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Level 8
Level 8 GRE Vocab
Term | Definition |
---|---|
abstruse | Difficult to understand; obscure |
aleatory | Dependent on chance or luck; characterized by gambling |
antediluvian | Extremely old; of the era before the Flood in the Bible |
aphorism | A terse statement of truth or opinion; an adage |
apocryphal | Of doubtful authority or authenticity; erroneous, fictitious |
apotheosis | Deification |
apposite | Strikingly appropriate or relevant |
argot | A specialized vocabulary peculiar to a particular group |
arrant | Completely or thoroughly |
asseverate | To declare seriously or positively; to affirm |
atrabilious | Inclined to melancholy; peevish or surly |
bosky | Having many bushes, shrubs or trees |
bromide | A commonplace remark or platitude; a platitude |
brumal | Of, relating to, or occurring in winter |
callipygian | Having a beautiful or curvaceous ass |
captious | Disposed to find and point out trivial faults |
cataract | A downpour or deluge; opacity of the lens of the eye |
cloture | A parliamentary procedure in which debate is ended and an immediate vote is taken |
commodious | Spacious or room |
condign | Deserved; adequate |
contemn | To scorn or despise |
contumacious | Rebellious |
corona | A faintly colored luminous ring which hazily appears to surround a celestial body |
cynosure | An object that serves as the focal point of attention or admiration |
daedal | Intricate in design or function |
dais | A raised platform for speakers |
denouement | The final resolution of a dramatic or narrative plot; the outcome |
deracinate | To pull out by the roots; to displace from a native location |
descant | A discussion on a theme |
desuetude | A state of disuse or inactivity |
doggerel | Clumsy verse, often having irregular form and monotonous rhymes |
edacious | Characterized by voracity |
effluvium | A (usu.) invisible emanation or exhalation; waste |
encomium | Warm, glowing praise |
eremite | A recluse or hermit (esp. a religious recluse) |
euphonious | Pleasing to the ear |
expurgate | To remove erroneous or offensive material from a book |
extirpate | To pull up by the roots; to destroy totally |
factotum | An assistant or employee who serves in a wide range of capacities |
fatidic | Of or relate to fate; prophetic |
febrile | Feverish |
feculent | Full of foul or impure matter; fecal |
fey | Having or displaying an otherworldly or fairylike aspect; clairvoyant; touched in the head (as if under a spell) |
fugacious | Fleeting |
fulsome | Offensively flattering or insincere; offensive to one's sensibilities |
homiletics | The art of preaching |
inchoate | In an initial or early stage; incipient |
insouciant | Marked by blithe unconcern; nonchalant |
jejune | Lacking in nutritive value; childish; boring |
limn | To describe; to depict by painting or drawing |
lucubrate | To write in a scholarly fashion |
luculent | Easily understood; clear or lucid |
lugubrious | Indicating sorrow, often ridiculously |
macerate | To make or become soft by steeping in a liquid; to emaciate |
masticate | To chew |
mawkish | Excessively sentimental; sickening or insipid in taste |
meretricious | Attracting attention in a vulgar manner; plausible but false or insincere; of or relating to prostitutes or prostitution |
mien | The external appearance or manner of a person |
minatory | Threatening or menacing |
monoglot | A person who knows only one language |
mordant | Bitingly sarcastic or painful; incisive or trenchant |
morganatic | Pertaining to a marriage between a person of noble birth and a partner of lower rank |
nave | The hub of a wheel; the central part of a church |
noisome | Bad smelling |
nostrum | A medicine whose effectiveness is unproved; a quack remedy |
nugatory | Of little or no importance; trifling |
obloquy | Abusive language; calumny |
obstreperous | Noisily and stubbornly defiant; aggressively boisterous |
paratactic | Juxtaposed side-by-side |
paroxysm | A sudden outburst of emotion or action; a sudden attack or fit |
parvenu | A person who has suddenly risen to a higher social and economic class but has not yet been gained social acceptance in that class |
penumbra | A partial shadow; an area in which something exists to a lesser degree |
peripeteia | A sudden change of events or reversal of circumstances |
persiflage | Light, good-natured talk; banter |
philately | The study or collecting of stamps |
physiognomy | The art of judging human character from facial features only; facial features (esp. when revealing character) |
picaresque | Of or involving clever rogues |
piebald | Spotted or patchy (esp. in black and white) |
pied | Patchy in color or splotchy |
protean | Exhibiting many shapes or varieties |
puerile | Childish |
puerperal | Related to, connected with or occurring during childbirth |
puissance | Power |
pusillanimous | Lacking courage; cowardly |
pyretic | Relating to, producing or affected by fever |
quaternary | Consisting of four |
quean | A disreputable young woman; a prostitute |
quiddity | The real nature of a thing; the essence |
recondite | Not easily understood; abstruse |
recrudesce | To break out anew or come into renewed activity |
repine | To be disconnected or in low spirits; to complain, fret or yearn for |
repugn | To oppose or contend against |
salubrious | Conducive or favorable to health or well-being |
salutary | Beneficial or remedial to health |
saturnine | Melancholy or sullen |
scintilla | A minute amount; an iota |
sclerotic | Hardened |
seraph | A celestial being having three pairs of wings (pl. seraphim) |
sequacious | Persisting in a continuous intellectual or stylistic direction; disposed to follow others |
shibboleth | A custom or practice that betrays one as an outsider; a commonplace saying or idea |
simper | To smile in a self-conscious and often coy manner; such a smile |
sinecure | A position or office with no duties or work that pays a salary |
splenetic | Ill-humored or irritable |
steatopygia | The condition of having a enormously large or fat ass |
stentorian | Extremely loud |
stipple | To draw, paint or engrave in dots or strokes; the act of doing so |
stochastic | Conjectural |
stygian | Gloomy, dark or hellish; infernal |
suzerain | A nation that controls another but allows it domestic sovereignty |
sybarite | A person devoted to luxury or pleasure; a voluptuary |
synod | A council or assembly (usu. ecclesiastical) |
synesthete | One who experiences one sense as another (i.e. smells a sound) |
tetchy | Peevish or testy |
tortuous | Winding or twisting |
treacle | Cloyingly sweet speech or sentimentality |
ursine | Have bear-like qualities or characteristics |
uxorious | Excessively submissive or devoted to one's wife |
virago | A woman regarded as noisy, scolding or domineering; a large, strong, courageous woman |
xero- | Prefix indicating dry or arid (e.g. xeroderma 'dry-skin') |
xylo- | Prefix indicating wood (e.g. xylography 'wood-engraving') |
yaw | To swerve off course temporarily |