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General GRE Wordlist 2

Terms

undefined, object
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Adulation
Noun: flattery; admiration.
The rock star thrived on the adulation of his groupies and yes-men.
Verb: adulate
Adulterate
(frequent word)
Verb: make impure by adding inferior or tainted substances.
It is a crime to adulterate foods without informing the buyer; when consumers learned that Beechnut had adulterated its apple juice by mixing the juice with water, they protested vigorously.
Noun: adulteration
Advent
Noun: arrival.
Most Americans were unaware of the advent of the Nuclear Age until the news of Hiroshima reached them.
Adventitious
Adjective: accidental; casual.
She found this adventitious meeting with her friend extremely fortunate.
Adversary
Noun: opponent; enemy.
Batman struggled to save Gotham City from the machination of his wicked adversary, the Joker.
Adverse
Adjective: unfavorable; hostile.
The recession had a highley adverse effect on Father's investment portfolio: he lost so much money that he could no longer afford the butler and the upstairs maid.
Adversity
Noun: poverty; misfortune.
We must learn to meet adversity gracefull.
Advert
Verb: refer (to).
Since you advert to this matter so frequently, you must regard it as important.
Advocacy
Noun: support; active pleading on behalf of someone or something.
No threats could dissuade Bishop Desmond Tutu from his advocacy of the human rights of black South Africans.
Advocate
Verb (also noun): urge; plead for.
The abolitionists advocated freedom for the slaves.
Aegis
Noun: shield; defense.
Under the aegis of the Bill of Rights, we enjoy our most treasured freedoms.
Aerie
Noun: nest of a large bird of prey (eagle, hawk).
The mother eagle swooped down on the rabbit and bore it off to her aerie high in the Rocky Mountains.
Aesthetic
(frequent word)
Adjective: artistic; dealing with or capable of appreciating the beautiful.
The beauty of Tiffany's stained glass appealed to Alice's aethetic sense.
Noun: aesthete.
Affable
Adjective: easily approachable; warmly friendly.
Accustomed to cold, aloof supervisors, Nicholas was amazed at how affable his new employer was.
Noun: affability.
Affected
Adjective: artificial; pretended; assumed in order to impress.
His affected mannerisms- his "Harvard" accent, his air of boredom, his use of obscure foreign words- bugged us: he acted as if he thought he was too good for his old high school friends.
Noun: affectation.
Affidavit
Noun: written statement made under oath.
The court refused to accept her statement unless she presented it in the form of an affidavit.
Affiliation
Noun: joining; associating with.
His affiliation with the political party was of a short duration for he soon disagreed with his colleagues.
Affinity
Noun: kinship.
She felt an affinity with all who suffered; their pains were her pains.
Affirmation
Noun: positive assertion; confirmation; solemn pledge by one who refuses to take an oath.
Despite Tom's affirmations of innocence, Aunt Polly still suspected he had eaten the pie.
Affix
Verb: attach or add on; fasten.
First the registrar had to affix his signature to the license; then he had to affix his official seal.
Affliction
Noun: state of distress; cause of suffering.
Even in the midst of her affliction, Elizabeth tried to keep up the spirits of those around her.
Affluence
Noun: abundance; wealth.
Foreigners are amazed by the affluence and luxury of the American way of life.
Affront
Noun (also verb): insult; offense; intentional act of disrespect.
When Mrs. Proudie was not seated beside the Archdeacon at the head table, she took it as a personal affront and refused to speak to her hosts for a week.
Agape
Adjective: openmouthed.
She stated, agape, at the many strange animals in the zoo.
Agenda
Noun: items of business at a meeting.
We had so much difficulty agreeing upon an agenda that there was very little time for the meeting.
Agglomeration
Noun: collection; heap.
It took weeks to assort the agglomeration of miscellaneous items she had collected on her trip.
Aggrandize
Verb: increase or intesify; raise in power, wealth, rank, or honor.
The history of the past quarter century illustrates how a president may aggrandize his power to act aggressively in international affairs without considering the wishes of Congress.
Aggregate
(frequent word)
Verb (also adjective): gather; accumulate.
Before the Wall Street scandals, dealers in so-called junk bonds managed to aggregate great wealth in short periods of time.
Noun: aggregation
Aggressor
Noun: attacker
Before you punish both boys for the fighting, see whether you can determine which one was the aggressor.
Aghast
Adjective: horrified; dumbfounded.
Miss Manners was aghast at the crude behavior of the fraternity brothers at the annual toga party.
Agility
Noun: nimbleness.
The agility of the acrobat amazed and thrilled the audience.
Agitate
Verb: stir up; disturb.
Her fiery remarks agitated the already angry mob.
Agnostic
Noun (also adjective): one who is skeptical of the existence of a god or any ultimate reality. Agnostics say we can neither prove nor disprove the existence of God; we simply have no way to know.
Agog
Adjective: highly excited; intensely curious.
We were all agog at the news that the celebrated movie star was giving up his career in order to enter a monastery.
Agrarian
Adjective: pertaining to land or its cultivation.
As a result of its recent industrialization, the country is gradually losing its agrarian traditions.
Alacrity
(frequent word)
Noun: cheerful promptness; eagerness.
