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Barron 800 HFW
Barron's High-Frequency GRE Words (800) Selection
Question | Answer |
---|---|
approbration | praise |
ardor vs. arduous | passion vs. difficult |
artless | natural; guileless |
aspersion | slander |
audacious | bold; daring |
axiomatic | taken for granted |
blandishment | flattery |
cadge | to beg |
calumny | malicious slander |
capricious | fickle |
captious | fault-finding |
castigation | punishment; criticism |
categorical | absolute; without exception |
cloister | to confine; seclude |
compendium | brief summary |
complacent vs. complaisant | self-satisfied vs. overly polite |
compunction | uneasiness caused by guilt |
conciliatory | overcoming distrust or hostility |
conscript | person drafted into the military |
continence | self-control; abstinence |
contrite | sorrowful; remorseful |
contumacious | disobedient; rebellious |
convivial | sociable |
cozen | to trick; deceive |
demur | to express doubt |
desiccate | to dry completely |
desuetude | state of disuse |
desultory | random; disconnected; rambling |
diffidence | shyness |
dirge | funeral hymn |
disinterested | unprejudiced; objective |
dissemble | to pretend; disguise one's motives |
distrait | inattentive; preoccupied |
ebullient | exhilarated; enthusiastic |
effete | depleted of vitality; overrefined; decadent |
Elysian | blissful; delightful |
encomium | formal praise |
endemic | inherent; belonging to an area |
enervate | to weaken |
equanimity | composure; calmness |
equivocate | to intentionally use vague language |
exact | to force payment of; demand and obtain by authority |
execrable | detestable |
expatiate | to speak or write at length |
expiate | to atone for |
extemporaneous | unrehearsed; improvised |
factotum | a handyman |
fatuous | foolishly self-satisfied |
felicitous | suitable; appropriate; well-chosen |
fetid | having a bad smell |
fetter | to bind; confine |
fiat | arbitrary order; authorization |
flag | to droop; grow weak |
flout | to treat scornfully |
foment | incite; arouse |
forbearance | patience |
forswear | renounce; repudiate |
fracas | loud quarrel; brawl |
fractious | quarrelsome; unruly; rebellious |
froward | obstinately disobedient |
fulminate | to attack loudly; denounce |
fulsome | so excessive as to be disgusting |
gainsay | to deny; dispute; oppose |
gambol | to frolic; leap playfully |
garrulous | very talkative; wordy |
glib | offhand; slick; smooth-talking |
grouse | to complain |
halcyon | calm; peaceful |
harrowing | distressing; terrifying |
hermetic | tightly sealed; magical |
hirstute | hairy |
imbroglio | complicated situation; entanglement |
impassive | showing no emotion |
impervious | impenetrable; incapable of being affected |
impinge | to strike; encroach |
implacable | inflexible; incapable of being pleased |
imprecation | curse |
impute | attribute; assign; relate to a cause or source |
inchoate | imperfectly formed |
incursion | sudden invasion |
indigence | poverty |
indolent | lazy |
ineluctable | inevitable; unavoidable |
ingenuous | naive; lacking sophistication |
insensible | unconscious; unresponsive |
insouciant | indifferent; lacking concern |
insularity | narrow-mindedness; isolation |
insuperable | insurmountable; unconquerable |
interdict | to forbid |
internecine | deadly to both sides |
interpolate | to insert; change by addition |
intimate | to make known subtly and indirectly |
intractable | not easily managed |
intransigence | stubbornness |
inured | hardened; accustomed; used to |
inveigle | to win over by flattery or coaxing |
inveterate | confirmed; long-standing; deeply rooted |
irascible | easily angered |
irresolute | weak; unsure of how to act |
itinerant | wandering from place to place; unsettled |
jibe | to be in agreement |
labile | likely to change |
laconic | using few words |
lassitude | lethargy; sluggishness |
Lilliputian | extremely small |
limn | to draw; describe |
limpid | clear; transparent |
litany | repetitive chant; lengthy recitation |
lucre | money or profits |
maelstrom | whirlpool; turmoil |
malinger | to feign illness; escape duty |
mendacious | dishonest |
mendicant | beggar |
meretricious | gaudy; plausible but false; specious |
mettle | courage; endurance |
militate | to work against |
minatory | threatening; menacing |
modicum | limited quantity |
monolithic | solid and uniform |
multifarious | diverse |
nexus | means of connection; a connected group or series; a center |
