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GRE Word Groups
| Word | Group |
|---|---|
| abridge | Abbreviated Communication: shorten (a book, movie, speech, or other text) without losing the sense. |
| compendium | Abbreviated Communication: a collection of concise but detailed information about a particular subject, especially in a book or other publication. |
| cursory | Abbreviated Communication: hasty and therefore not thorough or detailed. |
| curtail | Abbreviated Communication: reduce in extent or quantity; impose a restriction on. |
| syllabus | Abbreviated Communication: an outline of the subjects in a course of study or teaching. |
| synopsis | Abbreviated Communication: a brief summary or general survey of something. |
| terse | Abbreviated Communication: sparing in the use of words; abrupt. |
| abrupt | Act Quickly: sudden and unexpected.; brief to the point of rudeness; curt. |
| apace | Act Quickly: swiftly; quickly. |
| headlong | Act Quickly: in a rush; with reckless haste. |
| impetuous | Act Quickly: acting or done quickly and without thought or care. |
| precipitate | Act Quickly: cause (an event or situation, typically one that is bad or undesirable) to happen suddenly, unexpectedly, or prematurely. |
| abet | Assist: encourage or assist (someone) to do something wrong, in particular, to commit a crime or other offense. |
| advocate | Assist: publicly recommend or support.; a person who publicly supports or recommends a particular cause or policy. |
| ancillary | Assist: providing necessary support to the primary activities or operation of an organization, institution, industry, or system. |
| bolster | Assist: support or strengthen; prop up. |
| corroborate | Assist: confirm or give support to (a statement, theory, or finding). |
| countenance | Assist: admit as acceptable or possible.; a person's face or facial expression. |
| espouse | Assist: adopt or support (a cause, belief, or way of life). |
| mainstay | Assist: a thing on which something else is based or depends. |
| munificent | Assist: (of a gift or sum of money) larger or more generous than is usual or necessary.; (of a person) very generous. |
| proponent | Assist: a person who advocates a theory, proposal, or project. |
| stalwart | Assist: loyal, reliable, and hardworking. |
| sustenance | Assist: the maintaining of someone or something in life or existence. |
| bilious | Bad Mood: affected by or associated with nausea or vomiting.; spiteful; bad-tempered. |
| dudgeon | Bad Mood: a feeling of offense or deep resentment. |
| irascible | Bad Mood: having or showing a tendency to be easily angered. |
| pettish | Bad Mood: (of a person or their behavior) childishly bad-tempered and petulant. |
| petulant | Bad Mood: (of a person or their manner) childishly sulky or bad-tempered. |
| pique | Bad Mood: a feeling of irritation or resentment resulting from a slight, especially to one's pride. |
| querulous | Bad Mood: complaining in a petulant or whining manner. |
| umbrage | Bad Mood: offense or annoyance. |
| waspish | Bad Mood: readily expressing anger or irritation. |
| dilettante | Beginner/Amateur: a person who cultivates an area of interest, such as the arts, without real commitment or knowledge. |
| fledgling | Beginner/Amateur: a person or organization that is immature, inexperienced, or underdeveloped. |
| neophyte | Beginner/Amateur: a person who is new to a subject, skill, or belief. |
| novitiate | Beginner/Amateur: the period or state of being a novice, especially in a religious order. |
| proselyte | Beginner/Amateur: a person who has converted from one opinion, religion, or party to another, especially recently. |
| tyro | Beginner/Amateur: a beginner or novice. |
| burgeoning | Beginning/Young: begin to grow or increase rapidly; flourish.; put forth young shoots; bud. |
| callow | Beginning/Young: (especially of a young person) inexperienced and immature. |
| engender | Beginning/Young: cause or give rise to (a feeling, situation, or condition). |
| inchoate | Beginning/Young: just begun and so not fully formed or developed; rudimentary. |
| incipient | Beginning/Young: in an initial stage; beginning to happen or develop. |
| nascent | Beginning/Young: (especially of a process or organization) just coming into existence and beginning to display signs of future potential. |
| acerbic | Biting (as in wit or temperament): (especially of a comment or style of speaking) sharp and forthright. |
| acidulous | Biting (as in wit or temperament): (of a person's remarks or tone) bitter or cutting. |
| acrimonious | Biting (as in wit or temperament): (typically of speech or a debate) angry and bitter. |
| asperity | Biting (as in wit or temperament): harshness of tone or manner. |
| caustic | Biting (as in wit or temperament): sarcastic in a scathing and bitter way. |
| mordacious | Biting (as in wit or temperament): denoting or using biting sarcasm or invective. |
| mordant | Biting (as in wit or temperament): (especially of humor) having or showing a sharp or critical quality; biting. |
| trenchant | Biting (as in wit or temperament): vigorous or incisive in expression or style. |
| audacious | Bold: showing a willingness to take surprisingly bold risks. |
| courageous | Bold: not deterred by danger or pain; brave. |
| dauntless | Bold: showing fearlessness and determination. |
| intrepid | Bold: fearless; adventurous (often used for rhetorical or humorous effect). |
| banal | Boring: so lacking in originality as to be obvious and boring. |
| hackneyed | Boring: (of a phrase or idea) lacking significance through having been overused; unoriginal and trite. |
| insipid | Boring:lacking flavor.; lacking vigor or interest. |
| mundane | Boring: lacking interest or excitement; dull. |
| pedestrian | Boring: lacking inspiration or excitement; dull. |
| platitude | Boring: a remark or statement, especially one with a moral content, that has been used too often to be interesting or thoughtful. |
| prosaic | Boring: having the style or diction of prose; lacking poetic beauty.; commonplace; unromantic. |
| quotidian | Boring: of or occurring every day; daily. |
| trite | Boring: (of a remark, opinion, or idea) overused and consequently of little import; lacking originality or freshness. |
