Gre Vocab Iii

Front 1

harangue

Back 1

v. to deliver a loud, pompous speech or tirade.

After having been harangued for hours about the superiority of his methods, we should be forgiven for laughing when his demonstration failed.

Front 2

hermetic

Back 2

adj. airtight, impervious to outside influence.

Front 3

heterodox

Back 3

adj. unorthodox, heretical, iconoclastic

Front 4

homily

Back 4

n. a sermon or morally instructive lecture, a platitude.

The subject of the minister's homilies ranged from the importance of compassion to the virtues of brushing one's teeth three times a day.

Front 5

iconoclast

Back 5

n. one who attacks or undermines traditional conventions or institutions.

Frank always isisted on being the iconoclast; whenever everyone else agreed to "up," he would argue for "down."

Front 6

idolatrous

Back 6

adj. given to intense or excessive devotion to something.

Front 7

idyll

Back 7

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

Front 8

ignominious

Back 8

adj. shameful, dishonorable, ignoble, undignified, disgraceful.

It was an ignominious, though deserved, end to all his boasting when the wheels fell off his car halfway through the race.

Front 9

imbroglio

Back 9

n. difficult or embarrassing situation.

We could see a public relations imbroglio developing before our eyes when the food fight started in the senior citizens' home right as the mayor began his speech.

Front 10

immutable

Back 10

adj. not capable of change.

Front 11

impassive

Back 11

adj. revealing no emotion or sensibility.

The guards at Buckingham Palace are required to be completely impassive; they can't show any emotion whatsoever.

Front 12

impecunious

Back 12

adj. lacking funds; without money.

The impecunious actor was so desperate for money that he had to sacrifice his artisitc principles and work as a mime for a few months.

Front 13

imperious

Back 13

adj. commanding, masterful, arrogant, domineering, haughty.

Her imperious manner was extremely annoying to her employees, who thought her arrogance was unfounded since she wasn't even that bright.

Front 14

imperturbable

Back 14

adj. marked by extreme calm, impassivity and steadiness.

Front 15

impetuous

Back 15

adj. hastily or rashly energetic; impulsive and vehement.

We regretted our impetuous decision to spend our vacaton in Greendland when we realized we hadn't packed any warm clothing.

Front 16

implacable

Back 16

adj. not capable of being appeased or significantly changed.

Her anger over her partner's betrayal was implacable; nothing anyone said or did would appease her.

Front 17

importune

Back 17

v. to ask incessantly, beg, nag.

Jerry's constant importuning for time off worked in a way; he had plenty of time off once he was fired for nagging his boss about a vacation.

Front 18

impugn

Back 18

v. to attack or assail verbally, censure, execrate, deny.

Front 19

impunity

Back 19

n. immunity from punishment, penalty or harm.

Front 20

impute

Back 20

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

The mechanic imputed my car's failure to start to the absence of gasoline in the tank.

Front 21

inchoate

Back 21

adj. in an initial stage, not fully formed.

My vague, inchoate response did not satisfy the committee.

Front 22

incipient

Back 22

adj. beginning to come into being or to become apparent.

I could sense the dull throbbing in my head that was the sign of an incipient headache.

Front 23

indefatigable

Back 23

adj. not easily exhaustible, tireless, dogged.

Front 24

indifferent

Back 24

adj. having no interest or concern, apathetic; showing no bias or prejudice.

Front 25

indolent

Back 25

adj. lazy, listless, torpid.

Alex was so indolent that he hired other people to wash his hands for him.

Front 26

ineluctable

Back 26

adj. certain, inevitable.

George refused to accept the ineluctable reality of death, so he planned to have himself frozen.

Front 27

infelicitous

Back 27

adj. unfortunate; inappropriate.

Front 28

ingenuous

Back 28

adj. artless, frank and candid, lacking in sophistication.

His ingenuous question revealed how naive he was, but his ingenuousness was actually refreshing in this group of cynical, scheming old men.

Front 29

inimical

Back 29

adj. damaging, harmful, injurious, hostile, unfriendly.

He seemed inimical to my overtures of friendship, refusing even to talk to me.

Front 30

inimitable

Back 30

adj. one of a kind, peerless.

She lived up to every expectation when she arrived at the party decked out in ostrich feathers and sequins in her usual inimitable style.

Front 31

iniquity

Back 31

n. wickedness, gross injustice

Front 32

innervate

Back 32

v. to supply with nerves, energize.

Innervated by our coach's pep talk, we were filled with energy for the upcoming game.

Front 33

innocuous

Back 33

adj. harmless; causing no damage

Front 34

inscrutable

Back 34

adj. incapable of being discovered or understood, mysterious.

Front 35

insensible

Back 35

adj. unconscious, unresponsive, unaware, unaffected, numb.

