Gre Vocab Ii

Front 1

depredate

Back 1

v. to plunder, pillage, ravage or destroy; to exploit in a predatory manner.

The pirates depredated every ship that came through the straits for two years, until no captain was willing to risk that route and the port town became deserted.

Front 2

derision

Back 2

n. scorn, ridicule, contemptuous treatment.

Front 3

desuetude

Back 3

n. disuse

After sitting abandoned for years, the house's desuetude came to an end when the county bought it and turned it into a teen center.

Front 4

desultory

Back 4

adj. random; thoughtless; marked by a lack of plan or purpose.

His desultory efforts in studying for the test were immediately obvious to his teacher as soon as she began to score his exam.

Front 5

detraction

Back 5

n. Slandering, verbal attack, aspersion

Apparently the mayor's campaign of detraction backfired, since a record number of people voted for his opponent, many of them citing the vitriol of the mayor's attacks as the reason they voted against him.

Front 6

didactic

Back 6

adj. intended to teach or instruct

Front 7

die

Back 7

n. a tool used for shaping

When coins are made by hand, a die is usually used to press the design on each coin.

Front 8

diffident

Back 8

adj. reserved, shy, unassuming; lacking in self-confidence.

He was a diffident reader of his own poetry, and which sometimes kept his audience from recognizing the real power of his writing.

Front 9

dilatory

Back 9

adj. causing delay, procrastinating

The legislator was able to create the dilatory effect he sought by means of a twenty-three-hour long filibuster.

Front 10

dilettante

Back 10

n. one with an amateurish or superficial interest in the arts or a branch of knowledge

Front 11

disabuse

Back 11

v. to undeceive; to set right.

I hate to disabuse you of the notion of your own genius, but you just got a D on that midterm that you said you were going to ace.

Front 12

discomfit

Back 12

v. to defeat, put down

The enemy's superior planning and resources discomfited us. They defeated us easily, despite our hopes of discomfiting their attack.

Front 13

discretion

Back 13

n. cautious reserve in speech; ability to make responsible decisions.

Front 14

disparate

Back 14

adj. fundamentally distinct or dissimilar.

Front 15

dissemble

Back 15

v. to disguise or conceal; to mislead

Her coy attempts to dissemble her plagiarism were completely transparent; no one believed her.

Front 16

dissolution

Back 16

n. disintegration, looseness in morals.

Front 17

dissolute

Back 17

adj. licentious, libertine.

Front 18

distrait

Back 18

v. distracted; absent-minded, especially due to anxiety

When he kept forgetting what he was talking about during dinner, it became clear that he was distrait, and was no doubt preoccupied with the meeting planned for the next day.

Front 19

doggerel

Back 19

n. trivial, poorly constructed verse

Front 20

dross

Back 20

n. slag, waste or foreign matter, impurity, surface scum

Front 21

dulcet

Back 21

adj. melodious, harmonious, mellifluous

The dulcet tones of the dulcimer were exquisite and made the performance particularly memorable.

Front 22

dynamo

Back 22

n. generator; forceful, energetic person

Front 23

ebullience

Back 23

adj. the quality of lively or enthusiastic expression of thoughts and feeling

Vivian's ebullience was contagious, which is what made her such a great tour guide; her infectious enthusiasm for her subject always communicated itself to her listeners.

Front 24

edifying

Back 24

adj. enlightening, informative.

The lecture we attended on the consequences of globalization was highly edifying, but what I learned only made me want to know more.

Front 25

effrontery

Back 25

n. extreme boldness; presumptuousness

The effrontery of her demand astonished everyone; no one had ever dared ask the head of the department to explain his reasoning before.

Front 26

effusive

Back 26

adj. gushing, excessively demonstrative

Her effusive good wishes seemed a bit forced; it was hard to believe she was no longer bitter about having had her own grant proposal turned down.

Front 27

egress

Back 27

n. exit

The dancer's final egress from the stage brought the audience to its feet in a standing ovation.

Front 28

emollient

Back 28

adj. soothing, especially to the skin; making less harsh; mollifying.

Oatmeal's emollient qualities when added to bath water make it an effective aid in soothing the discomfort of poison oak.

Front 29

encomium

Back 29

n. glowing and enthusiastic praise; panegyric, tribute, eulogy

The recently released tribute album was created as an encomium to the singer many considered the grandfather of soul music.

Front 30

endemic

Back 30

adj. characteristic of or often found in a particular locality, region, or people; restricted to or peculiar to that region; indigenous

Front 31

enervate

Back 31

v. to weaken; to reduce in vitality

Front 32

enigmatic

Back 32

adj. mysterious; obscure; difficult to understand.

