Gre Hard Words 4

Front 1

Insularity

Back 1

4.detached; standing alone; isolated.
5. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of islanders.
6.narrow-minded or illiberal; provincial: insular attitudes toward foreigners.

Front 2

Obtuse

Back 2

Lacking quickness of perception or intellect.
Characterized by a lack of intelligence or sensitivity: an obtuse remark.
Not distinctly felt: an obtuse pain.
Not sharp, pointed, or acute in form; blunt

Front 3

Histrionics

Back 3

1. dramatic representation; theatricals; acting.
2. behavior or speech for effect, as insincere or exaggerated expression of an emotion; dramatics; operatics: Cut out the histrionics—we know you're not really mad.

Front 4

Miscegnation

Back 4

interbreeding of races

Front 5

Congenital

Back 5

existing as such from birth

Front 6

Suffuse

Back 6

to spread throughout or over from within

Front 7

Idiom

Back 7

a language, dialect, or style of speaking particular to a people

Front 8

Idiosyncracy

Back 8

peculiarity of temperament, eccentricy

Front 9

Incarnate

Back 9

given a bodily, esp. a human, form

Front 10

Interloper

Back 10

one who intrudes in the domain of others

Front 11

Subjugate

Back 11

to conquer

Front 12

Junta

Back 12

1. A governmental council or committee, especially one that rules after a revolution._2. A closely knit group united for a common purpose and usually meeting secretly; also called a junto.
The Greek junta that seized power during 1967 mobilized the courts against its foes.

Front 13

Perjury

Back 13

willful lying while on oath

Front 14

Ablution

Back 14

1. The act of washing or cleansing; specifically, the washing of the body, or some part of it (as in a religious rite)._2. The water used in cleansing.
Worshipers, who have performed their ablutions in the basement before entering the prayer hall, individually prepare themselves for participation in the communal worship

Front 15

Levitate

Back 15

to rise in the air or cause to rise

Front 16

Levee

Back 16

embankment against river flooding

Front 17

Edifying

Back 17

enlightening, informative

Front 18

Empirical

Back 18

based on observation

Front 19

Encomium

Back 19

glowing and enthusiastic praise. Pangyric, tribute

Front 20

Endemic

Back 20

characterized by or only found in a particular region

Front 21

Ennui

Back 21

dissatisfaction or restlessness caused by boredom

Front 22

inerrant

Back 22

infallible

Front 23

Enormity

Back 23

excessive wickedness, evilness

Front 24

Epicure

Back 24

one devoted to sensual pleasures, particularly in food and drink

Front 25

Sybarite

Back 25

a person devoted to luxury and pleasure

Front 26

Gourmand

Back 26

a gourmet, an epicure

Front 27

Episodic

Back 27

occurring at intervals. Loosly connected, not flowing logically

Front 28

Epithet

Back 28

a disparaging word or phrase

Front 29

Errant

Back 29

traveling from place to place, peripatetic…’a knight errant’

Front 30

Eschew

Back 30

to shun or avoid

Front 31

Essay

Back 31

to attempt, try, experiment

Front 32

Estimable

Back 32

worthy of esteem; deserving respect or admiration.

Front 33

Evince

Back 33

to show clearly, to indicate

The study showed that girls were better prepared for class, had better attendance records, and evinced more positive academic behavior overall.

Front 34

Exact

Back 34

to demand, require, call for

Front 35

Extant

Back 35

existing: not destroyed or lost

Front 36

Extirpate

Back 36

to destroy, exterminate, cut out, pull out by the roots

Front 37

Palimpsest

Back 37

palimpsest \PAL-imp-sest\, noun:_1. A manuscript, usually of papyrus or parchment, on which more than one text has been written with the earlier writing incompletely erased and still visible._2. An object or place whose older layers or aspects are apparent beneath its surface.

Front 38

coterminous

Back 38

1. Having the same or coincident boundaries._2. Having the same scope, range of meaning, duration.
In a democracy the interests of the people are, or at least should be, coterminous with those of the state._-- Ronald Steel, "The Domestic Core of Foreign Policy", The Atlantic, June 1995

Front 39

Eschatological

Back 39

1. any system of doctrines concerning last, or final, matters, as death, the Judgment, the future state, etc.
2.the branch of theology dealing with such matters.

Front 40

Propaedeutic

Back 40

1. pertaining to or of the nature of preliminary instruction.
2. introductory to some art or science.

