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GRE Barrons Words C
A complete list of Barron's GRE Wordlist, with meanings and sentences.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| cabal | small group of persons secretly united to promote their own interests The cabal was defeated when its scheme was discovered. |
| cache | hiding place The detectives followed the suspects until he led them to the cache where he had stored his loot. |
| cacophony | discord Some people seem to enjoy the cacophony of an orchestra that is tuning up. |
| cadaver | corpse In some states, it is illegal to dissect cadavers. |
| cadaverous | like a corpse; pale From his cadaverous appearance, we could see how the disease had ravaged him. |
| cadence | rhythmic rise and fall (of words or sounds); beat Marching down the road, the troops sang out, following the cadence set by the sergeant. |
| cajole | coax; wheedle I will not be cajoled into granting your wish. |
| calamity | disaster; misery As news of the calamity spread, offers of relief poured in to the stricken community. |
| caliber | ability; capacity A man of such caliber should not be assigned such menial tasks. |
| calligraphy | beautiful writing; excellent penmanship As we examine ancient manuscripts, we became impressed with the calligraphy of the scribes. |
| callous | hardened; unfeeling He had worked in the hospital for so many years that he was callous to the suffering in the wards. |
| callow | youthful; immature In that youthful movement, the leaders were only a little less callow than their immature followers. |
| calorific | heat-producing Coal is much more calorific than green wood. |
| calumny | malicious misrepresentation He could endure his financial failure, but he could not bear the calumny that his foes heaped upon him. |
| camaraderie | good-fellowship What he loved best about his job was the sense of camaraderie he and his co-workers shared. |
| cameo | shell or jewel carved in relief Tourists are advised not to purchase cameos from the street peddlers of Rome who sell poor specimens of the carver's art. |
| canard | unfounded rumor It is almost impossible to protect oneself from such a base canard. |
| candor | frankness The candor and simplicity of his speech impressed all, it was all clear he held nothing back. |
| canine | related to dogs; doglike Some days the canine population of Berkeley seems almost to outnumber the human population. |
| canker | any ulcerous sore; any evil Poverty is a canker in the body politic; it must be cured. |
| canny | shrewd; thrifty The canny Scotsman was more than a match for the swindlers. |
| cant | pious phraseology; jargon of criminals Angry that the president had slashed the education budget, we dismissed his speech on the importance of education as mere cant. |
| cantankerous | ill-humored; irritable Constantly complaining about his treatment and refusing to cooperate with the hospital staff, he was a cantankerous patient. |
| cantata | story set to music, to be sung by a chorus The choral society sang the new cantata composed by its leader. |
| canter | slow gallop Because the racehorse had outdistanced its competition so easily, the reporter wrote that the race was won in a canter. |
| canto | division of a long poem Dante's poetic masterpiece The Divine Comedy is divided into cantos. |
| canvass | determine or seek opinions, votes, etc. After canvassing the sentiments of his constituents, the congressman was confident that he represented the majority opinion of his district. |
| capacious | spacious In the capacious areas of the railroad terminal, thousands of travelers lingered while waiting for their train. |
| capillary | having a very fine bore The changes in surface tension of liquids in capillary vessels is of special interest to physicists. |
| capitulate | surrender The enemy was warned to capitulate or face annihilation. |
| caprice | whim She was an unpredictable creature, acting on caprice, never taking thought of the consequences. |
| capricious | fickle; incalculable The storm was capricious and changed course constantly. |
| caption | title; chapter heading; text under illustration I find the captions that accompany these cartoons very clever and humorous. |
| captious | faultfinding His criticisms were always captious and frivolous, never offering constructive suggestions. |
| carafe | glass water bottle With each dinner, the patron receives a carafe of red or white wine. |
| carapace | shell covering the back (of a turtle, crab, etc) At the children's zoo, Richard perched on top of the giant turtle's hard carapace as it slowly made its way around the enclosure. |
| carat | unit of weight for precious stones; measure of fineness of gold He gave her a diamond that weighed three carats and was mounted in an eighteen-carat gold band. |
