GRE High-Frequency Words
Terms
undefined, object
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- abate
- subside or moderate
- aberrant
- abnormal or deviant
- abeyance
- supspended action
- abscond
- depart secretly and hide
- abstemious
- sparing in eating and drinking; temperate
- admonish
- warn; reprove
- adulterate
- make impure by adding inferior or tainted substances
- aesthetic
- artistic; dealing with or capable of appreciating the beautiful
- aggregate
- gather; accumulate
- alacrity
- cheerful promptness; eagerness
- alleviate
- relieve
- amalgamate
- combine; unite in one body
- ambiguous
- unclear or doubtful in meaning
- ambivalence
- the state of having contradictory or conflicting emotinal attitudes
- ameliorate
- improve
- anachronism
- something or someone misplaced in time
- analagous
- comparable
- anarchy
- absence of governing body; state of disorder
- anomalous
- abnormal; irregular
- antipathy
- aversion; dislike
- apathy
- lack of caring; indifference
- appease
- pacify or soothe; relieve
- apprise
- inform
- approbation
- approval
- aprropriate
- v. acquire; take possession of for one's own use
- arduous
- hard; strenuous
- artless
- without guile; open and honest
- ascetic
- practicing self-denial; austere
- assiduous
- diligent
- assuage
- v. ease or lessen (pain); satisfy (hunger); soothe (anger)
- attenuate
- make thinner
- audacious
- daring; bold
- austere
- forbiddingly stern; severely simple and unornamented
- autonomous
- self-governing; independent
- aver
- assert confidently or declare; as used in law, state formally as a fact
- banal
- hackneyed; commonplace; trite; lacking originality
- belie
- contradict; give a false impression
- beneficient
- kindly; doing good
- bolster
- support; reinforce
- bombastic
- pompous; using inflated language
- boorish
- rude; insensitive
- burgeon
- grow forth; send out buds
- burnish
- make shiny by rubbing; polish
- buttress
- v. support; prop up
- capricious
- unpredictable; fickle
- castigation
- punishment; severe criticism
- catalyst
- agent that influences the pace of a chemical action while it remains unaffected and unchanged; person or thing that causes action
- caustic
- burning; sarcastically biting
- chicanery
- trickery; deception
- coagulate
- thicken; congeal; clot
- coda
- concluding section of a musical or literary compositition; something that rounds out, summarizes or concludes
- cogent
- convincing
- commensurate
- adj. corresponding in extent, degree, etc.; proportionate
- compendium
- brief, comprehensive summary
- complaisant
- trying to please; overly polite; obliging
- compliant
- yielding; conforming to requirements
- conciliatory
- reconciling; soothing
- condone
- overlook; forgive; give tacit approval; excuse
- confound
- confuse; puzzle
- conoisseur
- person competent to act as a judge of art; a lover of art
- contention
- claim; thesis
- contentious
- quarrelsome
- contrite
- penitent - Her contrite tears did not influence the judge when he imposed sentence
- conundrum
- riddle; difficult problem
- converge
- approach; tend to meet; come together
- convoluted
- coiled around; involved; intricate
- craven
- cowardly
- daunt
- intimidate; frighten
- decorum
- propriety; orderliness and good taste in manners
- default
- failure to act
- deference
- courteous regard for another's wishes
- delineate
- portray; depict; sketch
- denigrate
- blacken
- deride
- ridicule; make fun of
- derivative
- unoriginal; obatined from another source
- desiccate
- dry up
- desultory
- aimless; haphazard; digressing at random
- deterrent
- something that discourages; hindrance
- diatribe
- n. bitter scolding; invective
- dichotomy
- split; branching into two parts (especially contradictory ones)
- diffidence
- shyness
- diffuse
- adj. wordy, rambling, spread out (like a gas)
- digression
- wandering away from the subject
- dirge
- lament with music
- disabuse
- correct a false impression; undeceive
- discerning
- mentally quick and observant; having insight
- discordant
- not harmonious; conflicting
- discredit
- defame; destroy confidence in; disbelieve
- discrepancy
- lack of consistency; difference
- discrete
- adj. seperate; unconnected; consisting of distinct parts
- disingenious
- lacking genuine candor; insincere
- disinterested
- unpredjudiced
- disjointed
- lacking coherence; separated at the joints
- dismiss
- eliminate from consideration; reject
- disparage
- belittle
- disparate
- adj. basically different; unrelated
- dissemble
- v. disguise; pretend
- disseminate
- distribute; spread; scatter (like seeds)
- dissolution
- disintegration; looseness in morals
- dissonance
- discord; opposite of harmony
- distend
- expand; swell out
- distill
- purify; refine; concentrate
- diverge
- vary; go in different directions from the same point
- divest
- strip; deprive
- document
- provide written evidence
- dogmatic
- opinionated; arbitrary; doctrinal
- dormant
- sleeping; lethargic; latent
- dupe
- someone easily fooled
- ebullient
- showing excitement; overflowing with enthusiasm
- eclectic
- selective; composed of elements drawn from disparate sources
- efficacy
- power to produce desired effect
- effrontery
- impudence; shameless boldness; sheer nerve; presumptuousness
- elegy
- poem or song expressing lamentation
- elicit
- draw out by discussion
- embellish
- adorn; ornament; enhance, as a story
- empirical
- based on experience
- emulate
- imitate; rival
- endemic
- prevailing among a specific group of people or in a specific area or country
- enervate
- weaken
- engender
