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GRE Verbiage
Some of the more difficult/less common words. Def. from various dictionaries
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| anodyne | a medicine that relieves or allays pain. anything that relieves distress or pain: The music was an anodyne to his grief. |
| antepenultimate | third from the end. |
| anterior | situated before or at the front of; fore (opposed to posterior ). going before in time or sequence; preceding; earlier: events anterior to the outbreak of war. |
| apace | swiftly; quickly. |
| aphelion | the point in a planet’s orbit at which it is furthest from the sun. The opposite of PERIHELION. |
| apocryphal | widely circulated but unlikely to be true: an apocryphal story. 2 of or belonging to the Apocrypha. |
| archipelago | an extensive group of islands. — ORIGIN from Greek arkhi- ‘chief’ + pelagos ‘sea’ (originally a name for the Aegean Sea, notable for its large number of islands). |
| askance | with a suspicious or disapproving look. |
| bilious | 1 relating to bile. 2 affected by nausea or vomiting. 3 spiteful; bad-tempered. |
| billet | • a civilian house where soldiers are lodged temporarily. • verb (billeted, billeting) lodge (soldiers) in a civilian house. |
| brigand | • a member of a gang of bandits, especially in forested and mountainous areas. — DERIVATIVES brigandage noun. — ORIGIN Italian brigante ‘(person) contending’, related to BRIGADE. |
| bromide | 1 Chemistry a compound of bromine with another element or group. 2 dated a sedative preparation containing potassium bromide. 3 a trite and unoriginal idea or remark, especially one intended to placate. |
| buffet (2) | •(especially of wind or waves) strike repeatedly and violently. • noun dated a blow. — ORIGIN Old French buffeter, from bufe ‘a blow’. |
| bursar | a person who manages the financial affairs of a college or school. 2 Scottish a student holding a bursary. — ORIGIN Latin bursarius, from bursa ‘bag, purse’. |
| calumny | • the making of false and defamatory statements about someone. • verb (calumnies, calumnied) formal calumniate. — DERIVATIVES calumnious /klumniss/ adjective. — ORIGIN Latin calumnia. |
| cajole | persuade (someone) to do something by sustained coaxing or flattery. — DERIVATIVES cajolery noun. — ORIGIN French cajoler. |
| carom | 1. (Billiards, Pool.) a shot in which the cue ball hits two balls in succession. 2. any strike and rebound, as a ball striking a wall and glancing off. –verb (used without object) 3. to make a carom. 4. to strike and rebound. |
| cavil | • make petty objections. • a petty objection. — ORIGIN Latin cavillari, from cavilla ‘mockery’. |
| cavalcade | • a procession of vehicles, riders, or people on foot. — ORIGIN Italian cavalcata, from cavalcare ‘to ride’. |
| compatriot | a person from the same country; a fellow citizen. — ORIGIN French, from Latin patriota ‘fellow countryman’. |
| concatenate | • link together in a chain or series. — DERIVATIVES concatenation noun. — ORIGIN Latin concatenare ‘link together’. |
| concomitant | • naturally accompanying or associated. • a concomitant phenomenon. — DERIVATIVES concomitance noun concomitantly adverb. — ORIGIN from Latin concomitari ‘accompany’, from comes ‘companion’. |
| contrite | feeling great regret and guilt for something bad that you have done: a contrite apology/expression contritely adverb FORMAL contrition noun [U] FORMAL |
| contumacious | • stubbornly or willfully disobedient to authority. — DERIVATIVES contumaciously adverb contumacy noun. — ORIGIN from Latin contumax, perhaps from tumere ‘to swell’. |
| cosset | • care for and protect in an overindulgent way. — ORIGIN orginally denoting a lamb brought up by hand, later a spoiled child: probably from Old English, ‘cottar’. |
| coterie | • a small exclusive group of people with shared interests or tastes. — ORIGIN French, from Low German kote ‘cote’. |
| countermand | • 1 revoke (an order). 2 declare (voting) invalid. — ORIGIN Latin contramandare, from mandare ‘to order’. |
| countervail | • offset the effect of (something) by countering it with something of equal force. — ORIGIN from Latin contra valere ‘be of worth against’. |
| cygnet | • a young swan. — ORIGIN Old French, from Greek kuknos ‘swan’. |
| decamp | • depart suddenly or secretly. |