| carcinogenic | causing cancer Many supposedly harmless substances have been revealed to be carcinogenic. |
| cardinal | chief If you want to increase your word power, the cardinal rule of vocabulary-building is to read. |
| careen | lurch; sway from side to side The taxicab careened wildly as it rounded the corner. |
| caricature | distortion; burlesque The caricatures he drew always emphasized personal weaknesses of the people he burlesqued. |
| carillon | set of bells capable of being played The carillon in the bell tower of the Coca-Cola pavilion at the New York World's Fair provided musical entertainment every hour. |
| carnage | destruction of life The carnage that can be caused by atomic warfare adds to the responsibilities of our statesmen. |
| carnal | fleshly The public was more interested in carnal pleasures than in spiritual matters. |
| carnivorous | meat-eating The lion is a carnivorous animal. |
| carousal | drunken revel The party degenerated into an ugly carousal. |
| carping | petty criticism; fault-finding Welcoming constructive criticism, Lexy appreciated her editor's comments, finding them free of carping. |
| carrion | rotting flesh of a dead body Buzzards are nature's scavengers; they eat the carrion left behind by other predators. |
| cartographer | map-maker Though not a professional cartographer, Tolkien was able to construct a map of the fictional world. |
| cascade | small waterfall We could not appreciate the beauty of the many cascades as we made detours around each of them to avoid getting wet. |
| caste | one of the hereditary classes in Hindu society, social stratification; prestige The differences created by caste in India must be wiped out if true democracy is to prevail in that country. |
| castigation | punishment; severe criticism Sensitive even to mild criticism, Woolf could not bear castigation that she found in certain reviews. |
| casualty | serious or fatal accident The number of automotive casualties on this holiday weekend was high. |
| cataclysm | deluge; upheaval A cataclysm such as the French Revolution affects all countries. |
| catalyst | agent that brings about a chemical change while it remains unaffected and unchanged Many chemical reactions cannot take place without the presence of a catalyst. |
| catapult | slingshot; hurling machine Airplanes are sometimes launched from battleships by catapults. |
| cataract | great waterfall; eye abnormality She gazed with awe at the mighty cataract known as Niagara Falls. |
| catastrophe | calamity The Johnstown flood was a catastrophe. |
| catechism | book for religious instruction; instruction by question and answer He taught by engaging his pupils in a catechism until they gave him the correct answer. |
| categorical | without exceptions; unqualified; absolute Though the captain claimed he was never, never sick at sea, he finally qualified his categorical denial; he was hardly ever sick at sea. |
| catharsis | purging or cleansing of any passage of the body Aristotle maintained that tragedy created a catharsis by purging the soul of base concepts. |
| cathartic | purgative Some drugs act as laxatives when taken in small doses but act as cathartics when taken in much larger doses. |
| catholic | universal; wide-ranging liberal He was extremely catholic in his taste and read everything he could find in the library. |
| caucus | private meeting of members of a party to select officers or determine policy At the opening of Congress the members of the Democratic Party held a caucus to elect the majority leader of the House and the party whip. |
| caulk | to make watertight (by plugging seams) When water from the shower leaked into the basement, we knew it was time to caulk the tiles at the edges of the shower stall. |
| causal | implying a cause-and-effect relationship The psychologist maintained there was a causal relationship between the nature of one's early childhood experiences and one's adult personality. |
| caustic | burning; sarcastically biting The critic's caustic remarks angered the hapless actors who were the subjects of his sarcasm. |
| cauterize | burn with hot iron or caustic In order to prevent infection, the doctor cauterized the wound. |
| cavalcade | procession; parade As described by Chaucer, the cavalcade of Canterbury pilgrims was motley group. |
| cavalier | casual and offhand; arrogant Sensitive about having her ideas taken lightly, Marcia felt insulted by Mark's cavalier dismissal of her suggestion. |
| cavil | make frivolous objections I respect your sensible criticisms, but I dislike the way you cavil about unimportant details. |
| cede | transfer; yield title to I intend to cede this property to the city. |
| celerity | speed; rapidity Hamlet resented his mother's celerity in remarrying within a month after his father's death. |