Front 41

Privation

Back 41

1. An act or instance of depriving._
2. The state of being deprived of something, especially of something required or desired; destitution; need.

Front 42

Fallow

Back 42

untilled, inactive, dormant

Front 43

Fatuous

Back 43

silly, inanely stupid

Front 44

Inane

Back 44

1. lacking sense, significance, or ideas; silly: inane questions.
2. empty; void.

Front 45

Feckless

Back 45

irresponsible, ineffectual, incompetent, futile

Front 46

Felicitous

Back 46

well-suited for the occasion, as an action, manner, or expression; apt; appropriate: The chairman's felicitous anecdote set everyone at ease.

Front 47

Fell

Back 47

1. a barren or stony hill. An animal’s hide.
2. cruel, savage, brutal. Destructive, deadly (fell poison)

Front 48

Fetter

Back 48

to shackle, put in chains, restrain

Front 49

Filibuster

Back 49

intentional obstruction-usually using prolonged speechmaking to delay legislative action

Front 50

Filigree

Back 50

ornamental work, esp. of a delicate, lacelike pattern. As a verb, filigree means to adorn. (the broach was filigreed with a delicate pattern of vines and grapes)

Front 51

Flag

Back 51

to sag or droop, to become spiritless, to decline.

Front 52

Flip

Back 52

sarcastic, impertinent

Front 53

Foment

Back 53

to stir up, incite, rouse

Front 54

Forebearance

Back 54

patience, willingness to wait

Front 55

Forbear

Back 55

to refrain or abstain from

Front 56

Ford

Back 56

to wade across the shallow part of a river or stream

Front 57

Forstall

Back 57

to act in a way to hinder, exclude, or prevent something from happening

Front 58

Forswear

Back 58

to renounce, give up, disallow, repudiate

Front 59

Repudiate

Back 59

to reject, cast off, disown

Front 60

Fracas

Back 60

noisy fight or quarrel, brawl, rumpus

Front 61

Rumpus

Back 61

a noisy or violent disturbance; commotion; uproar: There was a terrible rumpus going on upstairs.

Front 62

Froward

Back 62

intractable, not willing to yield or comply, stubbornly disobedient
(a froward, intractable child.)

Front 63

Fulminate

Back 63

to attack loudly or denounce. “He lets others fulminate on his behalf while he maintains his gentlemanly demeanor.”

Front 64

Gambol

Back 64

to skip about playfully, to frolic

Front 65

Garner

Back 65

to gather and save, to store up, to acquire

Front 66

Glib

Back 66

marked by ease or informality, nonchalant, lacking in depth, superficial

Front 67

Gossamer

Back 67

delicate. Insubstantial or tenuous, insincere

Front 68

Grouse

Back 68

to complain or grumble

Front 69

Guy

Back 69

a rope or cord attached to something as a brace or guide

Front 70

Hallow

Back 70

set apart as holy

Front 71

Harrow

Back 71

to distress, create stress, or torment

Front 72

Hermetic

Back 72

airtight, impervious to outside influence

Front 73

Hirsute

Back 73

hairy, shaggy

Front 74

Homily

Back 74

a sermon or morally instructive lecture, a platitude

Front 75

Homeletics

Back 75

the art of preaching

Front 76

Idyll

Back 76

a carefree, light-hearted pastoral or romantic episode or experience. A literary or musical piece describing such.

