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GREwordlist

This wordlist is generally used by students preparing for GRE.

Page No.

petty

Short Definition : trivial; unimportant; very small; small-minded; petty-minded

Definition
(noun) larceny of property having a value less than some amount (the amount varies by locale) Definition
(adj) inferior in rank or status
Example Sentence
  • the junior faculty
  • a lowly corporal
  • petty officialdom
  • a subordinate functionary
Definition
(adj) (informal) small and of little importance
Example Sentence
  • a fiddling sum of money
  • a footling gesture
  • our worries are lilliputian compared with those of countries that are at war
  • a little (or small) matter
  • a dispute over niggling details
  • limited to petty enterprises
  • piffling efforts
  • giving a police officer a free meal may be against the law, but it seems to be a picayune infraction
Definition
(adj) contemptibly narrow in outlook
Synonyms : small-minded
Example Sentence
  • petty little comments
  • disgusted with their small-minded pettiness
   Mnemonics (Memory Aids) for petty

girls use petty coats inside dress which r very small than the dress they wear

opp to pretty(large)

it rhymes with 'betty' who was always secondary or unimportant to archie as compared to veronica.

petulant

Short Definition : touchy; peevish; ill-tempered

Definition
(adj) easily irritated or annoyed
Example Sentence
  • an incorrigibly fractious young man
  • not the least nettlesome of his countrymen
   Mnemonics (Memory Aids) for petulant

The pet - u - lent me is getting me irritated

If somebody peet you(hindi of hitting somebody)or beat you up, you will become irritable and annoyed.

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remember aunt PETUNIA in harry potter?she is very ILL TEMPERED and always ANNOYED on poor harry

PETU(bhadakna like petrol or gas)....hence petulant is a person jo baat baat pe bhadak jata hain....

if somebody calls you petu(a person with tummy in hindi), you will get annoyed!

pest u lent

phalanx

Short Definition : formation of infantry carrying overlapping shields and long spears; group of men packed together (for attack or defense)

Definition
(noun) any of the bones of the fingers or toes Definition
(noun) any closely ranked crowd of people Definition
(noun) a body of troops in close array
   Mnemonics (Memory Aids) for phalanx

Remeber Gerard Butler's movie.. 300. The way those 300 sartans fought is Phalanx. Hoo Hoo Hoooooo

Remeber Gerard Butler's movie.. 300. The way those 300 sartans fought is Phalanx. Hoo Hoo Hoooooo

phalanx~feelings.. so people in a thick group lose their feelings and fall on anyone who is around them..!

pharisaical

Short Definition : pertaining to the Pharisees, who paid scrupulous attention to tradition; self-righteous; hypocritical

Definition
(adj) excessively or hypocritically pious
Example Sentence
  • a sickening sanctimonious smile
   Mnemonics (Memory Aids) for pharisaical

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Pharisaical contains HARI and SAI all GOD name so Pharisaical means pious

phari+saical . If you think of egyptian Pharaohs from 'phari', they were self-righteous and followed their traditions. 'saical' sounds like cycles meaning loops. One confined to one's cycle or loop of beliefs and traditions.

Parsees (hindi mein pharsi) are very traditional and self righteous

Phari(fully) + sai(shirdi sai).hypocritical excessive self righteous.

sai baba

PHARI(fairy)-SAICAL meaning "like a fairy"-very devotional to god

Pharis--Parish So a person believing in parishes is hypocritically pious

pharisee

Short Definition : Pharisee: member of an ancient Jewish group that emphasized strict observance of the Mosaic law (considering themselves very holy); hypocritical self-righteous person

Definition
(noun) a self-righteous or sanctimonious person Definition
(noun) a member of an ancient Jewish sect noted for strict obedience to Jewish traditions
   Mnemonics (Memory Aids) for pharisee

pharisee yane, papa + haree so traditional way of purgative,exoneration.

in hindi "farsee=nakli"i.e.not original.sorry if anybody is hurt.

philanderer

Short Definition : faithless lover; flirt

Definition
(noun) a man who likes many women and has short sexual relationships with them
Synonyms : womaniser womanizer
   Mnemonics (Memory Aids) for philanderer

PHILANDERER - PHIR HE LANDED ON HER. A womaniser cannot keep himself away from women.