| decathlon | • an athletic event in which each competitor takes part in the same ten events. — DERIVATIVES decathlete noun. — ORIGIN from Greek deka ‘ten’ + athlon ‘contest’. |
| decry | • publicly denounce. — ORIGIN originally in the sense decrease the value of coins by royal proclamation: from French décrier ‘cry down’. |
| demur | • raise doubts or objections; show reluctance. • noun the action of demurring: they accepted without demur. — DERIVATIVES demurral noun. — ORIGIN Old French demourer, from Latin morari ‘delay’. |
| depose | • 1 remove from office suddenly and forcefully. 2 Law testify to or give (evidence) on oath, especially in writing. — ORIGIN Old French deposer, from Latin deponere ‘put down’. |
| desist | • cease; abstain. — ORIGIN Latin desistere, from sistere ‘to stop’. |
| disbar | • 1 expel (a barrister) from the Bar. 2 exclude. — DERIVATIVES disbarment noun. |
| disgorge | • 1 cause to pour out; discharge. 2 bring up or vomit (food). 3 yield or give up (funds, especially when dishonestly acquired). — ORIGIN Old French desgorger, from gorge ‘throat’. |
| dissimulate | • hide or disguise one’s thoughts or feelings. — DERIVATIVES dissimulation noun dissimulator noun. — ORIGIN Latin dissimulare ‘to conceal’. |
| dotage | • the period of life in which a person is old and weak. — ORIGIN from DOTE + -AGE. |
| dudgeon | • deep resentment. — ORIGIN of unknown origin. |
| dyspeptic | • 1 relating to or suffering from dyspepsia. 2 irritable. |
| editorialize | • (of a newspaper or editor) express opinions rather than just report news. |
| effluvia | • an unpleasant or harmful odour or discharge. — ORIGIN Latin. |
| encipher | • convert into a coded form. |
| endogamy | marriage within a specific tribe or similar social unit. |
| ensconce | • establish in a comfortable, safe, or secret place. — ORIGIN originally in the senses fortify and shelter with a fortification: from archaic sconce, denoting a small fort or earthwork, from High German schanze ‘brushwood’. |
| epithet | • a word or phrase expressing a quality or attribute of the person or thing mentioned. — ORIGIN Greek epitheton, from epitithenai ‘add’. |
| epochal | • 1 a period of time marked by particular events or characteristics. 2 the beginning of a period of history. 3 Geology a division of time that is a subdivision of a period and is itself subdivided into ages. — DERIVATIVES epochal adjective. |
| ersatz | • 1 (of a product) made or used as an inferior substitute for something else. 2 not real or genuine: ersatz emotion. — ORIGIN German, ‘replacement’. |
| ethos | • the characteristic spirit of a culture, era, or community. — ORIGIN Greek ethos ‘nature, disposition’. |
| esurient | • hungry or greedy. |
| estimable | • worthy of great respect. |
| espouse | • adopt or support (a cause, belief, or way of life). — ORIGIN Old French espouser, from Latin sponsus ‘betrothed’. |
| euphemism | • a mild or less direct word substituted for one that is harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing. — DERIVATIVES euphemistic adjective euphemistically adverb. — ORIGIN Greek euphemismos, from eu ‘well’ + pheme ‘speaking |
| eurhythmic | 1. characterized by a pleasing rhythm; harmoniously ordered or proportioned. 2. of or pertaining to e. |
| excoriate | • 1 (chiefly Medicine) damage or remove part of the surface of (the skin). 2 formal censure or criticize severely. — DERIVATIVES excoriation noun. — ORIGIN Latin excoriare ‘to skin’. |
| euthanasia | • the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable disease or in an irreversible coma. — ORIGIN from Greek eu ‘well’ + thanatos ‘death’. |
| execrable | extremely bad or unpleasant. — ORIGIN Latin execrabilis, from exsecrari ‘curse’. |
| exigent | needing urgent attention, or demanding too much from other people: an exigent problem an exigent manager exigency Show phonetics noun [C or U] FORMAL the difficulties of a situation, especially one which causes urgent demands: the exigencies of wa |
| fallow | • 1 (of farmland) ploughed and harrowed but left for a period without being sown. 2 characterized by inactivity. 3 (of a sow) not pregnant. • noun a piece of fallow land. — DERIVATIVES fallowness noun. — ORIGIN Old English. |
| fealty | • historical a feudal tenant’s or vassal’s sworn loyalty to a lord. — ORIGIN Old French feaulte from Latin fidelitas ‘fidelity’. |
| feckless | • 1 ineffectual; feeble. 2 unthinking and irresponsible. — DERIVATIVES fecklessly adverb fecklessness noun. — ORIGIN from Scots and northern English dialect feck, from effeck, variant of EFFECT. |
