General GRE Word List 2
Terms
undefined, object
copy deck
- Amenities
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Noun: convenient feature; courtesies.
In addition to the customary amenities for the business traveler- fax machines, modems, a health club- the hotel offers the services of a butler versed in the social amenities. - Amiable
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Adjective: agreeable; lovable; warmly friendly.
In Little Women, Beth is the amiable daughter whose loving disposition endears her to all who know her. - Amicable
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Adjective: politely friendly; not quarrelsome.
Beth's sister Jo is the hot-tempered tomboy who has a hard time maintaining amicable relationships with those around her. Jo's quarrel with her friend Laurie finally reaches an amicable settlement, but not because Jo turns amiable overnight. - Amiss
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Adjective (also Adverb): wrong; faulty.
Seeing her frown, he wondered if anything were amiss. - Amity
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Noun: friendship.
Student exchange programs such as the Experiment in International Living were established to promote international amity. - Amnesia
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Noun: loss of memory.
Because she was suffering from amnesia, the police could nto get the young girl to identify herself. - Amnesty
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Noun: pardon.
When his first child was born, the king granted amnesty to all in prison. - Amoral
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Adjective: nonmoral.
The amoral individual lacks a code of ethics; he cannot tell right from wrong. The immoral person can tell right from wrong; he chooses to do something he knows is wrong. - Amorous
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Adjective: moved by sexual love; loving.
"Love them and leave them" was the motto of the amorous Don Juan. - Amorphous
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Adjective: formless; lacking shape or definiton.
As soon as we have decided on our itinterary, we shall send you a copy; right now, our plans are still amorphous. - Amphibian
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Adjective: able to live both on land and in water.
Frogs are classified as amphibian. - Amphitheater
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Noun: oval building with tiers of seats.
The spectators in the amphitheater cheered the gladiators. - Ample
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Adjective: abundant.
Bond had ample opportunity to escape. Why, then, did he let us capture him? - Amplify
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Verb: broaden or clarify by expanding; intensify; make stronger.
Charlie Brown tried to amplify his remarks, but he was drowned out by jeers from the audience. Lucy was smarter: she used a loudspeaker to amplify her voice. - Amputate
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Verb: cut off part of body; prune.
When the doctors had to amputate Ted Kennedy's leg to prevent the spread of cancer, he did not let the loss of his leg keep him from participating in sports. - Amok (also Amuck)
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Adverb: in a state of rage.
The police had to be called in to restrain him after he ran amok in the department store. - Amulet
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Noun: charm; talisman.
Around her neck she wore the amulet that the witch doctor had given her. -
Anachronism
(frequent word) -
Noun: something or someone misplaced in time.
Shakespeare's reference to clocks in Julius Caesar is an anachronism; no clocks existed in Caesar's time.
Adjective: Anachronistic - Analgesic
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Adjective: causing insensitivity to pain.
The analgesic qualities of this lotion will provide temporary relief. -
Analogous
(frequent word) -
Adjective: comparable.
She called our attention to the things that had been done in an analogous situation and recommended that we do the same. - Analogy
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Noun: similarity; parallelism.
A well-known analogy compares the body's immune system with an army whose defending troops are the lymphocytes or white blood cells. - Anarchist
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Noun: person who seeks to overturn the established government; advocate of abolishing authority.
Denying she was an anarchist, Katya maintained she wished only to make changes in our government, not to destroy it entirely. -
Anarchy
(frequent word) -
Noun: absence of governing body; state of disorder.
The assassination of the leaders let to a period of anarchy. - Anathema
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Noun: solemn curse; someone or something regarded as a curse.
The Ayatolla Khomeini heaped anathema upon "the Great Satan," that is, the United States. To the Ayatolla, America and the West were anathema; he loathed the democratic nations, cursing them in his dying words.
Verb: Anathematize. - Ancestry
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Noun: family descent.
David can trace his ancestry as far back as the seventeenth century, when one of his ancestors was a court trumpeter somewhere in Germany.
Adjective: ancestral. - Anchor
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Verb: secure of fasten firmly; be fixed in place.
We set the post in concrete to anchor it in place.
Noun: Anchorage. - Ancillary
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Adjective (also Noun): serving as an aid or accessory; auxiliary.
In an ancillary capacity Doctor Watson was helpful; however, Holmes could not trust the good doctor to solve a perplexing case on his own. - Anecdote
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Noun: short account of an amusing or interesting event.
Rather than make concrete proposals for welfare reform, President Reagan told anecdotes about poor people who became wealthy despite their impoverished backgrounds. - Anemia
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Noun: condition in which blood lacks red corpuscles.
The doctor ascribes her tiredness to anemia.
Adjective: anemic. - Anesthetic
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Noun: substance that removes sensation with or without loss of consciousness.
His monotonous voice acted like an anesthetic; his audience was soon asleep.
Noun: anesthesia. - Anguish
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Noun: acute pain; extreme suffering.
Visiting the site of the explosion, the president wept to see the anguish of the victims and their families. - Angular
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Adjective: sharp cornered; stiff in manner.
Mr. Spock's features, though angular, were curiously attractive, in a Vulcan way. - Animadversion
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Noun: critical remark.
He resented the animadversions of his critics, particularly because he realized they were true. - Animated
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Adjective: lively; spirited.
Jim Carrey's facial expressions are highly animated: when he played Ace Ventura, he was practically rubber-faced. - Animosity
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Noun: active enmity.
He incurred the animosity of the ruling class because he advocated limitations of their power. - Animus
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Noun: hostile feeling or intent.
The animus of the speaker became obvious to all when he began to indulge in sarcastic and insulting remarks. - Annals
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Noun: records; history.
In the annals of this period, we find no mention of democratic movements. - Anneal
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Verb: reduce brittleness and improve toughness by heating and cooling.
After the glass is annealed, it will be less subject to chipping and cracking. - Annex
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Verb: attach; take possession of.
Mexico objected to the United States' attempts to annex the territory that later became the state of Texas. - Annihilate
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Verb: destroy.
The enemy in its revenge tried to annihilate the entire population. - Annotate
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Verb: comment; make explanatory notes.
In the appendix to the novel, the critic sought to annotate many of the more esoteric references. - Annuity
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Noun: yearly allowance.
The annuity she set up with the insurance company supplements her social security benefits so that she can live very comfortable without working. - Annul
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Verb: make void.
The parents of the eloped couple tried to annul the marriage. - Anodyne
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Noun: drug that relieves pain; opiate.
His pain was so great that no anodyne could relieve it. - Anoint
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Verb: consecrate.
The prophet Samuel anointed David with oil, crowning him king of Israel.