Phil + Wanderer = philanderer. Phil means love or attraction. so a philanderer wanders and loves everywhere.

FEEL+UNDER....when you have constant feelings under your clothes, you become a philanderer....

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break into - Female + Plunderer......one sleeps wiith many females

philanthropist

Short Definition : lover of mankind; doer of good; N. philanthropy

Definition
(noun) someone who makes charitable donations intended to increase human well-being
Synonyms : altruist
   Mnemonics (Memory Aids) for philanthropist

Phil+anthropy-phil is love and anthrop is human beings

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phil(fill)+and+thro(throw)+pist(paisa)--filling n throwing paisa--i.e generous and charitable donation of money to good causes

philatelist

Short Definition : stamp-collector; N. philately: stamp collecting

Definition
(noun) a collector and student of postage stamps
Synonyms : stamp collector
   Mnemonics (Memory Aids) for philatelist

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phil + ATLAS = loves atlas and hence collect stamps of the countries on the atlas

break into PHIL(file)+LIST...in a file you list the STAMPS

to phil is to love something+list reminds us of the list of stamps

philatelist -> reminds me of italy. I used to collect stamps of the letters from italy.

phil(sounds like FILE) + late => A file is late when there is no postage STAMP. (STAMP COLLECTOR)

phi(love)+late(latest)+list(list of stamps), you love to get latest list of stamps

PHIL ATE Lots of glue as he licked and listed his stamps.

philatelist: phil can be spelled as fill the LIST of stamps a bit LATE!

PHILATELIST = PHILA(liking) + TELIST (posTALSTamps)

phil(love)+late(letter)+list

Philistine

Short Definition : narrow-minded person, uncultured and exclusively interested in material gain; uncultured person who is indifferent to artistic and cultural values; member of an ancient people in Palestine; OP. aesthe

Definition
(noun) a person who is uninterested in intellectual pursuits Definition
(noun) a member of an Aegean people who settled ancient Philistia around the 12th century BC Definition
(adj) of or relating to ancient Philistia or its culture or its people Definition
(adj) smug and ignorant and indifferent or hostile to artistic and cultural values
Synonyms : anti-intellectual
   Mnemonics (Memory Aids) for Philistine

break it into PHIL(feel)+TINE(tiny)...those who feel over tiny things are NARROW MINDED.

heard of palestine gang? they are narrow minded and uncultured..

philistine...piliste ne palukutadu.. narrow minded person

easy mnemonic - phil is teen = phil's parents would be narrow minded and wouldn't allow her to wear short clothes as she is a teen

palestine = muslims. Muslims are stereotyped as narrow-minded, devoid of respect for other's culture etc.

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Those who are not pristine,dey are philistine

phil - love or attraction to, stein - common jewish last name. Jews are considered to be guided by materialism and not intellectual or artistic values.

philology

Short Definition : study of language or words

Definition
(noun) the humanistic study of language and literature
Synonyms : linguistics
   Mnemonics (Memory Aids) for philology

Phil Collins was a philanderer running after girls, when 1 girl slapped him. He then became a philanthropist after being penitent about his acts.He started a huge business of collecting stamps; he became a philatelist.

phi-LOL-ogy study of words,, such as LOL,,, :) phil-LOL-logy to love-LOL(word)- study.

Once he decided to meet Palestines to start a business where he was shocked by their philistine narrow minded attitude. So he started to learn their language of words to know the reason.Hence he got into philology.

PHILOLOGY = PHILOSOPHY + (LOGOS=words) = Study of words.

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Good work Jay-Gandhi, u made a whole story to memorise a lot of words. thanks

PHIL loves studying LOGOs in different languages to learn them quickly

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