Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
25 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
ambu |
walk, move: In a hospital, patients are either bedridden (they can't move) or ambulatory (they can walk and move about). A somnambulist is a sleepwalker. Som means sleep; -ist is a person; ambu is to walk or move. A somnambulist, therefore, is a person who walks or moves in his or her sleep. |
|
|
andro
|
man: Commander Data on Star Trek: The Next Generation is an android; he's a robot shaped like a man. Someone androgynous exhibits both male (andro) and female (gyn) characteristics (literally, he/she is full of man and woman). Disturbingly, Marilyn Manson comes to mind. . |
|
|
anthro
|
human or mankind: Anthropology is the study of humans (not just a particular gender but humans in general). A misanthrope hates humans. (An equal-opportunity hater: He or she hates both men and women alike.) |
|
|
bellu, belli
|
war, fight: If you're belligerent, you're ready to fight — in fact, you're downright hostile. An antebellum mansion is one that was created before the Civil War. (Remember that ante- means before.) |
|
|
cred
|
trust or belief: Something incredible is unbelievable, such as the excuse, "I would've picked you up on time, sweetheart, but there was a 75-car pile-up on the freeway." If you're credulous, you're trusting and naive (literally, full of trust). In fact, if you're credulous, you probably actually feel sorry for your honey being stuck in traffic. Be careful not to confuse the words credible and credulous. Something credible is trustable or believable. A credible excuse can get you out of trouble if you turn a paper in late. Credulous, on the other hand, means full of trust, naive, or gullible. The more credulous your professor is, the less credible that excuse needs to be. |
|
|
de
|
down from, away from (to put down): To descend or depart is to go down from or away from. To denounce is to put down or to speak badly of, as in denouncing those hogs who chow down all the pizza before you get to the party. Many unknown words on the GRE that start with de mean to put down in the sense of to criticize or bad-mouth. demean, denounce, denigrate, derogate, deprecate, decry. |
|
|
ex
|
out of, away from: An exit is literally out of or away from it — ex-it. (This is probably one of the most logical words around.) To extricate is to get out of something. You can extricate yourself from an argument by pretending to faint, basking in all the sympathy as you're carried away. To exculpate is to get off the hook — literally to make away from guilt. Culp means guilt. When the president of the Hellenic Council wants to know who TP'ed the dean's house, you can claim that you and your sorority sisters aren't culpable. |
|
|
gnos
|
knowledge: A doctor shows his or her knowledge by making a diagnosis (analysis of the situation) or a prognosis (prediction about the future of the illness). An agnostic is a person who doesn't know whether a god exists. Differentiate an agnostic from an atheist: An atheist is literally without god, a person who believes there's no god. An agnostic is without knowledge, believing a god may or may not exist. |
|
|
greg
|
group, herd: A congregation is a group or herd of people. A gregarious person likes to be part of a group — he or she is sociable. To segregate is literally to make away from the group. Se- means apart or away from, as in separate, sever, sequester, and seclusion. |
|
|
gyn
|
woman: A gynecologist is a physician who treats women. A misogynist is a person who hates women. |
|
|
loq, log, loc, lix
|
speech or talk: Someone loquacious talks a lot. (That person is literally full of talk.) A dialogue is talk or conversation between two people. Elocution is proper speech. A prolix person is very talkative. (Literally, he or she engages in big, or much, talk.) |
|
|
luc, lum, lus
|
light, clear: Something luminous is shiny and full of light. Ask the teacher to elucidate something you don't understand (literally, to make clear). Lustrous hair reflects the light and is sleek and glossy. |
|
|
meta
|
beyond, after: A metamorphosis is a change of shape beyond the present shape. |
|
|
morph
|
shape: Something amorphous is without shape. Morphology is the study of shape. ("Yes, of course, I take my studies seriously. I spend all weekend on morphology at the beach.") |
|
|
mut
|
change: The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles mutated, or changed, from mildmannered turtles to pizza-gobbling crime fighters. Something immutable isn't changeable; it remains constant. Don't confuse mut (change) with mute (silent). |
|
|
pac
|
peace, calm: Why do you give a baby a pacifier? To calm him or her down. To get its name, the Pacific Ocean must have appeared calm at the time it was discovered. |
|
|
path
|
feeling: Something pathetic arouses feeling or pity. To sympathize is to share the feelings (literally, to make the same feeling). Antipathy is a dislike — literally, a feeling against. For example, no matter how much the moron apologizes, you still may harbor antipathy toward the jerk who parked right behind you and blocked you in, making you late for a date and causing all sorts of unfortunate romantic repercussions. |
|
|
phon
|
sound: Phonics helps you to sound out words. Cacophony is bad sound; euphony is good sound. Homophones are words that sound the same, such as red and read. |
|
|
plac
|
peace, calm: To placate someone is to calm him or her down or to make peace with that person. You placate your irate sweetheart, for example, by sending a dozen roses (hint, hint). Someone implacable is someone you aren't able to calm down — or someone really stubborn. If those roses don't do the trick, for example, your sweetheart is too implacable to placate. |
|
|
pro
|
big, much: Profuse apologies are big, or much — in essence, a lot of apologies. A prolific writer produces a great deal of written material. Pro has two additional meanings less commonly used on the GRE. It can mean before, as in "A prologue comes before a play." Similarly, to prognosticate is to make knowledge before or to predict. A prognosticator is a fortune-teller. Pro can also mean for. Someone who is pro freedom of speech is in favor of freedom of speech. Someone with a proclivity toward a certain activity is for that activity, or has a natural tendency toward it. |
|
|
pug
|
war, fight: Someone pugnacious is ready to fight. A pugilist is a person who likes to fight — such as a professional boxer. (Did you ever see those big sticks that marines train with in hand-to-hand combat — the ones that look like cotton swabs with a thyroid condition? Those are called pugil sticks.) |
|
|
scien
|
knowledge: A scientist is a person with knowledge. Someone prescient has forethought or knowledge ahead of time — for example, a prognosticator (a fortuneteller, remember?). After you study these roots, you'll be closer to being omniscient — all knowing. |
|
|
som
|
sleep: Take Sominex to get to sleep. If you have insomnia, you can't sleep. (The prefix in- means not.) |
|
|
son
|
sound: A sonic boom breaks the sound barrier. Dissonance is clashing sounds. A sonorous voice has a good sound. |
|
|
sop
|
sleep: A glass of warm milk is a soporific. So is a boring professor. |
