually fol. by about, for, etc., or a clause): solicitous about a person's health.
2. anxiously desirous: solicitous of the esteem of others.
3. eager (usually fol. by an infinitive): He was always solicitous to please.
4. careful or particular: a solicitous housekeeper. - sordid
- characterized by filth, grime, or squalor; foul
- stupefy
- to stun, baffle, or amaze
- stymie
- to block; thwart
- torque
- a force that causes rotation
- tortuous
- winding, twisting; excessively complicated
- virulent
- extremely harmful or poisonous; bitterly hostile or antagonistic
- accolade
-
an expression of praise
(noun) - adulation
-
to show excessive admiration or devotion to; flatter or admire servilely.
c.1380, from O.Fr. adulacion, from L. adulationem (nom. adulatio), from aduliari "to flatter," from ad- "to" + ulos "tail," from PIE *ul- "the tail" (cf. Skt. valah "tail," Lith. valai "horsehair of the tail"). The original notion is "to wag the tail" like a fawning dog (cf. Gk. sainein "to wag the tail," also "to flatter;" see also wheedle). - ameliorate
-
to make better or more tolerable
(verb) - avarice
- greed, especially for wealth
- avaricious
- greedy, especially for wealth
- axiom
- a universally recognized principle
- burgeon
- to grow rapidly or flourish
- bucolic
-
rustic and pastoral; characteristic of rural areas and their inhabitants
(adjective) - canon
- an established set of principles or code of laws, often religious in nature
- caustic
-
burning or stinging; causing corrosion
(adjective) - chary
-
1. cautious or careful; wary: He was chary of investing in oil wells.
2. shy; timid.
3. fastidious; choosy: She is excessively chary about her friends.
4. sparing (often fol. by of): chary of his praise.
(adjective) - cogent
-
appealing forcibly to the mind or reason; convincing
(adjective) - complaisance
-
the willingness to comply with the wishes of others
(noun) - complaisant
- willing to comply with the wishes of others
- contentious
- argumentative; quarrelsome; causing controversy or disagreement
- contrite
-
1. caused by or showing sincere remorse.
2. filled with a sense of guilt and the desire for atonement; penitent: a contrite sinner.
(adjective) - demur
-
1. To object; to take exception.
2. To delay.
(verb) - didactic
-
intended to teach or instruct
(adjective) - discretion
-
cautious reserve in speech;
also
ability to make responsible decisions - ebullience
- the quality of lively or enthusiastic expression of thoughts and feelings
- elegy
- a mournful poem, especially one lamenting for the dead
- emollient
- smooth, especially to the skin; making less harsh; mollifying; an agent that softens or smoothes the skin
- enigmatic
- mysterious; obscure; difficult to understand
- ephemeral
- brief; fleeting
- ethereal
-
1. Characterized by lightness and insubstantiality; intangible.
2. Highly refined; delicate. See Synonyms at airy.
3.
1. Of the celestial spheres; heavenly.
2. Not of this world; spiritual.
4. Chemistry Of or relating to ether. - esoteric
- intended for or understood by a small specific group
- eulogy
-
a speech honoring the dead
(Cf. elegy = a *pooem* honoring the dead) - exonerate
- to remove blame
- facetious
- playful, humorous, witty
- furtive
- marked by stealth; covery; surreptitious
- harangue
-
to deliver a pompous speech or tirade; a long pompous speech
(verb/noun) - impecunious
-
lacking funds; without money
(adjective) - incipient
-
beginning to come into being or to become apparent
E.g.: detecting incipient tumors; an incipient personnel problem.
(adjective) - inveigle
-
to obtain by deception or flattery
(verb) - morose
- sad; sullen; melancholy
- odious
- evoking intense aversion or dislike
- penurious
- penny-pinching; excessively thrifty; ungenerous
- pernicious
- extremely harmful
- peruse
- to examine with great care
- perusal
- a careful examination
- preen
- to dress up, to primp, to groom oneself with elaborate care
- quaff
- to drink deeply
- quiescence
-
stillness; motionlessness; quality of being at rest
'a quiescent mind' - redoubtable
-
awe-inspiring; worthy of honor and respect
"the redoubtable Nikita Khrushchev." - sanction
-
2 meanings:
authoritative permission of approval; a penalty intended to enforce compliance; to give permission or authority to - torpid
- lethargic; sluggish; dormant
- torpor
-
1. sluggish inactivity or inertia.
2. lethargic indifference; apathy.
3. a state of suspended physical powers and activities.
4. dormancy, as of a hibernating animal. - urbane
- sophisticated; refined; elegant
- vilify
- to defame; to characterize harshly