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Top 200 GRE words
Kaplan's top 200 GRE words
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Abate | To reduce in amount, degree, or severity |
| Abscond | To leave secretly |
| Abstain | To choose not to do something |
| Abyss | Extremely deep hole |
| Adulterate | To make impure |
| Advocate | To speak in favor of |
| Aesthetic | Concerning the appreciation of beauty |
| Aggrandize | To increase in power, influence, and reputation |
| Alleviate | To make more bearable |
| Amalgamate | To combine; to mix together |
| Ambiguous | Doubtful or uncertain; able to be interpreted several ways |
| Ameliorate | To make better; to improve |
| Anachronism | Something out of place in time |
| Analogous | Similar or alike in some way; equivalent to |
| Anomaly | Deviation from what is normal |
| Antagonize | To annoy or provoke to anger |
| Antipathy | Extreme Dislike |
| Arbitrate | To judge a dispute between two opposing parties |
| Archaic | Ancient, old-fashioned |
| Ardor | Intense and passionate feeling |
| Articulate | Able to speak clearly and expressively |
| Assuage | To make something unpleasant less severe |
| Attenuate | To reduce in force of degree; to weaken |
| Audacious | Fearless and daring |
| Austere | Severe or stern in appearance; undecorated |
| Banal | Predictable, cliched, boring |
| Bolster | To prop up; to support |
| Bombastic | Pompous in speech and manner |
| Cacophony | Harsh, jarring noise |
| Candid | Impartial and honest in speech |
| Capricious | Changing one's mind quickly and often |
| Castigate | To punish or criticize harshly |
| Catalyst | Something that brings about a change in something else |
| Caustic | Biting in wit |
| Chaos | Great disorder or confusion |
| Chauvinist | Someone prejudiced in favor of a group which he or she belongs |
| Chicanery | Deception by means of craft or guile |
| Cogent | Convincing and well reasoned |
| Condone | To overlook, pardon, or disregard |
| Convoluted | Intricate and complicated |
| Corroborate | To provide supporting evidence |
| Credulous | Too trusting, gullible |
| Crescendo | Steadily increasing volume or force |
| Decorum | Appropriateness of behavior or conduct; propriety |
| Deference | Respect, Courtesy |
| Deride | To speak of or treat with contempt; to mock |
| Desiccate | To dry out thoroughly |
| Desultory | Jumping from one thing to another; disconnected |
| Diatribe | An abusive, condemnatory speech |
| Diffident | Lacking self-confidence |
| Dilate | To make larger; to expand |
| Dilatory | Intended to delay |
| Dilettante | Someone with an amateurish and superficial interest in a topic |
| Dirge | A funeral hymn or mournful speech |
| Disabuse | To set right; To free from error |
| Discern | To perceive; to recognize |
| Disparate | Fundamentally different; entirely unlike |
| Dissemble | To present a false appearance; to disguise one's real intentions or character |
| Dissonance | A harsh and disagreeable combination, often of sounds |
| Dogma | A firmly held opinion, often a religious belief |
| Dogmatic | Dictatorial in one's opinions |
| Dupe | To deceive; a person who is easily deceived |
| Eclectic | Selecting from or made up from a variety of sources |
| Efficacy | Effectiveness |
| Elegy | A sorrowful poem or speech |
| Eloquent | Persuasive and moving, especially in speech |
| Emulate | To copy; to try to equal or excel |
| Enervate | To reduce in strength |
| Engender | To produce, cause, or bring about |
| Enigma | A puzzle; a mystery |
| Enumerate | To count, list, or itemize |
| Ephemeral | Lasting a short time |
| Equivocate | To use expressions of double meaning in order to mislead |
| Erratic | Wandering and unpredictable |
| Erudite | Learned, scholarly, bookish |
| Esoteric | Known or understood by only a few |
| Estimable | Admirable |
| Eulogy | Speech in praise of someone. |
| Euphemism | Use of any inoffensive word or phrase in place of a more distasteful one. |
| Exacerbate | To make worse. |
| Exculpate | To clear from blame; prove innocent. |
| Exigent | Urgent; requiring immediate action. |
| Exonerate | To clear of blame. |
| Explicit | Clearly stated or shown forthright in expression. |
| Fanatical | Acting excessively enthusiastic; filled with extreme unquestioned devotion. |
| Fawn | To grovel. |
