GRE Word List
ATAVISM
recurrence in an organism of a trait or character typical of an ancestral form and usually due to genetic recombination
The meaning of the word atavism is recurrence in an organism of a trait or character typical of an ancestral form and usually due to genetic recombination.
Random words
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| fracas | a noisy quarrel : brawl |
| plumb | a lead weight attached to a line and used to indicate a vertical direction |
| mollycoddle | to treat with an excessive or absurd degree of indulgence and attention |
| precursor | one that precedes and indicates the approach of another |
| parvenu | one that has recently or suddenly risen to an unaccustomed position of wealth or power and has not yet gained the prestige, dignity, or manner associated with it |
| obscure | dark |
| cringe | to recoil in distaste |
| mange | any of various persistent contagious skin diseases marked especially by eczematous inflammation and loss of hair, affecting domestic animals or sometimes humans, and caused by a minute parasitic mite compare sarcoptic mange |
| anguish | extreme pain, distress, or anxiety |
| coroner | a usually elected public officer who is typically not required to have specific medical qualifications and whose principal duty is to inquire by an inquest into the cause of any death which there is reason to suppose is not due to natural causes compare medical examiner |