Gre Vocab Words A And B

Front 1

Taciturnity

Back 1

The quality of being uncommunicative

Front 2

Aberrant

Back 2

Deviating from what is expected

Front 3

banality

Back 3

lacking of freshness

Front 4

Polish

Back 4

Refinement and culture

Front 5

Precipitate (adjective)

Back 5

Do something quickly; deliberatly with speed (Hastly or impetuous)

Front 6

chary

Back 6

hesitant or reluctant to proceed

Front 7

redoubtable

Back 7

imposing, to be able to make an impression, etc.

Front 8

scad

Back 8

a great number of something; scads of money! (the opposite being a 'dearth'; an inadequate amount)

Front 9

dearth

Back 9

an inadequate supply

Front 10

censure

Back 10

to speak out against; to criticize

Front 11

dissolution

Back 11

the breaking up of an assembly or organizaiton

Front 12

enervate

Back 12

to destroy one's energy or strength, to weaken

Front 13

parsimonious

Back 13

frugal or stingy; cheap

Front 14

Hedge (Verb)

Back 14

to protect with qualifications that allow for unstated contingencies or for withdrawal from commitment. He felt that he was speaking too boldy, so he hedged his remarks to allow for no contesting.

Front 15

Sage

Back 15

A profoundly wise person

Front 16

Admonition

Back 16

cautionary advice or warning, to caution

Front 17

cogent

Back 17

to the point; persuasive. makes a good argument.

Front 18

fickle

Back 18

likely to change, alter one's self or change opinions and beliefs. "As soon as romeo say juliet, he forgot about his crush on Rosaline. Was romeo fickle?"

Front 19

credit

Back 19

to give credit, praise, to commend, etc.

Front 20

Stilted

Back 20

incredibly formal or dignified

Front 21

Quixotic

Back 21

Unpredictable, impractical, impulsive (also chivalrous)

Front 22

sobriety

Back 22

temperance in moderation. To be very calm, nonchalant and not too excitable

Front 23

hallow

Back 23

to refer to as holy, to glorify; the opposite of desecrate

Front 24

abate

Back 24

v. subsidie or moderate. "rather than leaving the house immediately, they waited for the storm to abate"

Front 25

abeyance

Back 25

noun; suspended action "the deal was held in abeyance until her arrival"

Front 26

abscond

Back 26

verb; depart secretly and hide. The teller who absconded who the bonds went uncaptured"

Front 27

abstemious

Back 27

adjective; sparing in eating and drinking; temperate. Concerned with her vegetarian son's abstemious diet provided him with sufficient protein, the worried mother pressed more food on him

Front 28

admonish

Back 28

verb; Warn or scold, or remind in a harsh way. When her courtiers questioned her religious beliefs, Mary Stuard admonished them, declaring that she would worship as she pleased.

Front 29

alacrity

Back 29

noun; cheerful promptness; eagerness. Phil and Dave were raring to get off the mountains; they packed up their ski gear and climbed into the van with alacrity

Front 30

amalgamate

Back 30

verb. combine; unite in one body. The unions will attempt to amalgamate their groups into one national body

Front 31

ambivalence

Back 31

noun; the state of having contradictory or conflicting emotional attitudes. "Torn between her loving parents one minute and hating them the next ,she was confused by the ambivalence of her feelings."

Front 32

ameliorate

Back 32

verb. improve. many social workers have attempted to ameliorate conditions of people living in the slums.

Front 33

anachronism

Back 33

noun; something or someone misplaced in time. Shakespeare's reference to clocks in Julius Caesar is an anachronism; no clocks existed in Caesar's time.

Front 34

analogous

Back 34

adjective; comparable. she called our attention to the things that had been done an an analogous situation and recommended that we do the same.

Front 35

anomalous

Back 35

adjective; irregular or not normal. she was placed in the anomalous position of seeming to approve procedures that she despised

Front 36

antipathy

Back 36

noun; aversion; dislike. Tom's extreme antipathy for disputes keeps him from getting into arguments with his temperamental wife.

Front 37

appease

Back 37

verb; pacify or soothe; relieve. Tom and Jody tried to appease the crying baby by offering him one toy after another.

Front 38

appropriate

Back 38

verb; acquire; take possession of for one's own use. The ranch owners approrpirated the lands that had originally been set aside for Native American's use.

Front 39

apprise

Back 39

verb; inform. When NASA was apprised of the dangerous weather conditions, the head of the space program decided to postpone the shuttle launch.

Front 40

approbation

Back 40

noun; approval. Wanting her parents' regard, she looked for some sign of their approbation.

Front 41

artless

Back 41

adjective; without guile; open and honest and without feigned sincerity. Red Riding Hood's artless comment was that "Grandma, what big eyes you have"

Front 42

ascetic

Back 42

; adjective. practicing self-denial or a person who is rich who does not indulge and lives a simply, quant life for possibly religious purposes. The wealthy, self-indulgent young man felt oddly drawn to the strict, ascetic life led by members of some monastic orders.

Front 43

assiduous

Back 43

adjective; diligent. It took Tom weeks of assiduous labor before he was satisfied with the portrait of his son

Front 44

assuage

Back 44

verb; ease or lessen (pain) or satisfy (hunger); sooth (anger) Tom tried to assuage his heartache by indulging in ice cream.

Front 45

attenuate

Back 45

verb; make thinner. weaken or lesson (in density, force, degree). The long, dry spell attenuated the creek to the merest trickle.

Front 46

audacious

Back 46

adjective; daring and bold. Audiences cheered as Luke Skywalker made his audacious, death-defying act

Front 47

austere

Back 47

Adjective; forbiddingly stern; severely simply and not decorated at all. The headmaster's austere demeanor tended to scare off the more timid students.

Front 48

aver

Back 48

verb. assert confidently or declare; as used in law in state, incredibly matter-of-fact. The self-proclaimed psychic averred that, because he had extrasensory perception on which to base his predictions, he needed no seismographs or other gadgets.

Front 49

belie

Back 49

contradict, give a false impression "his coarse, hard bitten exterior belied his innate sensitivity"

Front 50

beneficent

Back 50

adjective. kindly; doing good. "the overgenerous philanthropists had to curb his beneficient impulses before he gave away all his money and left himself with nothing"

Front 51

bombastic

Back 51

adjective. pompous; using inflated language. "puffed up with conceit, the orator spoke in such a bombastic manner that we longed to deflate him"

Front 52

boorish

Back 52

adjective; rude or insensitive. "though Mr. Potts constantly interrupted his wife, she ignored his boorish behavior, for she had lost hope of teaching him courtesy"

Front 53

burgeon

Back 53

verb; grow forth; soend out buds. In the spring, the plants that burgeon are a promise of the beauty that is to come"

Front 54

burnish

Back 54

verb; make shiny by rubbing, polish. "The maid burnished the brass fixtures until they reflected the lamplight"

Front 55

buttress

Back 55

verb; support, prop up. "just as architects buttress teh walls of cathedrals with flying buttresses, debaters buttress their arguments with facts"