| celestial | heavenly She spoke of the celestial joys that awaited virtuous souls in the hereafter. |
| celibate | abstaining from sexual intercourse; unmarried Though the late Havelock Ellis wrote extensively about sexual customs and was considered an expert in such matters, recent studies maintain he was celibate throughout his life. |
| censor | overseer of morals; person who eliminates inappropriate matter Soldiers dislike having their mail read by a censor but understand the need for this precaution. |
| censorious | critical censorious people delight in casting blame. |
| censure | blame; criticize He was censured for his inappropriate behavior. |
| centaur | mythical figure, half man and half horse I was particularly impressed by the statue of the centaur in the Roman Hall of the museum. |
| centigrade | denoting a widely used temperature scale (basically same as Celsius) On the centigrade thermometer, the freezing point of water is zero degrees. |
| centrifugal | radiating; departing from the center Many automatic drying machines remove excess moisture from clothing by centrifugal force. |
| centrifuge | machine that separates substances by whirling them At the dairy, we employ a centrifuge to separate cream from milk. |
| centripetal | tending toward the center Does centripetal force or the force of gravity bring orbiting bodies to the earth's surface? |
| centurion | Roman army officer Because he was in command of a company of one hundred soldiers, he was called a centurion. |
| cerebral | pertaining to the brain or intellect The content of philosophical works is cerebral in nature and requires much thought. |
| cerebration | thought Mathematics problems sometimes require much cerebration. |
| ceremonious | marked by formality Ordinary dress would be in appropriate at so ceremonious an affair. |
| cessation | stopping The workers threatened a cessation of all activities if their demands were not met. |
| cession | yielding to another; ceding The cession of Alaska to the United States is discussed in this chapter. |
| chafe | warm by rubbing The collar chafed his neck. |
| chaff | worthless products of an endeavor When you separate the wheat from the chaff, be sure you throw out the chaff. |
| chaffing | bantering; joking Sometimes his flippant and chaffing remarks annoy us. |
| chagrin | vexation; disappointment Her refusal to go with us filled us with chagrin. |
| chalice | goblet; consecrated cup In a small room adjoining the cathedral, many ornately decorated chalices made by the most famous European goldsmiths were on display. |
| chameleon | lizard that changes color in different situations Like the chameleon, he assumed the political coloration of every group he met. |
| champion | support militantly Martin Luther King, Jr., won the Nobel Peace Prize because he championed the oppressed in their struggle for equality. |
| chaotic | in utter disorder He tried to bring order into the chaotic state of affairs. |
| charisma | divine gift; great popular charm or appeal Political commentators have deplored the importance of a candidate's charisma in these days of television campaigning. |
| charlatan | quack; pretender to knowledge When they realized that the Wizard didn't know how to get them back to Kansas, Dorothy and her friends were sure they'd been duped by a charlatan. |
| chary | cautious; sparing or restrained about giving A prudent, thrifty New Englander, DeWitt was as chary of investing money in junk bonds as he was chary of paying people unnecessary compliments. |
| chase | ornament a metal surface by indenting With his hammer, he carefully chased an intricate design onto the surface of the chalice. |
| chasm | abyss They could not see the bottom of the chasm. |
| chassis | framework and working parts of an automobile Examining the car after the accident, the owner discovered that the body had been ruined but that the chassis was unharmed. |
| chaste | pure Her chaste and decorous garb was appropriately selected for the solemnity of the occasion. |
| chasten | discipline; punish in order to correct Whom God loves, God chastens. |
| chastise | punish I must chastise you for this offense. |
| chauvinist | blindly devoted patriot A chauvinist cannot recognize any faults in his country, no matter how flagrant they may be. |
| check | stop motion; curb or restrain Thrusting out her arm, Grandma checked Bobby's lunge at his sister. "Young man," she said, "you'd better check your temper." |
| checkered | marked by changes in fortune During his checkered career he had lived in palatial mansions and in dreary boardinghouses. |
| cherubic | angelic; innocent-looking With her cheerful smile and rosy cheeks, she was a particularly cherubic child. |
| chicanery | trickery Your deceitful tactics in this case are indications of chicanery. |