Front 77

Imbroglio

Back 77

a difficult or embarrassing situation

Front 78

Imminent

Back 78

about to happen, impending

Front 79

Eminenet

Back 79

prominent, distinguished

Front 80

Immutable

Back 80

not capable of change

Front 81

Imperioius

Back 81

commanding, masterful, arrogant, domineering, haughty

Front 82

Impeturbable

Back 82

marked by extreme calm, impassivity, and steadiness

Front 83

Importune

Back 83

to ask incessantly, beg, nag

Front 84

Importunate

Back 84

persistent in asking

Front 85

Impute

Back 85

to attribute a cause or source, ascribe, assign as a characteristic

Front 86

Inchoate

Back 86

in an initial stage, not fully formed

Front 87

Incipient

Back 87

beginning to come into being or to become apparent

Front 88

Indefatiguable

Back 88

not easily exhaustable, tireless, dogged

Front 89

Ineluctable

Back 89

certain, inevitable

Front 90

Infelicitous

Back 90

unfortunate, inappropriate

Front 91

Innervate

Back 91

to supply with nerves, energize

Front 92

Insensible

Back 92

unconscious, unresponsive, unaware, unaffected

Front 93

Insouciant

Back 93

unconcerned, carefree, nonchalant

Front 94

Intimate

Back 94

to imply, suggest, or insinuate

Front 95

Jibe

Back 95

to agree, to be in accord

Front 96

Kinetic

Back 96

having to do with motion; lively, active

Front 97

Limn

Back 97

to draw, to outline in detail

Front 98

List

Back 98

to tilt or lean to one side

Front 99

Lumber

Back 99

to move heavily and clumsily or with a rumbling sound

Front 100

Maunder

Back 100

to talk or move aimlessly, to mutter

Front 101

Mendicant

Back 101

beggar, supplicant

Front 102

Mince

Back 102

to pronounce or speak too carefully, to euphemize

Front 103

Nice

Back 103

exacting, extremely precise

Front 104

Nonplussed

Back 104

baffled, in a quandary, at a loss for what to do/say/or think

Front 105

Obdurate

Back 105

unyielding, hard-hearted, inflexible

Front 106

Obfuscate

Back 106

to deliberately obscure, to make confusing

Front 107

Obsequious

Back 107

exhibiting a fawning attentiveness, subservient

Front 108

Obtain

Back 108

to be established, accepted, or customary, prevail
“The customary niceties of polite conversation do not
obtain in the midst of a tornado

Front 109

Opprobium

Back 109

disgrace, contempt, or scorn

Front 110

Ostensible

Back 110

seeming, appearing as such, professed

Front 111

Paean

Back 111

a song or expression of praise or thanksgiving

Front 112

Panegyric

Back 112

a formal expression of praise

Front 113

Parry

Back 113

to block, evade, ward off (as a blow)

Front 114

Peremptory

Back 114

admitting of no contradiction, putting an end to debate, haughty, imperious

Front 115

Perennial

Back 115

recurring throughout the year or many years, repeating

Front 116

Perfunctory

Back 116

cursory, hastily or superficially done, done with little care

Front 117

Peruse

Back 117

to examine with great care

Front 118

Petulant

Back 118

impatient, irritable

Front 119

Philistine

Back 119

a crass individual guided by material rather than intellectual or artistic values

Front 120

Pied

Back 120

multicolored, usually in blotches

Front 121

Piquant

Back 121

agreeably spicy

Front 122

Pique

Back 122

feeling of resentment due to hurt pride

Front 123

Plastic

Back 123

moldable, pliable

Front 124

Pluck

Back 124

courage, spirit, fortitude

Front 125

Plumb

Back 125

to measure the depth

Front 126

Precept

Back 126

a rule establishing standards of conduct, doctrine

Front 127

Predilection

Back 127

preference, a disposition in favor of something

Front 128

Preempt

Back 128

to replace, supercede, appropriate

Front 129

Preen

Back 129

to dress up, primp elaborately

Front 130

Prescience

Back 130

knowing of things before they occur

Front 131

Prize

Back 131

to pry, press, or force with a lever

Front 132

Probity

Back 132

uprightness, adherence to the highest principles

Front 133

Prodigious

Back 133

abundance in size, extraordinary

Front 134

Profligate

Back 134

wasteful, recklessly extravagant

Front 135

Prolix

Back 135

long winded, verbose

Front 136

Propinquity

Back 136

nearness in place or time, affinity of nature, kinship

Front 137

Propitiate

Back 137

to appease, conciliate

Front 138

Proscribe

Back 138

to outlaw or prohibit

Front 139

Provident

Back 139

frugal, looking to the future

Front 140

Puerile

Back 140

chidish, immature

Front 141

Punctillious

Back 141

attention to detail, especially in regards to etiquette

Front 142

Pundit

Back 142

an authority on a subject

Front 143

Quaff

Back 143

to drink deeply

Front 144

Quail

Back 144

to shrink back in fear, to lose courage

Front 145

Qualify

Back 145

to limit

Front 146

Quiescence

Back 146

stillness, at rest, inactive, dormant

Front 147

Quixotic

Back 147

Caught up in the romance of noble deeds and the pursuit of unreachable goals; foolishly impractical especially in the pursuit of ideals.

Some of his plans were quixotic and much too good for this world, but he never wavered in a cause that he considered just and he commanded the respect of all who opposed him.