Gre Vocab V

Front 1

soporific

Back 1

adj. causing drowsiness, tending to induce sleep

Front 2

specious

Back 2

adj. seeming true, but actually false, misleadingly attractive

Front 3

spendthrift

Back 3

n. one who spends money wastefully

Front 4

splenetic

Back 4

adj. bad-tempered, irritable

The patient became particularly splenetic whenever his spleen was bothering him, so the nurses stayed out of his room those days

Front 5

spurious

Back 5

adj. lacking authenticity or validity, false, counterfeit

Front 6

stanch

Back 6

v. to stop the flow of a fluid

The flow of blood from the cut was so slight that half a tissue was all that was needed to stanch it.

Front 7

steep

Back 7

v. to saturate or completely soak

Front 8

stentorian

Back 8

adj. extremely loud and powerful

Her grandfather's stentorian voice could be heard from anywhere in the house, and when he issued a command, everyone moved immediately

Front 9

stint

Back 9

v. to restrain, be sparing or frugal

I hate to stint on dessert, so I always save room for at least two portions.

Front 10

striated

Back 10

adj. striped, grooved, or banded.

It was initially a bit strange to drive over the grooves on the roads where the asphalt had been striated to provide better traction when it rained.

Front 11

strut

Back 11

n. a stuctural support used to brace a framework

Front 12

stygian

Back 12

adj. gloomy, dark

The stygian murk of the cave wasn't all that inviting, especially when bats started flying out of it.

Front 13

succor

Back 13

n. assistance, relief in time of distress

The brief rain did not provide much succor to the farmers who were losing their crops to drought.

Front 14

sundry

Back 14

adj. various, miscellaneous, separate

Front 15

supercilious

Back 15

adj. disdainful, arrogant, haughty, characterized by haughty scorn.

The snotty salesperson looked at the clothes I was wearing with a supercillious expression and apparently decided I wasn't worth her time, so she went back to filing her nails.

Front 16

superfluous

Back 16

adj. exceeding what is sufficient or necessary

Front 17

supine

Back 17

adj. inactive, lying on one's back, apathetic, mentally or morally slack

Front 18

supplant

Back 18

v. to take the place of, supersede

I was quickly supplanted in my girlfriend's affections by her new beau, and a month later she didn't even remember my name.

Front 19

suppliant

Back 19

adj. asking humbly, beseeching

The suppliant expression on the boy's face would have melted anyone's will to refuse him what he wanted.

Front 20

surfeit

Back 20

v. to feed or supply in excess

The girls surfeited themselves with candy and cookies at the birthday party, and all came home with stomachaches.

Front 21

sycophant

Back 21

n. someone who tries to flatter or please for personal gain, parasite

Front 22

table

Back 22

v. to remove (as a parlimentary motion) from consideration

Front 23

tacit

Back 23

adj. implied, not explicitly stated

Front 24

taciturn

Back 24

adj. not talkative, silent

Front 25

tamp

Back 25

v. to plug, to drive in or down by a series of blows.

The old many had a very specific ritual for tamping the tobacco into his pipe.

Front 26

tendentious

Back 26

adj. biased, showing marked tendencies

Although it was clearly a tendentious account, I found it very informative, though that may have been because I happened to agree with the author.

Front 27

tender

Back 27

v. to offer formally

We refused the terms of the truce the other side tendered, because they wanted us to surrender our water balloons first.

Front 28

tenuous

Back 28

adj. having little substance or strength, flimsy, weak

Front 29

terse

Back 29

adj. brief and concise in wording

Front 30

timorous

Back 30

adj. timid, fearful, diffident

Front 31

toady

Back 31

n. sycophant, flatterer, yes-man

Front 32

torpid

Back 32

adj. lethargic, sluggish, dormant

Front 33

torque

Back 33

n. a force that causes rotation.

Front 34

torrid

Back 34

adj. scorching, ardent, passionate hurried

Front 35

tortuous

Back 35

adj. winding, twisting, excessively complicated

Front 36

tractable

Back 36

adj. docile, obedient, easily led


The magician was looking for a tractable young assistant who would be willing to follow directions such as "get in the box so I can saw you in half."

Front 37

travesty

Back 37

n. mockery, caricature, parody

Front 38

trenchant

Back 38

adj. sharply perceptive, keen, penetrating, biting, clear cut

His trenchant criticism of the report revealed the fundamentally flawed premise on which it was based.

Front 39

truculent

Back 39

adj. fierce, scathing, eager to fight

The truculent trucker had already been arrested five times this year for starting barroom brawls.

Front 40

tumid

Back 40

adj. swollen

The river, tumid from the spring rains, overflowed its banks and flooded the surrounding fields.

Front 41

turbid

Back 41

adj. muddy, having sediment stirred up, clouded to the point being opaque, in a state of turmoil.

The coffee was so turbid from the grounds that seeped through the filter that it looked like mud.

Front 42

turgid

Back 42

adj. swollen, bloated, pompous, excessively ornate

Her turgid prose would have been difficult to take in any context, but it was particularly ill suited to a computer how-to-book.

Front 43

tyro

Back 43

n. novice, beginner in learning

Although he was only a tyro at the game of chess, he was able to win most of his matches against more experienced players.

Front 44

ubiquitous

Back 44

adj. existing everywhere at the same time, constantly encountered, widespread

Front 45

umbrage

Back 45

n. offense, resentment

Front 46

undulate

Back 46

v. to move in a wavelike fashion, fluctuate

Front 47

unfeigned

Back 47

adj. genuine, not false or hypocritical

Front 48

untoward

Back 48

adj. troublesome, unruly, unseemly, adverse

Front 49

upbraid

Back 49

v. to scold, censure, rebuke, chastise

Front 50

usury

Back 50

n. charging an exorbitant or illegal rate of interest

Front 51

variegated

Back 51

adj. multicolored, characterized by a variety of patches of different color

Front 52

vaunt

Back 52

v. to brag or boast

Front 53

venal

Back 53

adj. capable of being bought or bribed, mercenary

Front 54

verisimilitude

Back 54

n. appearing true or real

The verisimilitude of the wax figures was uncanny; they looked as if they would start to move and speak at any minute

Front 55

viscous

Back 55

adj. thick, sticky

Front 56

vitiate

Back 56

v. to reduce the value of, debase, spoil, make ineffective

His failure to live up to his end of the deal vitiated the entire agreement as far as I was concerned.

Front 57

vituperate

Back 57

v. to use harsh condemnatory language; abuse or censure severely

Don't you vituperate me, missy, when you know you're every bit as much to blame.

Front 58

volatile

Back 58

adj. readily changing to a vapor; changeable, fickle, explosive

Front 59

welter

Back 59

v. to writhe, to toss about, to be in turmoil

The lake weltered in the storm, tossing the boat up on huge waves

Front 60

wend

Back 60

v. to go, proceed, walk

We wended our way through the market, buying vegetables for dinner