GRE words

bombast \BOM-bast\, noun:

Pompous or pretentious speech or writing.

A more serious difficulty, though, is that "love" has inspired a vast deal of high-toned rhetoric, and Ms. Ackerman seems determined to boost the bombast that already engulfs this troublesome word.-- "This Crazy Thing Called Love", New York Times, June 26, 1994

It was partly this gift for nuance that caused Kempton to notice, while reviewing the work of Whittaker Chambers, something undeniably authentic beneath the bombast and self-pity.-- "Age of Ideology: Murray Kempton on the 30's", New York Times, January 31, 1999

He especially loved pro wrestling shows, where he learned the importance of bombast, and how to immobilize a larger opponent.-- John Brady, Bad Boy: The Life and Politics of Lee Atwater

blandish

Part of Speech: verb

Pronunciation: ['blæn-dish]

Definition: To flatter, to cajole or seduce with kind and ostensibly affectionate
words.

Usage: Blandishment is an every day occurrence: "He blandished me with every kind word in his vocabulary but I simply refused to surrender my Virginia tea to him." Not all blandishments fail, of course: "Sarah's subtle blandishments finally convinced Hardy to wear a shirt when her parents visit."

Suggested Usage: The activity of blandishing is "blandishment" and the person doing the blandishing is a "blandisher." Flattery may be sincere, as may be cajolery but blandishment is generally taken as insincere, beguiling flattery. "Wheedle" implies persistent flattery while cajolery implies flattery against the staunch resistance of the person being flattered.


blandishment \BLAN-dish-muhnt\, noun:

Speech or action that flatters and tends to coax, entice, or persuade; allurement -- often used in the plural.

But she had not risen at all to the law fellow's blandishments, his attempts to interest her in his ideas and persuade her to set forth her own.-- John Bayley, Elegy for Iris

And that my English-speaking victims find my blandishments so pretty, accented as they are, and yield to my soft lustrous Italian pronunciations, is a constant source of bliss for me.-- Anne Rice, Vittorio, the Vampire

Perfect, gentle reader: I will not begin this book with a tribute to your discernment, because a person of your obvious accomplishments would certainly be immune to such blandishments.-- Richard Stengel, You're Too Kind: A Brief History of Flattery

bilk \bilk\

verb, noun: 1. to defraud; cheat 2. to frustrate 3. to escape from; elude

noun: 1. a trick; fraud; deceit. 2. a cheat, swindler

Stuart Levine is a guy who is accused of trying to bilk numerous state agencies - and people seeking help from government agencies - out of millions of dollars.-- Steve Brown

bilious \BIL-yuhs\, adjective:

1. Of or pertaining to bile.

2. Marked by an excess secretion of bile.

3. Pertaining to, characterized by, or affected by gastric distress caused by a disorder of the liver.

4. Appearing as if affected by such a disorder.

5. Resembling bile, especially in color.

6. Of a peevish disposition; ill-tempered.

Most arresting of all, his normally gray elephant hide has changed to a bilious shade of green.-- Ellen Handler Spitz, Inside Picture Books

Warm and diplomatic in manner, devoted to his wife and sons, Rich at 52 fits the stereotype of the bilious, bitter critic in only one particular: He didn't have a happy childhood.-- Judith Newmark, "Theater Expert Fears 'The Bottom Will Drop
Out' For Broadway", St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 25, 2001

The field here on my right belongs to Knemon,
a human lacking in humanity,
bilious toward everyone, detesting crowds.-- Menander, The Grouch (translated by Sheila D'Atri)

I know of friends and colleagues who have received death threats and bilious ventings from angry and sometimes deranged strangers.-- Peter Wood, "You've Got (Hate) Mail", National Review, July 30, 2001


Example Sentence
Molly’s bilious demeanor made her ill-suited for a job in customer service, and she was let go from the position after two weeks.

Did you know?
"Bilious" is one of several words whose origins trace to the old belief that four bodily humors (black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood) control temperament. Just like "phlegmatic" (“of a slow and stolid phlegm-driven character”), “melancholy” (“experiencing dejection associated with black bile”), and the recent Word of the Day "sanguine" (“of a cheerful, blood-based disposition”), "bilious" suggests a personality associated with an excess of one of the humors — in this case, yellow bile. "Bilious," which first appeared in English in the mid-1500s, derives from the Middle French “bilieux,” which in turn traces to “bilis,” Latin for "bile." In the past, "bile" was also called "choler," which gives us "choleric,” a synonym of “bilious.”

bifurcate \BY-fur-kayt; by-FUR-kayt\

transitive verb: 1. To divide into two branches or parts.

intransitive verb: 1. To branch or separate into two parts.

adjective: 1. Divided into two branches or parts; forked.