| Fervid | Intensely emotional; Feverish. |
| Florid | Excessively decorated or embellished. |
| Foment | To arouse or incite. |
| Frugality | A tendency to be thrifty or cheap. |
| Garrulous | Tending to talk a lot. |
| Gregarious | Outgoing, sociable. |
| Guile | Deceit or trickery. |
| Gullible | Easily deceived. |
| Homogeneous | Of a similar kind. |
| Iconoclast | One who opposes established beliefs, customs, and institutions. |
| Imperturbable | Not capable of being disturbed. |
| Impervious | Impossible to penetrate; incapable of being affected. |
| Impetuous | Quick to act without thinking. |
| Implacable | Unable to be calmed down or made peaceful. |
| Inchoate | Not fully formed; disorganized. |
| Ingenuous | Showing innocence or childlike simplicity. |
| Inimical | Hostile, unfriendly. |
| Innocuous | Harmless. |
| Insipid | Lacking interest of flavor. |
| Intransigent | Uncompromising; refusing to be reconciled. |
| Inundate | To overwhelm; to cover with water. |
| Irascible | Easily made angry. |
| Laconic | Using few words. |
| Lament | To express sorrow; to grieve. |
| Laud | To give praise; to glorify. |
| Lavish | To give unsparingly (V.); extremely generous or extravagant. (Adj.) |
| Lethargic | Acting in an indifferent or slow, sluggish manner. |
| Loquacious | Talkative. |
| Lucid | Clear and easily understood. |
| Luminous | Bright, brilliant, glowing. |
| Malinger | To evade responsibility by pretending to be ill. |
| Malleable | Capable of being shaped. |
| Metaphor | A figure of speech comparing two different things; a symbol. |
| Meticulous | Extremely careful about details. |
| Misanthrope | A person who dislikes others. |
| Mitigate | To soften; to lessen. |
| Mollify | To calm or make less severe. |
| Monotony | Lack of variation. |
| Naive | Lacking sophistication or experience. |
| Obdurate | Hardened in feeling; resistant to persuasion. |
| Obsequious | Overly submissive and eager to please. |
| Obstinate | Stubborn; Unyielding. |
| Obviate | To prevent; to make unnecessary. |
| Occlude | To stop up; to prevent the passage of. |
| onerous | Troublesome and oppressive; burdensome. |
| Opaque. | Impossible to see through; preventing the passage of light. |
| Opprobrium | Public disgrace. |
| Ostentation | Excessive showiness. |
| Paradox | A contradiction of dilemma. |
| Paragon | Model of excellence or perfection. |
| Pedant | Someone who shows off learning. |
| Perfidious | Willing to betray one's trust. |
| Perfunctory | Done in a routine way; indifferent. |
| Permeate | To penetrate. |
| Philanthropy | Charity; a desire or effort to promote goodness. |
| Placate | To soothe or pacify. |
| Plastic | Able to be molded; altered, or bent. |
| Plethora | Excess. |
| Pragmatic | Practical as opposed to idealistic. |
| Precipitate | To throw violently or bring about abruptly; lacking deliberation. |
| Prevaricate | To lie or deviate from the truth. |
| Pristine | Fresh and clean; uncorrupted. |
| Prodigal | Lavish; Wasteful. |
| Proliferate | To increase in number quickly. |
| Propitiate | To conciliate; to appease. |
| Propriety | Correct behavior; obedience to rules and customs. |
| Prudence | Wisdom, caution, or restraint. |
| Pungent | Sharp and irritating to the senses. |
| Quiescent | Motionless. |
| Rarefy | To make thinner or sparser. |
| Repudiate | To reject the validity of. |
| Reticent | Silent, reserved. |
| Rhetoric | Effective writing or speaking. |
| Satiate | To satisfy fully or overindulge. |
| Soporific | Causing sleep or lethargy. |
| Specious | Deceptively attractive; seemingly plausible but fallacious. |
| Stigma | A mark of shame or discomfort. |
| Stolid | Unemotional; Lacking sensitivity. |
| Sublime | Lofty or grand. |
| Tacit | Done without using words. |
| Taciturn | Silent, not talkative. |
| Tirade | Long, harsh speech or verbal attack. |
| Torpor | Extreme mental and physical sluggishness. |
| Transitory | Temporary; lasting a brief time. |
| Vacillate | To sway physically; to be indecisive. |
| Venerate | To respect deeply. |
| Veracity | Filled with truth and accuracy. |
| Verbose | Wordy. |
| Vex | To annoy |
| Volatile | Easily aroused or changeable; lively or explosive. |
| Waver | To fluctuate between choices. |
| Whimsical | Acting in a fanciful or capricious manner; unpredictable. |
| Zeal | Passion, excitement. |