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48 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
abate
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reduce or diminish
Her stress over spending so much money on a house abated when the real estate broker told her about the property's 15-year tax abatement. |
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aberration, anomaly
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something that stands out or is abnormal. Outlier is similar.
The election of a liberal candidate in the conservative county was an aberration (or anomaly), made possible only by the sudden death of the conservative candidate two days before the election. |
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acclaim
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grate praise or approval
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accord, discord
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accord is agreement, and discord is disagreement.
Our management is in accord with regulatory agencies about tightening standards. |
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acquisitiveness
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desire to acquire more, especially an excessive desire
The firm did well in buying up its competitors as a means of growth, but its acquisitiveness ultimately resulted in problems related to growing too quickly. |
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acreage
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land measured in acres.
Our property is large, but much of the acreage is swampland not suitable for building. |
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adhere to and adherent
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To adhere to is to stick to (literally, such as with glue, or metaphorically, such as to a plan or belief). An adherent is a person who sticks to a belief or cause.
The adherents of the plan won't admit that, in the long term, such a policy would bankrupt our state. Employees who do not adhere to the policy will be subject to disciplinary action. |
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Ad-lib
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1)Make something up on the spot, give an unprepared speech; 2) Freely, as needed, according to desire.
We have ended our policy of rationing office supplies -- pens may now be given to employees ad-lib. |
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Adopt
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Take and make one's own; vote to accept. You can adopt a child , of course, or a new policy. To adopt a plan implies that you didn't come up with it yourself.
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advent
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arrival
Before the advent of the internet, people often called reference librarians to look up information for them in the library's reference section. |
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adverse
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unfavorable, opposed
A noisy environment is adverse to studying, and lack of sleep can have further adverse effects. |
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agency
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the ability to use power or influence
Some global warming deniers acknowledge that the planet is heating up, but argue that human agency does not affect the climate. |
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aggravate
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make worse
Allowing your band to practice in our garage has greatly aggravated my headache. |
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altogether
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completely, overall. Altogether is an adverb, and is one word. It is not the same as all together, as in Let's sing all together.
It was an altogether stunning new design. |
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ambivalent
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1)Uncertain, unable to decide; 2) wanting to do two contradictory things at once.
The health care plan has been met with ambivalence from lawmakers who would like to pass the bill but find supporting it to be politically impossible. |
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amortize
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gradually pay off a debt, or gradually write off an asset
A mortgage is a common form of amortized debt -- spreading the payments out over as long as 30 years is not uncommon. |
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analogous
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corresponding in a particular way, making a good analogy.
Our situation is analogous to one in a case study I read in business school. Maybe what worked for that company will work for us. |
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annex
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To add on, or something that has been adds on. An annex to a building is a part built later and added on, or a new building that allows an organization to expand.
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annihilate
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completely destroy
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annul
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make void or null, cancel, abolish(usually of laws or other established rules). Most people associate this word with marriage - a marriage is annulled when a judge rules that it was invalid in the first place(because of fraud, mental incompetence, etc.), so it is as if it never happened.
Can we appreciate the art of a murderer? For many, the value of these paintings is annulled by the artist's crimes. |
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anoint
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the literal meaning is "rub or sprinkle oil on, especially as part of a ceremony that makes something sacred." Thew word is used metaphorically to refer to power or praise being given to someone who is thought very highly of. For instance:
After Principal Smitters raised test scores over 60% at her school, it was only a matter of time before she was anointed superintendant by a fawning school board. |
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antithetical to
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totally opposed to ; opposite.
The crimes of our chairman are totally antithetical to what the Society for Ethical Leadership stands for. |
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application
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act or result of applying. Of course, you can have an application to business school, but you can also say The attempted application of American-style democracy in Iraq may ultimately prove unsuccessful.
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apprentice
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a person who works for someone else in order to learn a trade(such as shoe-making, weaving, etc.) from that person. Mostly historical , but still exists in the U.S., in a few industries, such as contracting and electrical wiring.
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arbiter
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judge, umpire, person empowered to decide matters at hand . Arbitration is typically a formal process in which a professional arbitrator decides a matter outside of a court of law.
Professional mediators arbitrate disputes. The principal said, "As the final arbiter of what is and is not appropriate in the classroom, I demand that you take down that poster of the rapper Ice-T and his scantily clad wife Coco." |
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Archaic
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characteristic of an earlier period, ancient, primitive.
