Barron's Gre Vocab 5Th 40

Front 1

aberrant

Back 1

deviating from what is normal
When a person's behavior becomes aberrant, his or her peers may become concerned that the individual is becoming deviant.

Front 2

accrue

Back 2

to accumulate; grow by addtions
The nations's firms could become less competitive than foregn companies that enjoy the advantages accuring from greater monoplies.

Front 3

alacrity

Back 3

cheerful willingness; eagerness; speed
The footbal coach was pleased to see the team get to work on the task of improving its tackling skills with alacrity.

Front 4

ameliorate

Back 4

to improve
Health autorities worked to inhibiit its spread and to ameliorate its effects.

Front 5

antecedent

Back 5

something that comes before
The reformation had its antecedents in the reform movement within the Roman Catholic Church.

Front 6

apprise

Back 6

to inform
Nadine's biography of the blues singer Dinah keeps the reader apprised of the racism black Americans had to endure.

Front 7

artifact

Back 7

Items made by human craft

Front 8

attenuate

Back 8

to weaken
Modern digital audio equipment allows even signals that have been greatly attenuated to be transimitted by one station and received by another station.

Front 9

banal

Back 9

commonplace; trite
The writer has a gift for making even the most banal observation seem important and original

Front 10

blandishment

Back 10

flattery
Despite the salesperson's blandishments, Donna did not buy the car.

Front 11

burnish

Back 11

to polish
The poet Eliot burnished his reputation as one of the master poets of the twentieth century with Four Quartets.

Front 12

capricious

Back 12

fickle
The rule of law is regarded by many historians as one of humanity's greatest achievements because since its inception citizens are no longer subject to capricious decisions and penalties of rules.

Front 13

categorical

Back 13

Absolute; without exception
Incest is categorically forbidden by every state

Front 14

chivalry

Back 14

the qualities idealized by knighthood such as bravery and gallantry toward women
Chivalry was rooted in Christan values, and the knight was bound to be loyal to Christan ideals.

Front 15

codify

Back 15

to systematize
The state legislature voted to codify regulations governing banking fraud.

Front 16

concave

Back 16

curving inward

Front 17

consecrate

Back 17

declare sared
the brave mem, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated the land.

Front 18

convex

Back 18

curved outward

Front 19

craven

Back 19

cowardly
Refusing to fight would be a craven act.

Front 20

defunct

Back 20

no longer existing
Skeptics believe that Moors law will soon becomed defunct.

Front 21

desiccate

Back 21

to dry completely
The dry desert air caused the bodies of the dead animals to desiccate quickly.

Front 22

disgression

Back 22

The act of straying away from the main point
The novel contains many facinating disgressions from the many story that discuss topics such as platonic philosophy.

Front 23

disingeneous

Back 23

not candid; carfty
When a person starts a sentence, "I don't mean to appear disingeneous," one might be tempted to suspect that the person is being just that.

Front 24

dissonance

Back 24

discord; lack of harmony
In psychology the term cognitive dissonance refers to a conflict resulting from inconsistency between one's beliefs and one's actions.

Front 25

dogmatic

Back 25

stating opinions without proof
Since every case is unique, jurists must not be dogmatic in applying precedents to make their decisions.

Front 26

egoism

Back 26

The tendency to see things in relation to oneself; self-centeredness
The beginning of philosophy has been described as a moving away from egoism to an understanding of the larger world.

Front 27

emulate

Back 27

To imitate; copy
Bionics uses technology to emulate nature.

Front 28

equable

Back 28

steady; unvarying; serene
Throughout the crisis the Prisident remained equable.

Front 29

etymology

Back 29

origin and history of a word
The origin of the word "Barbarian" reflects the ethnocentrism of the ancient Greeks; its etymoloty is that it comes from the Greek work barbaros, meaning non-greek foregin.

Front 30

exculpate

Back 30

to clear of blame; vindicate
The report exculpated the FBI of any wrongdoing in the handling of the investigation.

Front 31

expository

Back 31

explanatory
There's no model of an expository prose that a student can emulate, since each piece of good writting is unique.

Front 32

fallacious

Back 32

based on a false idea or fact; misleading
The belief of Nazis that they could create a "master race" was based on the fallacious premise that some races are inherently superior to others.

Front 33

fiat

Back 33

arbitrary order; authorization
The dictator rules almost entirely by fiat.

Front 34

flout

Back 34

to treat scornfully
In his book Poetic Meter and Poetic Form the literay critic Paul Fussel discussed the dangers poets face when they flout poetic conventions.

Front 35

fresco

Back 35

painting done on a plaster
The Italian Renaissance was the greatest period of fresco painting.

Front 36

garrulous

Back 36

vary talkative; wordy
The garrulous houseguest made it difficult for us to get much work done on the project.

Front 37

grouse

Back 37

to complain
Instead of grousing about the policy, do something about it.

Front 38

hermetic

Back 38

tightly sealed; magical
Scholars have traced many of the hermetic traditions of ancient Greek to Egypt.

Front 39

idolatry

Back 39

idol worship; blind or excessive devotion
During the Protestant Reformation images in churched were felt to be a form of idolatry and were banned and destroyed.

Front 40

inpervious

Back 40

impossible to penetrate; incapable of being affected
We were amazed how Laura could sit at the noisy party studying organic chemistry, impervious to the noise around her.