| bacchanalian | Carousal: characterized by or given to drunken revelry; riotously drunken. |
| debauchery | Carousal: excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures. |
| depraved | Carousal: morally corrupt; wicked. |
| dissipated | Carousal: (of a person or way of life) overindulging in sensual pleasures. |
| iniquity | Carousal: immoral or grossly unfair behavior. |
| libertine | Carousal: a person, especially a man, who behaves without moral principles or a sense of responsibility, especially in sexual matters. |
| libidinous | Carousal: showing excessive sexual drive; lustful. |
| licentious | Carousal: promiscuous and unprincipled in sexual matters. |
| reprobate | Carousal: an unprincipled person (often used humorously or affectionately). |
| ribald | Carousal: referring to sexual matters in an amusingly rude or irreverent way. |
| salacious | Carousal: (of writing, pictures, or talk) treating sexual matters in an indecent way and typically conveying undue interest in or enjoyment of the subject. |
| sordid | Carousal: involving ignoble actions and motives; arousing moral distaste and contempt.; dirty or squalid. |
| turpitude | Carousal: depravity; wickedness. |
| capricious | Changing Quickly: given to sudden and unaccountable changes of mood or behavior. |
| mercurial | Changing Quickly: (of a person) subject to sudden or unpredictable changes of mood or mind. |
| volatile | Changing Quickly: liable to change rapidly and unpredictably, especially for the worse. |
| counterpart | Copy: a person or thing holding a position or performing a function that corresponds to that of another person or thing in another place. |
| emulate | Copy: match or surpass (a person or achievement), typically by imitation. |
| facsimile | Copy: an exact copy, especially of written or printed material. |
| factitious | Copy: artificially created or developed. |
| paradigm | Copy: a typical example or pattern of something; a model. |
| precursor | Copy: a person or thing that comes before another of the same kind; a forerunner. |
| quintessence | Copy: the most perfect or typical example of a quality or class. |
| simulate | Copy: imitate the appearance or character of. |
| vicarious | Copy: experienced in the imagination through the feelings or actions of another person. |
| aspersion | Criticize/Criticism: an attack on the reputation or integrity of someone or something. |
| belittle | Criticize/Criticism: make (someone or something) seem unimportant. |
| berate | Criticize/Criticism: scold or criticize (someone) angrily. |
| calumny | Criticize/Criticism: the making of false and defamatory statements in order to damage someone's reputation; slander. |
| castigate | Criticize/Criticism: reprimand (someone) severely. |
| decry | Criticize/Criticism: publicly denounce. |
| defame/defamation | Criticize/Criticism: damage the good reputation of (someone); slander or libel. |
| denounce | Criticize/Criticism: publicly declare to be wrong or evil.; inform against. |
| deride/derisive | Criticize/Criticism: express contempt for; ridicule. |
| diatribe | Criticize/Criticism: a forceful and bitter verbal attack against someone or something. |
| disparage | Criticize/Criticism: regard or represent as being of little worth. |
| excoriate | Criticize/Criticism: censure or criticize severely. |
| gainsay | Criticize/Criticism: deny or contradict (a fact or statement). |
| harangue | Criticize/Criticism: a lengthy and aggressive speech.; lecture (someone) at length in an aggressive and critical manner. |
| impugn | Criticize/Criticism: dispute the truth, validity, or honesty of (a statement or motive); call into question. |
| inveigh | Criticize/Criticism: speak or write about (something) with great hostility. |
| lambaste | Criticize/Criticism: criticize (someone or something) harshly. |
| objurgate | Criticize/Criticism: rebuke severely; scold. |
| obloquy | Criticize/Criticism: strong public criticism or verbal abuse.; disgrace, especially that brought about by public abuse. |
| opprobrium | Criticize/Criticism: harsh criticism or censure.; the public disgrace arising from someone's shameful conduct. |
| pillory | Criticize/Criticism: a wooden framework with holes for the head and hands, in which an offender was imprisoned and exposed to public abuse.; attack or ridicule publicly. |
| rebuke | Criticize/Criticism: express sharp disapproval or criticism of (someone) because of their behavior or actions. |
| remonstrate | Criticize/Criticism: make a forcefully reproachful protest. |
| reprehend | Criticize/Criticism: reprimand. |
| reprove | Criticize/Criticism: reprimand or censure (someone). |
| revile | Criticize/Criticism: criticize in an abusive or angrily insulting manner. |
| tirade | Criticize/Criticism: a long, angry speech of criticism or accusation. |
| vituperate | Criticize/Criticism: blame or insult (someone) in strong or violent language. |
| bereave | Death/Mourning: be deprived of a loved one through a profound absence, especially due to the loved one's death. |
| cadaver | Death/Mourning: a corpse. |
| defunct | Death/Mourning: no longer existing or functioning. |
| demise | Death/Mourning: a person's death. |
| dolorous | Death/Mourning: feeling or expressing great sorrow or distress. |
| elegy | Death/Mourning: a poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead. |
| knell | Death/Mourning: the sound of a bell, especially when rung solemnly for a death or funeral. |
| lament | Death/Mourning: a passionate expression of grief or sorrow.; mourn (a person's loss or death). |
| macabre | Death/Mourning: disturbing and horrifying because of involvement with or depiction of death and injury. |
| moribund | Death/Mourning: (of a person) at the point of death.; (of a thing) in terminal decline; lacking vitality or vigor. |
| obsequies | Death/Mourning: funeral rites. |
| sepulchral | Death/Mourning: relating to a tomb or interment. |
| wraith | Death/Mourning: a ghost or ghostlike image of someone, especially one seen shortly before or after their death. |
| abnegate | Denying of Self: renounce or reject (something desired or valuable). |
| abstain | Denying of Self: restrain oneself from doing or enjoying something. |
| ascetic | Denying of Self: characterized by or suggesting the practice of severe self-discipline and abstention from all forms of indulgence, typically for religious reasons. |
