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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 |