| chide | scold Grandma began to chide Steven for his lying. |
| chimerical | fantastic; highly imaginative Poe's chimerical stories are sometimes too morbid for reading in bed. |
| chivalrous | courteous; faithful; brave chivalrous behavior involves noble words and good deeds. |
| choleric | hot-tempered His flushed, angry face indicated a choleric nature. |
| choreography | art of dancing Martha Graham introduced a form of choreography that seemed awkward and alien to those who had been brought up on classic ballet. |
| chronic | long established, as a disease The doctors were finally able to attribute his chronic headaches and nausea to traces of formaldehyde gas in his apartment. |
| chronicle | report; record (in chronological order) The gossip columnist was paid to chronicle the latest escapades of the socially prominent celebrities. |
| churlish | boorish; rude Dismayed by his churlish manners at the party, the girls vowed never to invite him again. |
| ciliated | having minute hairs The paramecium is a ciliated, one-celled animal. |
| cipher | nonentity; worthless person or thing She claimed her ex-husband was a total cipher and wondered why she had ever married him. |
| cipher | secret code Lacking his code book, the spy was unable to decode the message sent to him in cipher. |
| circlet | small ring; band This tiny circlet is very costly because it is set with precious stones. |
| circuitous | roundabout Because of the traffic congestion on the main highways, she took a circuitous route. |
| circumlocution | indirect or roundabout expression He was afraid to call spade a spade and resorted to circumlocutions to avoid direct reference to his subject. |
| circumscribe | limit; confine Although I do not wish to circumscribe your activities, I must insist that you complete this assignment before you start anything else. |
| circumspect | prudent; cautious Investigating before acting, she tried always to be circumspect. |
| circumvent | outwit; baffle In order to circumvent the enemy, we will make two preliminary attacks in other sections before starting our major campaign. |
| citadel | fortress The citadel overlooked the city like a protecting angel. |
| cite | quote; commend She could cite passages in the Bible from memory. |
| civil | having to do with citizens or the state; courteous and polite Although internal Revenue Service agents are civil servants, they are not always civil to suspected tax evaders. |
| clairvoyant | having foresight; fortuneteller Cassandra's clairvoyant warning was not heeded by the Trojans. |
| clamber | climb by crawling She clambered over the wall. |
| clamor | noise The clamor of the children at play outside made it impossible for her to take a nap. |
| clandestine | secret After avoiding their chaperon, the lovers had a clandestine meeting. |
| clangor | loud, resounding noise The blacksmith was accustomed to the clangor of hammers on steel. |
| clapper | striker (tongue) of a bell Wishing to be undisturbed by the bell, Dale wound his scarf around the clapper to muffle its striking. |
| clarion | shrill, trumpetlike sound We woke to the clarion to muffle its striking. |
| claustrophobia | fear of being locked in His fellow classmates laughed at his claustrophobia and often threatened to lock him in his room. |
| clavicle | collarbone Even though he wore shoulder pads, the football player broke his clavicle during a practice scrimmage. |
| cleave | split asunder The lightening cleaves the tree in two. |
| cleft | split Erosion caused a cleft in the huge boulder. |
| clemency | disposition ot be lenient; mildness, as of the weather The lawyer was pleased when the case was sent to Judge Smith's chambers because Smith was noted for her clemency toward first offenders. |
| cliche | phrase culled in meaning by repetition High school compositions are often marred by such cliches as "strong as an ox." |
| clientele | body of customers The rock club attracted a young, stylish clientele. |
| climactic | relating to the highest point When he reached the climactic portions of the book, he could not stop reading. |
| clime | region; climate His doctors advised him to move to a milder clime. |
| clique | small, exclusive group She charged that a clique had assumed control of school affairs. |
| cloister | monastery or convent The nuns lived in the cloister. |
| clout | great influence (especially political or social) Gatsby wondered whether he had enough clout to be admitted to the exclusive club. |
| cloying | distasteful (because excessive); excessively sweet or sentimental Disliking the cloying sweetness of standard wedding cakes, Jody and Tom chose a homemade carrot cake for their reception. |
| coagulate | thicken; congeal; clot Even after you remove the pudding from the burner, it will continue to coagulate as it stands. |
