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GRE '08 Hit Parade 2
GRE '08 Hit Parade Group 2 Vocab.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| 1. ABATE | (v) to lessen in in intensity or degree |
| 2. ACCOLADE | (n) an expression of praise |
| 3. ADULATION | (n) excessive praise; intense adoration |
| 4. AESTHETIC | (adj) dealing with, appreciative of, or responsive to art or the beautiful |
| 5. AMELIORATE | (v) to make better or more tolerable |
| 6. ASCETIC | (n) one wo practices rigid self-denial, esp. as an act of religious devotion |
| 7. AVARICE | (n) greed, esp. for wealth |
| 8. AXIOM | (n) a universally recognized principle |
| 9. BUCOLIC | (adj) rustic and pastoral; characteristic of rural areas and their inhabitants |
| 10. BURGEON | (v) to grow rapidly or flourish |
| 11. CACOPHONY | (n) harsh, jarring, discordant sound; dissonance |
| 12. CANON | (n) an established set of principles or code of laws, often religious in nature |
| 13. CASTIGATION | (n) severe criticism or punishment |
| 14. CATALYST | (n) a substance that accelerates the rate of a chemical reaction witout itself changing; a person or thing that causes change |
| 15. CAUSTIC | (adj) burning or stinging; causing corrosion |
| 16. CHARY | (adj) wary; cautious; sparing |
| 17. COGENT | (adj) appealing forcibly to the mind or reason; convincing |
| 18. COMPLAISANCE | (n) the willingness to comply with the wishes of others |
| 19. CONTENTIOUS | (adj) argumentative; quarrelsome; causing controversy or disagreement |
| 20. CONTRITE | (adj) regretful; penitent; seeking forgiveness |
| 21. CULPABLE | (adj) deserving blame (noun form |
| 22. DEARTH | (n) smallness of quantity or number; scarcity; a lack |
| 23. DEMUR | (v) to question or oppose |
| 24. DIDACTIC | (adj) intended to teach or instruct |
| 25. DISCRETION | (n) cautious reserve in speech; ability to make responsible decisions |
| 26. DISINTERESTED | (adj) free of bias or self-interest; impartial |
| 27. DOGMATIC | (adj) expressing a rigid opinion based on unproved or improvable principles |
| 28. EBULLIENCE | (n) the quality of lively or enthusiastic expression of thoughts and feelings |
| 29. ECLETIC | (adj) composed of elements drawn from various sources |
| 30. ELEGY | (n) a mournful poem, esp. one lamenting the dead |
| 31. EMOLLIENT | (adj/n) soothing, esp. to the skin; making less harsh; mollifying; an agent that softens or smoothes the skin |
| 32. EMPIRICAL | (adj) based on observation or experiment |
| 33. ENIGMATIC | (adj) mysterious; obscure; difficult to understand |
| 34. EPHEMERAL | (adj) brief; fleeting |
| 35. ESOTERIC | (adj) intended for or understood by a small, specific group |
| 36. EULOGY | (n) a speech honoring the dead |
| 37. EXONERATE | (v) to remove blame |
| 38. FACETIOUS | (adj) playful; humorous |
| 39. FALLACY | (n) an invalid or incorrect notion; a mistaken belief |
| 40. FURTIVE | (adj) marked by stealth; covert; surreptitious |
| 41. GREGARIOUS | (adj) sociable; outgoing; enjoying the company of other people |
| 42. HARANGUE | (v/n) to deliver a pompous speech or tirade; a long, pompous speech |
| 43. HERETICAL | (adj) violating accepted dogma or convention (n |
| 44. HYPERBOLE | (n) an exaggerated statement, often used as a figure of speech (adj |
| 45. IMPECUNIOUS | (adj) lacking funds; without money |
| 46. INCIPIENT | (adj) beginning to come into being or to become apparent |
| 47. INERT | (adj) unmoving; lethargic; sluggish |
| 48. INNOCUOUS | (adj) harmless; causing no damage |
| 49. INTRANSIGENT | (adj) refusing to compromise (n |
| 50. INVEIGLE | (v) to obtain by deception or flattery |
| 51. MOROSE | (adj) sad; sullen; melancholy |
| 52. ODIOUS | (adj) evoking intense aversion or dislike |
| 53. OPAQUE | (adj) impenetrable by light; not reflecting light |
| 54. OSCILLATION | (n) the act or state of swinging back and forth with a steady, uninterrupted rhythm (v |
| 55. PENURIOUS | (adj) penny-pinching; excessively thrifty; ungenerous |
| 56. PERNICIOUS | (adj) extremely harmful; potentially causing death |
| 57. PERUSE | (v) to examine with great care (n |
| 58. PIOUS | (adj) extremely reverent or devout; showing strong religious devotion (n |
| 59. PRECURSOR | (n) one that precedes and indicates or announces another |
| 60. PREEN | (v) to dress up; to primp; to groom oneself with elaborate care |
| 61. PRODIGIOUS | (adj) abundant in size, force or extent; extraordinary |
| 62. PROLIFIC | (adj) producing large volumes or amounts; productive |
| 63. PUTREFY | (v) to rot; to decay and give off a foul odor (adj |
| 64. QUAFF | (v) to drink deeply |
| 65. QUIESCENCE | (n) stillness; motionlessness; quality of being at rest (adj |
| 66. REDOUBTABLE | (adj) awe-inspiring; worthy of honor |
| 67. SANCTION | (n/v) authoritative permission or approval; a penalty intended to enforce complience; to give permission or authority to |
| 68. SATIRE | (n) a literary work that ridicules or criticizes a human vice through humor or derision (adj |
| 69. SQUALID | (adj) sordid; wretched and dirty as from neglect (n |
| 70. STOIC | (adj) indifferent to or unaffected by pleasure or pain; steadfast (n |
| 71. SUPPLANT | (v) to take the place of; supercede |
| 72. TORPID | (adj) lethargic; sluggish; dormant (n |
| 73. UBIQUITOUS | (adj) existing everywhere at the same time; constantly encountered; widespread |
| 74. URBANE | (adj) sophisticated; refined; elegant (n. urbanity) |
| 75. VILIFY | (v) to defame; to characterize harshly |
| 76. VISCUOUS | (adj) thick; sticky (n: viscosity) |