BarroGRE with sentences -Wordlist O
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Complete list of Terms and Definitions for BarroGRE with sentences -Wordlist O

Terms Definitions
invincible unconquerable Superman is invincible.
ostensible apparent; professed; pretended Although the ostensible purpose of this expedition is to discover new lands, we are really interested in finding new markets for our products.
mandatory obligatory These instructions are mandatory; any violation will be severely punished.
fluctuation wavering Meteorologists watch the fluctuations of the barometer in order to predict the weather.
firebrand hothead; troublemaker The police triedto keep track of all the local firebrands when the President came to town.
glaring highly conspicuous; harshly bright glaring spelling or grammatical errors in your resume will unfavorably impress potential employers.
garrulous excessively talkative, especially about unimportant subjects; loquacious; wordy Many club members avoided the company of the garrulous junior executive because his contant chatter bored them to tears.
incorrigible uncorrectable Though Widow Douglass hoped to reform Huck, Miss Watson pronounced him incorrigible and said he would come to no good end.
interdict prohibit; forbid Civilized nations must interdict the use of nuclear weapons if we expect out society to live.
impious irreverent The congregation was offended by her impious remarks.
orthodox traditional; conservative in belief Faced with a problem, he preferred to take an orthodox approach rather than shock anyone.
ornate excessively or elaborately decorated Furniture of the Baroque period can be recognized by its ornate carvings.
maverick rebel; nonconformist To the masculine literary establishment, George Sand with her insistence on wearing trousers and smoking cigars was clearly a maverick who fought her proper womanly role.
multiform having many forms Snowflakes are multiform but always hexagonal.
meticulous excessively careful He was meticulous in checking his accounts and never made mistakes.
mannered affected; not natural Attempting to copy the style of his wealthy neighbors, Gatsby adopted a mannered, artificial way of speech.
malediction curse The witch uttered maledictions against her captors.
fathom comprehend; investigate I find his motives impossible to fathom.
fleece rob; plunder The tricksters fleeced him of his inheritance.
fundamental basic; primary; essential The committee discussed all sorts of side issues without ever getting down to addressing the fundamental problem.
festive joyous; celebratory Their wedding in the park was a festive occasion.
gambol skip; leap playfully Watching children gamboling in the park is a pleasant experience
galleon large sailing ship The Spaniards pinned their hopes on the galleon, the large warship; the British, on the smaller and faster pinnace.
gadfly animal-biting fly; an irritating person Like a gadfly, he irritated all the guests at the hotel; within forty eight hours, everyone regarded him as an annoying busybody.
idyllic charmingly carefree; simple Far from the city, she led an idyllic existence in her rural retreat.
impotent weak; ineffective Although he wished to break the nicotine habit, he found himself impotent in resisisting the craving for a cigarette.
incisive cutting; sharp His incisive remarks made us see the fallacy in our plans.
incline slope; slant The architect recommended that the nursing home's ramp be rebuilt because its incline was too steep for wheelchairs.
incidental not essential; minor The scholarship covered his major expenses at college and some of his incidental expenses as well.
impinge infringe; touch; collide with How could they be married without impinging on one another's freedom?
incongruity lack of harmony; absurdity The incongruity of his wearing sneakers with formal attire amused the observers.
infantile childish; infantlike When will he outgrow such infantile behavior?
indeterminate uncertain; not clearly fixed; indefinite That interest rates shall rise appears certain; when they will do so, however, remains indeterminate.
insomnia wakefulness; inability to sleep He refused to join us in a midnight cup of coffee because he claimed it gave him insomnia.
improvident thriftless He was constantly being warned to mend his improvident ways and begin to "save for a rainy day."
incarnate endowed with flesh; personified Your attitude is so fiendish that you must be a devil incarnate.
inordinate unrestrained; excessive She had an inordinate fondness for candy.
indolence laziness He outgrew his youthful indolence to become a model of industry and alertness on the job.
onus burden; responsibility The emperor was spared the onus of signing the surrender papers; instead, he relegated the assignment to his generals.
officious meddlesome; excessively pushy in offering one's services After her long flight, Jill just wanted to nap, but the officious bellboy was intent on showing her all the special features of the deluxe suite.
ordain command; arrange; consecrate The king ordained that no foreigner should be allowed to enter the city.
masticate chew We must masticate our food carefully and slowly in order to avoid digestive disorders.
maternal motherly Many animals display maternal instincts only while their offspring are young and helpless.
maelstrom whirlpool The canoe was tossed about in the maelstrom.
monumental massive Writing a dictionary is a monumental task.
missile object to be thrown or projected Scientists are experimenting with guided missiles.
mitigate appease Nothing he did could mitigate her wrath; she was unforgiving.
mutinous unruly; rebellious The captain had to use force to quiet his mutinous crew.
muted silent; muffled; toned down In the funeral parlor, the mourners' voices had a muted quality.
multiplicity state of being numerous He was appalled by the multuplicity of details he had to complete before setting out on his mission.
metamorphosis change of form The metamorphosis of caterpillar to butterfly is typical of many such changes in animal life.
mettle courage; spirit When challenged by the other horses in the race, the thoroughbred proved its mettle by its determination to hold the lead.
miscellany mixture of writings on various subjects This is an interesting miscellany of nineteenth-century prose and poetry.
mire entangle; stick in swampy ground Their rear wheels became mired in mud.
misdemeanor minor crime The culprit pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor rather than face trial for a felony.
minion a servile dependent He was always accompanied by several of his minions because he enjoyed their subservience and flattery.
fleck spot Her cheeks flecked with tears, were testimony to the hours of weeping.
flippancy trifling gaiety Your flippancy at this serious moment is offensive.
fortitude bravery; courage He was awarded the medal for his fortitude in the battle.