Front 36

insipid

Back 36

adj. without taste or flavor, lacking in spirit, dull.

Front 37

insouciant

Back 37

adj. unconcerned, carefree, nonchalant.

Her insouciant attitude toward her schoolwork meant that she rarely turned in her papers or bothered to study for a test.

Front 38

insular

Back 38

adj. parochial, narrow-minded, like an island.

The small fishing community had a very insular attitude towards outsiders, viewing them as strange and generally distrusting them.

Front 39

interdict

Back 39

v. to prohibit, forbid, ban, halt.

Although Prohibition attempted to interdict the sale of alcohol, it was never entirely successful.

Front 40

intimate

Back 40

v. to imply, suggest or insinuate.

The governor intimated that she might run for Congress, but coyly refused to commit one way or the other.

Front 41

intractable

Back 41

adj. not easily managed or directed, stubborn, obstinate.

He was most the most intractable child I have ever met; nothing I tried would get him to brush his teeth or go to bed.

Front 42

intransigent

Back 42

adg. refusing to compromise

He was an intransigent supporter of the tax cut, refusing to compromise even the slightest bit.

Front 43

intrepid

Back 43

adj. steadfast, courageous

Front 44

inured

Back 44

adj. accustomed to accepting something undesirable.

I have become inured to waking up at 5 a.m.; I still don't like it, but at least I'm used to it.

Front 45

inveigh

Back 45

v. to attack verbally, denounce, deprecate.

Inveighing against the government's policies will do you no good if you don't bother to vote as well.

Front 46

inveigle

Back 46

v. to obtain by decepton or flattery.

I can't believe she inveigled a ticket to the concert; I've been trying to get one for weeks.

Front 47

inveterate

Back 47

adj. deep rooted, ingrained, habitual.

Tim was such an inveterate liar that he lied even when he thought he was telling the truth.

Front 48

irascible

Back 48

adj. easily angered; prone to tempermental outbursts.

Irascible to the end, the grouchy old man started a fight on his deathbed.

Front 49

itinerate

Back 49

v. to travel from place to place.

Front 50

jejune

Back 50

adj. vapid, uninteresting; childish, immature; lacking nutrition.

The jejune lecture on various ways to wash clothes had us half-asleep after ten minutes.

Front 51

jibe

Back 51

v. to agree, to be in accord

Since their accounts of the evening didn't jibe, we knew that least one of them wasn't telling the truth.

Front 52

jocose

Back 52

adj. given to joking; humorous.

The jocose man could always be counted on for some levity, but it was almost impossible to get him to stop joking even for a minute.

Front 53

kinetic

Back 53

adj. having to do with motion; lively; active

Front 54

labile

Back 54

adj. readily open to change, unstable.

He was so emotionally labile that he could be crying one minute and laughing the next.

Front 55

laconic

Back 55

adj. using few words; terse.

We took her "good" as high praise indeed, since that was more than our laconic band teacher usually said in a whole week.

Front 56

lassitude

Back 56

n. listlessness, languor, weariness.

Those two push-ups I attempted filled me with lassitude for the rest of the day.

Front 57

laud

Back 57

v. to praise highly

Front 58

limn

Back 58

v. to draw, outline in detail.

The painter limned the old man's face in such exquisite and expressive lines that it almost looked as if he might open his mouth and speak.

Front 59

limpid

Back 59

adj. transparent, serene, clear and simple in style, untroubled.

The once-limpid pond had become a nasty soup of algae, beer cans, and a random tennis shoe or two.

Front 60

list

Back 60

v. to tilt or lean to one side.

The ship listed to one side after running aground on a rock and filling partially with water.

Front 61

lumber

Back 61

v. to move heavily and clumsily or with a rumbling sound.

The truck lumbered about like a drunken dinosaur.

Front 62

magnanimity

Back 62

n. the quality of being generously noble in mind and heart, especially in forgiving.

Front 63

malinger

Back 63

v. to feign illness so as to avoid work.

He boss suspected her of malingering until she brought a note in from her doctor.

Front 64

maunder

Back 64

v. to talk or move aimlessly, mutter.

After we maundered about for over three hours I started to suspect that our guide didn't have the slightest idea where he was going.

Front 65

maverick

Back 65

n. an independent individual who does not go along with a group or party.

Front 66

mellifluous

Back 66

adj. sweetly flowing, usually used to describe words or sounds.

The mellifluous sound of her voice lulled me to sleep, though this wasn't what she had in mind since she was trying to chastise me.

Front 67

mendacity

Back 67

n. the condition of being being untruthful, dishonesty.

Front 68

mercurial

Back 68

adj. characterized by rapid and unpredictable change in mood.

