This week we’re reviewing essential GRE vocabulary words. In the last post, we discussed the word mendacity, and talked about how difficult it can be for someone who has the reputation of being dishonest to regain the trust of friends and family. If they have a history of lying that has caused significant problems, it might even lead to their being ostracized from the community. Ostracize is a verb meaning to exclude or shun. Someone who has been ostracized has been cast out of a group they were formerly in.

Example 1: Feelings about the recent political elections were so strong that I was afraid my friends would ostracize me if they found out that I had voted for the other party.

Example 2: Ever since her son was arrested for murder, Alice has been ostracized by her neighbors.

Many clubs and organizations have strict rules, and members who break them can be ostracized – cast out of the group – because they did not follow those rules to the letter. For example, if the rules state that a man must wear a suit and tie at formal events, one without a tie might not make it through the doors. If the event organizer is flexible, the man might be granted a one-time exemption, but if the person taking tickets is a pedantic type, no tie-less man will be allowed in. Pedantic means strict or literal, having a “by the books” attitude without deviation from the guidelines. A pedantic person is often boring and uncreative in their actions and speech.

Example: Most of the security guards at the embassy know me and let me through after I scan my badge, but the new guard this morning required such a pedantic review of each one of my identity cards and security clearances that I was late for the first meeting of the day.

Ten more words to go in this series! In the next post, we’ll focus on the words quixotic and repudiate.