Phil and Dave were raring to get off to the mountains; they packed up their ski gear and climbed into the van with alacrity.
Alchemy
Noun: medieval chemistry.
The changing of baser metals into gold was the goal of the students of alchemy.
Noun: alchemist.
Alcove
Noun: nook; recess.
Though their apartment lacked a full-scale dining room, an alcove adjacent to the living room made an adequate breakfast nook for the young couple.
Alias
Noun (also adverb): an assumed name.
John Smith's alias was Bob Jones.
Alienate
Verb: make hostile; separate.
Her attempts to alienate the two friends failed because they had complete faith in each other.
Alimentary
Adjective: supplying nourishment.
The alimentary canal in our bodies is so named because digestion of foods occurs there. When asked for the name of the digestive tract, Sherlock Holmes replied, "Alimentary, my dear Watson."
Alimony
Noun: payments made to an ex-spouse after divorce.
Because Tony had supported Tina through medical school, on their divorce he asked the court to award him $500 a month in alimony.
Allay
Verb: calm; pacify.
The crew tried to allay the fears of the passengers by announcing that the fire had been controlled.
Allege
Verb: state without proof.
Although it is alleged that she has worked for the enemy, she denies the allegation and, legally, we can take no action against her without proof.
Noun: allegation
Allegiance
Noun: loyalty
Not even a term in prison could shake Lech Walesa's allegiance to Solidarity, the Polish trade union he had helped to found.
Allegory
Noun: story in which characters are used as symbols; fable.
Pilgrim's Progress is an allegory of the temptations and victories of the human soul.
Adjective: allegorical
Alleviate
(frequent word)
Verb: relieve.
This should alleviate the pain; if it does not, we shall have to use stronger drugs.
Alliteration
Noun: repetition of beginning sound in poetry.
"The furrow followed free" is an example of alliteration.
Allocate
Verb: assign.
Even though the Red Cross had allocated a large sum for the relief of the sufferers of the disaster, many people perished.
Alloy
Noun: a mixture as of metals.
Alloys of gold are used more frequently than the pure metal.
Verb: mix; make less pure; lessen or moderate.
Our delight at the Met's victory was alloyed by our concern for Al Laites, who injured his pitching arm in the game.
Allude
Verb: refer indirectly.
Try not to mention divorce in Jack's presence because he will think you are alluding to his marital problems with Jill.
Allure
Verb (also Noun): entice; attract.
Allured by the song of the sirens, the heomsman steered the ship toward the reef.
Allusion
Noun: indirect reference.
When Amamnda said to the ticket scalper, "One hundred bucks? What do you want, a pound of flesh?" she was making an allusion to Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice.
Alluvial
Adjective: pertaining to soil deposits left by running water.
The farmers found the alluvial deposits at the mouth of the river very fertile.
Aloof
Adjective: apart; reserved.
Shy by nature, she remained aloof while all the rest conversed.
Aloft
Adverb: upward.
The sailor climbed aloft into the rigging.
Altercation
Noun: noisy quarrely; heated dispute.
In that hot-tempered household, no meal ever came to a peaceful conclusion; the inevitable altercation sometimes even ended in blows.
Altruistic
Adjective: unselfishly generous; concerned for others.
In providing tutorial assistance and college scholarships for hundreds of economically disadvantaged youths, Eugene Lang performed a truly altruistic deed.
Noun: altruism
Amalgamate
(frequent word)
Verb: combine; unite in one body.
The unions will attempt to amalgamate their groups into one national body.
Amass
Verb: collect.
The miser's aim is to amaxx and hoard as much gold as possible.
Amazon
Noun: female warrior.
Ever since the days of Greek mythology, we refer to strong and aggressive women as amazons.
Ambidextrous
Adjective: capable of using either hand with equal ease.
A switch-hitter in baseball should be naturally ambidextrous.
Ambience
Noun: environment; atmosphere.
She went to the restaurant not for the food but for the ambience.
Ambiguous
(frequent word)
Adjective: unclear or doubtful in meaning.
His ambiguous instructions misled us; we did not know which road to take.
Noun: ambiguity
Ambivalence
(frequent word)
Noun: the state of having contradictory or conflicting emotional attitudes.
Torn between loving her parents one minute and hating them the next, she was confused by the ambivalence of her feelings.
Adjective: ambivalent
Amble
Noun (also verb): moving at an easy pace.
When she first mounted the horse, she was afraid to urge the animal to go faster than a gentle amble.
Ambrosia
Noun: food of the gods.
Ambrosia was supposed to give immortality to any human who ate it.
Ambulatory
Adjective: able to walk; not bedridden.
Calvin was a highly ambulatory patient; not only did he refuse to be confined to bed, but he also insisted on riding his skateboard up and down the halls.
Ameliorate
(frequent word)
Verb: improve.
Many social workers have attempted to ameliorate the conditions of people living in the slums.
Amenable
Adjective: readily managed or willing to be led; answerable or accountable legally.
Although the ambassador was usually amenable to friendly suggestions, he balked when we hinted he should pay his parking tickets. As a foreign diplomat, he claimed he was not amenable to minor local laws.
Amend
Verb: correct; change, generally for the better.
Hoping to amend his condition, he left Vietnam for the United States.

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