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GRE Barrons Words B
A complete list of Barron's GRE Wordlist, with meanings and sentences.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| babble | chatter idly The little girl babbled about her doll. |
| bacchanalian | drunken Emperor Nero attended the bacchanalian orgy. |
| badger | pester; annoy She was forced to change her telephone number because she was badgered by obscene phone calls. |
| badinage | teasing conversation Her friends at work greeted the news of her engagement with cheerful badinage. |
| baffle | frustrate; perplex The new code baffled the enemy agents. |
| bait | harass; tease The soldiers baited the prisoners, terrorizing them. |
| baleful | menacing; deadly Casting a baleful eye at his successful rival, the rejected suitor stole off, vowing to have his revenge. |
| balk | stoop short, as if faced with an obstacle, and refuse to continue The chief of police balked at sending his officers into the riot-torn area. |
| balk | foil When the warden learned that several inmates were planning to escape, he took steps to balk their attempt. |
| ballast | heavy substance used to add stability or weight The ship was listing badly to one side; it was necessary to shift the ballast in the hold to get her back on an even keel. |
| balm | something that relieves pain Friendship is the finest balm for the pangs of disappointed love. |
| balmy | mild; fragrant A balmy breeze refreshed us after the sultry blast. |
| banal | hackneyed; commonplace; trite His frequent use of cliches made his essay seem banal. |
| bandy | discuss lightly; exchange blows or words The president refused to bandy words with reporters at the press conference. |
| bane | cause of ruin Lack of public transportation is the bane of urban life. |
| bantering | good-naturedly ridiculing They resented his bantering remarks because they misinterpreted his teasing as sarcasm. |
| barb | sharp projection form fishhook, etc.; pointed comment The barb from the fishhook caught in his finger as he grabbed the fish. |
| bard | poet The ancient bard Homer sang of the fall of Troy. |
| barefaced | shameless; bold; unconcealed Shocked by Huck Finn's barefaced lies, Miss Watson prayed the good Lord would give him a sense of his unregenerate wickedness. |
| baroque | highly ornate Accustomed to the severe, angular lines of modern skyscrapers, they found the flamboyance of baroque architecture amusing. |
| barrage | barrier laid down by artillery fire; overwhelming profusion The company was forced to retreat through the barrage of heavy canyons. |
| barrister | counselor-at-law Galsworthy started as a barrister, but when he found the practice of law boring, turned to writing. |
| barterer | trader The barterer exchanged trinkets for the natives' furs. |
| bask | luxuriate; take pleasure in warmth basking on the beach, she relaxed so completely that she fell asleep. |
| bastion | stronghold; something seen as a source of protection The villagers fortified the town hall, hoping this improvised bastion could protect them from the guerrila raids. |
| bate | let down; restrain Until it was time to open the presents, the children had to bate their curiosity. |
| bauble | trinket; trifle The child was delighted with the bauble she had won in the grab bag. |
| bawdy | indecent; obscene She took offense at his bawdy remarks. |
| beatific | giving bliss; blissful The beatific smile on the child's face made us very happy. |
| beatitude | blessedness; state of bliss Growing closer to God each day, the mystic achieved a state of indescribable beatitude. |
| bedizen | dress with vulgar finery The witch doctors were bedizened in their gaudiest costumes. |
| bedraggle | wet thoroughly We were so bedraggled by the severe storm that we had to change into dry clothing. |
| befuddle | confuse thoroughly His attempts to clarify the situation succeeded only on befuddling her further. |
| beget | father; produce; give rise to One good turn may deserve another; it does not necessarily beget another. |
| begrudge | resent I begrudge every minute I have to spend attending meetings. |
| beguile | amuse; delude; cheat I beguiled himself during the long hours by playing solitaire. |
| behemoth | huge creature; something of monstrous size or power Sportcasters nicknamed the linebacker "The Behemoth." |
| beholden | obligated; indebted Since I do not wish to be beholden to anyone, I cannot accept this favor. |
| behoove | be suited to; be incumbent upon In this time of crisis, it behooves all of us to remain calm and await the instructions of our superiors. |
| belabor | explain or go over excessively or to a ridiculous degree; assail verbally The debate coach warned her student not to bore the audience by belaboring his point. |
| belated | delayed He apologized for his belated note of condolence to the widow of his friend and explained that he had just learned of her husband's untimely death. |
| beleaguer | besiege As soon as the city was beleaguered, the life became more subdued as the citizens began their long wait for outside assitance. |
| belie | contradict; give a false impression His coarse, hard-bitten exterior belied his innate sensitivity. |
