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GRE Vocabulary

A long list of vocabulary for the GRE.

Terms

undefined, object
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insensible
numb; unconscious: "Wayne was rendered insensible by a blow to the head." unfeeling; insensitive: "They were insensibile to the suffering of others.:
saturnine
having a gloomy or morose temperament
anomalous
peculiar; unique, contrary to the norm (n: anomaly)
banal
commonplace or trite (n: banality)
magnanimity
generosity and nobility. (adj: magnanimous)
antipathy
hostility toward, objection, or aversion to
nefarious
wicked, evil: "a nefarious plot."
guile
skillful deceit: "He was well known for his guile." (v. bequile; adj: beguiling. Note, however, that these two words have an additional meaning: to charm (v.) or charming (adj:), while the word guile does not generally have any such positive connotations)
emollient
softening; something that softens
noisome
harmful, offensive, destructive: "The noisome odor of the dump carried for miles."
disabuse
to free a person from falsehood or error: "We had to disabuse her of the notion that she was invited."
descry
to make clear, to say
attenuate
weaken (adj: attenuated)
misnomer
incorrect name or word for something
hapless
unfortunate
fawn
to seek favor or attention; to act subserviantly (n, adj: fawning)
buttress
to support. a support
deference
submission or courteous yielding: "He held his tongue in deference to his father." (n: deferential. v. defer)
caustic
capable of dissolving by chemical action; highly critical: "His caustic remarks spoiled the mood of the party."
diatribe
a bitter abusive denunciation.
obdurate
hardened against influence or feeling; intractable.
verbose
wordy: "The instructor asked her verbose student make her paper more concise." (n: verbosity)
plethora
excessively large quantity; overabundance: "We received a p lethora of applications for the position."
insipid
lacking zest or excitement; dull
viscous
slow moving; highly resistant to flow: "Heintz commercials imply that their catsup is more viscous than others'." (n: viscosity)
dogmatic
relying upon doctrine or dogma, as opposed to evidence
laudable
praiseworthy; commendable (v. laud)
eclectic
selecting or employing individual elements from a variety of sources: "Many modern decorators prefer an eclectic style." (n: eclecticism)
impecunious
penniless; poor
engender
to give rise to, to propagate, to cause: "His slip of the toungue engendered much laughter."
infer
to deduce: "New genetic evidence led some zoologists to infer that the red wolf is actually a hybrid of the coyote and the gray wolf."
leviathan
giant whale, therefore, something very large
ephemeral
lasting for only a brief time, fleeting (n: ephemera)
ambiguous
vague; subject to more than one interpretation
Pulchritudinous
beautiful (n: pulchritude)
conflagration
a great fire
floundering
struggling: "We tried to save the floundering business."
corporeal
of or having to do with material, as opposed to spiritual; tangible. (In older writings, coeporeal could be a synonym for corporal. This usage is no longer common)
audacious
extremely bold; fearless, especially said of human behavior (n: audacity)
anachronism
a person or artifact appearing after its own time or out of chronological order (adj: anachronistic)
obviate
to prevent by anticipatory measures; to make unnecessary:
ponderous
heavy; massive; awkward; dull: "A ponderous book is better than a sleeping pill."
aberrant
deviating from normal or correct.
tortuous
twisted; excessively complicated: "Despite public complaints, tax laws and forms have become increasingly tortuous." Note: Don't confuse this with torturous.
diffident
lacking self-confidence, modest (n: diffidence)
dissemble
to conceal one's real motive, to feign
temperate
exercising moderation and self-denial; calm or mild (n: temperance)
pragmatic
concerned with facts; practical, as opposed to highly principled or traditional: "His pragmatic approach often offended idealists." (n: pragmatism)
prodigal
rashly wasteful: "Americans' prodigal devotion to the automobile is unique."
depict
to show, create a picture of.
plastic
related to being shaped or molded; capable of being molded. (n: plasticity n: plastic)
florid
flushed with a rosy color, as in complexion; very ornate and flowery: "florid prose."
imperious
commanding
assuage
to make less severe; to appease or satisfy
homogenous
similar in nature or kind; uniform: "a homogeneous society."
complaisant
willingly compliant or accepting of the status quo (n: complaisance)
craven
cowardly; a coward
fervid, fervent
highly emotional; hot: "The partisans displayed a fervent patriotism." (n: fervor)
implication
insinuation or connotation (v. implicate)
pedantic
showing a narrow concern for rules or formal book learning; making an excessive display of one's own learning: "We quickly tired of his pedantic conversation." (n: pedant, pedantry).
exacerbate
to increase the bitterness or violence of; to aggravate: "The decision to fortify the border exacerbated tensions."
