[GRE Vocabulary Test]
# What are the meanings of the following words?
You have only 60 seconds for the following 20 questions. Watch out the remaining seconds in the status bar or in the title bar of your browser, please.
Q.1: archetype
a) gully
b) prototype; primitive pattern
c) secondary or minor occupation
d) vituperation; abusive language
Q.2: archives
a) eye defect which prevents proper focus
b) act of listening to the heart or lungs to discover abnormalities
c) public records; place where public records are kept
d) book containing the daily prayers
Q.3: astigmatism
a) eye defect which prevents proper focus
b) secondary or minor occupation
c) blessing
d) government by bureaus
Q.4: aureole
a) incarnation
b) blessing
c) book containing the daily prayers
d) sun's corona; halo
Q.5: bassoon
a) blessing
b) bugbear; object of baseless terror
c) beautiful writing; excellent penmanship
d) reed instrument of the woodwind family
Q.6: breviary
a) book containing the daily prayers
b) a set of bells capable of being played
c) one of the hereditary classes in Hindu society
d) art of telling fortunes by reading the hand; palmistry
Q.7: carillon
a) sculptured column of a female figure
b) private meeting of members of a party to select officers or determine
c) a set of bells capable of being played
d) participation; involvement
Q.8: celerity
a) art of dancing
b) speed; rapidity
c) agreement, usually between the papal authority and the secular
d) mutual relationship
Q.9: conch
a) aqueduct; passageway for fluids
b) large seashell
c) small glass bottle for vinegar, oil, etc.
d) superintendent; manager
Q.10: cruet
a) small chamber used for sleeping
b) churlish, miserly individual
c) small glass bottle for vinegar, oil, etc.
d) that which is desired
Q.11: decrepitude
a) state of collapse caused by illness or old age
b) in a state of undress
c) brilliance; glory
d) praise; eulogy
Q.12: effluvium
a) soothing or softening remedy
b) study of man
c) explanation, especially of Biblical passages
d) noxious smell
Q.13: floe
a) fern leaf; palm or banana leaf
b) waterspout carved in grotesque figures on building
c) record of descent; lineage
d) mass of floating ice
Q.14: hackles
a) hairs on back and neck of a dog
b) meetings particularly to choose candidates
c) singing or chanting of magic spells; magical formula
d) an artless girl; an actress who plays such parts
Q.15: ingenue
a) chinks; crevices
b) plan of a trip
c) an artless girl; an actress who plays such parts
d) reading desk
Q.16: lexicographer
a) region near heaven or hell where certain souls are kept; a prison
b) compiler of a dictionary
c) one of a family of mammals that nurse their offspring in a pouch
d) small world
Q.17: millennium
a) a servile dependent
b) thousand-year period; period of happiness and prosperity
c) the ideal state in Buddhist teachings
d) physician specializing in delivery of babies
Q.18: offal
a) burden; responsibility
b) act of finding oneself in society
c) waste; garbage
d) full set of armor
Q.19: parity
a) equality; close resemblance
b) scholar who overemphasizes book learning or technicalities
c) point of moon's orbit when it is nearest the earth
d) morbid fear
Q.20: preciosity
a) privilege; unquestionable right
b) member of the working class
c) part of stage in front of curtain
d) overrefinement in art or speech