Az Gre Words Group #2

Front 1

Stem

Back 1

hold back or limit the flow of something

To stem the tide of applications, the prestigious Ivy requires that each applicant score at least 330 on the Revised GRE. STEM THE TIDE

Front 2

Blinkered

Back 2

to have a limited outlook or understanding

In gambling, the addict is easily blinkered by past successes and/or past failures, forgetting that the outcome of any one game is independent of the games that preceded it. Blink a lot, then you are going to miss something

Front 3

Checkered

Back 3

marked by disreputable happenings

One by one, the presidential candidates dropped out of the race, their respective checkered pasts— from embezzlement to infidelity—sabotaging their campaigns Checkerboards are light and dark, a mix of of good and bad

Front 4

Raft

Back 4

A large number of something

Despite a raft of city ordinances passed by an overzealous council, noise pollution continued unabated in the megalopolis. A lot of rafts is a raft of rafts

Front 5

Retiring

Back 5

2) shy, and to retracting from company

Nelson was always the first to leave soirees—rather than mill about, he was retiring, and preferred the solitude of his garret. If you are introverted, you might want to retire early to get away from people

Front 6

Scintillating

Back 6

2) brilliant and lively (of a person) 1) giving off sparks

Richard Feynman was renowned for his scintillating lectures—the arcana of quantum physics was made lucid as he wrote animatedly on the chalkboard. Stimulatingly scintillating

Front 7

Benighted

Back 7

2) falling into a state of ignorance 1) becoming night

Her understanding of cellular machinery grew benighted the longer she was out of school become dark (what your memory of something does as it loses the details)

Front 8

Galvanize

Back 8

Excite action or spur on

Galvanized steel is strengthened. After a year of teaching, my intention to return to school was galvanized by the many students who did not share my deep enthusiasm for the sciences

Front 9

Fell

Back 9

2) terribly evil

For fans of the Harry Potter series, the fell Lord Voldemort, who terrorized poor Harry for seven lengthy installments, has finally been vanquished. The Fell devil fell from heaven

Front 10

Beg

Back 10

2) question with implicit assumption

By assuming that Charlie was headed to college—which he was not—Maggie begged the question when she asked him to which school he was headed in the Fall. Assumptions beget questions

Front 11

Intimate

Back 11

2) to suggest subtly

At first Manfred’s teachers intimated to his parents that he was not suited to skip a grade; eachers explicitly told them that, notwithstanding the boy’s precocity, he was simply too immature to jump to the 6th grade. In time - I will work up the courage to intimate that my boss is sexually harassing co-workers

Front 12

Fleece

Back 12

2) to deceive

Many have been fleeced by Internet scams and have never received their money back.

Front 13

Wax

Back 13

2) increase

Her enthusiasm for the diva’s new album only waxed with each song; by the end of the album, it was her favorite CD yet. The waxing moon is getting bigger

Front 14

Prevaricate

Back 14

to speak in an evasive way

His prevarication was betrayed by the lipstick on his collar: despite his lies and denials, he was clearly cheating on her
The vatican prevaricates about child molestations

Front 15

Histrionic

Back 15

overly theatrical

Though she received a B- on the test, she had such a histrionic outburst that one would have thought that she’d been handed a death sentence. The history channel, rather than being detailed and accurate, often creates histrionic portrayals of otherwise every-day activities. Hysterical histrionics

Front 16

Demur

Back 16

object or show reluctance

Wallace dislike the cold, so he demurred when his friends suggested they going skiing in the Alps. De = "of", "mur" = walls - to demur is like walling up against something

Front 17

Demure

Back 17

to be modest or shy (female)

She was the opposite of the histrionic, scintillating person she was rumored to be, instead she was the epitome of demure - quiet and reserved

Front 18

Beatific

Back 18

radiating bliss in a holy way

Marred by the ravages of time, the idols were hardly beautiful, yet each seemed to emanate a beatific aura that not even 500 years could diminish. Bees are blissful and holy to most entomologists - bee-tific

Front 19

Perfunctory

Back 19

carried out with minimum effort or reflection, carelessly

Her perfunctory morning routine left her hair lifeless and straight - she didn't even bother with a brush or conditioner, just smoothed it down with her hands You are in a funk if you do things perFUNKtorily

Front 20

Peremptory

Back 20

bossy, domineering

My sister used to peremptorily tell me to do the dishes, a chore I would either do perfunctorily or avoid doing altogether. PER = father, EMPT = do. A father-like action is doing things bossy and domineering like a PERE

Front 21

Indigent

Back 21

poor, having little means

In the so-called Third World, many are indigent and only a privileged few have the wherewithal to enjoy material luxuries. Many indigenous peoples are indigent due to the negative effects of colonialism

Front 22

Indignant

Back 22

feeling anger over a percieved injustice

The dog was indignant when his bone was taken from him - he had found the bone and been chewing on it for some time before it was taken
suffering an indignity leaves one feeling indignant

Front 23

Arrant

Back 23

complete and utter (negative)

An arrant fool, Lawrence surprised nobody when he lost all his money in a pyramid scheme that was every bit as transparent as it was corrupt.
Arrant is a Torrent of a negative trait

Front 24

Artless

Back 24

innocent, guileless

The artless child asked simply if was alright if she had a lollipop, rather than doing what her artful brother did, taking one when nobody was looking and rearranging them to hide the theft .. Art is a form of deceit.

Front 25

Antipathy

Back 25

Extreme dislike

The antipathy between the french and the enflish regularly erupted into open warfare

ANTI = against, PATHOS - feeling or sympathy