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GRE Vocabulary words 2

Terms

undefined, object
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repine
1. To be discontented or low in spirits; complain or fret.
2. To yearn after something: Immigrants who repined for their homeland.
prevaricate
To stray from or evade the truth; equivocate.
tractable
1. Easily managed or controlled; governable.
2. Easily handled or worked; malleable.
virulence
1. Extremely infectious, malignant, or poisonous. Used of a disease or toxin.
2. Capable of causing disease by breaking down protective mechanisms of the host. Used of a pathogen.
stygian
1. Gloomy and dark.
2. Infernal; hellish.
spurious
1. Lacking authenticity or validity in essence or origin; not genuine; false.
Of illegitimate birth.
upbraid
1. To reprove sharply; reproach
nefarious
infamous by way of being wicked
ameliorate
To make or become better; improve
mollify
1. To calm in temper or feeling; soothe. See Synonyms at pacify.
2. To lessen in intensity; temper.
3. To reduce the rigidity of; soften.
effrontery
Brazen boldness; presumptuousness.
splenetic
Of or relating to the spleen.
Affected or marked by ill humor or irritability.

n.
A person regarded as irritable.
abstemious
Eating and drinking in moderation.

Sparingly used or consumed: abstemious meals.
Restricted to bare necessities: an abstemious way of life.
augury
The art, ability, or practice of auguring; divination.
A sign of something coming; an omen: “The chartist buys when the auguries look favorable and sells on bad omens” (Burton G. Malkiel).
deposition
The act of deposing, as from high office.
The act of depositing, especially the laying down of matter by a natural process.
Something deposited; a deposit.
Law. Testimony under oath, especially a statement by a witness that is written down or recorded for use in court at a later date.
Deposition The removal of Jesus from the cross.
sycophantic
A servile self-seeker who attempts to win favor by flattering influential people.
cavil
To find fault unnecessarily; raise trivial objections. See Synonyms at quibble.
feckless
Lacking purpose or vitality; feeble or ineffective.
Careless and irresponsible.
chicanery
Deception by trickery or sophistry.
A trick; a subterfuge.
surly
Sullenly ill-humored; gruff.
Threatening, as of weather conditions; ominous: surly clouds filled the sky.
Obsolete. Arrogant; domineering.
abate
To reduce in amount, degree, or intensity; lessen. See Synonyms at decrease.
To deduct from an amount; subtract.

To lessen
abdication
To relinquish (power or responsibility) formally.
abeyance
The condition of being temporarily set aside; suspension: held the plan in abeyance.
abjure
To renounce under oath; forswear.
To recant solemnly; repudiate: abjure one's beliefs.
To give up (an action or practice, for example); abstain from: “For nearly 21 years after his resignation as Prime Minister in 1963, he abjured all titles, preferring to remain just plain ‘Mr.’” (Time).

-To promise to give up
abrogate
To abolish, do away with, or annul, especially by authority.
abscond
To leave quickly and secretly and hide oneself, often to avoid arrest or prosecution.
abstruse
Difficult to understand; recondite. See Synonyms at ambiguous.
acarpous
Producing no fruit; sterile.
Having no fruit.
accolade
An expression of approval; praise.
A special acknowledgment; an award.
accretion
the growing of separate things into one
adamant
Impervious to pleas, appeals, or reason; stubbornly unyielding
admonitory
cautious advice or warning
agile
Characterized by quickness, lightness, and ease of movement; nimble.
Mentally quick or alert: an agile mind.
alacrity
Cheerful willingness; eagerness.
Speed or quickness; celerity.
celerity
Swiftness of action or motion; speed. See Synonyms at haste
alloy
A homogeneous mixture or solid solution of two or more metals, the atoms of one replacing or occupying interstitial positions between the atoms of the other: Brass is an alloy of zinc and copper.
A mixture; an amalgam: “Television news has... always been an alloy of journalism and show business” (Bill Moyers).
animosity
Bitter hostility or open enmity; active hatred.
A hostile feeling or act. See Synonyms at enmity.
aplomb
Self-confident assurance; poise
apostate
One who has abandoned one's religious faith, a political party, one's principles, or a cause.
apotheosis
Exaltation to divine rank or stature; deification.
Elevation to a preeminent or transcendent position; glorification: “Many observers have tried to attribute Warhol's current apotheosis to the subversive power of artistic vision” (Michiko Kakutani).
An exalted or glorified example: Their leader was the apotheosis of courage.
apprise
To give notice to; inform: apprised us of our rights
approbation
approval
apropos
At an appropriate time; opportunely.
By the way; incidentally: Apropos, where were you yesterday?
ardor
Fiery intensity of feeling. See Synonyms at passion.
Strong enthusiasm or devotion; zeal: “The dazzling conquest of Mexico gave a new impulse to the ardor of discovery” (
argot
A specialized vocabulary or set of idioms used by a particular group: thieves' argot
-slang
arrant
Completely such; thoroughgoing: an arrant fool; the arrant luxury of the ocean liner.

