Gre Deck 6

Front 1

placate

Back 1

verb: cause to be more favorably inclined; gain the good will of

I was able to placate the angry mob of students by promising to bring cookies on Monday

syn: pacify, appease, mollify, propitiate

Front 2

dispassionate

Back 2

adjective: unaffected by strong emotion or prejudice

A good scientist should be dispassionate, focusing purely on what the evidence says, without personal attachment.

syn: disinterested: closed related: stolid

Front 3

bolster

Back 3

verb: support and strengthen

The case for the suspect's innocence was bolstered considerably by the fact that neither fingerprints nor DNA were found at the scene.

syn: espouse, proponent, advocate, corroborate, endorse

Front 4

imprudent

Back 4

adjective: not wise

Hitler, like Napoleon, made the imprudent move of invading Russia in winter, suffering even more casualties than Napoleon had.

ant: sage, sagacious, wit

Front 5

opulence

Back 5

noun: wealth as evidenced by sumptuous living

Russian oligarchs are famous for their opulence, living in fancy homes and dining on expensive caviar.

syn: jaunty, ostentatious

Front 6

flux

Back 6

noun: a state of uncertainty about what should be done (usually following some important event)

Ever since Elvira resigned as the head of marketing, everything about our sales strategy has been in a state of flux.

syn: nonplussed, bewilder, perplexed

Front 7

reproach

Back 7

verb: to express criticism towards

At first, Sarah was going to yell at the boy, but she didn't want to reproach him for telling the truth about the situation.

syn: rebuke, censure, excoriate, vituperation

Front 8

sullen

Back 8

adjective: showing a brooding ill humor

Herbert took board games too seriously, often appearing sullen after losing.

Front 9

elicit

Back 9

verb: call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses)

Just smiling--even if you are depressed--can elicit feelings of pleasure and happiness.

Front 10

polemic

Back 10

noun: a strong verbal or written attack on someone or something.

The professor launched into a polemic, claiming that Freudian theory was a pack of lies that absolutely destroyed European literary theory.

syn: screed, tirade, diatribe, harangue, denouncing, invective

Front 11

transient

Back 11

adjective: lasting a very short time

The unpredictable and transient nature of deja vu makes it a very difficult phenomenon to study properly.

syn: ephemeral, evanescent, transitory

Front 12

edifying

Back 12

adjective: enlightening or uplifting so as to encourage intellectual or moral improvement

I recently read an article in the Times about whether good literature is edifying or not; specifically, does reading more make a person more moral.

syn: galvanize, kindle

Front 13

mendacity

Back 13

noun: the tendency to be untruthful

I can forgive her for her mendacity but only because she is a child and is seeing what she can get away with.

syn: veracity

Front 14

mundane

Back 14

djective: repetitive and boring; not spiritual

Nancy found doing dishes a thorouglymundane task, although Peter found a kind of Zen pleasure in the chore.

adjective: relating to the ordinary world

Though we think of the pope as someone always dealing in holy matters, he is also concerned with mundane events, such as deciding when to set his alarm each morning.

syn: trite, banal, blatant, cliché, hackneyed, bromide, platitude, quotidian

Front 15

thankless

Back 15

adjective (not comparable)

(of a task)not appreciated or rewarded
(of a person) ungrateful or unappreciative

Front 16

ignominious

Back 16

adjective: (used of conduct or character) deserving or bringing disgrace or shame

Since the politician preached ethics and morality, his texting of revealing photographs was ignominious, bringing shame on both himself and his party.

syn: humiliation, disgrace

Front 17

regret

Back 17

syn: contrition, abash, rue, compunction

Front 18

maverick

Back 18

noun: someone who exhibits great independence in thought and action

Officer Kelly was a maverick, rarely following police protocols or adopting the conventions for speech common among his fellow officers.

sun: libertine

Front 19

nuance

Back 19

noun: a subtle difference in meaning or opinion or attitude

Because of the nuances involved in this case, I hired an outside consultant to advice us and help.

Front 20

arduous

Back 20

adjective: demanding considerable mental effort and skill; testing powers of endurance

In order to deal with the arduous cross-country journey, truck drivers often survive on a string of caffeinated drinks, staying awake for up to 30 hours at a time.

Front 21

askance

Back 21

adverb: with a look of suspicion or disapproval

The old couple looked askance on the teenagers seated next to them, whispering to each other, "They've got rings through their noses and purple hair!"