| spartan | Denying of Self: showing the indifference to comfort or luxury traditionally associated with ancient Sparta. |
| stoic | Denying of Self: a person who can endure pain or hardship without showing their feelings or complaining. |
| temperate | Denying of Self: showing moderation or self-restraint. |
| authoritarian | Dictatorial: favoring or enforcing strict obedience to authority, especially that of the government, at the expense of personal freedom. |
| despotic | Dictatorial: of or typical of a despot; tyrannical. |
| dogmatic | Dictatorial: inclined to lay down principles as incontrovertibly true. |
| hegemonic/hegemony | Dictatorial: ruling or dominant in a political or social context. |
| imperious | Dictatorial: assuming power or authority without justification; arrogant and domineering. |
| peremptory | Dictatorial: (especially of a person's manner or actions) insisting on immediate attention or obedience, especially in a brusquely imperious way. |
| tyrannical | Dictatorial: exercising power in a cruel or arbitrary way. |
| abstruse | Difficult to Understand: difficult to understand; obscure. |
| ambiguous | Difficult to Understand: (of language) open to more than one interpretation; having a double meaning. |
| arcane | Difficult to Understand: understood by few; mysterious or secret. |
| bemusing | Difficult to Understand: puzzle, confuse, or bewilder (someone). |
| cryptic | Difficult to Understand: having a meaning that is mysterious or obscure. |
| enigmatic | Difficult to Understand: difficult to interpret or understand; mysterious. |
| esoteric | Difficult to Understand: intended for or likely to be understood by only a small number of people with a specialized knowledge or interest. |
| inscrutable | Difficult to Understand: impossible to understand or interpret. |
| obscure | Difficult to Understand: not discovered or known about; uncertain. |
| opaque | Difficult to Understand: (especially of language) hard or impossible to understand; unfathomable. |
| paradoxical | Difficult to Understand: seemingly absurd or self-contradictory. |
| perplexing | Difficult to Understand: completely baffling; very puzzling. |
| recondite | Difficult to Understand: (of a subject or knowledge) little known; abstruse. |
| turbid | Difficult to Understand: confused or obscure in meaning or effect. |
| defile | Disgusting/Offensive: sully, mar, or spoil.; desecrate or profane (something sacred). |
| fetid | Disgusting/Offensive: smelling extremely unpleasant. |
| invidious | Disgusting/Offensive: (of an action or situation) likely to arouse or incur resentment or anger in others. |
| noisome | Disgusting/Offensive: having an extremely offensive smell. |
| odious | Disgusting/Offensive: extremely unpleasant; repulsive. |
| putrid | Disgusting/Offensive: (of organic matter) decaying or rotting and emitting a fetid smell. |
| rebarbative | Disgusting/Offensive: unattractive and objectionable. |
| malodorous | Disgusting/Offensive: smelling very unpleasant. |
| articulate | Easy to Understand: (of a person or a person's words) having or showing the ability to speak fluently and coherently. |
| cogent | Easy to Understand: (of an argument or case) clear, logical, and convincing. |
| eloquent | Easy to Understand: fluent or persuasive in speaking or writing. |
| limpid | Easy to Understand: (especially of writing or music) clear and accessible or melodious. |
| lucid | Easy to Understand: expressed clearly; easy to understand. |
| pellucid | Easy to Understand: lucid in style or meaning; easily understood. |
| aberrant | Eccentric/Dissimilar: departing from an accepted standard. |
| anachronism | Eccentric/Dissimilar: a thing belonging or appropriate to a period other than that in which it exists, especially a thing that is conspicuously old-fashioned. |
| anomalous | Eccentric/Dissimilar: deviating from what is standard, normal, or expected. |
| discrete | Eccentric/Dissimilar: individually separate and distinct. |
| eclectic | Eccentric/Dissimilar: deriving ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources. |
| esoteric | Eccentric/Dissimilar: intended for or likely to be understood by only a small number of people with a specialized knowledge or interest. |
| iconoclast | Eccentric/Dissimilar: a person who attacks cherished beliefs or institutions. |
| abash | Embarrass: cause to feel embarrassed, disconcerted, or ashamed. |
| chagrin | Embarrass: distress or embarrassment at having failed or been humiliated. |
| compunction | Embarrass: a feeling of guilt or moral scruple that prevents or follows the doing of something bad. |
| contradiction | Embarrass: a combination of statements, ideas, or features of a situation that are opposed to one another. |
| diffidence | Embarrass: modesty or shyness resulting from a lack of self-confidence. |
| expiate | Embarrass: atone for (guilt or sin). |
| foible | Embarrass: a minor weakness or eccentricity in someone's character. |
| gaucherie | Embarrass: awkward, embarrassing, or unsophisticated ways. |
| rue | Embarrass: bitterly regret (something one has done or allowed to happen). |
| equitable | Equal: fair and impartial. |
| equity | Equal: the quality of being fair and impartial. |
| tantamount | Equal: equivalent in seriousness to; virtually the same as. |
| apocryphal | Falsehood: (of a story or statement) of doubtful authenticity, although widely circulated as being true. |
| canard | Falsehood: an unfounded rumor or story. |
| chicanery | Falsehood: the use of trickery to achieve a political, financial, or legal purpose. |
| dissemble | Falsehood: conceal one's true motives, feelings, or beliefs.; disguise or conceal (a feeling or intention). |
| duplicity | Falsehood: deceitfulness; double-dealing. |
| equivocate | Falsehood: use ambiguous language so as to conceal the truth or avoid committing oneself. |
| erroneous | Falsehood: wrong; incorrect. |
| ersatz | Falsehood: (of a product) made or used as a substitute, typically an inferior one, for something else. |
| fallacious | Falsehood: based on a mistaken belief. |
| feigned | Falsehood: simulated or pretended; insincere. |
| guile | Falsehood: sly or cunning intelligence. |
