GRE BARRONS - 34 Flashcard | Flashcards-library.com

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ADJ. extremely agitated; hysterical. when Kate heard the news of the sudden tragedy, she became too overwrought to work and had to leave the office early.

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1. overwrought

ADJ. extremely agitated; hysterical. when Kate heard the news of the sudden tragedy, she became too overwrought to work and had to leave the office early.

2. ovoid

ADJ. egg-shaped. At Easter she had to cut out hundreds of brightly cooled ovoid shapes.

3. pachyderm

N. thick-skinned animal. The elephant is probably the best-known pachyderm.

4. pacifist

N. one opposed to force; antimilitarist. During the war, pacifists, though they refused to near arms, served on the front lines as ambulance drivers and medical corpsmen. also ADJ. pacifism, N.

5. pacify

V. soothe; make calm or quiet; subdue. Dentists criticize the practice of giving fussy children sweets to pacify them.

6. paean

N. song of praise or joy. Paeans celebrating the victory filled the air.

7. painstaking

ADJ. showing hard work; taking great care. The new high- frequency word list is the result of painstaking efforts on the part of our research staff.

8. palatable

ADJ. agreeable; pleasing to the taste. Nether Jack's underbaked opinions nor his overcooked casseroles were palatable to me.

9. palate

N. ADJ. agreeable; pleasing to the taste. Neither Jack's underbaked opinions nor his overcooked casseroles were palatable to me.

10. palate

N. roof of the mouth; sense of taste. When you sound out the letter "d," your tongue curves up to touch the edge of your palate. When Alice was sick, her mother made special meals to tempt her palate.

11. palatial

ADJ. magnificent. He proudly showed us through his palatial home.

12. paleontology

N. study of prehistoric life. The professor of paleontology had a superb collection of fossils.

13. palette

N. board on which a painter mixes pigments. At the present time, art supply stores are selling a paper palette that may be discarded after use.

14. palimpsest

N. parchment used for second time after original writing has been erased. using chemical reagents, scientists have been able to restore the original writings on many palimpsests.

15. pall

v. grow tiresome. the study of word lists can eventually pall and put one to sleep.

16. pallet

V. small, poor bed. The weary traveler went to sleep on his straw pallet.

17. palliate

V. ease pain; make less severe or offensive. If we cannot cure this disease at present, we can, at least , try to palliate the symptoms. palliation, N.

18. pallid

ADJ. pale; wan. because his occupation required that he work at night and sleep during the day, he had an exceptionally pallid complexion.

29. palpable

. tangible; easily perceptible. I cannot understand how you could overlook such a palpable blunder.

20. palpitate

V. throb; flutter. As she became excited, her heart began to palpitate more and more erratically.

21. paltry

ADJ. insignificant; petty; trifling "One hundred dollars for a genuine imitation Rolex watch! Lady, this is a paltry sum to pay for such a high-class piece of jewelry."

22. pan

V. criticize harshly. Hoping for a rave review of his new show, the playwright was miserable when the critics panned it unanimously.

23. panacea

N. Cure-all; remedy for all diseases. There is no easy panacea that will solve our complicated international situation.

24. Panache

N. flair; flamboyance. Many performers imitate Noel Coward, but few have his panache and sense of style

25. pandemic

ADJ. widespread; affecting the majority of people. They feared the AIDS epidemic would soon reach pandemic proportions.

26. pandemic

ADJ. widespread; affecting the majority of people. They feared the AIDS epidemic would soon reach pandemic proportions.

27. pandemonium

N. wild tumult. When the ships collided in the harbor, pandemonium broke out among the passengers.

28. pander

V. cater to the low desires of others. the reviewer accused the makers of Lethal Weapon of pandering to the masses taste for violence.

29. panegyric

N. formal praise. Blushing at all The praise heaped upon him by the speakers, the modest hero said, "I don't deserve such panegyrics."

30. panoramic

ADJ. denoting an unobstructed and comprehensive view. On a clear day, from the top of the Empire State Building you can get a panoramic view of New York City and neighboring stretches of New Jersey and Long Island. panorama, N.

31. pantomime

N. acting without dialogue. Because he worked in pantomime, the clown could be understood wherever he appeared, also V.

32. papyrus

N. ancient paper made from stem of papyrus plat. The ancient Egyptians were among the first to write on papyrus.

33. parable

N. short, simple story teaching a moral. Let us apply to our own conduct the lesson that this parable teaches.

34. paradigm

N. model; example; pattern. Pavlov's experiment in which he trains a dog to salivate on hearing a bell is a paradigm of the conditioned- response experiment on behavioral psychology. paradigmatic, ADJ.

35. paradox

N. something apparently contradictory on nature; statement the looks false but is actually correct. Richard presents a bit of a paradox, for he is a card-carrying member if both the National Rifle Association and the relatively pacifist American Civil Liberties Union. paradoxical, ADJ.

36. paragon

N. model of perfection. Her fellow students disliked Lavinia because Miss Minchin always pointed her out as a paragon of virtue.

37. parallelism

N. state of being parallel; similarity. Although the twins were separated at birth and grew up in different adoptive families, a striking parallelism exists between their lives.