peccadillo
a small sin or fault
efficacy
effectiveness; capability to produce a desired effect
sagacious
having a sharp or powerful intellect or discernment. (n: sagacity).
vacuous
empty; without contents; without ideas or intelligence:: "She flashed a vacuous smile."
ingenuous
unsophisticated; artless; straightforward; candid: "Wilson's ingenuous response to the controversial calmed the suspicious listeners."
loquacious
talkative
malevolent
malicious; evil; having or showing ill will: "Some early American colonists saw the wilderness as malevolent and sought to control it."
inhibit
to hold back, prohibit, forbid, or restrain (n: inhibition, adj: inhibited)
precursor
something (or someone) that precedes another: "The assasination of the Archduke was a precursor to the war."
advocate
to speak, plead, or argue for a cause, or in another's behalf. (n) -- one who advocates.
intransigent
stubborn; immovable; unwilling to change: "She was so intransigent we finally gave up trying to convince her." (n: intransigence)
enervate
to weaken or destroy the strength or vitality of: "The heatenervated everyone." (adj: enervating)
encomium
a formal eulogy or speech of praise
venerate
great respect or reverence: "The Chinese traditionally venerated their ancestors; ancestor worship is merely a popular misnomer for this tradition." (n: veneration, adj: venerable)
fathom
a measure of length (six feet) used in nautical settings. to penetrate to the depths of something in order to understand it: "I couldn't fathom her reasoning on that issue."
imply
to suggest indirectly; to entail: "She implied she didn't believe his story." (n: implication)
ineffable
undescribable; inexpressible in words; unspeakable
gossamer
fine cobweb on foliage; fine gauzy fabric; very fine: "She wore a gossamer robe."
inchoate
in an initial or early stage; incomplete; disorganized: "The act of writing forces one to clarify incohate thoughts."
depredation
the act of preying upon or plundering: "The depredations of the invaders demoralized the population."
iconoclast
one who attacks traditional ideas or institutions or one who destroys sacred images (adj: iconoclastic)
guileless
honest; straightforward (n: guilelessness)
headlong
headfirst; impulsive; hasty. impulsively; hastily; without forethought: "They rushed headlong into marriage."
turpitude
depravity; baseness: "Mr. Castor was fired for moral turpitude."
tractable
ability to be easily managed or controlled: "Her mother wished she were more tractable." (n: tractibility)
amalgamate
to unite or mix. (n) -- amalgamation.
rarefy
to make or become thin; to purify or refine (n: rarefaction, adj: rarefied)
fledgling
a baby bird; an inexperienced person; inexperienced.
voracious
craving or devouring large quantities of food, drink, or other things. She is a voracious reader.
opaque
not transparent or transluscent; dense; difficult to comprehend, as inopaque reasoning
savant
a very knowledgable person; a genious
innocuous
harmless; having no adverse affect; not likely to provoke strong emotion
dogged
stubborn or determined: "Her dogged pursuit of the degree eventually paid off."
disparaging
belittling (n: disparagement. v. disparage)
feign
to give false appearance or impression: "He feigned illness to avoid going to school." (adj: feigned)
ingenious
clever: "She developed an ingenious method for testing her hypothesis."(n: ingenuity)
misanthrope
one who hates people: "He was a true misanthrope and hated even himself."
reproof
the act of censuring, scolding, or rebuking. (v. reprove).
superficial
only covering the surface: "A superficial treatment of the topic was all they wanted."
bombast
pompous speech (adj: bombastic)
corporal
of the body: "corporal punishment." a non-commissioned officer ranked between a sergeant and a private.
burgeon
to grow or flourish; a bud or new growth (adj: burgeoning )
wretched
extremely pitiful or unfortunate (n: wretch)
exorbitant
exceeding customary or normal limits, esp. in quantity or price: "The cab fare was exorbitant."
petulant
easily or frequently annoyed, especially over trivial matters; childishly irritable
aggrandize
to make greater, to increase, thus, to exaggerate.
dispassionate
calm; objective; unbiased
cadge
to get something by taking advantage of someone
barefaced
unconcealed, shameless, or brazen
placate
to calm or reduce anger by making concessions: "The professor tried to placate his students by postponing the exam."
indelible
permanent; unerasable; strong: "The Queen made an indelible impression on her subjects."
sedulous
diligent; persevering; persistent: "Her sedulous devotion to overcoming her background impressed many." (n: sedulity; sedulousness; adv. sedulously)
esoteric
intended for or understood by only a few: "The esoteric discussion confused some people." (n: esoterica)
antediluvian
ancient; outmoded; (literally,before the flood)
chicanery
deception by trickery
tacit
unspoken: "Katie and carmella had a tacit agreement that they would not mention the dented fender to their parents."