-in the highest degree
aspersion
An unfavorable or damaging remark; slander: Don't cast aspersions on my honesty.
The act of defaming or slandering.

-slander
assail
To attack with or as if with violent blows; assault.
assiduous
Constant in application or attention; diligent: an assiduous worker who strove for perfection. See Synonyms at busy.
Unceasing; persistent: assiduous research.
attenuate
To make slender, fine, or small: The drought attenuated the river to a narrow channel.
To reduce in force, value, amount, or degree; weaken: Medicine attentuated the fever's effect.
To lessen the density of; rarefy.

-enervate
auspicious
Attended by favorable circumstances; propitious: an auspicious time to ask for a raise in salary. See Synonyms at favorable.
Marked by success; prosperous
auxiliary
Giving assistance or support; helping.
Acting as a subsidiary; supplementary: the main library and its auxiliary branches.
Held in or used as a reserve: auxiliary troops; an auxiliary power generator.
aver
To affirm positively; declare.
Law.
To assert formally as a fact.
To justify or prove.
baleful
Portending evil; ominous. See Synonyms at sinister.
Harmful or malignant in intent or effect.
balk
To stop short and refuse to go on: The horse balked at the jump.
To refuse obstinately or abruptly: She balked at the very idea of compromise.

obstacle
baneful
Causing harm, ruin, or death; harmful
barrage
An artificial obstruction, such as a dam or irrigation channel, built in a watercourse to increase its depth or to divert its flow.
bedizen
To ornament or dress in a showy or gaudy manner.
belabor
To attack with blows; hit, beat, or whip. See Synonyms at beat.
To assail verbally.
To discuss repeatedly or at length; harp on: Don't belabor the point.
bellicose
Warlike in manner or temperament; pugnacious. See Synonyms at belligerent
bequeath
The act of giving, leaving by will, or passing on to another.
Something that is bequeathed; a legacy.
bereft
To leave desolate or alone, especially by death: “Cry aloud for the man who is dead, for the woman and children bereaved” (Alan Paton).
Archaic. To take (something valuable or necessary), typically by force.
blandishment
To coax by flattery or wheedling; cajole
cajole
To urge with gentle and repeated appeals, teasing, or flattery; wheedle
blithe
Carefree and lighthearted.
Lacking or showing a lack of due concern; casual: spoke with blithe ignorance of the true situation.
bolster
To support or prop up with or as if with a long narrow pillow or cushion.
To buoy up or hearten: Visitors bolstered the patient's morale.
breach
An opening, a tear, or a rupture.
A gap or rift, especially in or as if in a solid structure such as a dike or fortification.
A violation or infraction, as of a law, a legal obligation, or a promise.
A breaking up or disruption of friendly relations; an estrangement.
A leap of a whale from the water.
The breaking of waves or surf.
broach
To bring up (a subject) for discussion or debate.
To announce: We broached our plans for the new year.
To pierce in order to draw off liquid: broach a keg of beer.
To draw off (a liquid) by piercing a hole in a cask or other container.
To shape or enlarge (a hole) with a tapered, serrated tool.
brook
To put up with; tolerate: We will brook no further argument
burgeon
To put forth new buds, leaves, or greenery; sprout.
To begin to grow or blossom.
To grow and flourish.
burnish
To make smooth or glossy by or as if by rubbing; polish.
To rub with a tool that serves especially to smooth or polish.
cabal
A conspiratorial group of plotters or intriguers: “Espionage is quite precisely ita cabal of powerful men, working secretly” (Frank Conroy).
A secret scheme or plot.
cadge
to beg or get by begging
calumny
A false statement maliciously made to injure another's reputation.
The utterance of maliciously false statements; slander
candid
frank, straightfoward
cant
Monotonous talk filled with platitudes.
Hypocritically pious language.
The special vocabulary peculiar to the members of an underworld group; argot.
Cant See Shelta.
Whining speech, such as that used by beggars.
The special terminology understood among the members of a profession, discipline, or class but obscure to the general population; jargon. See Synonyms at dialect.
cantankerous
Ill-tempered and quarrelsome; disagreeable: disliked her cantankerous landlord.
Difficult to handle: “had to use liquid helium, which is supercold, costly and cantankerous” (Boston Globe).
castigate
to inflict SEVERE punishment
centurion
leader of an army of 100 soldiers
chary
Very cautious; wary: was chary of the risks involved.
Not giving or expending freely; sparing: was chary of compliments.
chasten
correct or punish
chauvinist
blindly devoted patriot
churl
bad-tempered person
clinch
To fix or secure (a nail or bolt, for example) by bending down or flattening the pointed end that protrudes.
To fasten together in this way.
To settle definitely and conclusively; make final: “The cocktail circuit is a constant and more contracts are clinched over pâté than over paper” (Ann L. Trebbe).
cloture
A parliamentary procedure by which debate is ended and an immediate vote is taken on the matter under discussion. Also called closure
coagulate
To cause transformation of (a liquid or sol, for example) into or as if into a soft, semisolid, or solid mass.
coalesce
To grow together; fuse.
To come together so as to form one whole; unite: The rebel units coalesced into one army to fight the invaders.
coeval
Originating or existing during the same period; lasting through the same era
cogent
strong, convincing
collusion
secret meeting for a deceitful purpose
combustion
process of burning
commodious
spacious