| coalesce | combine; fuse The brooks coalesce into one large river. |
| coda | concluding section of a musical or literary composition The piece concluded with a distinctive coda that strikingly brought together various motifs. |
| coddle | treat gently; pamper Don't coddle the children to much; they need a taste of discipline. |
| codicil | supplement to the body of a will This codicil was drawn up five years after the writing of the original will. |
| codify | arrange (laws, rules) as a code; classify We need to take the varying rules and regulations of the different health agencies and codify them into a national health code. |
| coercion | use of force They forced him to obey, but only by great coercion. |
| coeval | living at the same time as; contemporary coeval with the dinosaur, the pterodactyl flourished during the Mesozoic era. |
| cog | tooth projecting from a wheel A bicycle chain moves through a series of cogs in order to propel the bike. |
| cogent | convincing She presented cogent arguments to the jury. |
| cogitate | think over cogitate on this problem; the solution will come. |
| cognate | related linguistically; allied by blood; similar or akin in nature The English word "mother" cognate to the Latin word "mater," whose influence is visible in the words "maternal" and "maternity." |
| cognitive | having to do with knowing or perceiving related to the mental precesses Though Jack was emotionally immature, his cognitive development was admirable; he was very advanced intellectually. |
| cognizance | knowledge During the election campaign, the two candidates were kept in full cognizance of the international situation. |
| cohere | stick together Solids have a greater tendency to cohere than liquids. |
| cohesion | tendency to keep together A firm believer in the maxim "Divide and conquer," the emperor, by lies and trickery, sought to disrupt the cohesion ofthe free nations. |
| cohorts | armed band Caesar and his Roman cohorts conquered almost all of the known world. |
| coiffure | hairstyle You can make a statement with your choice of coiffure: in the 60's many African-Americans affirmed their racial heritage by wearing their hair in Afros. |
| coincident | occurring at the same time Some people find the coincident events in Hardy's novels annoyingly improbable. |
| colander | utensil with perforated bottom used for straining Before serving the spaghetti, place it in a colander to drain it. |
| collaborate | work together Two writers collaborated in preparing this book. |
| collage | work of art put together from fragments Scraps of cloth, paper doilies, and old photographs all went into her collage. |
| collate | examine in order to verify authenticity; arrange in order They collated the newly found manuscripts to determine their age. |
| collateral | security given for loan The sum you wish to borrow is so large that it must be secured by collateral. |
| collation | a light meal Tea sandwiches and cookies were offered at the collation. |
| colloquial | pertaining to conversational or common speech Your use of colloquial expressions in a formal essay such as the one you have presented spoils the effect you hope to achieve. |
| colloquy | informal discussion I enjoy our colloquies but I sometimes wish that they could be made more formal and more searching. |
| collusion | conspiring in a fraudulent scheme The swindlers were found guilty of collusion. |
| colossal | huge Radio City Music Hall has a colossal stage. |
| colossus | gigantic statue The legendary Colossus of Rhodes, bronze statue of the sun god that dominated the harbor of the Greek seaport, was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. |
| comatose | in a coma; extremely sleepy The long-winded orator soon had his audience in a comatose state. |
| combustible | easily burned After the recent outbreak of fires in private homes, the fire commissioner ordered that all combustible materials be kept in safe containers. |
| comely | attractive; agreeable I would rather have a poor and comely wife than a rich and homely one. |
| comestible | something fit to be eaten The roast turkey and other comestibles, the wines, and the excellent service made this Thanksgiving dinner particularly memorable. |
| comeuppance | rebuke; deserts After his earlier rudeness, we were delighted to see him get his comeuppance. |
| comity | courtesy; civility A spirit of comity should exist among nations. |
| commandeer | to draft for military purposes; to take for public use The policeman commandeered the first car that approached and ordered the driver to go to the nearest hospital. |
| commemorative | remembering; honoring The new commemorative stamp honors the late Martin Luther King, Jr. |
| commensurate | equal in extent Your reward will be commensurate with your effort. |
