Study GRE Barron's High Frequency Words Set 1 Flash Cards

 
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GRE Barron's High Frequency Words Set 1

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dichotomy
n. split; branching into two parts (especially contradictory ones)
diatribe
n. bitter scolding; invective

During the lengthy diatribe delivered by his opponent, he remained calm and self-controlled
deterrent
n. something that discourages; hindrance
desultory
adj. aimless; haphazard; digressing at random

In prison Malcolm X set himself the task of reading straight through the dictionary; to him, reading was purposeful, not desultory
desiccate
v. dry up

...how pioneers used to desiccate food in order to preserve it.
derivative
adj. unoriginal; obtained from another source
deride
v. ridicule; make fun of

derisive adj.
denigrate
v. blacken

All attempts to denigrate the character of our late President have failed...
delineate
v. portray; depict; sketch

Using only a few descriptive phrases, Austen delineates the character of Mr. Collins so well that we can predict his every move.

delineation n.
deference
n. courteous regard for another's wish

In deference to the minister's request, please do not take photographs during the wedding
default
n. failure to act

When the visiting team failed to show... they lost the game by default.

When Jack failed to make the payments on his Jaguar... he had defaulted on his debt
decorum
n. propriety; orderliness and good taste in manners
daunt
v. intimidate; frighten

"Mere words cannot daunt me"
craven
adj. cowardly

Lillian's craven refusal to join the protest was criticized by her comrades...
convoluted
adj. coiled around; involved; intricate

His argument was so convoluted that few of us could follow it intelligently.
converge
v. approach; tend to meet; come together
conundrum
n. riddle; difficult problem
contrite
adj. penitent (feeling or showing sorrow or remorse)

Her contrite tears did not influence the judge when he imposed sentence

contrition n.
contentious
adj. quarrelsome
contention
n. claim, thesis

contend v.
connoisseur
n. person competent to act as a judge of art, etc; a lover of an art
confound
v. confuse; puzzle
condone
v. overlook; forgive; give tacit approval; excuse
conciliatory
adj. reconciling; soothing

She was still angry despite his conciliatory words
compliant
adj. yielding; conforming to requirements
complaisant
adj. trying to please; overly polite; obliging

Someone complaisant is not smug or complacent; he yields to others because he has an excessive need to please.
compendium
v. brief, comprehensive summary

this text can serve as a compendium of the tremendous amount of new material being developed in this field
commensurate
adj. corresponding in extent, degree, amount, etc.; proportionate

...assigning nurses rank and responsibilities commensurate with their training and abilities
cogent
adj. convincing

It was inevitable that David chose to go to Harvard; he had several cogent reasons for doing so...
coda
n. concluding section of a musical or literary composition; something that rounds out, summarizes, or concludes
coagulate
v. thicken; congeal; clot
chicanery
n. trickery; deception

Those sneaky lawyers misrepresented what occurred, made up all sorts of implausible alternative scenarios... and in general depended on chicanery to win the case.
caustic
adj. burning; sarcastically biting
catalyst
n. agent that influences the pace of a chemical reaction while it remains unaffected and unchanged; person or thing that causes action.
castigation
n. punishment; severe criticism

Sensitive to even mild criticism, Woolf could not bear the castigation she found in certain reviews.
capricious
adj. unpredictable; fickle

The storm was capricious; it changed course constantly. Jill was capricious, too: she changed boyfriends almost as often as she changed clothes.
cacophonous
adj. discordant; inharmonious

orchestra tuning
buttress
v. support; prop up

Just as architects buttress the walls of cathedrals with flying buttresses, debaters buttress their arguments with facts
burnish
v. make shiny by rubbing; polish
burgeon
v. grow forth; send out buds

In the spring, the plants that burgeon are a promise of the beauty that is to come.
boorish
adj. rude, insensitive
bombastic
adj. pompous; using inflated language

The orator spoke in such a bombastic manner that we longed to deflate him.
bolster
v. support; reinforce

The debaters amassed file boxes full of evidence to bolster their arguments.
beneficent
adj. kindly; doing good

The overgenerous philanthropist had to curb his beneficent impulses before he gave away all his money.
belie
v. contradict; give a false impression
banal
adj. hackneyed; commonplace; trite; lacking originality
aver
v. assert confidently or declare; as used in law, state formally as a fact.
autonomous
adj. self-governing
austere
adj. forbiddingly stern; severely simple and unornamented
audacious
adj. daring, bold
attenuate
v. make thinner; weaken or lessen (in density, force, degree)

The long, dry spell attenuated the creek to the merest trickle.
assuage
v. ease or lessen (pain); satisfy (hunger); soothe (anger)

...Dick tried to assuage his heartache...
assiduous
adj. dilligent

...weeks of assiduous labor...
ascetic
adj. practicing self-denial; austere

...the strict ascetic life led by members of some monastic orders.

also n. asceticism
artless
adj. without guile; open and honest

Red Riding Hood's artless comment, "Grandma, what big eyes you have!" indicates the child's innocent surprise at her "Grandmother's" changed appearance.
arduous
adj. hard, strenuous

Her arduous efforts had sapped her energy
approbation
n. approval

Wanting her parents' regard, she looked fro some sign of their approbation.
apprise
v. inform

When NASA was apprised of the dangerous weather conditions...
appease
v. pacify or sooth; relieve

Tom and Jody tried to appease the crying baby...
apathy
n. lack of caring; indifference
antipathy
n. aversion; dislike

Tom's extreme antipathy for disputes keeps him from getting into arguments...
anomalous
adj. abnormal; irregular

She was placed in the anomalous position of seeing to approve procedures that she despised.
anarchy
n. absence of governing body; state of disorder
analogous
adj. comparable

She called our attention to the things that had been done in an analogous situation...
anachronism
n. something or someone misplaced in time
ameliorate
v. improve

Many social workers have attempted to ameliorate the conditions of people living in the slums.
ambivalence
n. the state of having contradictory or conflicting emotional attitudes
ambiguous
adj. unclear or doubtful in meaning

His ambiguous instructions...
amalgamate
v. combine; unite in one body

The unions will attempt to amalgamate their groups...
alleviate
v. relieve
alacrity
n. cheerful promptness; eagerness

Phil and Dave were raring to get off to the mountains; they packed up their ski gear and climbed into the van with alacrity.
aggregate
v. gather; accumulate

Before the Wall Street scandals, dealers in so-called junk bonds managed to aggregate great wealth...
aesthetic
adj. artistic; dealing with or capable of appreciating the beautiful
adulterate
v. make impure by adding inferior or tainted substances

It is a crime to adulterate foods without informing the buyer...
admonish
v. warn; reprove

When her courtiers questioned her religious beliefs, Mary Stuart admonished them...
abstemious
adj. sparing in eating and drinking; temperate

Concerned whether her vegetarian son's abstemious diet...
abscond
v. depart secretly and hide

The teller who absconded with the bonds went uncaptured...
abeyance
n. suspended action

The deal was held in abeyance until her arrival.
aberrant
adj. abnormal or deviant

Given the aberrant nature of the data, we came to doubt the validity of the entire experiment.
abate
v. subside or moderate

Rather than leaving immediately, they waited for the storm to abate.
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