Front 69

meretricious

Back 69

adj. tawdry, pretentious, attractive but false, showy, having to do with prositution.

His meretricious argument had all the false allure of a low-rent Vegas nightclub: showy on the outside, but seedy and desperate on the inside.

Front 70

mettlesome

Back 70

adj. courageous, high-spirited.

The mettlesome doctor risked his own life to try to save the wounded soldiers on both sides.

Front 71

militate

Back 71

v. to have weight or bearing on, to argue (against).

The president's advisors warned him that the volatility of the situtation militated against any rash action.

Front 72

milk

Back 72

v. to exploit, to squeeze every last ounce of.

Front 73

minatory

Back 73

adj. menacing, threatening.

Disregarding the minatory signs, we opened the door and discovered that the ferocious dog that the sign had warned us about was a dachshund.

Front 74

mince

Back 74

v. pronounce or speak effectedly or too carefully, euphemize, take tiny steps, tiptoe.

Front 75

mitigate

Back 75

v. to make or become less severe or intense, moderate.

Front 76

mollify

Back 76

v. to calm or soothe, reduce in emotional intensity.

Front 77

multifarious

Back 77

adj. varied, motley, greatly diversified.

The objects of his multifarious crushes ranged from Katherine Hepburn to the cashier at the grocery store.

Front 78

nadir

Back 78

n. low point, perigee.

Front 79

natty

Back 79

adj. trimly neat and tidy, dapper.

My grandmother is always complaining that there are no more natty dressers; she just doesn't think that baggy jeans and sneakers can compete with the zoot suits of her adolescence.

Front 80

neophyte

Back 80

n. a recent convert; a beginner; a novice.

Front 81

nexus

Back 81

n. a connection, tie, or link; center or focus.

Although many people have studied the nexus between rehabilitation programs for prisoners and rates of recidivism, no one has been able to draw any universally accepted conclusions about the relationship.

Front 82

nice

Back 82

adj. exacting, extremely or even excessively precise; done with delicacy or skill.

The distinction he drew between the two findings was so nice that most of his listeners weren't even sure it was there.

Front 83

noisome

Back 83

adj. offensive, especially to one's sense of smell, fetid.

I don't know how anyone with a nose can live in an apartment that noisome.

Front 84

nonplussed

Back 84

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

The movie left me a little nonplussed since I didn't understand the languages that either the movie or the subtitles were in.

Front 85

nostrum

Back 85

n. cure-all, placebo, questionable remedy.

Any nostrum that claims to cure both a hangover and bunions is either a miracle or a fraud.

Front 86

noxious

Back 86

adj. harmful, injurious.

Front 87

obdurate

Back 87

adj. unyielding, hardhearted, inflexible.

The villain's obdurate heart was unmoved by the plight of the villagers; he refused to show any compassion at all.

Front 88

obfuscate

Back 88

v. to deliberately obscure, to make confusing.

Front 89

obsequious

Back 89

adj. exhibiting a fawning attentiveness; subservient.

His obsequious fawing over Brandy made him seem more like her pet than her peer.

Front 90

obstreperous

Back 90

adj. noisy. loudly stubborn, boisterous.

That obsteperous two-year-old has the lungs of an opera singer.

Front 91

obtain

Back 91

v. to be established, accepted, or customary, prevail.

The proper conditions for the summit will only obtain if all parties agree to certain terms.

Front 92

obtuse

Back 92

adj. lacking sharpness of intellect, not clear or precise in thought or expression.

Her approach was so obtuse that it took me twenty minutes to figure out she was asking me out.

Front 93

obviate

Back 93

v. to anticipate and make unnecessary.

Finding my keys in my pocket obviated the need for the private investigators I just hired to locate them.

Front 94

occlude

Back 94

v. to obstruct or block.

The big bus that parked right in front of us occluded our view.

Front 95

officious

Back 95

meddlesome, pushy in offering one's services where they are unwanted.

Front 96

onerous

Back 96

adj. troubling, burdensome

Every spring I dread the onerous task of filing my income tax return.

Front 97

opprobrium

Back 97

n. disgrace, contempt, scorn.

The students couldnt' bear to face their teacher's opprobrium after they all failed the midterm exam.

Front 98

ostensible

Back 98

adj. seeming, appearing as such, professed.

Even though his ostensible reason for coming to all the games was his love of the sport, we knew his crush on the team captain was his real reason.

Front 99

ostentatious

Back 99

adj. characterized by or given to pretentiousness.

The ostentatious display of his diplomas on the front door of his office backfired whenever anyone noticed that the names of all the schools were spelled incorrectly.

Front 100

overweening

Back 100

adj. presemptuously arrogant, overbearing, immoderate.

His overweening arrogance made everyone want to smack him, which was the only way he got to be the center of attention that he imagined he should be.