-having plenty of space for what is needed
conciliatory
reconciling, mollifying, comforting
concord
agreement or harmony
congeal
make or become stiff or solid
connotation
The act or process of connoting.

An idea or meaning suggested by or associated with a word or thing: Hollywood holds connotations of romance and glittering success.
The set of associations implied by a word in addition to its literal meaning.
Logic. The set of attributes constituting the meaning of a term; intension.
consequential
Following as an effect, result, or conclusion; consequent.
Having important consequences; significant: “The year's only really consequential legislation was the reform of Social Security” (New York Times).
consternation
surprise, fear, dismay
constrain
To compel by physical, moral, or circumstantial force; oblige: felt constrained to object. See Synonyms at force.
To keep within close bounds; confine: a life that had been constrained by habit to the same few activities and friends.
To inhibit or restrain; hold back: “Failing to control the growth of international debt will also constrain living standards” (Ronald Brownstein).
To produce in a forced or inhibited manner.
contemn
scorn or despise
contentious
argumentative pugnacious combative quarrelsome
contiguous
Sharing an edge or boundary; touching.
Neighboring; adjacent.

Connecting without a break: the 48 contiguous states.
Connected in time; uninterrupted: served two contiguous terms in office.
contrite
Feeling regret and sorrow for one's sins or offenses; penitent.
Arising from or expressing contrition: contrite words.
contumacious
Obstinately disobedient or rebellious; insubordinate.
convoke
call together; summon
cordon
line (of police acting on guard)
corporeal
physical; of the body
corroboration
additional strengthening evidence
countenance
Appearance, especially the expression of the face: The question left him with a puzzled countenance.
The face or facial features.

A look or expression indicative of encouragement or of moral support.
Support or approval.
Obsolete. Bearing; demeanor.
countervail
To act against with equal force; counteract.
To compensate for; offset.
cower
to cringe in fear

-crouch, shrink back
craven
Characterized by abject fear; cowardly.
credulity
A disposition to believe too readily.
cumbersome
Difficult to handle because of weight or bulk. See Synonyms at heavy.
Troublesome or onerous.
curmudgeon
An ill-tempered person full of resentment and stubborn notions
cursory
Performed with haste and scant attention to detail: a cursory glance at the headlines.
curtail
make shorter than planned
dearth
A scarce supply; a lack: “the dearth of uncensored, firsthand information about the war” (Richard Zoglin).
Shortage of food; famine.
debacle
A sudden, disastrous collapse, downfall, or defeat; a rout.
A total, often ludicrous failure.
The breaking up of ice in a river.
A violent flood.
decorum
propriety; properness
decry
disapprove of
defer
postpone; give up (authority)
deferential
showing respect
delineate
to portray depict sketch out
contention
The act or an instance of striving in controversy or debate. See Synonyms at discord.
A striving to win in competition; rivalry: The teams met in fierce contention for first place.
An assertion put forward in argument.
deluge
great flood
demagogue
A leader who obtains power by means of impassioned appeals to the emotions and prejudices of the populace.
A leader of the common people in ancient times.
demur
To voice opposition; object: demurred at the suggestion. See Synonyms at object.
Law. To enter a demurrer.
To delay.
denigrate
blacken belittle sully defame

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