The school's archaic computer system predated even floppy disks -- it stored records on tape drivers. Sometimes, when you look a word up the dictionary, certain definitions are marked "archaic"--unless you are a Shakespeare scholar, you can safely ignore those archaisms. |
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aristocracy
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a hereditary ruling class, nobility( or a form of government ruled by these people).
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artifact
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any object made by humans, especially those from an earlier time, such as those excavated by archaeologists
The archaeologists dug up countless artifacts, from simple pottery shards and coins to complex written tablets. The girl's room was full of the artifacts of modern teenage life: Justin Birbor posters, Twilight books, and a laptop open to Facebook. |
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Ascribe to/ ascription
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To ascribe is to give credit; ascription is the noun form.
He ascribed his good grades to diligent studying. The boy's mother was amused by the ascription to his imaginary friend of all the powers he wished he had himself -- being able to fly, having dozens of friends, and never having to eat his broccoli. |
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assert
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affirm, claim, state, or express(that something is true)
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assimilation
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the process by which a minority group adopts the customs and way of life of a larger group, or the process by which any new thing being introduced begins to "blend in." Words like Westernization or Americanization refer to the process of assimilation into Western culture, American culture, etc.
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Attain
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achieve
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attribute to
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give credit to
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atypical
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not typical
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backfire
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to produce an unexpected and unwanted result. The literal meaning refers to an engine, gun, etc, exploding backwards or discharging gases, flame, debris, etc., backwards , thus possibly causing injury.
The company's new measures backfired when workers protested and staged a walkout , thus stopping production completely. |
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balance
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the remaining part or leftover amount. This is related to the idea of a bank balance -- a balance is what you have left after deductions.
The publishing division accounted for 25% of the profits, and the film division for the balance. This means that the film division provided 75% of the profits. |
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baldly
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plainly, explicitly. (This is the same word as in "losing one's hair.") To say something baldly is to be blunt. People are sometimes shocked or offended when things are said too bluntly or baldly.
An article in Mother Jones explained the Maine is not very diverse: "It is, to put it baldly, one of the whitest states in the union." |
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Balloon
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1)Swell or puff out; 2)Increase rapidly. Also, in finance, a balloon payment is a single payment at the end of a loan or mortgage term that is much larger than the other payments.
During the dot-com bubble, the university's investments ballooned to three times' their former value. When he won the award, his chest ballooned with pride. |
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befall
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happen to (used with something bad). The past tense is befell.
Disaster befell the company once again when the CEO was thrown from a horse. |
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belie
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contradict or misrepresent.
The actress's public persona as a perky "girl next door" belied her private penchant for abusing her assistants and demanding that her trailer be filled with ridiculous luxury goods. The data belie the accepted theory -- either we've made a mistake, or we have an amazing new discovery on our hands. |
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benevolent
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expressing goodwill, helping others or charity.
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benign
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1)harmless; 2)Kind or beneficial; 3)Not cancerous;
He was relieved when the biopsy results came back, informing him that the growth was benign. He's a benign fellow. I'm sure having him assigned to your team at work will be perfectly pleasant, without changing the way you do things. |
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blight
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disease that kills plants rapidly, or any cause of decay or destruction(noun); ruin or cause to wither(verb)
Many potato farmers have fallen into poverty as a result of blight killing their crops. Gang violence is a blight on our school system, causing innocent students to fear even attending classes. In fact, violence has blighted our town. |
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blunt
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to dull, weaken, or make less effective
The new therapy has severe side effects, but they can be blunted somewhat with anti-nausea medication and painkillers. |
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blur
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To make blurry, unclear, indistinct
In Japan, company titles are taken very seriously and roles are sharply defined, whereas in the U.S. -- especially in smaller firms -- roles are often blurred as everyone is expected to pitch in on a variety of projects. |
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bogus
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fake, fraudulent.
The back of the bodybuilding magazine is just full of ads for bogus products -- this one promises 22-inch biceps just from wearing magnetic armbands |
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bolster
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strengthen or support
The general requested reinforcements to bolster the defensive line set up at the border. Many people use alcohol to bolster their confidence before approaching an attractive person in a bar |
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broad
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wide, large; in the open ("in broad daylight"); obvious, clear; liberal, tolerant; covering a wide scope of things. ("Broad" is also a mildly derogatory term for women, in case you're confused -- of course, no one would ever be called a broad on the GMAT
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