Three-Letter Words: Vim
Some of the most perplexing words on the GRE are diminutive. Who doesn’t see PAN : REVIEW and metaphorically scratch his or her head, or wonder what, exactly, a nib or a gin is on its own? Welcome to Three-Letter Words. A few of them might make you want to deploy some four-letter words.
Vim means “lively or energetic spirit; enthusiasm; vitality.”
Vim almost always appears in the phrase “vim and vigor,” and thus is an especially difficult word when seen alone. Incidentally, vigor is a synonym for vim, so the expression is a bit redundant and should be taken as expressing emphasis.
Choose your own answer before clicking “more”:
The first half of the day, she had been full of vim, but after four hours of Coach Weebly’s castigation, she started to _________.
A. despoil
B. flag
C. wax
D. mar
E. excise
We need a verb that is on the opposite side of vim — something that means “get tired.” Flag means exactly that. The answer is B.