GRE Vocab (P-Q)
Terms
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- Paean
- song of thanks
- Palatial
- like a palace
- Palaver
- idle talk
- Pall
- coffin, something that darkens
- Palliate
- to put at ease
- Pallid
- lacking colors or liveliness
- Paltry
- small, worthless
- Panache
- flamboyance
- Pandemic
- spread over a country
- Panegyric
- elaborate praise
- Panoply
- impressive array
- Pare
- to trim
- Parity
- equality
- Parley
- discussion, usually between enemies
- Parry
- to ward off, deflect
- Pastiche
- piece of literature or music imitating other works
- Patent
- obvious
- Pathos
- pity
- Patrician
- autocrat
- Patrimony
- inheritance or heritage derived from one’s father
- Patronize
- to condescend to
- Paucity
- a lack
- Pauper
- very old person
- Pavilion
- tent or light building used for shelter
- Peccadillo
- minor sin or offense
- Peculation
- theft of money
- Pedestrian
- commonplace
- Pediment
- triangular gable on a roof of façade
- Pejorative
- having bad consequences
- Penitent
- expressing sorrow for sins
- Penumbra
- partial shadow
- Penury
- extreme poverty
- Perambulate
- walk about
- Percipient
- able to perceive
- Perdition
- damnation
- Peregrinate
- to wander from place to place
- Peremptory
- imperative, dictatorial
- Perfidious
- faithless, disloyal
- Perfunctory
- done in a casual way
- Perihelion
- point is orbit that’s farthest from the sun
- Peripatetic
- moving from place to place
- Periphrastic
- containing too many words
- Perjure
- to lie
- Pernicious
- very harmful
- Perpetuity
- continuing forever
- Pert
- lively and bold
- Pertinacious
- lively and bold
- Perusal
- close examination
- Pestilence
- epidemic, plague
- Pettish
- fretful
- Petulance
- rudeness
- Phalanx
- massed group of soldiers
- Philanderer
- pursuer of casual love affairs
- Philistine
- narrow-minded person
- Philology
- study of words
- Phlegm
- coldness or indifference
- Phonic
- relating to sound
- Picayune
- petty
- Piddling
- little
- Pillory
- ridicule and abuse
- Pique
- fleeting feeling of hurt pride
- Pithy
- profound, substantial
- Pittance
- meager amount or wage
- Plaintive
- expressing sorrow
- Plait
- to braid
- Plangent
- long sound
- Platitude
- overused expression
- Plucky
- courageousness
- Ply
- to use diligently
- Polemic
- controversy
- Politic
- shrewd and practical, diplomatic
- Polygot
- speaker of many languages
- Ponderous
- heavy
- Pontificate
- to speak in a pretentious manner
- Pore
- to study very closely
- Portent
- omen
- Portly
- stout and dignified
- Posit
- to put in position
- Potable
- drinkable
- Potentate
- monarch with great power
- Prattle
- meaningless foolish talk
- Precarious
- uncertain
- Precept
- principle, law
- Precipice
- edge, steep overhang
- Precipitate
- sudden and unexpeceted, to throw down from a height
- Precipitious
- hastly, quickly
- Précis
- short summary of facts
- Precision
- state of being precise
- Preclude
- to rule out
- Precocious
- unusually advanced at an early age
- Precursor
- forerunner
- Predestine
- to decide in advance
- Preeminent
- celebrated
- Preponderance
- majority in number
- Prepossessing
- attractive
- Presage
- to foretell
- Prescient
- having foresight
- Presentiment
- premonition
- Prestidigitation
- slight of hand
- Presumptuous
- rude
- Pretext
- excuse
- Primeval
- ancient
- Privation
- lack of usual necessities
- Probity
- honesty
- Procure
- to obtain
- Profligate
- to corrupt
- Profundity
- great depth
- Prognosticate
- to predict
- Prolix
- wordy
- Promontory
- piece of land or rock higher than its surroundings
- Promulgate
- to make known publicly
- Propinquity
- nearness
- Propitiate
- to win over
- Propitious
- favorable
- Propriety
- appropriateness
- Prose
- ordinary language
- Prosaic
- relating to prose, commonplace
- Proselytize
- to covert to a particular belief or religion
- Prostrate
- lying face downward
- Protean
- readily assuming
- Protract
- to draw out, extend
- Provident
- frugal, prudent
- Providential
- prudent, lucky
- Proxy
- power to act as a substitute for another
- Prudent
- careful
- Prurient
- lustful, exhibiting lewd desires
- Puerile
- childish, overweight
- Pugilism
- boxing
- Pulchritude
- beauty
- Pummel
- to beat
- Purport
- to claim
- Quaff
- to drink heavily
- Quell
- to crush or subdue
- Quiescence
- inactivity
- Quotidian
- commonplace