| mendacious/mendacity | Falsehood: not telling the truth; lying.; untruthfulness. |
| perfidy | Falsehood: deceitfulness; untrustworthiness. |
| prevaricate | Falsehood: speak or act in an evasive way. |
| specious | Falsehood: superficially plausible, but actually wrong.; misleading in appearance, especially misleadingly attractive. |
| spurious | Falsehood: not being what it purports to be; false or fake.; (of a line of reasoning) apparently but not actually valid. |
| conjugal | Family: relating to marriage or the relationship of a married couple. |
| consanguine | Family: relating to or denoting people descended from the same ancestor. |
| distaff | Family: of or concerning women. |
| endogamous | Family: the custom of marrying only within the limits of a local community, clan, or tribe. |
| filial | Family: of or due from a son or daughter. |
| fratricide | Family: the killing of one's brother or sister. |
| progenitor | Family: a person or thing from which a person, animal, or plant is descended or originates; an ancestor or parent. |
| scion | Family: a young shoot or twig of a plant, especially one cut for grafting or rooting.; a descendant of a notable family. |
| ardent/ardor | Favoring/Not Impartial: enthusiastic or passionate. |
| doctrinaire | Favoring/Not Impartial: seeking to impose a doctrine in all circumstances without regard to practical considerations. |
| fervid | Favoring/Not Impartial: intensely enthusiastic or passionate, especially to an excessive degree. |
| partisan | Favoring/Not Impartial: a strong supporter of a party, cause, or person. |
| tendentious | Favoring/Not Impartial: expressing or intending to promote a particular cause or point of view, especially a controversial one. |
| zealot | Favoring/Not Impartial: a person who is fanatical and uncompromising in pursuit of their religious, political, or other ideals. |
| absolve | Forgive/Make Amends: set or declare (someone) free from blame, guilt, or responsibility. |
| acquit | Forgive/Make Amends: free (someone) from a criminal charge by a verdict of not guilty. |
| ameliorate | Forgive/Make Amends: make (something bad or unsatisfactory) better. |
| exculpate | Forgive/Make Amends: show or declare that (someone) is not guilty of wrongdoing. |
| exonerate | Forgive/Make Amends: (especially of an official body) absolve (someone) from blame for a fault or wrongdoing, especially after due consideration of the case. |
| expiate | Forgive/Make Amends: atone for (guilt or sin). |
| palliate | Forgive/Make Amends: make (a disease or its symptoms) less severe or unpleasant without removing the cause.; allay or moderate (fears or suspicions).; disguise the seriousness or gravity of (an offense). |
| redress | Forgive/Make Amends: remedy or set right (an undesirable or unfair situation). |
| vindicate | Forgive/Make Amends: clear (someone) of blame or suspicion.; show or prove to be right, reasonable, or justified. |
| chortle | Funny: laugh in a breathy, gleeful way; chuckle. |
| droll | Funny: curious or unusual in a way that provokes dry amusement. |
| facetious | Funny: treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humor; flippant. |
| flippant | Funny: not showing a serious or respectful attitude. |
| gibe | Funny: an insulting or mocking remark; a taunt. |
| jocular | Funny: fond of or characterized by joking; humorous or playful. |
| levity | Funny: humor or frivolity, especially the treatment of a serious matter with humor or in a manner lacking due respect. |
| ludicrous | Funny: so foolish, unreasonable, or out of place as to be amusing; ridiculous. |
| raillery | Funny: good-humored teasing. |
| riposte | Funny: a quick clever reply to an insult or criticism. |
| abatement | Gaps/Openings: (often in legal use) the ending, reduction, or lessening of something. |
| aperture | Gaps/Openings: an opening, hole, or gap.; a space through which light passes in an optical or photographic instrument, especially the variable opening by which light enters a camera. |
| fissure | Gaps/Openings: a long, narrow opening or line of breakage made by cracking or splitting, especially in rock or earth. |
| hiatus | Gaps/Openings: a pause or gap in a sequence, series, or process. |
| interregnum | Gaps/Openings: a period when normal government is suspended, especially between successive reigns or regimes. |
| interstice | Gaps/Openings: an intervening space, especially a very small one. |
| lull | Gaps/Openings: calm or send to sleep, typically with soothing sounds or movements.; a temporary interval of quiet or lack of activity. |
| orifice | Gaps/Openings: an opening, as of a pipe or tube, or one in the body, such as a nostril or the anus. |
| rent | Gaps/Openings: a large tear in a piece of fabric. |
| respite | Gaps/Openings: a short period of rest or relief from something difficult or unpleasant. |
| rift | Gaps/Openings: a crack, split, or break in something.; a serious break in friendly relations. |
| altruistic | Generous/Kind: showing a disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others; unselfish. |
| beneficent | Generous/Kind: (of a person) generous or doing good. |
| clement | Generous/Kind: (of a person or a person's actions) merciful.; (of weather) mild. |
| largess | Generous/Kind: generosity in bestowing money or gifts upon others. |
| magnanimous | Generous/Kind: very generous or forgiving, especially toward a rival or someone less powerful than oneself. |
| munificent | Generous/Kind: (of a gift or sum of money) larger or more generous than is usual or necessary. |
| philanthropic | Generous/Kind: (of a person or organization) seeking to promote the welfare of others, especially by donating money to good causes; generous and benevolent. |
| unstinting | Generous/Kind: given or giving without restraint; unsparing. |
| avaricious | Greedy: having or showing an extreme greed for wealth or material gain. |
| covetous | Greedy: having or showing a great desire to possess something, typically something belonging to someone else. |
| mercenary | Greedy: (of a person or their behavior) primarily concerned with making money at the expense of ethics. |
| miserly | Greedy: relating to or characteristic of a miser. |
| pernicious | Greedy: having a harmful effect, especially in a gradual or subtle way. |
| rapacious | Greedy: aggressively greedy or grasping. |
