So there are (counting the 31st) 3 days left of study before the big dance.

I finished going through my flashcards and have started on the Princeton Review book called Word Smart for the GRE. I took a couple practice tests today so I’m freakin spent. I have mixed feelings on that since I got some strange results. Anyway, here is a list of my vocabulary words with their corresponding definitions and my mnemonic devices for today. For some words, I just pounded them into my head so there aren’t any mnemonic devices. Some of the stranger words I had to try to be creative.

1. abate - to decrease in intensity
2. aberrant - deviating from the norm
3. abjure - to renounce or reject solemnly
   MD: conjure would somehow remind me of a wizard with a long white beard (solemnly) to perform some sort of magic to bring something into existence, abjure feels like it would be the opposite of that (reject)
4. abrogate - to abolish by authority
   MD: when something needs to be abolished, you add a gate (wtf??)
5. abscission - act of cutting down or removing
6. abscond - to depart secretly
   MD: the MD here was more of the sentence that was given about a raccoon absconding shiny objects for no reason
7. abstain - to refrain from
8. accolade - an award
9. accretion - growth (like on a coral)
10. acerbic - sour or bitter taste or character
    MD: it kind of looks like acid…
11. acumen - quick, keen
    MD: shortened form of accurate men (I doubt this is actually true…)
12. admonish - to express warning or disapproval
    MD: I’m warning you that I’m going to add monsters…..
13. adroit - adept, dexterous
    MD: Droids are very good at what they were built to do
14. adulation - excessive praise; intense adoration
    MD: I somehow think of a kid adoring an adult (but this MD should not be confused with the following word…)
15. adulteration - to reduce purity by combining with inferior ingredients
    MD: adultery
16. adumbrate - to foreshadow vaguely, intimate, suggest, or outline sketchily
    MD: If you’re bartering, and you have a certain price you want to buy or sell at, no sense in beating around the bush with “a dumb rate”
17. advocate - to argue for or support a cause
18. aesthetic - dealing with, appreciative of, or responsive to art or the beautiful
19. aggrandize - to increase in intensity, power, or prestige; to make appear greater
    MD: a grand size at McDonalds (not necessarily that big, but bigger nevertheless)
20. alacrity - eager and enthusiastic willingness
21. alchemy - magical or wonderful transformation
    MD: none needed!! Full Metal Alchemist!!!! Hagane no renkinjutsushi!! yosh.
22. alloy - to commingle; to debase by mixing with something inferior
23. amalgamate - to combine several elements into a whole
    MD: amalgam - the substance dentists use as fillings
24. ambiguity - uncertainty in meaning
25. ambivalence - the quality of having opposed ideas or feelings
26. ameliorate - to make better or more tolerable
    MD: I don’t have one for this - for some reason, amelio-something reminds me of something friendly
27. amenable - agreeable
    MD: able to say amen (the word amen and amenable are of the same root, namely, amen)
28. anachronism - appearing outside of chronological context
    MD: not-time
29. anathema - a solemn or religious curse; accursed or loathed person
    MD: thema reminds me of topic (this is from Japanese to mean exactly “topic”) which reminds me somehow of public opinion so that anathema would be “not-public opinion”
30. anodyne - soothing
    MD: I don’t really have one for this, but I missed this damned word on the practice test…
31. anomaly - deviating from the norm
32. antagonize - to irritate; create hostilities
33. antipathy - dislike
34. antithetical - diametrically opposed
    MD: antithesis
35. apathy - lack of interest
36. apocryphal - doubtful origins
37. apogee - zenith; highest point
    MD: remember that game company apogee? I think they made Commander Keen…
38. apostate - one who betrays long-held religious or political beliefs
39. apotheosis - deification; a perfect example
    MD: somehow I see the word theist in there; also, osis would be the combination between Osiris and Isis?
40. apposite - relevant
    MD: not opposite would be completely relevant
41. apprise - to inform; give notice to
    MD: it is pronounced “uh PRIZ” or “a prize” - in this day and age, it is a prize to be informed about something
42. approbation - an expression of approval or praise
    MD: it would be the opposite of probation - trust and praise…(not sure if this is actually true in the etymological sense)
43. appropriate - to take for one’s own use; confiscate
44. arabesque - complex, ornate design
    MD: arab-esque would somehow remind me of an ornate design, further, the situation over there is pretty complex…
45. arcane - mysterious, abstruse, esoteric, knowledgeable only to initiates
    MD: remember the pokemon “arcanine” (evolved form of growlithe - that tiger looking thing)? Well somehow it was pretty mysterious…
46. archaic - outdated
47. arduous - strenuous
48. arrant - impudent
    MD: a somehow shortened form of arrogant
49. arrest - to suspend; to engage
50. articulate - to enunciate or pronounce clearly
51. artless - natural; without superficiality
52. ascetic - practicing rigid self-denial (like a monk)
53. asperity - severity, rigor; roughness, harshness
    MD: it almost rhymes with severity…also I see the word “spear” in there somehow
54. aspersion - act of defamation or maligning
    MD: only an “ass person” would do something like that
55. assiduous - diligent, hardworking
    MD: it’s the good kind of anal….
56. assuage - to ease or lessen; to appease or pacify
    MD: I have two for this one: you can sort of see the word “massage” in there, or you can think of giving someone a “sausage” to appease them…
57. astringent - having a tightening effect on living tissue
    MD: string, tied up
58. attenuate - to rarefy, weaken or make thinner
    MD: “a ten you ate!” now it is weaker!!
59. audacious - daring and fearless
60. augury - omen
    MD: if you went to Arroyo with me, remember Ogury Sanchez? Anyway, somehow she’s an omen because she has a strange name
61. august - majestic
62. auspice - protection or support; patronage
63. auspicious - favorable
64. austere - without adornment; bare
65. avarice - greed
    MD: “I have rice” but I want more
66. aver - to state as a fact
67. axiom - universally recognized principal
    MD: a math major who does not know what axioms are is not a math major
68. baleful - sinister
    MD: sinister people are jailed and need lots of “bail”
69. bane - cause of injury
    MD: its a word that comes before “pain” alphabetically; first there’s bane, then injury, then pain
70. beatify - to bless, make happy

My brain is fried for tonight. I can’t take in anymore new vocab words. Yes, I am off pace to finish the book before the test. I may or may not post something similar for the rest of the words.