| commiserate | feel or express pity or sympathy for Her friends commiserated with the widow. |
| commodious | spacious and comfortable After sleeping in a small roadside cabins, they found their hotel suite commodious. |
| communal | held in common; of a group of people When they were divorced, they had trouble dividing their communal property. |
| compact | agreement; contract The signers of the Mayflower Compact were establishing a form of government. |
| compact | tightly packed; firm; brief His short, compact body was better suited to wrestling than to basketball. |
| compatible | harmonious; in harmony with They were compatible neighbors, never quarreling over unimportant matters. |
| compelling | overpowering; irresistible in effect The prosecutor presented a well-reasoned case, but the defense attorney's compelling arguments for leniency won over the jury. |
| compendium | brief, comprehensive summary This text can serve as a compendium of the tremendous amount of new material being developed in this field. |
| compensatory | making up for; repaying Can a compensatory education program make up for the inadequate schooling he received in earlier years? |
| compilation | listing of statistical information in tabular or book form The compilation of available scholarships serves a very valuable purpose. |
| complacent | self-satisfied There was a complacent look on his face as he examined his paintings. |
| complaisant | trying to please; obliging The courtier obeyed the king's orders in a complaisant manner. |
| complement | complete; consummate; make perfect The waiter recommended a glass of port to complement the cheese. |
| compliance | conformity in fulfilling requirements; readiness to yield The design for the new school had to be in compliance with the local building code. |
| compliant | yielding He was compliant and ready to go along with his friends' desires. |
| complicity | participation; involvement You cannot keep your complicity in this affair secret very long; you would be wise to admit your involvement immediately. |
| component | element; ingredient I wish all the components of my stereo system were working at the same time. |
| comport | bear one's self; behave He comported himself with great dignity. |
| composure | mental calmness Even the latest work crisis failed to shake her composure. |
| compound | combine; constitute; pay interest; increase The makers of the popular cold remedy compounded a nasal decongestant with an antihistamine. |
| comprehensive | thorough; inclusive This book provides a comprehensive review of verbal and math skills for the SAT. |
| compress | close; squeeze; contract She compressed the package under her arm. |
| comprise | include; consist of If the District of Columbia were to be granted a statehood, the United States of America would comprise fifty-onestates, not just fifty. |
| compromise | adjust; endanger the interests or reputation of Your presence at the scene of the dispute compromises our claim to neutrality in this matter. |
| compunction | remorse The judge was especially severe in this sentencing because he felt that the criminal had shown no compunction for his heinous crime. |
| compute | reckon; calculate He failed to compute the interest, so his bank balance was not accurate. |
| concatenate | link as in a chain It is difficult to understand how these events could concatenate as they did without outside assistance. |
| concave | hollow The back-packers found partial shelter from the storm by huddling against the concave wall of the cliff. |
| concede | admit; hield Despite all the evidence Monica had assembled, Mark refused to concede that she was right. |
| conceit | whimsical idea; extravagant metaphor He was an entertaining companion, always expressing himself in amusing conceits and witty turns of phrase. |
| concentric | having a common center The target was made of concentric circles. |
| conception | beginning; forming of a idea At the first conception of the work, he was consulted. |
| concerted | mutually agreed on; done together The girl scouts in the troop made a concerted effort to raise funds for their annual outing, and emitted a concerted sigh when their leader announced that they had reached their goal. |
| concession | an act of yielding Before they could reach an agreement, both sides had to make certain concessions. |
| conciliatory | reconciling; soothing She was still angry despite his conciliatory words. |
| concise | brief and compact When you define a new word, be concise; the shorter the definition, the easier it is to remember. |
| conclave | private meeting He was present at all their conclaves as an unofficial observer. |
| conclusive | decisive; ending all debate When the stolen books turned up in John's locker, we finally had conclusive evidence of the identity of the mysterious thief. |