| venal | Greedy: showing or motivated by susceptibility to bribery. |
| asperity | Hard-Hearted: harshness of tone or manner. |
| baleful | Hard-Hearted: threatening harm; menacing. |
| dour | Hard-Hearted: relentlessly severe, stern, or gloomy in manner or appearance. |
| fell | Hard-Hearted: of terrible evil or ferocity; deadly. |
| malevolent | Hard-Hearted: having or showing a wish to do evil to others. |
| mordant | Hard-Hearted: (especially of humor) having or showing a sharp or critical quality; biting. |
| sardonic | Hard-Hearted: grimly mocking or cynical. |
| scathing | Hard-Hearted: witheringly scornful; severely critical. |
| truculent | Hard-Hearted: eager or quick to argue or fight; aggressively defiant. |
| vitriolic | Hard-Hearted: filled with bitter criticism or malice. |
| vituperation | Hard-Hearted: bitter and abusive language. |
| baleful | Harmful: having a harmful or destructive effect. |
| baneful | Harmful: destructive; pernicious |
| deleterious | Harmful: causing harm or damage. |
| inimical | Harmful: tending to obstruct or harm.; unfriendly; hostile. |
| injurious | Harmful: causing or likely to cause damage or harm. |
| insidious | Harmful: proceeding in a gradual, subtle way, but with harmful effects.; treacherous; crafty. |
| minatory | Harmful: expressing or conveying a threat. |
| perfidious | Harmful: deceitful and untrustworthy. |
| pernicious | Harmful: having a harmful effect, especially in a gradual or subtle way. |
| cacophony | Harsh-Sounding: a harsh, discordant mixture of sounds. |
| din | Harsh-Sounding: a loud, unpleasant, and prolonged noise.; make (someone) learn or remember something by constant repetition. |
| dissonant | Harsh-Sounding: lacking harmony.; unsuitable or unusual in combination; clashing. |
| raucous | Harsh-Sounding: making or constituting a disturbingly harsh and loud noise. |
| strident | Harsh-Sounding: loud and harsh; grating.; presenting a point of view, especially a controversial one, in an excessively and unpleasantly forceful way. |
| abhorrence | Hatred: a feeling of repulsion; disgusted loathing. |
| anathema | Hatred: something or someone that one vehemently dislikes. |
| antagonism | Hatred: active hostility or opposition. |
| antipathy | Hatred: a deep-seated feeling of dislike; aversion. |
| detestation | Hatred: intense dislike. |
| enmity | Hatred: the state or feeling of being actively opposed or hostile to someone or something. |
| loathing | Hatred: a feeling of intense dislike or disgust; hatred. |
| malice | Hatred: the intention or desire to do evil; ill will. |
| odium | Hatred: general or widespread hatred or disgust directed toward someone as a result of their actions. |
| rancor | Hatred: bitterness or resentfulness, especially when long-standing. |
| beneficial | Healthy: favorable or advantageous; resulting in good. |
| salubrious | Healthy: health-giving; healthy. |
| salutary | Healthy: (especially with reference to something unwelcome or unpleasant) producing good effects; beneficial. |
| dither | Hesitate: be indecisive. |
| oscillate | Hesitate: move or swing back and forth at a regular speed. |
| teeter | Hesitate: move or balance unsteadily; sway back and forth.; be unable to decide between different courses; waver. |
| vacillate | Hesitate: alternate or waver between different opinions or actions; be indecisive. |
| waver | Hesitate: be undecided between two opinions or courses of action; be irresolute. |
| antithetic | Hostile: directly opposed or contrasted; opposite. |
| churlish | Hostile: rude in a mean-spirited and surly way. |
| curmudgeon | Hostile: a bad-tempered or surly person. |
| irascible | Hostile: having or showing a tendency to be easily angered. |
| malevolent | Hostile: having or showing a wish to do evil to others. |
| misanthropic | Hostile: disliking humankind and avoiding human society. |
| truculent | Hostile: eager or quick to argue or fight; aggressively defiant. |
| vindictive | Hostile: having or showing a strong or unreasoning desire for revenge. |
| credulous | Innocent/Inexperienced: having or showing too great a readiness to believe things |
| gullible | Innocent/Inexperienced: easily persuaded to believe something; credulous. |
| ingenuous | Innocent/Inexperienced: (of a person or action) innocent and unsuspecting. |
| naive | Innocent/Inexperienced: (of a person or action) showing a lack of experience, wisdom, or judgment. |
| novitiate | Innocent/Inexperienced: the period or state of being a novice, especially in a religious order. |
| tyro | Innocent/Inexperienced: a beginner or novice. |
| disingenuous | Insincere: not candid or sincere, typically by pretending that one knows less about something than one really does. |
| dissemble | Insincere: conceal one's true motives, feelings, or beliefs. |
| fulsome | Insincere: complimentary or flattering to an excessive degree. |
| ostensible | Insincere: stated or appearing to be true, but not necessarily so. |
| unctuous | Insincere: (of a person) excessively or ingratiatingly flattering; oily. |
| appraise | Investigate: assess the value or quality of. |
| ascertain | Investigate: find (something) out for certain; make sure of. |
| assay | Investigate: the testing of a metal or ore to determine its ingredients and quality. |
| descry | Investigate: catch sight of. |
| peruse | Investigate: read (something), typically in a thorough or careful way. |
| indolent | Lazy/Sluggish: wanting to avoid activity or exertion; lazy. |
| inert | Lazy/Sluggish: lacking the ability or strength to move.; lacking vigor. |
| lackadaisical | Lazy/Sluggish: lacking enthusiasm and determination; carelessly lazy. |
| languid | Lazy/Sluggish: (of a person, manner, or gesture) displaying or having a disinclination for physical exertion or effort; slow and relaxed.; weak or faint from illness or fatigue. |
| lassitude | Lazy/Sluggish: a state of physical or mental weariness; lack of energy. |
| lethargic | Lazy/Sluggish: affected by lethargy; sluggish and apathetic. |
| phlegmatic | Lazy/Sluggish: (of a person) having an unemotional and stolidly calm disposition. |
| quiescent | Lazy/Sluggish: in a state or period of inactivity or dormancy. |
| slothful | Lazy/Sluggish: lazy. |
| torpid | Lazy/Sluggish: mentally or physically inactive; lethargic. |