Front 33

enormity

Back 33

n. excessive wickedness; evilness

The enormity of the terrorist act stunned and outraged the world.

Front 34

ephemeral

Back 34

adj. brief; fleeting, short-lived

Front 35

epicure

Back 35

n. one devoted to sensual pleasure, particularly in food and drink; gourmand, sybarite

Front 36

episodic

Back 36

adj. loosely connected, not flowing logically, occurring at intervals

The episodic structure of the novel mirrored the main character's fragmented experience of events during the war.

Front 37

epithet

Back 37

n. disparaging word or phrase

The epithets he flung in drunken anger came back to haunt him the next morning when everyone refused to talk to him.

Front 38

equanimity

Back 38

n. composure, self-possession

Theo's ability to maintain his equanimity was sorely tested by the end of two hours at the zoo; his composure was most threatened when his nephew reached into the cage to pull the monkey's tail.

Front 39

equivocate

Back 39

v. to use ambiguous language with a deceptive intent

Front 40

errant

Back 40

adj. traveling, itinerant, peripatetic

Travels with Charley is Steinbeck's account of his errant journey across America with his French poodle, Charley.

Front 41

erudite

Back 41

adj. very learned; scholarly

Front 42

eschew

Back 42

v. to shun or avoid

Front 43

essay

Back 43

v. to test or try; attempt experiment

It was incredible to watch Valerie essay her first steps after her long convalescence; we were so proud of how hard she had worked at her rehabilitation.

Front 44

estimable

Back 44

adj. worthy, formidable

Despite his estimable efforts, Alvin was unable to finish his spinach; it really was an impressive attempt, though.

Front 45

evanescent

Back 45

adj. tending to disappear like vapor; vanishing

All trace of the evanescent first snow vanished as soon as the midday sun appeared.

Front 46

evince

Back 46

v. to show clearly, to indicate

Although Victor's work evinced great potential, he had significantly more to do before his article would be ready for publication.

Front 47

exact

Back 47

v. to demand, call for, require, take

Front 48

excoriate

Back 48

v. to censure scathingly, to upbraid

The editor excoriated those artists who attended the event instead of observing the boycott called for by human rights groups.

Front 49

exculpate

Back 49

v. exonerate; to clear of blame

Far from exculpating him as he had hoped, the new evidence only served to convince the jury of his guilt.

Front 50

exemplar

Back 50

n. typical or standard specimen; paradigm, model

Front 51

exhort

Back 51

v. to incite, to make urgent appeals.

At the last second I realized that he was waving his arms frantically to exhort me to look down before I fell off the cliff.

Front 52

exigent

Back 52

adj. urgent; pressing; requiring immediate action or attention.

Exigent circumstances require extreme action; if we didn't act soon we would lose the scavenger hunt, so we just went to the store and bought the rest of the items.

Front 53

exonerate

Back 53

v. to remove blame

Front 54

expatiate

Back 54

v. to discuss or write about at length; to range freely.

My aunt and uncle expatiated on the subject of their Florida vacation for three hours, qaccompaned by slides, until we were all crazy with boredom.

Front 55

expiate

Back 55

v. to atone or make amends for.

He feared that nothing could expiate the insensititivy of his comments.

Front 56

expurgate

Back 56

v. to remove obscenity, purify, censor.

The expurgated version of the novel was incredibly boring; it turned out that the parts the censors removed had been the only interesting ones.

Front 57

extant

Back 57

adj. existing, not destroyed or lost.

There are forty-eight copies of the Gutenberg Bible extant today.

Front 58

extemporaneous

Back 58

adj. improvised; done without preparation

Front 59

extirpate

Back 59

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

The dodo bird was extirpated by a combination of hunting by humans and predation by non-native animals.

Front 60

facetious

Back 60

adj. playful; humorous; not serious.

I hope his comment about the thirty page paper due tomorrow was facetious, or I'm going to be up all night writing.

Front 61

fallow

Back 61

adj. untilled, inactive, dormant.

The farmer hoped that leaving the field fallow for a season would mean that next year he could grow a bumper crop of Brussels sprouts.

Front 62

fatuous

Back 62

adj. silly, inanely foolish

We suspected that the fatuous grin on Amy's face was evidence of a chocolate chip cookie overdose; she had eaten so many that she had become completely goofy.

Front 63

fawn

Back 63

v. to flatter or praise excessively

Hector used to think it would be great to be a rock star and have groupies fawning all over him; he changed his mind the first time the fans tore all his clothes off.

Front 64

feckless

Back 64

adj. ineffectual; irresponsible

My feckless brother managed to get himself grounded again, proving one more time that I am the more responsible sibling.

Front 65

felicitous

Back 65

adj. apt; suitably expressed, well chosen, apropos; delightful.

