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ngill GRE Vocab
GRE words
Question | Answer |
---|---|
latent | present, but not necessarily known |
contraindicate | to indicate against |
etymology | = history and study of words |
venal | = capable of being corrupted |
diffident | = shy |
aberration | = exception |
consummate | = accomplished |
penurious | =penny-pinching |
parsimonious | =unwilling to part with one’s possessions |
idiosyncratic | =unique |
burnished | =polished |
pithy | =brief |
jaunty | =blithe=lighthearted |
repudiate | =to reject or deny |
fallacious | = tending to mislead |
mendacious | = lying |
contingencies | =possibilities |
exigencies | = requirements |
opined | =stated one’s opinion |
ebbing | =reduction, abatement |
irradiation | = exposure to radiation |
abatement | =reduction |
melancholically | = mournfully |
unmitigated | = thorough/complete |
belies | contradicts |
cretacious | chalky |
diaphonous | see-through |
amorphous | shapeless |
ingenuous | innocent |
ubiquitous | constantly present |
inimical | hostile |
contumacious | rebellious |
estimable | worthy of rrespect |
seditious | rebellious |
hegemony | dominance |
imprecation | danger |
incongruous | incompatible |
pretentious | pompous |
quixotic | foolishly idealistic |
derision | ridicule |
pernicious | destructive |
blithe | lighthearted |
glib | done with ease |
fervent | passionate |
sinuous | having curves |
ephemeral | lasting only a short time, usually a day |
credence | acceptance of a belief as truth |
usury | an illegal interest rate |
ostentatious | boastful |
tractable | easily managed |
feckless | irresponsible |
aesthete | someone who appreciates beauty |
accretion | growth |
inscrutable | hard to understand or investigate |
ardor | intense emotion |
rarefy | to make thin |
gossamer | light, gauzy |
volubility | condition of using fluent speech |
prevarication | avoiding the truth |
vituperative | harsh criticism |
dissemble | to conceal |
equivocable | capable of having multiple meanings |
narcissist | a self-loving person |
veneration | idolization |
propitiatory | offered as a way of seeking forgiveness |
cadge | to beg |
morass | a marsh |
rodomontade | bragging/boastful |
chattel | movable property, possessions other than a house or piece of land |
purchase | (1) to buy OR (2) a firm grasp or footing |
incumbent | holding office or authority |
esoteric | unusual or mysterious |
sanctimonious | self-righteous |
evanescence | fleeting (noun) |
Drivel | nonsense |
protract | to prolong, usually without good reason |
pugnacious | tending to quarrel |
Desiccate | to dry out, usually to preserve. Opposite of inundate |
insinuate | to hint at |
lout | a clumsy/rough-mannered person |
squabble | minor, unimportant quarrel |
exude | to discharge |
factious | raising factions, creating discord |
viands | small pieces of food |
cull | to collect from a larger source |
accede | (1) to agree (2) to fill in a high position |
gregarious | sociable |
culpable | deserving blame |
vexation | annoyance |
entreaty | humble request |
arbitrate | to judge |
ineffable | to great, extreme, or sacred to say in words |
obloquy | strong public criticism |
pragmatic | relating to fact or science rather than artistic |
cabal | a secret group with shared interests |
plucky | showing courage |
cupidity | greed |
effulgence | brilliance |
overweening | excessively much |
taciturn | silent by nature |
jaunt | to go on a journey for fun |
hirsute | rough with hair |
pilose | rough with hair |
poltroon | very cowardly, an extreme coward |
pusillanimous | very cowardly |
caitiff | very cowardly, an extreme coward |
consonance | agreement, harmony |
agog | very excited and curious, ecstatic |
wan | pale or faint |
pallid | pale or faint |
sallow | pale or faint |
yokel | a rustic person, a hick, a hayseed, a bumpkin, a boor |
filch | to steal, pilfer |
reprisal | act of retaliation or revenge, requital |
checkered | marked by changes in fortune |
nondescript | very ordinary, not at all exciting |
prosy/prosaic | very ordinary, not at all exciting |
excise | to remove by cutting out |
vulpine | crafty, cunning, fox-like |
aquiline | eagle-like, crooked or hooked |
fabian | cautious and delaying to the point of being inefficient |
cunctative | tending to procrastinate |
dilatory | slow to act |
excoriate | to strip the skin from or to criticize severely |
estrade | raised platform |
assuage | to make less intense or to satisfy |