| belittle | disparage; depreciate Parents should not belittle their children's early attempts at drawing, but should encourage their efforts. |
| bellicose | warlike His bellicose disposition alienated his friends. |
| belligerent | quarrelsome Whenever he had too much to drink, he became belligerent and tried to pick fights with strangers. |
| bemused | confused; lost in thought; preoccupied Jill studied the garbled instructions with a bemused look on her face. |
| benediction | blessing The appearance of the sun after the many rainy days was like a benediction. |
| benefactor | gift giver; patron Scrooge later became Tiny Tim's benefactor and gave him a benediction. |
| beneficent | kindly; doing good The overgenerous philanthropist had to curb his beneficent impulses before he gave away all his money and left himself with nothing. |
| beneficiary | person entitled to benefits or proceeds of an insurance policy You may change your beneficiary as often as you wish. |
| benevolent | generous; charitable His benevolent nature prevented him from refusing any beggar who accosted him. |
| benign | kindly; favorable; not malignant The old man was well liked because of his benign attitude toward friend and stranger alike. |
| benison | blessing Let us pray that the benison of peace once more shall prevail among the nations of the world. |
| bent | determined; natural talent or inclination bent on advancing in the business world, the secretary heroine of Working Girl had a true bent for high finance. |
| bequeath | leave to someone by means of a will; hand down In his will, Father bequeathed his watch to Phillip; the bequest meant a great deal to the boy. |
| berate | scold strongly He feared she would berate him for his forgetfulness. |
| bereavement | state of being deprived of something valuable or beloved His friends gathered to console him upon his sudden bereavement. |
| bereft | deprived of; lacking The foolish gambler soon found himself bereft of funds. |
| berserk | frenzied Angered, he went berserk and began to wreck the room. |
| beset | harass; trouble Many problems beset the American public school system. |
| besmirch | soil, defile The scandalous remarks in the newspaper besmirch the reputations of every member of the society. |
| bestial | beastlike; brutal; inhuman The Red Cross sought to put an end to the bestial treatment of prisoners of war. |
| bestow | confer He wished to bestow great honors upon the hero. |
| betroth | become engaged to marry The announcement that they had become betrothed surprised their friends who had not suspected any romance. |
| bevy | large group The movie actor was surrounded by a bevy of startlets. |
| bicameral | two-chambered, as a legislative body The United States Congress is a bicameral body. |
| bicker | quarrel The children bickered morning, noon, and night, exasperating their parents. |
| biennial | every two years The group held biennial meetings instead of annual ones. |
| bifurcated | divided into two branches; forked With a bifurcated branch and a piece of elastic rubber, he made a crude but effective slingshot. |
| bigotry | stubborn intolerance Brought up in a democratic atmosphere, student was shocked by the bigotry and narrowness expressed by several of his classmates. |
| bilious | suffering from indigestion; irritable His bilious temperament was apparent to all who heard him rant about his difficulties. |
| bilk | swindle; cheat The con man specialized in bilking insurance companies. |
| bivouac | temporary encampment While in bivouac, we spent the night in our sleeping bags under the stars. |
| bizarre | fantastic; violently contrasting The plot of the novel was too bizarre to be believed. |
| blanch | bleach; whiten Although age had blanched his hair, he was still vigorous and energetic. |
| bland | soothing; mild She used a bland ointment for her sunburn. |
| blandishment | flattery Despite the salesperson's blandishments, the customer did not buy the outfit. |
| blase | bored with pleasure or dissipation Your blase attitude gives your students an erroneous impression of the joys of scholarship. |
| blasphemous | profane; impious The people in the room were shocked by his his blasphemous language. |
| blatant | extremely obvious; loudly offensive Caught in a blatant lie, the scoundrel had only one regret: he wished that he had lied more subtly. |
| bleak | cold; cheerless The Aleutian Islands are bleak military outposts. |
| blighted | suffering from a disease; destroyed The extent of the blighted areas could be seen only when viewed from the air. |
| blithe | gay; joyous; careless Shelley called the skylark a "blithe spirit" because of its happy song. |
| bloated | swollen or puffed as with water or air Her bloated stomach came from drinking so much water. |
| blowhard | talkative boaster After all Sol's talk about his big show business connections led nowhere, Sally decided he was just another blowhard. |
| bludgeon | club; heavy-headed weapon His walking stick served him as a bludgeon on many occasions. |
| bluff | pretense (of strength); deception; high cliff Claire thought Lord Byron's boast that he would swim the Hellespont was just a bluff, she was astounded when he dove from the high bluff into the waters below. |