| fell | 1. fierce; cruel; dreadful; savage. 2. destructive; deadly: fell poison; fell disease. —Idiom 3. at or in one fell swoop. swoop (def. 5). Related forms: fellness, noun fell –noun the skin or hide of an animal; pelt. |
| filibuster | a. the use of irregular or obstructive tactics by a member of a legislative assembly to prevent the adoption of a measure b. an exceptionally long speech, as one lasting for a day or days, or a series of such speeches to accomplish this purpose. |
| ford | 1. a place where a river or other body of water is shallow enough to be crossed by wading. –verb (used with object) 2. to cross (a river, stream, etc.) at a ford. |
| forfend | • 1 prevent or ward off (something evil or unpleasant). 2 US protect by precautionary measures. — PHRASES God (or Heaven) forfend archaic or humorous used to express dismay at the thought of something. |
| gainsay | • deny or contradict; speak against. — ORIGIN from obsolete gain- ‘against’ + SAY. |
| gaucherie | • or unsophisticated ways. — ORIGIN French. |
| gratis | • free of charge. kindness’. |
| gustation | • the action or faculty of tasting. — ORIGIN Latin, from gustare ‘to taste’. |
| hapless | • unlucky; unfortunate. |
| hector | • talk to in a bullying or intimidating way. — ORIGIN originally denoting a hero, later a braggart or bully: from the Trojan warrior Hector in Homer’s Iliad. |
| hegemony | • dominance, especially by one state or social group over others. — DERIVATIVES hegemonic adjective. — ORIGIN Greek hegemonia, from hegemon ‘leader’. |
| hemicycle | 1. a semicircle. 2. a semicircular structure. |
| hidebound | • constrained by tradition or convention; narrow-minded. — ORIGIN originally referring to malnourished cattle, later to emaciated human beings, hence the sense narrow in outlook: from HIDE2 + BOUND4. |
| hinterland | • 1 the remote areas of a country, away from the coast and major rivers. 2 the area around or beyond a major town or port. — ORIGIN German, from hinter ‘behind’ + Land ‘land’. |
| homonym | • each of two or more words having the same spelling or pronunciation but different meanings and origins. — DERIVATIVES homonymic adjective homonymous adjective homonymy /hmonnimi/ noun. -from homos ‘same’ + onoma ‘name’. |
| hutch | • a box or cage for keeping rabbits or other small domesticated animals. — ORIGIN originally in the sense storage chest: from Old French huche, from Latin hutica. |
| immure | • confine or imprison. — ORIGIN Latin immurare, from murus ‘wall’. |
| importune | • 1 harass with persistent requests. 2 usu. as noun importuning approach to offer one’s services as a prostitute. — ORIGIN Latin importunari, from importunus (see IMPORTUNATE). |
| impugn | • dispute the truth, validity, or honesty of. — ORIGIN Latin impugnare ‘assail’. |
| incommunicado | • not able to communicate with other people. — ORIGIN Spanish incommunicado, from incomunicar ‘deprive of communication’. |
| inculcate | • instill (an idea or habit) by persistent instruction. — DERIVATIVES inculcation noun. — ORIGIN Latin inculcare ‘press in’. |
| incumbent | • 1 necessary for (someone) as a duty. 2 currently holding office. • noun the holder of an office or post. — ORIGIN Latin incumbens, from incumbere ‘lie or lean on’. |
| incursion | • an invasion or attack, especially a sudden or brief one. — ORIGIN Latin, from incurrere ‘run into or towards’. |
| indenture | • 1 a formal agreement, contract, or list, formerly one of which copies with indented edges were made for the contracting parties. 2 an agreement binding an apprentice to a master. |
| ingress | • 1 the action or fact of entering or coming in. 2 a place or means of access. — DERIVATIVES ingression noun. — ORIGIN Latin ingressus, from ingredi ‘enter’. |
| inimical | • tending to obstruct or harm; hostile. — ORIGIN Latin inimicalis, from inimicus ‘enemy’. |
| inquest | • 1 a judicial inquiry to ascertain the facts relating to an incident. 2 Brit. an inquiry by a coroner’s court into the cause of a death. — ORIGIN Old French enqueste, from Latin inquirere, from quaerere ‘speak’. |
| insolvent | • 1 having insufficient money to pay debts owed. 2 relating to bankruptcy. • noun an insolvent person. — DERIVATIVES insolvency noun. |
| inter | • place (a corpse) in a grave or tomb. — ORIGIN Old French enterrer, from Latin in- ‘into’ + terra ‘earth’. |