- cause; produce
- enhance
- increase; improve
- ephemeral
- short-lived; fleeting
- equanimity
- calmness of temperament; composure
- equivocate
- lie; mislead; attempt to conceal the truth
- erudite
- learned; scholarly
- esoteric
- hard to understand; known only to the chosen few
- eulogy
- expression of praise, often on the occasion of someone's death
- euphemism
- mild expression in place of an unpleasant one
- exacerbate
- worsen; embitter
- exculpate
- clear from blame
- exigency
- urgent situation; pressing needs or demands; state of requiring immediate attention
- extrapolation
- projection; conjecture
- facetious
- joking (often inappropriately); humorous
- facilitate
- help bring about; make less difficult
- fallacious
- false; misleading
- fatuous
- brainless; inane; foolish, yet smug
- fawning
- trying to please by behaving obsequiously, flattering, or cringing
- felicitous
- apt; suitably expressed; well chosen
- fervor
- glowing ardor; intesity of feeling
- flag
- droop; grow feeble
- fledgling
- inexperienced
- flout
- reject; mock; show contempt for
- foment
- stir up; instigate
- forestall
- prevent by taking action in advance
- frugality
- thrift; economy
- gainsay
- deny
- futile
- useless; hopeless; ineffectual
- garrulous
- loquacious; talkative; wordy
- goad
- urge on
- gouge
- overcharge
- grandiloquent
- pompous; bombastic; using high-sounding language
- gregarious
- sociable
- guileless
- without deceit
- gullible
- easily deceived
- harangue
- long, passionate, and vehement speech
- homogeneous
- of the same kind
- hyperbole
- exaggeration; overstatement
- iconoclastic
- attacking cherished traditions
- idolatry
- worship of idols; excessive admiration
- immutable
- unchangeable
- impair
- injure; hurt
- impassive
- without feeling; imperturbable; stoical
- impede
- hinder; block
- impermeable
- impervious; not permitting passage through its substance
- imperturbable
- calm; placid
- impervious
- impenetrable; incapable of being damaged or distressed
- implacable
- incapable of being pacified
- implicit
- understood but not stated
- implode
- burst inward
- inadvertently
- unintentionally; by oversight; carelessly
- inchoate
- adj. recently begun; rudimentary; elementary
- incongruity
- lack of harmony; absurdity
- inconsequential
- insignificant; unimportant
- incorporate
- introduce something into a larger whole; combine; unite
- indeterminate
- uncertain; not clearly fixed; indefinite
- indigence
- poverty
- indolent
- lazy
- inert
- inactive; lacking power to move
- ingenuous
- naive and trusting; young; unsophisticated
- inherent
- firmly established by nature or habit
- innocuous
- harmless
- insensible
- unconscious; unresponsive
- insinuate
- hint; imply; creep in
- insipid
- lacking in flavor; dull
- insularity
- narrow-mindedness; isolation
- intractable
- unruly; stubborn; unyielding
- intransigence
- n. refusal of any compromise; stubbornness
- inundate
- overwhelm; flood; submerge
- inured
- adj. accustomed; hardened
- invective
- n. abuse
- irascible
- irritable; easily angered
- irresolute
- uncertain how to act; weak
- itinerary
- plan of a trip
- laconic
- brief and to the point
- lassitude
- languor; weariness
- latent
- potential but undeveloped; dormant; hidden
- laud
- v. praise
- lethargic
- drowsy; dull
- levee
- earthern or stone embarkment to prevent flooding
- levity
- lack of seriousness or steadiness; frivolity
- log
- record of a voyage or flight; record of day-to-day activities
- loquacious
- talkitive
- lucid
- easily understood; clear; intelligible
- luminous
- shining; issuing light
- magnanimity
- generosity
- malingerer
- one who feigns illness to escape duty
- malleable
- capable of being shaped by pounding; impressionable
- maverick
- rebel; nonconformist
- mendacious
- lying; habitually dishonest
- metamorphosis
- change of form
- meticulous
- excessively careful; painstaking; scrupulous
- misanthrope
- one who hates mankind
- mitigate
- appease; moderate
- mollify
- soothe
- morose
- ill-humored; sullen; melancholy
- mundane
- worldly as opposed to spiritual; everyday
- negate
- cancel out; nullify; deny
- neophyte
- recent convert; beginner
- obdurate
- adj. stubborn
- obsequious
- slavishly attentive; servile; sycophantic
- obviate
- make unnecessary; get rid of
- occlude
- shut; close
- officious
- meddlesome; excessively pushy in offering one's services
- onerous
- burdensome
- opprobrium
- infamy; vilification
- oscillate
- vibrate pedulumlike; waver
- ostentatious
- showy; pretentious; trying to attract attention
- paragon
- model of perfection
- partisan
- one-sided; prejudiced; commited to a party
- pathological
- pertaining to disease
- paucity
- scarcity
- pedantic
- showing off learning; bookish
- penchant
- strong inclination; liking
- penury
- severe poverty; stinginess
- perennial
- something long-lasting
- perfidious
- treacherous; disloyal
- perfunctory
- superficial; not thorough; lacking interest, care, or enthusiasm
- permeable
- penetrable; porous; allowing liquids or gas to pass through
- pervasive
- spread throughout
- phlegmatic
- calm; not easily disturbed
- piety
- devoutness; reverence for God
- placate
- pacify; conciliate
- plasticity
- ability to be molded
- platitude
- n. trite remark; commonplace statement
- plethora
- excess; overabundance
- plummet
- fall sharply
- porous
- full of pores; like a sieve
- pragmatic
- practical (as opposed to idealistic); concerned with the practical worth or impact of something
- preamble
- introductory statement
- precarious
- uncertain; risky