There it was, a sliver of a million-dollar view: the red towers of the Golden Gate Bridge that bifurcated the waters, marking bay from ocean.-- Amy Tan, The Bonesetter's Daughter

They were strolling up the paved walk which bifurcated the rolling front lawn of her house.-- Erik Tarloff, The Man Who Wrote the Book

Increasingly, Canadian teachers are a bifurcated group -- either relative newcomers to the profession or experienced veterans.-- Heather-Jane Robertson, "The Devil's in the Demographics.", Phi Delta Kappan, January 1999

Peed Onk is bravura writing -- the narrative bifurcates, offering exterior realism and the interior torment of the Mother.-- Jon Saari, "Books", Antioch Review, Spring 1999

Riven continually confronts us with . . . visual echoes of its name, such as the giant dagger thrust into the landscape at one point, or the plate-tectonic fracturing of islands out of an implied unity, or even the bifurcate wing cases of the aptly named Riven beetles.-- Stuart Moulthrop, "Misadventure: Future Fiction and the New Networks", Style, Summer 1999


Part of Speech: verb

Pronunciation: ['bI-fêr-keyt]

Definition: To fork, to divide into two branches or prongs; to separate into two parts.

Usage: Today's word is golden in the garden: "Because the leaves of the iris don't bifurcate, they look like green spears rocketing from the ground." It also elevates the tone of directions you give to others: "Don't smash the chocolate bar into bits, Penelope, bifurcate it neatly and offer your brother a moiety!" Another delightful scene from the life of a happy Word-of-the-Day family, using two recent Words of the Day in one sentence!

Suggested Usage: The noun is "bifurcation" and the adjective, spelt the same as the verb but with displaced accent, ['bI-fêr-kêt], means "forked or divided into two parts."


Example Sentence
The proposed restructuring would bifurcate the company.

Did you know?
Yogi Berra, the baseball great who was noted for his head-scratching quotes, is purported to have said, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” Yogi’s advice might not offer much help when making tough decisions in life, but perhaps it will help you remember today’s word, “bifurcate.” A road that bifurcates splits in two like the one in Yogi’s adage. Other things can bifurcate as well, such as an organization that splits into two factions. “Bifurcate” derives from the Latin “bifurcus,” meaning “two-pronged,” a combination of the prefix “bi-” (“two”) and the noun “furca” (“fork”). “Furca,” as you can probably tell, gave us our word “fork.”

Chaste (adjective)

Pronunciation: ['cheyst]

Definition: Morally pure, decent and modest; celibate, virginal; pure or austere in design.

Usage: Chaste has a verb form, as well: "to chasten." We often use the verb "chasten" to simply mean "punish." However, remember that it shares the last definition of today's word: in order to make a pure or simply designed work, one must chasten it, or refine excess from it. "Chastely" is the adverb and "chastity," the noun, a popular feminine name back in the days when the idea was popular. A chastener is someone who or something that chastens.

Suggested Usage: Although feminine chastity still plays an important role in some societies, the chastity of women is less remarkable today in the industrialized West. The new twist on today's word is "pure and simple in design," which we might use in: "Hector's chaste leadership model caused consternation among his subordinates for the security of their sinecures (for which see the Archives)." Purification is also a sense that has survived in today's word: "Hillbourne strove to chasten his mind with scotch and classical music when he sat down to work on his novel."

pinchbeck \PINCH-bek\, noun, adjective:

1. an alloy of zinc and copper used to imitate gold in jewelry-making; by
extension, something counterfeit; an imitation

2. not genuine; fake

Watch out for the pinchbeck on the auction site.

We laughed at the pinchbeck heroism in the movie.

myopia \mahy-OH-pee-uh\, noun:

1. an abnormal eye condition in which only closeup objects are seen clearly; nearsightedness

2. shortsightedness; lack of foresight

She wears contact lenses for myopia.

His myopia left him without supplies after the storm.

by 1727, medical Latin, from Late Greek myopia, from myops "near-sighted," from myein "to shut" + ops "eye"

myopia=my+opia(我的眼睛阿)

expurgate \EK-sper-geyt\, verb:

to remove objectionable words or passages from a document

Grimms(格林)' fairy tales have been expurgated for children.

Definition: (adjective) Having the feeling that one is about to vomit.

Synonyms: nauseated, nauseous, sick

Usage: Just the thought of being on a cruise ship makes me queasy.