erudite | having or showing great knowledge |
placate | to make less angry |
prodigal | spending too much money, wasteful |
apathy | state of indifference |
capricious | given to sudden mood changes |
corroborate | to conform or give support to |
laconic | using very few words |
loquacious | chatty |
pedant | a person who overemphasizes rules or minor details |
propriety | the state or quality of being proper/suitable |
vacillate | to be indecisive |
impertinence | disrespect |
allay | to alleve |
slake | to alleve |
puerile | immature, juvenile |
tyro | beginner |
surfeit | overindulge |
salient | clear, obvious |
occult | hidden |
trenchant | pointed and articulate |
sacrosanct | absolutely true, inviolable |
sententious | concise |
rubicund | healthy red color |
disconsolate | unconsolable |
insolent | disrespectful |
lachrymose | tearful or extremely sad |
droll | amusing |
spurious | apocryphal |
salacious | lustful |
lecherous | lustful |
slovenly | sloppy |
genteel | refined |
urbane | refined/elegant |
decorum | appropriateness |
foment | to arouse or incite |
reticent | silent or reserved |
diatribe | an abusive, condemning speech |
inchoate | not fully formed, disorganized |
cogent | convincing, using sound logic |
chicanery | crafty deception |
eclectic | composed from a variety of soures |
elegy | sorrowful poem/speech |
soporific | causing sleepiness |
disparate | entirely unlike |
credulous | gullible |
specious | deceptively attractive, seemingly plausible, but misleading |
paragon | model of excellence |
veracity | filled with truth |
torpor | extreme sluggishness both mentally and physically |
amalgamate | to mix together |
stolid | unemotional |
exculpate | to clear from blame, to prove innocent |
attenuate | to weaken |
iconoclast | one who opposes established customs or beliefs |
bombastic | pompous in speech |
perfunctory | done in a routine way |
philanthropy | desire to promote goodness |
desultory | jumping around, disconnected |
exonerate | to clear from blame |
castigate | to punish harshly |
florid | embellished, excessively decorated |
garrulous | talking a lot |
sublime | lofty or grand |
stigma | mark of shame |
quiescent | motionless |
impetuous | quick to act without even thinking |
caustic | sarcastic, witty, or capable of burning/eroding |
dissonance | a harsh combination, usually of noises |
cacophony | a harsh sound |
perfidious | willing to betray |
reticent | quiet |
dilettante | someone with amateurish interest in a topic |
dirge | mournful hymn or speech |
pellucid | understandable |
recondite | obscure |
abstruse | difficult to understand |
licentious | immoral |
jejune | childish |
vitiating | morally corrupting |
odious | offensive |
noisome | offensive |
cloying | sickly-sweet |
cant | insincere |
plaintive | sad |
condign | fitting, well-deserved |
clement | merciful |
obsolescent | outdated |
antiquated | outdated |
neoteric | of recent origin |
furtive | secretive |
byzantine | complicated |
ersatz | artificial/synthetic |
impugn | criticize |
redoubtable | formidable, worthy of respect |
surreptitious | sneaky |
dubious | doubtful |
antiquity | ancient-ness |
unilateral | performed by or affecting only one individual |
expurgate | to remove unsuitable or objectionable matter from something (usually from a book) |
cerebral | requiring the use of intellect |
indelible | impossible to erase or remove |
pertinacious | holding firmly to an opinion or idea |
provincially | relating to the people of a province, not sophisticated |
promulgate | to promote |
artifice | cunning (noun) |
ribald | obscene |
salient | most noticeable |
salubrious | pleasant, healthy, wholesome |
opprobrious | bringing disgrace |
aspersion | slander |
disparage | to belittle |
pillory | that thing they lock people’s necks into in medieval times; to expose to public abuse |
gainsay | to speak out against |
berate | to scold |
remonstrate | to say in objection |
harangue | a long scolding |
inveigh | to protest or verbally attack |
objurgate | to reproach harshly |
lambaste | to beat or whip severely, sometimes with words |
perfidy | a deliberate breach of trust |
canard | a false story or report |
compunction | a feeling of guilt |
doctrinaire | seekign to impose a doctrine withotu regard to special circumstances |
redress | to set right |
gibe | an insulting/mocking remark |
riposte | a retort or offensive response |
fatuous | pointless |
insipid | lacking flavor |
bacchanalian | totally drunken |
debauchery | indulgence in sensuality |
