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GRE Vocabulary
Hit Parade 3
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| acumen | n. keen, accurate judgment or insight |
| adulterate | v. to reduce purity by combining with inferior ingredients |
| amalgamate | v. to combine several elements into a whole |
| archaic | adj. outdated; associated with an earlier, perhaps more primitive, time |
| aver | v. to state as a fact; to declare or assert |
| bolster | v. to provide support or reinforcement |
| bombastic | adj. pompous; grandiloquent |
| diatribe | n. a harsh denunciation |
| dissemble | v. to disguise or conceal; to mislead |
| eccentric | adj. departing from norms or conventions |
| endemic | adj. characteristic of or often found in a particular locality, region, or people |
| evanescent | adj. tending to disappear like vapor; vanishing |
| exacerbate | v. to make worse or more severe |
| fervent | adj. greatly emotional or zealous |
| fortuitous | adj. happening by accident or chance (lucky) |
| germane | adj. relevant to the subject at hand; appropriate in subject matter |
| grandiloquence | n. pompous speech or expression |
| hackneyed | adj. rendered trite or commonplace by frequent usage (cliche) |
| halcyon | adj. calm and peaceful |
| hedonism | n. devotion to pleasurable pursuits, esp. to the pleasures of the senses |
| hegemony | n. the consistent dominance of one state or ideology over others |
| iconoclast | n. one who attacks or undermines traditional conventions or institutions |
| idolatrous | adj. given to intense or excessive devotion to something (noun form: idolatry) |
| impassive | adj. revealing no emotion |
| imperturbable | adj. marked by extreme calm, impassivity and steadiness |
| implacable | adj. not capable of being appeased or significantly changed |
| impunity | n. immunity from punishment or penalty |
| inchoate | adj. in an initial stage; not fully formed |
| infelicitous | adj. unfortunate; inappropriate |
| insipid | adj. with out taste or flavor; lacking in spirit; bland |
| loquacious | adj. extremely talkative |
| luminous | adj. characterized by brightness and the emission of light |
| malevolent | adj. having or showing often vicious ill will, spite, or hatred |
| malleable | adj. capable of being shaped or formed; tractable; pliable |
| mendacity | n. condition of being untruthful; dishonesty *mensonge* |
| meticulous | adj. characterized by extreme precision; attentive to detail |
| misanthrope | n. one who hates all other humans |
| mitigate | v. to make or become less sever or intense; to moderate |
| obdurate | adj. unyielding; hardhearted; intractable |
| obsequious | exhibiting a fawning attentiveness |
| occlude | v. to obstruct or block |
| opprobrium | n. disgrace; contempt; scorn |
| pedagogy | n. the profession or principles of teaching, or instructing |
| penury | n. poverty; desitution |
| pervasive | adj. having the tendency to permeate or spread throughout |
| pine | v. to yearn intensely; to languish; to lose vigor |
| pirate | v. to illegally use or reproduce |
| pith | n. the essential or central part |
| pithy | adj. precise and brief |
| placate | v. to appease; to calm by making concessions |
| platitude | n. a superficial remark, esp. one offered as meaningful |
| plummet | v. to plunge or drop straight down |
| polemical | adj. controversial; argumentative |
| prodigal | adj. recklessly wasteful; extravagant; profuse; lavish |
| profuse | adj. given or coming forth abundantly; extravagant |
| proliferate | v. to grow or increase swiftly and abundantly |
| queries | n. questions; inquiries; doubts in the mind; reservations |
| querulous | adj. prone to complaining or grumbling; peevish |
| rancorous | adj. characterized by bitter, long-lasting resentment |
| recalcitrant | adj. obstinately defiant of authority; difficult to manage |
| repudiate | v. to refuse to have anything to do with; disown |
| rescind | v. to invalidate; to repeal; to retract |
| reverent | adj. marked by, felling, or expressing a feeling of profound awe and respect |
| rhetoric | n. the art or study of effective use of language for communication and persuasion |
| salubrious | adj. promoting health or well-being |
| solvent | adj. able to meet financial obligations; able to dissolve another substance |
| specious | adj. seeming true, but actually being fallacious; misleadingly attractive; plausible but false |
| spurious | adj. lacking authenticity or validity; false; counterfeit |
| subpoena | n. a court order requiring appearance and/or testimony |
| succinct | adj. brief; concise |
| superfluous | adj. exceeding what is sufficient or necessary |
| surfeit | n/v an overabundant supply; excess; to feed or supply to excess |
| tenacity | n. the quality of adherence or persistence to something valued; persistent determination |
| tenuous | adj. having little substance or strength; flimsy; weak |
| tirade | n. long and extremely critical speech; a harsh denunciation |
| transient | adj. fleeting; passing quickly; brief |
| zealous | adj. fervent; ardent; impassioned, devoted to a cause |