She can always be counted on for the most felicitious remark; she has something appropriate for every occasion.

Front 66

fell

Back 66

n. a barren or stony hill; an animal's hide

The cabin stood isolated on the wind-swept fell.

Front 67

fervent

Back 67

adj. greatly emotional or zealous

Front 68

fetid

Back 68

adj. stinking, having a heavy bad smell.

We were never able to determine exactly what the fetid green substance we found in the refrigerator was; no one was willing to get close enough to that horrible smell to investigate.

Front 69

fetter

Back 69

v. to shackle, put in chains, restrain.

Fran was fettered in her attempts to find the hotel by her inability to speak French.

Front 70

filigree

Back 70

n. an ornamental work, especially of delicate lacelike patterns; resembling such a pattern.

The decorative filigree of its design disguised the wrought iron fence's practical purpose.

Front 71

flag

Back 71

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

Front 72

flip

Back 72

adj. sarcastic, impertinent

Front 73

florid

Back 73

adj. flushed with color, ruddy, ornate.

Glen always became a little florid when he drank; his face became bright red.

Front 74

flout

Back 74

v. to demonstrate contempt for.

Gertrude's reputation for flouting the rules was so well known that she was no longer able to get away with anything at all.

Front 75

foment

Back 75

v. to stir up, incite, rouse.

Although they accused Kayla of fomenting the protest, she had actually been the one trying to calm everyone down.

Front 76

forbearance

Back 76

n. patience, willingness to wait.

Front 77

ford

Back 77

v. to wade across the shallow part of a river or stream.

Front 78

forestall

Back 78

v. to act in a way to hinder, exclude or prevent an action; to circumvent or thwart.

The famous actress was trying to forestall aging by undergoing ever more bizarre therapies and cosmetic surgeries.

Front 79

forswear

Back 79

v. to renounce, disallow, repudiate.

Foreswearing all previous alliances, the paranoid dictator vowed to allow no one to share his power.

Front 80

fortuitious

Back 80

adj. happening by fortunate accident or chance

Front 81

fracas

Back 81

n. noisy fight or quarrel, brawl.

Front 82

fractious

Back 82

adj. quarrelsome, rebellious, unruly, cranky.

Vince's fractious response to my suggestion was completely uncharacteristic, given his usually easygoing and agreeable attitude.

Front 83

froward

Back 83

adj. intractable, not willing to yield or comply, stubbornly disobedient.

Two year-olds have a reputation for being froward; they've discoverd the pleasure of saying no.

Front 84

fulminate

Back 84

v. to attack loudly or denounce.

Since he had been fulminating against coporate misconduct for years, his enemies were gleeful to uncover evidence of the million-dollar payoff he received from the state's largest company.

Front 85

furtive

Back 85

adj. marked by stealth; covert; surreptitious.

His furtive glances around the room made him look guilty, even if he wasn't really trying to hide anything.

Front 86

gainsay

Back 86

v. to deny, dispute, contradict, oppose.

Front 87

gambol

Back 87

v. to skip about playfully, frolic.

Every March, the students performed the rites of spring by gamboling about half naked.

Front 88

garner

Back 88

v. to gather and save, store up, acquire.

Front 89

garrulous

Back 89

adj. pointlessly talkative, talking too much.

It was easy to see how nervous Gary was by how much he was talking; he always gets garrulous when he is anxious.

Front 90

gauche

Back 90

adj. crude, awkward, tasteless

Front 91

germane

Back 91

adj. relevant to the subject at hand; appropriate in subject matter.

Front 92

glib

Back 92

adj. marked by ease or informality; nonchalant; lacking depth; superficial.

Front 93

gossamer

Back 93

adj. delicate, insubstanial or tenous; insincere

Front 94

grandiloquence

Back 94

n. pompous speech or expression

Front 95

grouse

Back 95

v. to complain or grumble.

Fedinand's constant grousing about my violin playing has finally convinced me I might need lessons.

Front 96

guile

Back 96

n. trickery, duplicity, cunning.

The wily con man used guile to part us from our money, but at least we ended up with this lovely snake oil.

Front 97

guy

Back 97

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

We were all nervous that the guy for the pulley would give way, but the platform stayed intact, so it must have been fine.

Front 98

hackneyed

Back 98

adj. rendered trite or commonplace by frequent usage.

Every hackneyed phrase began as something other than a cliche; it only ended up on the greeting card circuit because enough people repeated it over and over.

Front 99

halcyon

Back 99

adj. calm and peaceful, prosperous.

I always hated it when the halcyon days of summer were interrupted by the start of school in the fall.

Front 100

hallow

Back 100

v. to set apart as holy.

The site for the new church was set aside and hallowed in a special ceremony.