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Printable GRE Vocabulary Builder - List 19

GRE - Flashcards - Multiple Choice Questions - SHOW ME LIST 19

#WordsDefinitions
1 perfidious (adjective satellite) tending to betray; especially having a treacherous character as attributed to the Carthaginians by the Romans; "Punic faith"; "the perfidious Judas"; "the fiercest and most treacherous of foes"; "treacherous intrigues"

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2 perfidy (noun) an act of deliberate betrayal

(noun) betrayal of a trust

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3 perfunctory (adjective satellite) hasty and without attention to detail; not thorough; "a casual (or cursory) inspection failed to reveal the house's structural flaws"; "a passing glance"; "perfunctory courtesy"

(adjective satellite) as a formality only; "a one-candidate pro forma election"

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4 perilous (adjective satellite) fraught with danger; "dangerous waters"; "a parlous journey on stormy seas"; "a perilous voyage across the Atlantic in a small boat"; "the precarious life of an undersea diver"; "dangerous surgery followed by a touch-and-go recovery"

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5 peripatetic (noun) a follower of Aristotle or an adherent of Aristotelianism

(noun) a person who walks from place to place

(adjective satellite) traveling especially on foot; "peripatetic country preachers"; "a poor wayfaring stranger"

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6 perish (verb) pass from physical life and lose all all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life; "She died from cancer"; "They children perished in the fire"; "The patient went peacefully"

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7 perjury (noun) criminal offense of making false statements under oath

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8 permeate (verb) penetrate mutually or be interlocked; "The territories of two married people interpenetrate a lot"

(verb) spread or diffuse through; "An atmosphere of distrust has permeated this administration"; "music penetrated the entire building"

(verb) pass through; "Water permeates sand easily"

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9 pernicious (adjective satellite) working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way; "glaucoma is an insidious disease"; "a subtle poison"

(adjective satellite) exceedingly harmful

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10 perpetrate (verb) perform an act, usually with a negative connotation; "perpetrate a crime"; "pull a bank robbery"

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11 persevere (verb) be persistent, refuse to stop; "he persisted to call me every night"; "The child persisted and kept asking questions"

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12 personable (adjective satellite) (of persons) pleasant in appearance and personality

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13 perspicacity (noun) the capacity to assess situations or circumstances shrewdly and to draw sound conclusions

(noun) intelligence manifested by being astute (as in business dealings)

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14 pertain (verb) be a part or attribute of

(verb) have to do with or be relevant to; "There were lots of questions referring to her talk"; "My remark pertained to your earlier comments"

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15 pest (noun) a persistently annoying person

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16 petrified (adjective satellite) so frightened as to be unable to move; stunned or paralyzed with terror; "petrified with fear"; "she was petrified by the eerie sound"; "too numb with fear to move"

(adjective satellite) converted into a mineral; "petrified wood"

(adjective satellite) converted into stone

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17 petrify (verb) cause to become stone-like or stiff or dazed and stunned; "The horror petrified his feelings"; "Fear petrified her thinking"

(verb) make rigid and set into a conventional pattern; "rigidify the training schedule"; "ossified teaching methods"; "slogans petrify our thinking"

(verb) change into stone; "the wood petrified with time"

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18 petrous (adjective satellite) (of bone especially the temporal bone) resembling stone in hardness

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19 petulant (adjective satellite) easily irritated or annoyed; "an incorrigibly fractious young man"; "not the least nettlesome of his countrymen"

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20 philistine (noun) a member of an Aegean people who settled ancient philistia around the 12th century BC

(noun) a person who is uninterested in intellectual pursuits

(adjective satellite) smug and ignorant and indifferent or hostile to artistic and cultural values

(adjective) of or relatin to ancient Philistia or the the culture of the Philistines

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21 phlegmatic (adjective satellite) showing little emotion; "a phlegmatic...and certainly undemonstrative man"

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22 picaresque (adjective satellite) involving clever rogues or adventurers especially as in a type of fiction; "picaresque novels"; "waifs of the picaresque tradition"; "a picaresque hero"

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23 pied (adjective satellite) having sections or patches colored differently and usually brightly; "a jester dressed in motley"; "the painted desert"; "a particolored dress"; "a piebald horse"; "pied daisies"

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24 pinch (noun) the act of apprehending (especially apprehending a criminal); "the policeman on the beat got credit for the collar"

(noun) a squeeze with the fingers

(noun) small sharp biting

(noun) a sudden unforeseen crisis (usually involving danger) that requires immediate action; "he never knew what to do in an emergency"

(noun) a slight but appreciable addition; "this dish could use a touch of garlic"

(noun) an injury resulting from getting some body part squeezed

(noun) a painful or straitened circumstance; "the pinch of the recession"

(verb) irritate as if by a nip, pinch, or tear; "smooth surfaces can vellicate the teeth"; "the pain is as if sharp points pinch your back"

(verb) cut the top off; "top trees and bushes"

(verb) squeeze tightly between the fingers; "He pinched her behind"; "She squeezed the bottle"

(verb) make ridges into by pinching together

(verb) make off with belongings of others

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25 pious (adjective) having or showing or expressing reverence for a deity; "pious readings"

(adjective satellite) devoutly religious; "a god-fearing and law-abiding people" H.L.Mencken

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26 piquant (adjective satellite) attracting or delighting; "an engaging frankness"; "a piquant face with large appealing eyes"

(adjective satellite) engagingly stimulating or provocative; "a piquant wit"; "salty language"

(adjective satellite) having an agreeably pungent taste

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27 pique (noun) tightly woven fabric with raised cords

(noun) a sudden outburst of anger; "his temper sparked like damp firewood"

