Study gre verbal12 Flash Cards

 
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gre verbal12

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Debacle
n rout, fiasco, disaster, catastrophe, complete failure: My first attempt at a soufflé was a total debacle; a sudden breakup of river ice in the spring thaw, causing a violent rush of water and ice
Encomium
n glowing and enthusiastic praise; text expressing high praise, panegyric, tribute, eulogy
Dirge
n a song of grief or lamentaion, elegy, requiem: We listened to the slow, funereal dirge.
Diffident
adj reserved, shy unassuming; lacking in self-confidence: Surprisingly, the CEO of the corporation had been a diffedent youth.
Diaphanous (dia’ff@n@s)
adj transparent, gauzy, see through, sheer; insubstantial because extremely faint or slight)
Desultory (de’sslwa’wree)
adj random; aimless; marked by a lack of plan or purpose, unfocused, haphazard, halfhearted: Her desultory performance impressed no one.
Desuetude
(de’sswitoo’d) n disuse: After years of desuetude, my French skills were finally put to use.
Descry
v to discriminate or discern, to catch sight of
Contumacious (co’ntooma’sh@ss)
adj insubordinate, rebellious, very resistant to authority, disobeying court of law contumely means insult, scorn, aversion
Chimera
n an illusion, fantasy, daydream; originally, an imaginary fire-breathing she-monster
Celerity
n speed, alacrity; think accelerate, quickness in movement or in doing something
Cavil
to find fault without good reason, be picky, complain, quibble, to object for no good reason
Captious
adj tending to find fault and make trivial and excessive criticisms, entrapping, calculated to confuse or entrap in argument
Calumniate
v to slander (insult, libel, slur), make a false accusation; calumny means slander, aspersion
Bellicose
adj belligerent, pugnacious, warlike, aggressive, combative; confrontational
Augury
n omen, portent, warning, indication, signal, sign, presage
Assiduous
adj diligent, hard-working, sedulous, persevering, industrious
Asseverate
v to aver, allege, assert, state something earnestly
Asperity
n severity, rigor; roughness, harshness; acrimony (bitterness, rancor, animosity), irritability
Apotheosis (@po’theeo’ssiss)
n deification, the highest point of glory, power, or importance, glorification to godliness, an exalted example, a model of excellence or perfection
Apostate (@po’stayt)
n one who abandons long-held religious or political convictions, absconder, traitor, fugitive, runaway
Apogee
n farthest or highest point, apex, pinnacle; culmination; zenith
Anodyne
adj soothing, something that assuages or allays pain or comforts, painkiller, bland, insipid: harmless, inoffensive, or uncontroversial to the point of being dull
Anathema
n a solemn or ecclesiastical (religious) curse, abomination; accursed or thoroughly loathed person or thing
Adumbrate
v to give a vague indication or warning of something to come; to suggest or outline sketchily; to obscure or overshadow
Abjure
v to formally renounce or reject something; to recant; to avoid, to disown, to deny yourself something
Wag
n somebody witty, joker: Groucho Marx was a well-known wag.
Waffle
v to equivocate, to be indecisive; to change one’s position: His detractors say that the President waffles too much; he can never make up his mind. n rubbish
Tender
v to proffer(offer, volunteer) or offer, give, hand in: He tendered his resignation.
Table
v to remove (as a parliamentary motion) from consideration, to postpone: They tabled the motion and will consider it again later.
Strut
n the supporting structural cross-part of a wing or a building, support, bar, rod
Steep
v to saturate or completely soak, immerse, submerge, as in to let a tea bag steep: She was steeped in esoteric knowledge.
Stand
n a group of trees, botany a group of several plants, especially trees, growing together in one place
Singular
adj exceptional, unusual, extraordinary, outstanding, odd: He was singularly well-suited for the job.
Scurvy
Contemptible, despicable, behaving in ways thought to be mean or contemptible: He was a scurvy old reprobate (degenerate, rascal).
Sap
n an offensive term that deliberately insults somebody’s intelligence and judgment, a fool or nitwit: Don’t be a sap!
Sap
v to enervate or weaken the vitality of, to weaken, drain, undermine, deplete, soak away: That race sapped my strength.
Qualify
v to limit, modify, moderate, restrict, reduce, temper, moderate: Let me qualify that statement.
Quail
v to lose courage, turn frightened, shy away, draw back, recoil, tremble, feel fear or apprehension
Rent
v/n torn (to rend, rent, rent), past of rend: He rent his garments; n an opening or tear caused by such: a large rent in the fabric
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