| concoct | prepare by combining; make up in concert How did the inventive chef ever concoct such strange dish? |
| concomitant | that which accompanies Culture is not always a concomitant of wealth. |
| concord | harmony Watching Tweediedum and Tweedledee battle, Alice wondered why the two brothers could not manage to life in concord. |
| concur | agree Did you concur with the decision of the court or did you find it unfair? |
| concurrent | happening at the same time In America, the colonists were resisting the demands of the mother contry; at the concurrent moment in France, the middle class was sowing the seeds of rebellion. |
| condescend | bestow courtesies with a superior air The king condescended to grant an audience to the friends of the condemned man. |
| condign | adequate; deservedly severe The public approved the condign punishment for the crime. |
| condiments | seasonings; spices Spanish food is full of condiments. |
| condole | express sympathetic sorrow His friends gathered to condole with him over his loss. |
| condone | overlook; forgive; give tacit approval; excuse Unlike Widow Douglass, who condoned Huck's minor offenses, Miss Watson did nothing but scold. |
| conducive | helpful; contributive Rest and proper diet are conducive to good health. |
| conduit | aqueduct; passageway for fluids Water was brought to the army in the desert by an improvised conduit from the adjoining mountain. |
| confidant | trusted friend He had no confidants with whom he could discuss his problems at home. |
| confiscate | seize; commandeer The army confiscated all available supplies of uranium. |
| conflagration | great fire In the conflagration that followed the 1906 earthquake, much of San Francisco was destroyed. |
| confluence | flowing together; crowd They built the city at the confluence of two rivers. |
| conformity | harmony; agreement In conformity with our rules and regulations, I am calling a meeting of our organization. |
| confound | confuse; puzzle No mystery could confound Sherlock Holmes for long. |
| congeal | freeze; coagulate His blood congealed in his veins as he saw the dread monster rush toward him. |
| congenial | pleasant; friendly My father loved to go out for a meal with congenial companions. |
| congenital | existing at birth His congenital deformity disturbed his parents. |
| conglomeration | mass of material sticking together In such a conglomeration of miscellaneous statistics, it was impossible to find a single area of analysis. |
| congruence | correspondence of parts; harmonious relationship The student demonstrated the congruence of the two triangles by using the hypotenuse-arm theorem. |
| conifer | pine tree; cone-bearing tree According to geologists, the conifers were the first plants to bear flowers. |
| conjecture | surmise; guess I will end all your conjectures; I admit I am guilty as charged. |
| conjugal | pertaining to marriage Their dreams of conjugal bliss were shattered as soon as their temperaments clashed. |
| conjure | summon a devil; proactive magic; imagine; invent He conjured up an image of a reformed city and had the voters completely under his spell. |
| connivance | pretense of ignorance of something wrong; assistance; permission to offend With the connivance of his friends, he plotted to embarrass the teacher. |
| connoisseur | person competent to act as judge of art, ect.; a lover of an art She had developed into a connoisseur of fine china. |
| connotation | suggested or implied meaning of an expression Foreigners frequently are unaware of the connotations of the words they use. |
| connubial | pertaining to maffige or the matrimonial state In his telegram, he wished the newlyweds a lifetime of connubial bliss. |
| consanguinity | kinship The lawsuit developed into a test of the consanguinity of the claimant to the estate. |
| conscientious | scrupulous; careful A conscientious editor checked every definition for its accuracy. |
| conscript | draftee; person forced into military service Did Rambo volunteer to fight in Vietnam, or was he a conscript, drafted against his will? |
| consecrate | dedicate; sanctify We shall consecrate our lives to this noble purpose. |
| consensus | general agreement The consensus indicates that we are opposed to entering into this pact. |
| consequential | pompous; self-important Convinced of his own importance, the actor strutted about the dressing room with a consequential air. |
| conservatory | school of the fine arts (especiallymusic or drama) A gifted violinist, Marya was selected to study at the conservatory. |
| consign | deliver officially; entrust; set apart The court consigned the child to her paternal grandmother's care. |
| consistency | absence of contradictions; dependability; uniformity; degree of thickness Holmes judged puddings and explanations on their consistency; he liked his puddings without lumps and his explanations without improbabilities. |