(verb) cause to feel resentment or indignation; "Her tactless remark offended me"

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28 pitfall (noun) a trap in the form of a concealed hole

(noun) an unforeseen or unexpected or surprising difficulty

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29 pith (noun) the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience; "the gist of the prosecutor's argument"; "the heart and soul of the Republican Party"; "the nub of the story"

(noun) soft spongelike central cylinder of the stems of most flowering plants

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30 pivotal (adjective satellite) being of crucial importance; "a pivotal event"; "Its pivotal location has also exposed it to periodic invasions"- Henry Kissinger; "the polar events of this study"; "a polar principal"

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31 placate (verb) cause to be more favorably inclined; gain the good will of; "She managed to mollify the angry customer"

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32 placate (verb) cause to be more favorably inclined; gain the good will of; "She managed to mollify the angry customer"

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33 plaintive (adjective satellite) expressing sorrow

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34 plaque (noun) a memorial made of brass

(noun) (pathology) a small abnormal patch on or inside the body

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35 platitude (noun) a trite or obvious remark

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36 plea (noun) an answer indicating why a suit should be dismissed

(noun) (law) a defendant's answer by a factual matter (as distinguished from a demurrer)

(noun) a humble request for help from someone in authority

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37 plead (verb) appeal or request earnestly; "I pleaded with him to stop"

(verb) enter a plea, as in courts of law; "She pleaded not guilty"

(verb) offer as an excuse or plea; "She was pleading insanity"

(verb) make an allegation in an action or other legal proceeding, especially answer the previous pleading of the other party by denying facts therein stated or by alleging new facts

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38 plethora (noun) extreme excess; "an embarrassment of riches"

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39 pliant (adjective satellite) capable of being shaped or bent or drawn out; "ductile copper"; "malleable metals such as gold"; "they soaked the leather to made it pliable"; "pliant molten glass"; "made of highly tensile steel alloy"

(adjective satellite) capable of being bent or flexed or twisted without breaking; "a flexible wire"; "a pliant young tree"

(adjective satellite) able to adjust readily to different conditions; "an adaptable person"; "a flexible personality"; "an elastic clause in a contract"

(adjective satellite) capable of being influenced or formed; "the plastic minds of children"; "a pliant nature"

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40 plod (verb) walk heavily and firmly, as when weary, or through mud; "Mules plodded in a circle around a grindstone"

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41 pluck (noun) the act of pulling and releasing a taut cord

(noun) the trait of showing courage and determination in spite of possible loss or injury

(verb) look for and gather; "pick mushrooms"; "pick flowers"

(verb) strip of feathers; "pull a chicken"; "pluck the capon"

(verb) pull lightly but sharply with a plucking motion; "he plucked the strings of his mandolin"

(verb) pull or pull out sharply; "pluck the flowers off the bush"

(verb) rip off; ask an unreasonable price

(verb) sell something to or obtain something from by energetic and especially underhanded activity

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42 plumb (noun) the metal bob of a plumb line

(verb) adjust with a plumb line so as to make vertical

(verb) examine thoroughly and in great depth

(verb) measure the depth of something

(verb) weight with lead

(adjective satellite) exactly vertical; "the tower of Pisa is far out of plumb"

(adverb) completely; used as intensifiers; "clean forgot the appointment"; "I'm plumb (or plum) tuckered out"

(adverb) exactly; "fell plumb in the middle of the puddle"

(adverb) conforming to the direction of a plumb line

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43 plummet (noun) the metal bob of a plumb line

(verb) drop sharply; "The stock market plummeted"

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44 plunge (noun) a brief swim in water

(noun) a steep and rapid fall

(verb) begin with vigor; "He launched into a long diatribe"; "She plunged into a dangerous adventure"

(verb) engross (oneself) fully; "He immersed himself into his studies"

(verb) cause to be immersed; "The professor plunged his students into the study of the Italian text"

(verb) immerse briefly into a liquid so as to wet, coat, or saturate; "dip the garment into the cleaning solution"; "dip the brush into the paint"

(verb) thrust or throw into; "Immerse yourself in hot water"

(verb) dash violently or with great speed or impetuosity; "She plunged at it eagerly"

(verb) drop steeply; "the stock market plunged"

(verb) fall abruptly; "It plunged to the bottom of the well"

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45 poignant (adjective satellite) arousing affect; "the homecoming of the released hostages was an affecting scene"; "poignant grief cannot endure forever"; "his gratitude was simple and touching"

(adjective satellite) keenly distressing to the mind or feelings; "poignant anxiety"

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46 poise (noun) great coolness and composure under strain; "keep your cool"

(noun) a cgs unit of dynamic viscosity equal to one dyne-second per square centimeter; the viscosity of a fluid in which a force of one dyne per square centimeter maintains a velocity of 1 centimeter per second

(noun) a state of being balanced in a stable equilibrium

(verb) hold or carry in equilibrium

(verb) cause to be balanced or suspended

(verb) prepare (oneself) for something unpleasant or difficult

(verb) be motionless, in suspension; "The bird poised for a few moments before it attacked"

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47 polemical (adjective satellite) of or involving dispute or controversy

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48 ponderous (adjective satellite) having great mass and weight and unwieldiness; "a ponderous stone"; "a ponderous burden"; "ponderous weapons"

(adjective satellite) slow and laborious because of weight; "the heavy tread of tired troops"; "moved with a lumbering sag-bellied trot"; "ponderous prehistoric beasts"; "a ponderous yawn"

(adjective satellite) labored and dull; "a ponderous speech"

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49 portent (noun) a sign of something about to happen; "he looked for an omen before going into battle"

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50 poseur (noun) a person who habitually pretends to be something he is not

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