arbitrate
to settle a dispute by impulse (n: arbitration)
latent
present or potential but not evident or active (n: latency)
emulate
to strive to equal or excel (n: emulation)
prevaricate
to stray away from or evade the truth: "When we asked him what his intentions were, he prevaricated."(n: prevarication; prevaricator)
tyro
beginner; person lacking experience in a specific endeavor: "They easily took advantage of the tyro."
catalyst
an agent of change (adj: catalytic; v. catalyze)
extant
in existence, still existing: The only extant representative of that species."
aver
to declare
lucid
clear; translucent: "He made a lucid argument to support his theory."
dearth
lack, scarcity: "The prosecutor complained about the dearth of concrete evidence against the suspect."
mitigate
to make less forceful; to become more moderate; to make less harsh or undesirable: "He was trying to mitigate the damage he had done." (n: mitigation)
blandishment
speech or action intended to coax someone into doing something
ambrosial
extremely pleasing to the senses, divine (as related to the gods) or delicious (n: ambrosia)
corroborate
to strengthen or support: "The witness corroborted his story." (n: corroboration)
sanguine
cheerful; confident: "Her sanguine attitude put everyone at ease."(Sangfroid (noun) is a related French word meaning unflappibility. Literally, it means cold blood)
garrulous
verbose; talkative; rambling: "We tried to avoid our garrulous neighbor."
ossified
turned to bone; hardened like bone; Inflexible: "The ossified culture failed to adapt to new economic conditions and died out."
zeal
enthusiastic devotion to a cause, ideal, or goal (n: zealot; zealoutry. adj: zealous)
precipitate
to fall; to fall downward suddenly and dramatically; to bring about or hasten the occurrence of something: "Old World diseases precipitated a massive decline in the American Indian population."
culpable
deserving of blame (n: culpability)
specious
seemingly true but really false; deceptively convincing or attractive: "Her argument, though specious, was readily accepted by many."
rescind
to repeal or annul
desiccate
to dry out thoroughly (adj: desiccated)
exculpate
to demonstrate or prove to be blameless: "The evidence tended to exculpate the defendant."(adj: exculpatory)
irascible
prone to outbursts of temper, easily angered
taciturn
habitually untalkative or silent (n: taciturnity)
effluent
the quality of flowing out. something that flows out, such as a stream from a river (n: effluence)
insular
of or pertaining to an island, thus, excessively exclusive: "Newcomers found it difficult to make friends in the insular community."
volatile
explosive; fickle (n: volatility).
quiescence
inactivity; stillness; dormancy (adj: quiescent)
propitiate
to conciliate; to appease: "They made sacrifices to propitiate angry gods."
eulogy
a spoken or written tribute to the deceased (v. eulogize)
misogynist
one who hates women
explicit
fully and clearly expressed
philanthropy
tendency or action for the benefit of others, as in donating money or property to a charitible organization
perfidious
deliberately treacherous; dishonest (n: perfidy)
equivocal
ambiguous; unclear; subject to more than one interpretation -- often intentionally so: "Republicans complained that Bill Clinton's answers were equivocal." (v. equivocate)
endemic
prevalent in or native to a certain region, locality, or people: "The disease was endemic to the region." Don't confuse this word with epidemic.
lugubrious
weighty, mournful, or gloomy, especially to an excessive degree: "Jake's lugubrious monologues depressed his friends."
pusillanimous
cowardly, timid, or irreselute; petty: "The pusillanimous leader soon lost the respect of his people."
tirade (diatribe)
an angry speech: "His tirade had gone on long enough."
enigma
puzzle; mystery: "Math is an enigma to me." (adj: enigmatic)
panegyric
a writing or speech in praise of a person or thing
breach
a lapse, gap or break, as in a fortress wall. To break or break through.ex: Unfortunately, the club members never forgot his breach of ettiquette.
deprecation
belittlement. (v. deprecate)
erudite
scholarly; displaying deep intensive learning. (n: erudition)
laconic
using few words; terse: "a laconic reply."
caprice
impulse (adj: capricious)
phlegmatic
not easily excited; cool; sluggish
sate
to satisfy fully or to excess
occlude
to close or shut off; to obstruct (n: occlusion)
waver
to hesitate or to tremble
castigate
to chastise or criticize severely
incorrigible
not capable of being corrected: "The school board finally decided the James was incorrigible and expelled him from school."
precipice
cliff with a vertical or nearly vertical face; a dangerous place from which one is likely to fall; metaphorically, a very risky circumstance
improvidence
an absence of foresight; a failure to provide for future needs or events: "Their improvidence resulted in the loss of their home."
abscond
to leave secretly and hide, often to avoid the law.
vex
to annoy; to bother; to perplex; to puzzle; to debate at length: "Franklin vexed his brother with his controversial writings."

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