| console | lessen sadness or disappointment; give comfort When her father died, Marius did his best to console Cosette. |
| consonance | harmony; agreement Her agitation seemed out of consonance with her usual calm. |
| consort | associate with We frequently judge people by the company with whom they consort. |
| consort | husband or wife The search for a consort for the young Queen Victoria ended happily. |
| conspiracy | treacherous plot Brutus and Cassius joined in the conspiracy to kill Julius Caesar. |
| constituent | supporter The congressman received hundreds of letters from angry constituents after the Equal Rights Amendment failed to pass. |
| constraint | compulsion; repression of feelings There was a feeling of constraint in the room because no one dared to criticize the speaker. |
| construe | explain; interpret If I construe your remarks correctly, you disagree with the theory already advanced. |
| consummate | complete I have never seem anyone who makes as many stupid errors as you do; you must be a consummate idiot. |
| contagion | infection Fearing contagion, they took drastic steps to prevent the spread of the disease. |
| contaminate | pollute The sewage system of the city so contaminated the water that swimming was forbidden. |
| contempt | scorn; disdain Even if you feel superior to others, it is unwise to show your contempt for them. |
| contend | struggle; compete; assert earnestly In Revolt of the Black Athlete, sociologist Harry Edwards contends that young black athletes have been exploited by some college recruiters. |
| contentious | quarrelsome We heard loud and contentious noises in the next room. |
| contest | dispute The defeated candidate attempted to contest the election results. |
| context | writings preceding and following the passage quoted Because these lines are taken out of context, they do not convey the message the author intended. |
| contiguous | adjacent to; touching upon The two countries are contiguous for a few miles; then they are separated by the gulf. |
| continence | self-restraint; sexual chastity She vowed to lead a life of continence. |
| contingent | conditional The continuation of this contract is contingent on the quality of your first output. |
| contortions | twistings; distortions As the effects of the opiate wore away, the contortions of the patient became more violent and demonstrated how much pain she was enduring. |
| contraband | illegal trade; smuggling; smuggled goods The coast guard tries to prevent contraband in U.S. waters. |
| contravene | contradict; oppose: infringe on or transgress Mr. Barrett did not expect his frail daughter Elizabeth to contravene his will by eloping with Robert Browning. |
| contrite | penitent Her contrite tears did not influence the judge when he imposed sentence. |
| contrived | forced; artificial; not spontaneous Feeling ill at ease with his new in-laws; James made a few contrived attempts at conversation and then retreated into silence. |
| controvert | oppose with arguments; contradict To controvert your theory will require much time but it is essential that we disprove it. |
| contumacious | disobedient; resisting authority The contumacious mob shouted defiantly at the police. |
| contusion | bruise She was treated for contusions and abrasions. |
| conundrum | riddle; difficult problem During the long car ride, she invented conundrums to entertain the children. |
| convene | assemble Because much is needed legislation had to be enacted, the governor ordered the legislature to convene in special session by January 15. |
| convention | social or moral custom; established practice Flying in the face of convention, George Sand (Amandine Dudevant) shocked her contemporaries by taking lovers and wearing men's clothes. |
| conventional | ordinary; typical His conventional upbringing left him wholly unprepared for his wife's eccentric family. |
| converge | come together Marchers converged on Washington for the great Save Our Cities-Save Our Children March. |
| conversant | familiar with The lawyer is conversant with all the evidence. |
| converse | opposite The inevitable converse of peace is not war but annihilation. |
| convert | one who has adopted a different religion or opinion On his trip to Japan, though the President spoke at length about the merits of American automobiles, he made few converts to his beliefs. |
| convex | curving outward He polished the convex lens of his telescope. |
| conveyance | vehicle; transfer During the transit strike, commuters used various kinds of conveyances. |
| conviction | strongly held belief Nothing could shake his conviction that she was innocent. |
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