libidinous | lustful |
sordid | dirty, immoral |
knell | the sound of funeral bells |
obsequies | funeral ceremonies |
abnegate | to reject something valuable |
ascetic | a person who dedicates their life to ideals |
peremptory | dictator-like |
bemusing | confusing |
rebarbative | repellent, totally disgusting |
rue | to wish somethign had never been done |
conjugal | pertaining to the relationship between husband and wife |
consanguine | of the same descent |
distaff | pertaining to women |
filial | of a son or daughter |
scion | a descendent |
raillery | good-humored banter |
simper | to put on a silly smile |
interregnum | a period of freedom from the usual authority |
interstice | a small gap |
largess | a generous bestowl of gifts |
magnanimous | generously forgiving |
munificent | extremely generous |
stint | to be frugal |
avaricious | greedy/covetous |
rapacious | plundering |
asperity | roughness in tone |
baleful | full of menacing |
minatory | threatening |
strident | making a harsh sound |
anathema | a thing that is hated |
odium | intense hatred |
rancor | bitter resentment |
churlish | rude |
curmudgeon | a cantankerous person |
irascible | easily provoked |
fulsome | repulsive to someone with good taste |
unctuous | oily, greasy, or insincere |
assay | to analyze or to try something out |
lassitude | weariness |
phlegmatic | not easily excited to action or to express emotion |
auspicious | promising success, marked by good fortune |
kismet | destiny |
cavil | to raise trivial objections |
enjoin | to command |
martinet | someone who strictly follows the rules, as in the military |
awry | with a twist on one side |
carom | a shot when the cue ball strikes two different balls in billiards |
sidle | to move sideways |
grandiloquent | speaking in an overly lofty style |
prolix | extended to unnecessary length |
sonorous | rich and full in sound |
esurient | hungering, greedy |
augur | one who interprets omens |
auspice | a favorable sign |
fey | fated to die |
presage | a foreboding or a prediction |
forfend | to fend off |
perspicacious | having keen perceptions |
lugubrious | gloomy |
threnody | a poem of lamentation |
renitent | resissting pressure |
untoward | unfortunate or improper |
compendious | covering the entirity of a subject in brief form |
recreant | cowardly |
fealty | faithfulness, fidelity |
probity | honesty |
ambulatory | capable of walking |
itinerant | characterized by travel |
peripatetic | while walking about or traveling |
enervate | to deprive of strenght, opposite of energize |
stultify | to make look foolish, or insane |
apothegm | a short bit of wisdom or instruction |
abeyance | suspension, temporary break from |
bromide | a trite saying, a cliche |
epigram | a short witty saying |
abjure | to officially renounce |
recidivism | habitual relapse, as with crime |
renege | to go back on one’s word |
rescind | to repeal |
plebian | of the working class |
pious | devout |
nebulous | unclear, vague |
patent | easily recognizable, obvious |
inalienable | non-transferable and not rejectable |
extraneous | irrelevent, coming from without |
debase | to reduce the value of |
unpropitious | having unfavorable conditions |
fastidious | excessively particular, hard to please |
recrudescent | revived |
collude | to act together secretly, to conspire |
inveigling | enticing or flattering |
timorous | full of fear |
pervasive | spread throughout |
vigilance | alertness |
sagacity | wisdom |
intrepidity | fearlessness and endurance |
commodious | expansive |
egregious | outstandingly bad |
austere | harshly simple |
profligate | someone who is wasteful |
wastrel | someone who is wasteful |
prodigious | exceptional, phenomenal |
bastion | protection, bulwark, stronghold; something that prevents loss |
affable | friendly, easy to talk to |
somniferous | soporific |
analeptic | causes you to gain energy |
obviate | to obstruct |
to effect (verb) | to cause to happen. Not to be confused with affect. |
cicatrix | a type of scar |
staid | very well-mannered and proper, even to the point of being uninteresting |
blandishing | cajoling,gently flattering |
profligacy | recklessness |
parochial | limited |
oblique | not direct; in a round-a-bout way |
truculent | belligerent |
bellicose | belligerent |
querulous | irritable, but not associated with violence |
indefatigable | untiring |
tumid | bloated |
acrid | sharply bitter |
acerbic | sharply bitter |
saccharine | overly sweet |
vapid | bland or dull |