38. parameter

N. limit; independent variable. We need the define the parameters of the problem.

39. paramount

ADJ. foremost in importance; supreme. proper nutrition and hygiene are of paramount importance in adolescent development and growth.

40. paramour

N. illicit lover. She sought a divorce on the grounds that her husband had a paramour in another town.

41. paranoia

N. psychosis marked by delusions of grandeur or persecution. Suffering from paranoia, he claimed everyone was out to get him, laconically, his claim was accurate; even paranoids have enemies. paranoid, paranoiac, N. and ADJ.

42. paraphernalia

N. equipment; odds and end. Her desk was cluttered with paper, pen ink dictionary and other paraphernalia of the writing craft.

43. paraphrase

N. restate a passage one's own worlds while retaining thought of author. In 250 world or less, paraphrase this article. also N.

44. parasite

N. animal or plant living on another; toady; sycophant. The tapeworm is an example of the kind of parasite that may infest the human body.

45. parched

ADJ. extremely dry; very thirsty. The parched desert landscape seemed hostile to life.

46. pariah

N. social outcast. It everyone ostracized singer Mariah Carey, would she then be Mariah the pariah?

47. parity

N. equality; close resemblance. I find your analogy inaccurate because I do not see the parity between the two illustrate because I do not see the parity between the two illustrations.

48. parlance

N. language; idiom. All this legal parlance confuses me; I need an interpreter.

49. parley

N. conference. The peace parley has not produced the anticipated truce. also V.

50. parochial

ADJ. narrow in outlook; provincial; related to parishes. Although Jane Austen writes novels set in small rural communities, not parochial.

51. parody

N. humorous imitation; spoof; takeoff; travesty. The show Forbidden Broadway presents parodies spoofing the year's new productions playing on Broadway also V.

52. paroxysm

N. fit or attack of pain, laughter, rage. When he heard-of his son's misdeeds, he was seized by a paroxysm of rage.

53. parquet

N. floor made of wood strips inlaid in a mosaic like pattern on laying the floor, the carpenters combined redwood and oak in an elegant parquet.

54. parry

V. ward off a blow; deflect. Unwilling to injure his opponent in such a pointless clash, Dartagnan simply tried to parry his rival's thrusts. What fun it was to watch Katherine Opponent in their classic screwball comedies! also N.

55. parsimony

N. stinginess; excessive frugality. Silas Marner's parsimony did not allow him to indulge in any luxuries. parsimonious , ADJ.

56. partial

ADJ. incomplete; having a liking for something . In this issue we have published only a partial list of contributors because we lack space to acknowledge everyone.

57. partiality

N. inclination; bias As a judge, not only must I be unbiased, but I must also avoid any evidence any evidence of partiality when I award the prize.

58. partisan

ADJ. one-sided; prejudiced; committed to a party. Rather than joining forces to solve our nation's problems, the Democrats and Republicans spend their time on partisan struggles. also N.

59. partition

V. divide into parts. Before their second daughter was born, Jason and Lizzie decided each child needed a room of her own, and so they partitioned a large bedroom into two small gut separate rooms. also N.

60. passe

ADJ. old-fashioned; past the prime. Her style is passe and reminiscent of the Victorian era.

61. passive

ADJ. not active; acted upon. Mahatma Gandhi urged his followers to pursue a program of passive resistance as he felt that it was more effective than violence and acts of terrorism.

62. pastiche

N. imitation of another's style in musical composition or in writing. We cannot even say that her music is a pastiche of this of that composer; it is, rather, reminiscent of many musicians.

63. pastoral

ADJ. rural. In these stories of pastoral life. we find an understanding of the daily tasks of country folk.

64. patent

ADJ. open for the public to everyone that the witness spoke the truth.

65. pathetic

ADJ. causing sadness, compassion, pity, touching. Everyone in the auditorium was weeping by the time she finished her pathetic tale about the orphaned boy.

66. pathological

ADJ. pertaining to disease. As we study the pathological aspects of this disease, we must not overlook psychological elements.

67. pathos

N. tender sorrow; pity; quality in art or literature that produces these feelings. The novel never degenerated into the maudlin or the overly sentimental.

68. patina

N. green crust on old bronze works; tone slowly taken by varnished painting. Judging by the patina on this bronze statue, we can conclude that this is the work if a medieval artist.

69. patois

N. local or provincial dialect. His years of study of the language at the university did not enable him to understand the patois of the natives.

70. patriarch

N. father and ruler of a family or tribe. In many primitive tribes, the leader and lawmaker was the patriarch.

71. patrician

ADJ. noble; aristocratic. We greatly admired her well-bred, patrician elegance. also N.

72. patronize

V. support; act superior toward; be a customer of. Penniless artists hope to find some wealthy art lover who will patronize them. If some condescending wine steward patronized me because he saw I knew nothing about fine wine, I'd refuse to patronize his restaurant.

73. paucity

V. scarcity. They closed the restaurant because the paucity of customers made it uneconomical to operate.

74. pauper

N. very poor person. Though Widow Brown was living on a reduced income, she was by no means a pauper.

75. peccadillo

N. slight offense. Whenever Huck swiped a cookie from the jar Miss Watson reacted as if he were guilty of armed robbery, not of some mere peccadillo.

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