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GRE_2
GRE vocabulary
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Abate (v) | to lessen in intensity or degree |
| Accolade (n) | an expression of praise |
| Adulation (n) | excessive praise; intense adoration |
| ameliorate (v) | to make better or more tolerable |
| ascetic (n) | one who practices rigid self-denial, esp. as an act of religious devotion |
| avarice (n); avaricious (adj) | greed, esp. for wealth |
| axiom (n); axiomatic (adj) | a universally recognized principle |
| burgeon (v) | to grow rapidly or flourish |
| bucolic (adj) | rustic and pastoral; characteristic of rural areas and their inhabitants |
| cacophony (n); cacophonous (adj) | harsh, jarring, discordant sound; dissonance |
| canon (n); canonical (adj) | an established set of principles or code of laws, often religious in nature |
| castigation (n); castigate (v) | severe criticism or punishment |
| catalyst (n) | a substance that accelerates the rate of a chemical reaction without itself changing; a person or thing that causes change |
| caustic (adj) | burning or stinging; causing corrosion |
| chary (adj) | wary; cautious; sparing |
| cogent (adj) | appealing forcibly to the mind or reason; convincing |
| complaisance (n); complaisant (n) | the willingness to comply with the wishes of others |
| contentious | argumentative; quarrelsome; causing controversy or disagreement |
| contrite (adj); contrition (n) | regretful; penitent; seeking forgiveness |
| culpable; culpability (n) | deserving blame |
| dearth (n) | smallness of quantity or number; scarcity; a lack |
| discretion (n); discrete (adj) | cautious reserve in speech; ability to make responsible decisions |
| disinterested (adj) | free of bias or self-interest; impartial |
| dogmatic (adj); dogma (n) | expressing a rigid opinion based on unproved or improvable principles |
| ebullience (n); ebullient (adj) | the quality of lively or enthusiastic expression of thoughts and feelings |
| eclectic (adj) | composed of elements drawn from various sources |
| elegy (n); elegiac (adj) | a mournful poem, esp. one lamenting the dead |
| emollient (adj)/(n) | soothing, esp. to the skin; making less harsh; mollifying; an agent that softens or smoothes the skin |
| empirical(adj) | based on observation or experiment |
| enigmatic (adj); enigma (adj) | mysterious; obscure; difficult to understand |
| ephemeral (adj) | brief; fleeting |
| esoteric (adj) | intended for or understood by a small, specific group |
| eulogy (n); eulogize (v) | a speech honoring the dead |
| exonerate (v) | to remove blame |
| facetious (adj) | playful; humorous |
| fallacy (n); fallacious (adj) | an invalid or incorrect notion; a mistaken belief |
| furtive (adj) | marked by stealth; convert; surreptitious |
| gregarious (adj) | sociable; outgoing; enjoying the company of other people |
| harangue (v)/(n) | to deliver a pompous speech or tirade; a long, pompous speech |
| heretical (adj); heresy (n) | violating accepted dogma or convention |
| hyperbole (n); hyperbolic (adj) | an exaggerated statement, often used as a figure of speech |
| impecunious (adj) | lacking funds; without money |
| incipient (adj) | beginning to come into being or to become apparent |
| inert (adj) | unmoving; lethargic; sluggish |
| innocuous (adj) | harmless; causing no damage |
| intransigent (adj)/ intransigence (n) | refusing to compromise |
| inveigle (v) | to obtain by deception or flattery |
| morose (adj) | sad; sullen; melancholy |
| odious (adj) | evoking intense aversion or dislike |
| opaque (adj) | impenetrable by light; not reflecting light |
| oscillation (n); oscillate (v) | the act or state of swinging back and forth with a steady, uninterrupted rhythm |
| penurious (adj) | penny-pinching; excessively thrifty; ungenerous |
| pernicious (adj) | extremely harmful; potentially causing death |
| peruse (v); perusal (n) | to examine with great care |
| pious (adj); piety (n) | extremely reverent or devout; showing strong religious devotion |
| precursor (n) | one that precedes and indicates or announces another |
| preen (v) | to dress up; to primp; to groom oneself with elaborate care |
| prodigious (adj) | abundant in size, force or extent; extraordinary |
| prolific (adj) | producing large volumes or amounts; productive |
| putrefy (v); putrid (adj) | to rot; to decay and give off a foul odor |
| quaff (v) | to drink deeply |
| quiescence (n); quiescent (adj) | stillness; motionlessness; quality of being at rest |
| redoubtable (adj) | awe-inspiring; worthy of honor |
| sanction (n)/(v) | authoritative permission or approval; a penalty intended to enforce compliance; to give permission or authority |
| satire (n); satirical (adj) | a literary work that ridicules or criticizes a human vice through humor or derision |
| squalid (adj); squalor (n) | sordid; wretched and dirty as from neglect |
| stoic (adj); stoicism (n) | indifferent to or unaffected by pleasure or pain; steadfast |
| supplant (v) | to take the place of; to supersede |
| torpid (adj); torpor (n) | lethargic; sluggish; dormant |
| ubiquitous (adj) | existing everywhere at the same time; constantly encountered; widespread |
| urbane (adj); urbanity (n) | sophisticated; refined; elegant |
| vilify (v) | to defame; to characterize harshly |
| viscous (adj); viscosity (n) | thick; sticky |