Front 22

impartial

Back 22

adjective: free from undue bias or preconceived opinions

The judge was not impartial since he had been bribed by the witness's family

syn: disinterested, dispassionate

Front 23

disseminate

Back 23

verb: cause to become widely known

Before the effects of anesthesia were disseminated, patients had to experience the full pain of a surgery.

syn: prevail

Front 24

contrition

Back 24

noun: the feeling of remorse or guilt that comes from doing something bad

Those who show contrition during their prison terms--especially when under review by a parole board--often get shortened sentences.

syn: rue, compunction, abash, expiate

Front 25

jovial

Back 25

adjective: full of or showing high-spirited merriment

The presidential candidate and her supporters were jovial once it was clear that she had won.

syn: mirth, beatific

Front 26

rebuke

Back 26

verb: criticize severely or angrily; censure

The police chief rebuked the two officers whose irresponsible decisions almost led to the deaths of seven innocent by-standers.

syn: vituperation, reproach, reproof, censure

Front 27

fastidious

Back 27

adjective: overly concerned with details; fussy

Whitney is fastidious about her shoes, arranging them on a shelf in a specific order, each pair evenly spaced.

syn: meticulous

Front 28

specious

Back 28

adjective: based on pretense; deceptively pleasing

Almost every image on TV is speciousand not to be trusted.

adjective: plausible but false

He made a career out of speciousarguments and fictional lab results, but lost his job and reputation when his lies were exposed by an article in The New York Times.

syn: spurious

Front 29

harried

Back 29

adjective: troubled persistently especially with petty annoyances

With a team of new hires to train, Martha was constantly harried with little questions and could not focus on her projects.

Front 30

pejorative

Back 30

adjective: expressing disapproval (usu. refers to a term), negative connotations

Most psychologists object to thepejorative term "shrink", believing that they expand the human mind, not limit it.

Front 31

duress

Back 31

noun: compulsory force or threat

The witness said he signed the contract under duress and argued that the court should cancel the agreement.

Front 32

capricious

Back 32

adjective: determined by chance or impulse or whim rather than by necessity or reason

Nearly every month our capricious CEO had a new plan to turn the company around, and none of them worked because we never gave them the time they needed to succeed.

syn: whimsical, mercurial, unpredictable, erratic

Front 33

erudite

Back 33

adjective: having or showing profound knowledge

Before the Internet, the library was typically where you would find erudite readers.

syn: perspicacious, recondite, obscure, esoteric, abstruse, inscrutable, pundit

Front 34

furtive

Back 34

adjective: marked by quiet and caution and secrecy; taking pains to avoid being observed

While at work, George and his boss Regina felt the need to be as furtive as possible about their romantic relationship.

syn: stealth, clandestine, mysterious, cryptic, covert

Front 35

appease

Back 35

verb: pacify by acceding to the demands of

Neville Chamberlain, the British prime minister during WWII, tried to appeaseHitler and in doing so sent a clear message: you can walk all over us.

syn: pacify, propitiate, placate, mollify, assuage, ameliorate, mitigate

Front 36

efficacious

Back 36

adjective: producing the intended result

Since Maggie's cough syrup, which had expired five years back, was no longer efficacious, she coughed through the night.

Front 37

antipathy

Back 37

noun: an intense feeling of dislike or aversion

Maria had an antipathy for tour groups, often bolting to the other side of the museum as soon as she saw a chaperone leading a group of wide-eyed tourists.

Front 38

dilatory

Back 38

adjective: wasting time

Lawyers use dilatory tactics so that it takes years before the case is actually decided.

syn: squander, wax

Front 39

maladroit

Back 39

adjective: clumsy

As a child she was quite maladroit, but as an adult, she has become an adept dancer.

syn: unskilled

Front 40

truncate

Back 40

verb: reduce the length of something

The soccer game was truncated when the monsoon rain began to fall.

Front 41

stringent

Back 41

adjective: demanding strict attention to rules and procedures

Most of the students disliked the teacher because of his stringent homework policy, but many students would later thank him for demanding so much from them.

Front 42

timorous

Back 42

adjective: timid by nature or revealing fear and nervousness

Since this was her first time debating on stage and before an audience, Di's voice was timorous and quiet for the first 10 minutes.

syn: craven, daunting, cowardly, trepid, ant: plucky

Front 43

misconstrue

Back 43

verb: interpret in the wrong way

The politician never trusted journalists because he thought that they wouldmisconstrue his words and misrepresent his positions.

Front 44

nonplussed

Back 44

adjective: unsure how to act or respond

Shirley was totally nonplussed when the angry motorist cut her off and then stuck his finger out the window.

syn: flux