| blunder | error The criminal's fatal blunder led to his capture. |
| blurt | utter impulsively Before she could stop him, he blurted out the news. |
| bode | foreshadow; portend The gloomy skies and the sulfurious odors from the mineral springs seemed to bode evil to those who settled in the area. |
| bogus | counterfeit; not authentic The police quickly found the distributors of the bogus twenty-dollar bills. |
| boisterous | violent; rough; noisy The unruly crowd became even more boisterous when he tried to quiet them. |
| bolster | support; reinforce The debaters amassed file boxes full of evidence to bolster their arguments. |
| bombast | pompous, inflated language Filled with bombast, the orator's speech left the audience more impressed with his pomposity than with his logic. |
| boon | blessing; benefit The recent rains that filled our empty reservoirs were a boon to the whole community. |
| boorish | rude; insensitive Though Mr. Potts constantly interrupted his wife, she ignored his boorish behavior, for she had lost hope of teaching him courtesy. |
| bouillon | clear beef soup The cup of bouillon served by the stewards was welcomed by those who had been chilled by the cold ocean breezes. |
| bountiful | generous; showing bounty She distributed gifts in a bountiful and gracious manner. |
| bourgeois | middle class The French Revolution was inspired by the bourgeois, who resented the aristocracy. |
| bovine | cowlike; placid and dull Nothing excites Esther; even when she won the state lottery, she still preserved her air of bovine calm. |
| bowdlerize | expurgate After the film editors had bowdlerized the language in the script, the motion picture's rating was changed from "R" to "PG." |
| brackish | somewhat saline He found the only wells in the area were brackish; drinking the water made him nauseous. |
| braggadocio | boasting He was disliked because his manner was always full of braggadocio. |
| braggart | boaster Modest by nature, she was no braggart, preferring to let her accomplishments speak for themselves. |
| bravado | swagger; assumed air of defiance The bravado of the young criminal disappeared when he was confronted by the victims of his brutal attack. |
| brawn | muscular strength; sturdiness It takes brawn to become a champion weight-lifter. |
| brazen | insolent Her brazen contempt for authority angered the officials. |
| breach | breaking of contract or duty; fissure; gap They found a breach in the enemy's fortifications and penetrated their lines. |
| breadth | width; extent We were impressed by the breadth of her knowledge. |
| brevity | conciseness brevity is essential when you send a telegram or cablegram; you are charged for every word. |
| brindled | tawny or grayish with streaks or spots He was disappointed in the litter because the puppies were brindled; he had hoped for animals of uniform color. |
| bristling | rising like bristles; showing irritation The dog stood there, bristling with anger. |
| brittle | easily broken; difficult My employer's brittle personality made it difficult for me to get along with her. |
| broach | open up He did not even try to broach the subject of poetry. |
| brocade | rich, figured fabric The sofa was covered with expensive brocade. |
| brochure | pamphlet This brochure on farming was issued by the Department of Agriculture. |
| brooch | ornamental clasp She treasured the brooch because it was an heirloom. |
| brook | tolerate; endure The dean would brook no interference with his disciplinary actions. |
| browbeat | bully; intimidate Billy resisted Ted's attempts to browbeat him into handing over his lunch money. |
| brusque | blunt; abrupt She was offended by his brusque reply. |
| bucolic | rustic; pastoral The meadow was the scene of bucolic gaiety. |
| buffoonery | clowning John Candy's buffoonery in Uncle Buck was hilarious. |
| bugaboo | bugbear; object of baseless terror If we become frightened by such bugaboos, we are no wiser than the birds who fear scarecrows. |
| bullion | gold and silver in the form of bars Much bullion is stored in the vaults at Fort Knox. |
| bulwark | earthwork or other strong defense; person who defends The navy is our principal bulwark against invasion. |
| bungle | spoil by clumsy behavior I was afraid you would bungle his assignment but I had no one else to send. |
| bureaucracy | government by bureaus Many people fear that the constant introduction of federal agencies will create a government by bureaucracy. |
| burgeon | grow forth; send out buds In the spring, the plants that burgeon are a promise of the beauty that is to come. |
| burlesque | give an imitation that ridicules In his caricature, he burlesqued the mannerisms of his adversary. |
| burly | husky; muscular The burly mover lifted the packing crate with ease. |
| burnish | make shiny by rubbing; polish The maid burnished the brass fixtures until they reflected the lamplight. |
| buttress | support; prop up Just as architects buttress the walls of cathedrals with flying buttresses, debates buttress their arguments with facts. |
| buxom | full-bosomed; plump; jolly High fashion models usually are slender rather than buxom. |
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