| adventitious | Luck: happening or carried on according to chance rather than design or inherent nature. |
| amulet | Luck: an ornament or small piece of jewelry thought to give protection against evil, danger, or disease. |
| auspicious | Luck: conducive to success; favorable.; giving or being a sign of future success. |
| fortuitous | Luck: happening by accident or chance rather than design. |
| kismet | Luck: destiny; fate. |
| portentous | Luck: of or like a sign or warning that something, especially something momentous or calamitous, is likely to happen. |
| propitiate | Luck: win or regain the favor of (a god, spirit, or person) by doing something that pleases them. |
| propitious | Luck: giving or indicating a good chance of success; favorable. |
| providential | Luck: occurring at a favorable time; opportune.; involving divine foresight or intervention. |
| serendipity | Luck: the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way. |
| talisman | Luck: an object, typically an inscribed ring or stone, that is thought to have magic powers and to bring good luck. |
| admonish | Nag: warn or reprimand someone firmly. |
| belabor | Nag: argue or elaborate (a subject) in excessive detail. |
| cavil | Nag: make petty or unnecessary objections. |
| enjoin | Nag: instruct or urge (someone) to do something.; prescribe (an action or attitude) to be performed or adopted. |
| exhort | Nag: strongly encourage or urge (someone) to do something. |
| harangue | Nag: a lengthy and aggressive speech.; lecture (someone) at length in an aggressive and critical manner. |
| hector | Nag: talk to (someone) in a bullying way. |
| martinet | Nag: a strict disciplinarian, especially in the armed forces. |
| remonstrate | Nag: make a forcefully reproachful protest. |
| reproof | Nag: an expression of blame or disapproval. |
| fetid | Nasty: smelling extremely unpleasant. |
| noisome | Nasty: having an extremely offensive smell. |
| noxious | Nasty: harmful, poisonous, or very unpleasant. |
| askance | Not a Straight Line: with an attitude or look of suspicion or disapproval. |
| awry | Not a Straight Line: away from the appropriate, planned, or expected course; amiss. |
| careen | Not a Straight Line: turn (a ship) on its side for cleaning, caulking, or repair. |
| carom | Not a Straight Line: make a carom; strike and rebound. |
| circuitous | Not a Straight Line: (of a route or journey) longer than the most direct way. |
| circumvent | Not a Straight Line: find a way around (an obstacle). |
| gyrate | Not a Straight Line: move or cause to move in a circle or spiral, especially quickly.; dance in a wild or suggestive manner. |
| labyrinth | Not a Straight Line: a complicated irregular network of passages or paths in which it is difficult to find one's way; a maze. |
| meander | Not a Straight Line: (of a river or road) follow a winding course. |
| oblique | Not a Straight Line: neither parallel nor at a right angle to a specified or implied line; slanting. |
| serrated | Not a Straight Line: having or denoting a jagged edge; sawlike. |
| sidle | Not a Straight Line: walk in a furtive, unobtrusive, or timid manner, especially sideways or obliquely. |
| sinuous | Not a Straight Line: having many curves and turns.; lithe and supple. |
| undulating | Not a Straight Line: move with a smooth wavelike motion. |
| vortex | Not a Straight Line: a mass of whirling fluid or air, especially a whirlpool or whirlwind. |
| bombastic | Overblown/Wordy: high-sounding but with little meaning; inflated. |
| circumlocution | Overblown/Wordy: the use of many words where fewer would do, especially in a deliberate attempt to be vague or evasive. |
| garrulous | Overblown/Wordy: excessively talkative, especially on trivial matters. |
| grandiloquent | Overblown/Wordy: pompous or extravagant in language, style, or manner, especially in a way that is intended to impress. |
| loquacious | Overblown/Wordy: tending to talk a great deal; talkative. |
| periphrastic | Overblown/Wordy: (of speech or writing) indirect and circumlocutory. |
| prolix | Overblown/Wordy: (of speech or writing) using or containing too many words; tediously lengthy. |
| rhetoric | Overblown/Wordy: language designed to have a persuasive or impressive effect on its audience, but often regarded as lacking in sincerity or meaningful content. |
| turgid | Overblown/Wordy: (of language or style) tediously pompous or bombastic. |
| verbose | Overblown/Wordy: using or expressed in more words than are needed. |
| ameliorate | Pacify/Satisfy: make (something bad or unsatisfactory) better. |
| appease | Pacify/Satisfy: pacify or placate (someone) by acceding to their demands.; relieve or satisfy (a demand or a feeling). |
| assuage | Pacify/Satisfy: make (an unpleasant feeling) less intense. |
| defer | Pacify/Satisfy: put off (an action or event) to a later time; postpone. |
| mitigate | Pacify/Satisfy: make less severe, serious, or painful. |
| mollify | Pacify/Satisfy: appease the anger or anxiety of (someone). |
| placate | Pacify/Satisfy: make (someone) less angry or hostile. |
| propitiate | Pacify/Satisfy: win or regain the favor of (a god, spirit, or person) by doing something that pleases them. |
| satiate | Pacify/Satisfy: satisfied to the full; satiated. |
| slake | Pacify/Satisfy: quench or satisfy (one's thirst). |
| soothe | Pacify/Satisfy: gently calm (a person or their feelings). |
| euphonious | Pleasant-Sounding: (of sound, especially speech) pleasing to the ear. |
| harmonious | Pleasant-Sounding: tuneful; not discordant. |
| melodious | Pleasant-Sounding: of, producing, or having a pleasant tune; tuneful. |
| sonorous | Pleasant-Sounding: (of a person's voice or other sound) imposingly deep and full. |
| destitute | Poor: without the basic necessities of life. |
| impecunious | Poor: having little or no money. |
| indigent | Poor: poor; needy. |
| acclaim | Praise: praise enthusiastically and publicly. |
| accolade | Praise: an award or privilege granted as a special honor or as an acknowledgment of merit. |
| aggrandize | Praise: increase the power, status, or wealth of.; enhance the reputation of (someone) beyond what is justified by the facts. |
| encomium | Praise: a speech or piece of writing that praises someone or something highly. |