fusilade simultaneous firing or outburs (of missiles, questions, etc.) Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture concludes with a thunderous fusilade of cannon fire.
functionary official As his case was transferred from one functionary to another, he began to despair of ever reaching a settlement.
formality adherence to established rules or procedures Signing this petition is a mere formality; it does not obligate you in any way.
foresight ability to foresee future happenings; prudence A wise investor, she had the foresight to buy land just before the current real estate boom.
foible weakness; slight fault We can overlook the foibles of our friends; no one is perfect.
fluted having vertical parallel grooves (as in a pillar) All that remained of the ancient building were the fluted columns.
foolhardy rash Don't be foolhardy. Get the advice of experienced people before undertaking this venture.
genteel well-bred; elegant We are looking for a man with a genteel apperance who can inspire confidence by his cultivated manner.
gaudy flashy; showy Her gaudy taste in clothes apalled us.
garrulity talkativeness The man who married a dumb wife asked the doctor to make him deaf because of his wife's garrulity after her cure.
gusty windy The gusty weather made sailing precarious.
intuition power of knowing without reasoning She claimed to know the truth by intuition.
ineluctable irresistable; not to be escaped He felt that his fate was ineluctible and refused to make any attempt to improve his lot.
infringe violate; encroach I think your machine infringes on my patent and intend to sue.
infinitesimal very small In the twentieth century, physicists have made their greatest discoveries about the characteristics of infinitesimal objects like the atom and its parts.
imbue saturate, fill His visits to the famous Gothic cathedrals imbued him with feelings of awe and reverence.
illuminate brighten; clear up or make understandable; enlighten Just as a lamp can illuminate a dark room, a perceptive comment can illuminate a knotty problem.
inimical unfriendly; hostile She felt that they were inimical and were hoping for her downfall.
insurgent rebellious We will not discuss reforms until the insurgent troops have returned to their homes.
inalienable not to be taken away; nontransferable The Declaration of Independence mentions the inalienable rights that all of us possess.
initiate begin; originate; receive into a group The college is about to initiate a program for reducing math anxiety among students.
innuendo hint; insinuation I can defend myself against direct accusations; innuendos and oblique attacks on my character are what trouble me.
optician maker and seller of eyeglasses The patient took the prescription given him by his oculist to the optician.
outspoken candid; blunt The candidate was too outspoken to be a successful politician; he had not yet learned to weigh his words carefully.
obdurate stubborn He was obdurate in his refusal to listen to our complaints.
obsidian clak volcanic rock The deposits of obsidian on the mountain slopes were an indiacation that volcano had erupted in ancient times.
monotheism belief in one God Abraham was the first to proclaim his belief in monotheism.
mote small speck The tiniest mote in the eye is very painful.
mendicant beggar From the moment we left the ship, we were surrounded by mendicants and peddlers.
mode prevailing style She was not used to their lavish mode of living.
foist insert improperly; palm off I will not permit you to foist such ridiculous ideas upon the membership of this group.
fray brawl The three musketeers were in the thick of fray.
fritter waste He could not apply himself to any task and frittered away his time in idle conversation.
fatalism belief that events are determined by forces beyond one's control With fatalism, he accepted the hardships that beset him.
feasible practical This is an entirely feasible proposal. I suggest we adopt it.
fervor glowing ardor Their kiss was full of the fervor of first love.
fervent ardent; hot She felt that the fervent praise was excessive and somewhat undeserved.
fester generate pus When her finger began to fester, the doctor lanced it and removed the splinter that had caused the pus to form.
gloss over explain away No matter how hard he tried to talk around the issue, President Bush could not gloss over the fact that he had raised the taxes after all.
gerrymander change in voting district lines in order to favor a political party The illogical pattern of the map of this congressional district is proof that the state legislature gerrymandered this area in order to favor the majority party.
germinal pertaining to a germ; creative Such an idea is germinal; I am certain that it will influence thinkers and philosophers for many generations.
galaxy the Milky Way; any collection of brilliant personalities The deaths of such famous actors as Clark Gable, Gary Cooper, Spencer Tracy, and Marlene Dietrich demonstrate that the galaxy of Hollywood superstars is rapidly disppearing.
gravity seriousness We could tell we were in serious trouble from the gravity of her expression.
galvanize stimulate by shock; stir up The entire nation was galvanized into strong military activity by the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
intimidation fear A ruler who maintains his power by intimidation is bound to develop clandestine resistance.
import significance I feel that you have not grasped the full import of the message sent tous by the enemy.
increment increase The new contract calls for a 10 percent increment in salary for each employee for the next two years.
impetuous violent; hasty; rash We tried to curb his impetuous behavior because we felt that in his haste he might offend some people.
impenitent not repentant We could see by his brazen attitude that he was impenitent.
impasse predicament from which there is no escape In this impasse, all turned to prayer as their last hope.
occlude shut; close A blood clot occluded an artery to the heart.
opus work Although many critics hailed his Fifth Symphony, he did not regard it as his major opus.
obtrusive pushing forward I found her a very obstrusive person, constantly seeking the center of the stage.
momentum quantity of motion of a moving body; impetus The car lost momentum as it tried to ascend the steep hill.
musky having the odor of musk She left a trace of musky perfume behind her.
fulcrum support on which a lever rests If we use this stone as a fulcrum and the crowbar as a lever, we may be able to move this boulder.
glossary brief explanation of words used in the text I have found the glossary in this book very useful; it has eliminated many trips to the dictionary.
improvise compose on the spur of the moment She would sit at the piano and improvise for hours on themes from Bach and Handel.
obeisance bow She made an obeisance as the king and queen entered the room.
gambit opening in chess in which a piece is sacrificed The player was afraid to accept his opponent's gambit because he feared a trap which as yet he could not see.