| interdict | • 1 an authoritative prohibition. 2 (in the Roman Catholic Church) a sentence debarring a person or place from ecclesiastical functions and privileges. • verb /intrdikt/ chiefly N. Amer. prohibit or forbid. — DERIVATIVES interdiction nou |
| internecine | • 1 destructive to both sides in a conflict. 2 relating to conflict within a group: internecine rivalries. — ORIGIN Latin internecinus, from inter- ‘among’ + necare ‘to kill’. |
| interpose | • 1 insert between one thing and another. 2 intervene between parties. 3 say as an interruption. 4 exercise or advance (a veto or objection). — DERIVATIVES interposition noun. |
| interregnum | • a period when normal government is suspended, especially between successive reigns or regimes. — ORIGIN Latin, from inter- ‘between’ + regnum ‘reign’. |
| intramural | • 1 situated or done within a building. 2 forming part of normal university or college studies. — ORIGIN from INTRA- + Latin murus ‘wall’. |
| intractable | • 1 hard to solve or deal with. 2 stubborn. |
| intransigent | • refusing to change one’s views. — DERIVATIVES intransigence noun intransigency noun intransigently adverb. |
| inure | • accustom to something, especially something unpleasant. — ORIGIN from an Old French phrase meaning ‘in use or practice’. |
| invective | • strongly abusive or critical language. — ORIGIN Latin invectivus ‘attacking’, from invehere |
| inveigh | • speak or write about with great hostility. — ORIGIN originally in the sense introduce: from Latin invehere ‘carry in’, invehi ‘be carried into, attack’. |
| investiture | • 1 the action of formally investing a person with honors or rank. 2 a ceremony at which this takes place. |
| invidious | 1. calculated to create ill will or resentment or give offense; hateful: invidious remarks. 2. offensively or unfairly discriminating; injurious: invidious comparisons. 3. causing or tending to cause animosity, resentment, or envy: an invidious honor |
| jaundice | • 1 yellowing of the skin due to a bile disorder. 2 bitterness or resentment. — DERIVATIVES jaundiced adjective. — ORIGIN Old French jaunice ‘yellowness’. |
| jettison | • 1 throw or drop from an aircraft or ship. 2 abandon or discard. — ORIGIN Old French getaison, from Latin jacere ‘to throw’. |
| jibe | 2. to be in harmony or accord; agree 3. to utter mocking or scoffing words; jeer. |
| jingoism | • extreme patriotism, especially in the form of aggressive foreign policy. — DERIVATIVES jingoist noun jingoistic adjective. |
| jubilee | • 1 a special anniversary, especially one celebrating twenty-five or fifty years of something. 2 Jewish History a year of emancipation and restoration, kept every fifty years. |
| juggernaut | 1. any large, overpowering, destructive force or object, as war, a giant battleship, or a powerful football team. 2. (often lowercase) anything requiring blind devotion or cruel sacrifice. |
| keynote | • 1 a prevailing tone or central theme. 2 before another noun (of a speech) setting out the central theme of a conference. 3 Music the note on which a key is based. |
| kismet | • destiny; fate. — ORIGIN Arabic, ‘division, portion, lot’. |
| kudos | • praise and honor. — USAGE Despite appearances, _____ is not a plural form: there is no singular form kudo, and use as a plural, as in he received many kudos for his work, is incorrect. — ORIGIN Greek. |
| lampoon | • publicly satirize or ridicule. • noun a satirical attack. — ORIGIN French lampon, said to be from lampons ‘let us drink’. |
| lapidary | • 1 relating to the engraving, cutting, or polishing of stones and gems. 2 (of language) elegant and concise. • noun (pl. lapidaries) a person who cuts, polishes, or engraves stones and gems. — ORIGIN Latin lapidarius, from lapis ‘sto |
| larder | • a room or large cupboard for storing food. — ORIGIN originally denoting a store of meat: from Latin lardarium, from lardum ‘lard’. |
| legerdemain | • 1 skillful use of one’s hands when performing conjuring tricks. 2 deception; trickery. — ORIGIN from French léger de main ‘dexterous’ (literally ‘light of hand’). |
| lissome | • slim, supple, and graceful. — ORIGIN a contraction formed from LITHE + -SOME1. |
| lionize | • treat as a celebrity. |
| lugubrious | • mournful; sad and dismal. — ORIGIN Latin lugubris, from lugere ‘mourn’. |