| eulogize | Praise: praise highly in speech or writing. |
| extol | Praise: praise enthusiastically. |
| fawn | Praise: (of a person) give a servile display of exaggerated flattery or affection, typically in order to gain favor or advantage. |
| laud/laudatory | Praise: praise (a person or their achievements) highly, especially in a public context. |
| venerate/veneration | Praise: regard with great respect; revere. |
| augur | Predict: (of an event or circumstance) portend a good or bad outcome. |
| auspice | Predict: a divine or prophetic token. |
| fey | Predict: giving an impression of vague unworldliness. |
| harbinger | Predict: a person or thing that announces or signals the approach of another. |
| portentous | Predict: of or like a sign or warning that something, especially something momentous or calamitous, is likely to happen. |
| presage | Predict: (of an event) be a sign or warning that (something, typically something bad) will happen. |
| prescient | Predict: having or showing knowledge of events before they take place. |
| prognosticate | Predict: foretell or prophesy (an event in the future). |
| discomfit | Prevent/Obstruct: make (someone) feel uneasy or embarrassed. |
| encumber | Prevent/Obstruct: restrict or burden (someone or something) in such a way that free action or movement is difficult. |
| fetter | Prevent/Obstruct: a chain or manacle used to restrain a prisoner, typically placed around the ankles. |
| forfend | Prevent/Obstruct: avert, keep away, or prevent (something evil or unpleasant).; protect (something) by precautionary measures. |
| hinder | Prevent/Obstruct: create difficulties for (someone or something), resulting in delay or obstruction. |
| impede | Prevent/Obstruct: delay or prevent (someone or something) by obstructing them; hinder. |
| inhibit | Prevent/Obstruct: hinder, restrain, or prevent (an action or process).; make (someone) self-conscious and unable to act in a relaxed and natural way. |
| occlude | Prevent/Obstruct: stop, close up, or obstruct (an opening, orifice, or passage). |
| thwart | Prevent/Obstruct: stop, close up, or obstruct (an opening, orifice, or passage). |
| astute | Smart/Learned: having or showing an ability to accurately assess situations or people and turn this to one's advantage. |
| canny | Smart/Learned: having or showing shrewdness and good judgment, especially in money or business matters. |
| erudite | Smart/Learned: having or showing great knowledge or learning. |
| perspicacious | Smart/Learned: having a ready insight into and understanding of things. |
| disconsolate | Sorrow: without consolation or comfort; unhappy.; (of a place or thing) causing or showing a complete lack of comfort; cheerless. |
| doleful | Sorrow: expressing sorrow; mournful.; causing grief or misfortune. |
| dolor | Sorrow: pain |
| elegiac | Sorrow: relating to or characteristic of an elegy. |
| forlorn | Sorrow: pitifully sad and abandoned or lonely.; (of an aim or endeavor) unlikely to succeed or be fulfilled; hopeless. |
| lament | Sorrow: a passionate expression of grief or sorrow. |
| lugubrious | Sorrow: looking or sounding sad and dismal. |
| melancholy | Sorrow: a feeling of pensive sadness, typically with no obvious cause. |
| morose | Sorrow: sullen and ill-tempered. |
| plaintive | Sorrow: sounding sad and mournful. |
| threnody | Sorrow: a lament. |
| implacable | Stubborn: unable to be placated.; relentless; unstoppable. |
| inexorable | Stubborn: impossible to stop or prevent.; (of a person) impossible to persuade by request or entreaty. |
| intractable | Stubborn: hard to control or deal with.; (of a person) difficult; stubborn. |
| intransigent | Stubborn: unwilling or refusing to change one's views or to agree about something. |
| obdurate | Stubborn: stubbornly refusing to change one's opinion or course of action. |
| obstinate | Stubborn: stubbornly refusing to change one's opinion or chosen course of action, despite attempts to persuade one to do so.; (of an unwelcome phenomenon or situation) very difficult to change or overcome. |
| recalcitrant | Stubborn: having an obstinately uncooperative attitude toward authority or discipline. |
| refractory | Stubborn: stubborn or unmanageable.; resistant to a process or stimulus. |
| renitent | Stubborn: resisting physical pressure. ; resisting constraint or compulsion |
| untoward | Stubborn: unexpected and inappropriate or inconvenient. |
| vexing | Stubborn: make (someone) feel annoyed, frustrated, or worried, especially with trivial matters. |
| compendious | Terse: containing or presenting the essential facts of something in a comprehensive but concise way. |
| curt | Terse: rudely brief. |
| laconic | Terse: (of a person, speech, or style of writing) using very few words. |
| pithy | Terse: (of language or style) concise and forcefully expressive. |
| succinct | Terse: (especially of something written or spoken) briefly and clearly expressed. |
| taciturn | Terse: (of a person) reserved or uncommunicative in speech; saying little. |
| anachronism | Time/Order/Duration: a thing belonging or appropriate to a period other than that in which it exists, especially a thing that is conspicuously old-fashioned. |
| antecede | Time/Order/Duration: "come before" or "occur earlier." |
| antedate | Time/Order/Duration: precede in time; come before (something) in date. |
| anterior | Time/Order/Duration: nearer the front, especially situated in the front of the body or nearer to the head.; coming before in time; earlier. |
| archaic | Time/Order/Duration: very old or old-fashioned. |
| diurnal | Time/Order/Duration: of or during the day.; daily; of each day |
| eon | Time/Order/Duration: an indefinite and very long period of time, often a period exaggerated for humorous or rhetorical effect.; a unit of time equal to a billion years. |
| ephemeral | Time/Order/Duration: lasting for a very short time. |
| epoch | Time/Order/Duration: a period of time in history or a person's life, typically one marked by notable events or particular characteristics.; the beginning of a distinctive period in the history of someone or something. |
| fortnight | Time/Order/Duration: a period of two weeks. |
| millennium | Time/Order/Duration: a period of a thousand years, especially when calculated from the traditional date of the birth of Christ. |