nostrum | medicine or remedy of doubtful effectiveness; supposed cure |
nugatory | trifling; invalid |
obdurate | stubborn |
obsequious | overly submissive |
obsequy | funeral ceremony |
obviate | to make unnecessary; to anticipate and prevent |
occlude | to shut; block |
officious | too helpful; meddlesome |
onerous | burdensome |
opprobrium | disgrace; contempt |
overweening | presumptuous; arrogant; overbearing |
paean | song of joy or triumph; fervant expression of joy |
pallid | lacking color or liveliness |
panegyric | elaborate praise; formal hymn |
paragon | model of excellence or perfection |
patois | regional dialect; jargon |
pellucid | transparent; easily understood |
penury | poverty |
peregrination | wandering from place to place |
peremptory | imperative; leaving no choice |
perfidious | faithless; disloyal; untrustworthy |
perfunctory | superficial; not thorough; performed merely as a duty |
perigee | point in an orbit that is closest to the Earth |
petulant | rude; peevish |
phlegmatic | calm in temperament; sluggish |
piquant | appealingly stimulating; pleasantly pungent; attractive |
pique | fleeting feeling of hurt pride |
plaintive | melancholy; mournful |
plumb | to determine the depth; to examine deeply |
prate | to talk idly; chatter |
precarious | uncertain |
precipitate | rash; hasty; sudden |
prevaricate | to evade the truth; quibble |
probity | honesty; high-mindedness |
prodigal | wasteful; extravagant; lavish |
proscribe | to condemn; forbid; outlaw |
provident | frugal; providing for future needs |
puissant | powerful |
punctilious | careful in observing rules of behavior or ceremony |
pusillanimous | cowardly |
quagmire | marsh; difficult situation |
quail | to cower; lose heart |
quiescent | inactive; still |
quorum | number of members necessary to conduct a meeting |
raiment | clothing |
rarefied | refined |
rebus | puzzle in which pictures or symbols represent words |
recalcitrant | resisting authority or control |
recondite | abstruse; profound |
redoubtable | formidable; arousing fear; worthy of respect |
refractory | stubborn; unmanageable |
refulgent | brightly shining; resplendent |
relegate | to consign to an inferior position |
remonstrate | to object or protest |
repine | to fret; complain |
reprobate | morally unprincipled person |
repudiate | to reject as having no authority |
riposte | a retaliatory action or retort |
rue | to regret |
salacious | lustful; lascivious |
salubrious | healthful |
salutary | expecting improvement; favorable to health |
sanction | to approve; penalize |
sardonic | cynical; scornfully mocking |
sartorial | pertaining to tailors |
saturnine | gloomy |
satyr | creature that is half-man, half-beast; follower of Dionysos; a lecher |
sedition | behavior prompting rebellion |
sedulous | diligent |
sentient | aware; conscious |
sidereal | relating to the stars |
sinuous | winding; intricate; complex |
solicitous | concerned; attentive; eager |
solvent | able to meet financial obligations |
sordid | filthy; contemptible and corrupt |
stanch | to stop or check the flow of |
stentorian | extremely loud |
stolid | showing or having no emotion |
stricture | negative criticism; something that restrains |
strident | loud; harsh |
stultify | to impair or reduce to uselessness |
stygian | dark and gloomy; hellish |
subsume | to include; incorporate |
succor | relief; help in time of distress or want |
sundry | various |
supine | laying on back; marked by lethargy |
suppliant | begging; beseeching |
sylvan | related to woods or forest |
tacit | implied; silently understood |
tenuous | weak; insubstantial |
timbre | the characteristic quality of sound produced by a particular instrument of voice; tone color |
toady | flatterer; brown-noser; yes-man |
tome | book, usually large and academic |
torpor | lethargy; dormancy; sluggishness |
tortuous | having many twists and turns; highly complex |
tractable | obedient |
transient | short-lived; fleeting |
travesty | parody; caricature |
tremulous | trembling; quivering; frugal; timid |
tumid | swollen; distented |
turbid | muddy; opaque; in a state of great confusion |
tutelary | serving as guardian or protector |
untenable | indefensible |
untoward | not favorable; adverse; unruly |
valedictory | pertaining to farewell |
vaunt | to boast; brag |
venal | mercenary; corruptible |
vitiate | to impair the quality of; corrupt morally; make inoperative |
vituperative | abusive; offensive; disparaging |
welter | to wallow or roll; toss about; be in turmoil |