| macrobiotic | 1. of or pertaining to macrobiotics or its dietary practices. 2. of, pertaining to, or serving macrobiotic food: a macrobiotic restaurant. 3. long-lived. 4. lengthening the life span. |
| machination | crafty schemes; plots; intrigues. |
| maelstrom | • 1 a powerful whirlpool. 2 a scene of confused movement or upheaval. — ORIGIN Dutch, from maalen ‘grind, whirl’ + stroom ‘stream’. |
| magnanimous | • generous or forgiving, especially towards a rival or less powerful person. — DERIVATIVES magnanimity noun magnanimously adverb. — ORIGIN from Latin magnus ‘great’ + animus ‘soul’. |
| magnate | • a wealthy and influential person, especially in business. — ORIGIN Latin magnas ‘great man’. |
| maladroit | • inefficient or ineffective; clumsy. |
| malapropism | • the mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding one (e.g. ‘dance a flamingo’ instead of flamenco). — ORIGIN from the name of the character Mrs Malaprop in Richard Sheridan’s play The Rivals (1775). |
| malediction | • a curse. — ORIGIN from Latin maledicere ‘speak evil of’. |
| malefactor | • a person who commits a crime or some other wrong. — ORIGIN from Latin malefacere ‘do wrong’. |
| malinger | • exaggerate or feign illness in order to escape duty or work. — DERIVATIVES malingerer noun. — ORIGIN from French malingre ‘weak, sickly’. |
| malodorous | • smelling very unpleasant. |
| manifold | • 1 many and various. 2 having many different forms. • noun 1 a pipe or chamber branching into several openings. |
| manumit | to release from slavery or servitude. Origin: 1375–1425; late ME < L manūmittere, earlier manū ēmittere to send away from (one's) hand, i.e., to set free. See manus, emit |
| maritime | • 1 relating to shipping or other activity taking place at sea. 2 living or found in or near the sea. 3 (of a climate) moist and temperate owing to the influence of the sea. — ORIGIN Latin maritimus, from mare ‘sea’. |
| matrilineal | • based on kinship with the mother or the female line. — DERIVATIVES matrilineally adverb. |
| matriculate | • enroll or be enrolled at a college or university. — DERIVATIVES matriculation noun. — ORIGIN Latin matriculare, from matricula ‘register’, diminutive of matrix. |
| meretricious | • showily but falsely attractive. ‘prostitute’, from mereri ‘be hired’. |
| meridian | • 1 a circle of constant longitude passing through a given place on the earth’s surface and the poles. 2 Astronomy a circle passing through the celestial poles and the zenith of a given place on the earth’s surface. |
| minatory | menacing; threatening. |
| miscreant | depraved, villainous, or base. |
| mollusk | an invertebrate animal of a large group including snails, slugs, and mussels, with a soft unsegmented body and often an external shell. — DERIVATIVES molluscan adjective. — ORIGIN from Latin mollis ‘soft’. |
| mordacious | 1. biting or given to biting. 2. sharp or caustic in style, tone, etc. |
| mordant | • (especially of humor) sharply sarcastic. • noun 1 a substance that combines with a dye and thereby fixes it in a material. 2 a corrosive liquid used to etch the lines on a printing plate. — ORIGIN from Latin mordere ‘to bite’. |
| multifarious | • having great variety and diversity; many and varied. — ORIGIN Latin multifarius. |
| munificent | • very generous. — ORIGIN Latin munificus, from munus ‘gift’. |
| munitions | • military weapons, ammunition, equipment, and stores. — ORIGIN Latin, ‘fortification’, from munire ‘fortify’. |
| neonate | • a newborn child or mammal. — ORIGIN from Greek neos ‘new’ + Latin nasci ‘be born’. |
| niggling | 1. petty; trivial; inconsequential: to quibble about a niggling difference in terminology. 2. demanding too much care, attention, time, etc.: niggling chores about the house. |
| nomenclature | 1. a set or system of names or terms, as those used in a particular science or art, by an individual or community, etc. 2. the names or terms comprising a set or system. |
| nominal | 1 existing in name only. 2 relating to or consisting of names. 3 (of a sum of money) very small; far below the real value or cost. 4 Grammar relating to or functioning as a noun. — DERIVATIVES nominally adverb. |
| novitiate | • 1 the period or state of being a novice. 2 a religious novice. 3 a place housing religious novices. |
| numismatics | • the study or collection of coins, banknotes, and medals. — DERIVATIVES numismatist noun. |
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