| penultimate | Time/Order/Duration: last but one in a series of things; second to the last. |
| synchronous | Time/Order/Duration: existing or occurring at the same time. |
| temporal | Time/Order/Duration: relating to worldly as opposed to spiritual affairs; secular.; relating to time. |
| craven | Timid/Timidity: contemptibly lacking in courage; cowardly. |
| diffident | Timid/Timidity: modest or shy because of a lack of self-confidence. |
| pusillanimous | Timid/Timidity: showing a lack of courage or determination; timid. |
| recreant | Timid/Timidity: cowardly.; unfaithful to a belief; apostate. |
| timorous | Timid/Timidity: showing or suffering from nervousness, fear, or a lack of confidence. |
| trepidation | Timid/Timidity: a feeling of fear or agitation about something that may happen. |
| candor/candid | Truth: the quality of being open and honest in expression; frankness. |
| fealty | Truth: a feudal tenant's or vassal's sworn loyalty to a lord. |
| frankness | Truth: the quality of being open, honest, and direct in speech or writing. |
| indisputable | Truth: unable to be challenged or denied. |
| indubitable | Truth: impossible to doubt; unquestionable. |
| legitimate | Truth: conforming to the law or to rules. |
| probity | Truth: the quality of having strong moral principles; honesty and decency. |
| sincere | Truth: free from pretense or deceit; proceeding from genuine feelings.; (of a person) saying what they genuinely feel or believe; not dishonest or hypocritical. |
| veracious | Truth: speaking or representing the truth. |
| verity | Truth: a true principle or belief, especially one of fundamental importance. |
| aberration | Unusual: a departure from what is normal, usual, or expected, typically one that is unwelcome. |
| anomaly | Unusual: something that deviates from what is standard, normal, or expected. |
| iconoclast | Unusual: a person who attacks cherished beliefs or institutions. |
| idiosyncrasy | Unusual: a mode of behavior or way of thought peculiar to an individual.; a distinctive or peculiar feature or characteristic of a place or thing. |
| ambulatory | Wandering: relating to or adapted for walking.; a place for walking, especially an aisle around the apse or a cloister in a church or monastery. |
| discursive | Wandering: digressing from subject to subject. |
| expatiate | Wandering: speak or write at length or in detail. |
| forage | Wandering: (of a person or animal) search widely for food or provisions. |
| itinerant | Wandering: traveling from place to place. |
| meander | Wandering: (of a river or road) follow a winding course. |
| peregrination | Wandering: a journey, especially a long or meandering one. |
| peripatetic | Wandering: traveling from place to place, especially working or based in various places for relatively short periods. |
| sojourn | Wandering: a temporary stay. |
| adulterate | Weaken: render (something) poorer in quality by adding another substance, typically an inferior one. |
| enervate | Weaken: cause (someone) to feel drained of energy or vitality; weaken. |
| exacerbate | Weaken: make (a problem, bad situation, or negative feeling) worse. |
| inhibit | Weaken: hinder, restrain, or prevent (an action or process).; make (someone) self-conscious and unable to act in a relaxed and natural way. |
| obviate | Weaken: remove (a need or difficulty).; avoid; prevent. |
| stultify | Weaken: cause to lose enthusiasm and initiative, especially as a result of a tedious or restrictive routine.; cause (someone) to appear foolish or absurd. |
| undermine | Weaken: erode the base or foundation of (a rock formation).; damage or weaken (someone or something), especially gradually or insidiously. |
| vitiate | Weaken: spoil or impair the quality or efficiency of. |
| adage | Wisdom: a proverb or short statement expressing a general truth. |
| aphorism | Wisdom: a pithy observation that contains a general truth, such as, “if it ain't broke, don't fix it.”. |
| apothegm | Wisdom: a concise saying or maxim; an aphorism. |
| axiom | Wisdom: a statement or proposition that is regarded as being established, accepted, or self-evidently true. |
| bromide | Wisdom: a trite and unoriginal idea or remark, typically intended to soothe or placate. |
| dictum | Wisdom: a formal pronouncement from an authoritative source.; a short statement that expresses a general truth or principle. |
| epigram | Wisdom: a pithy saying or remark expressing an idea in a clever and amusing way.; a short poem, especially a satirical one, having a witty or ingenious ending. |
| platitude | Wisdom: a remark or statement, especially one with a moral content, that has been used too often to be interesting or thoughtful. |
| sententious | Wisdom: given to moralizing in a pompous or affected manner. |
| truism | Wisdom: a statement that is obviously true and says nothing new or interesting. |
| abeyance | Withdrawal/Retreat: a state of temporary disuse or suspension. |
| abjure | Withdrawal/Retreat: solemnly renounce (a belief, cause, or claim). |
| abnegation | Withdrawal/Retreat: the act of renouncing or rejecting something. |
| abortive | Withdrawal/Retreat: failing to produce the intended result. |
| abrogate | Withdrawal/Retreat: repeal or do away with (a law, right, or formal agreement).; evade (a responsibility or duty). |
| decamp | Withdrawal/Retreat: depart suddenly or secretly, especially to relocate one's business or household in another area. |
| demur | Withdrawal/Retreat: raise doubts or objections or show reluctance. |
| recant | Withdrawal/Retreat: say that one no longer holds an opinion or belief, especially one considered heretical. |
| recidivism | Withdrawal/Retreat: the tendency of a convicted criminal to reoffend. |
| remission | Withdrawal/Retreat: the cancellation of a debt, charge, or penalty.; a diminution of the seriousness or intensity of disease or pain; a temporary recovery.; forgiveness of sins. |
| renege | Withdrawal/Retreat: go back on a promise, undertaking, or contract. |
| rescind | Withdrawal/Retreat: revoke, cancel, or repeal (a law, order, or agreement). |
| retrograde | Withdrawal/Retreat: directed or moving backward.; a degenerate person. |
Created by:
Curtlyn
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