A complete list of Barron's GRE Wordlist, with meanings and sentences.
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| gadfly | animal-biting fly; an irritating person
Like a gadfly, he irritated all the guests at the hotel; within forty eight hours, everyone regarded him as an
annoying busybody.
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| gaffe | social blunder
According to Miss Manners, to call your husband by your lover's name is worse than a mere gaffe; it is a
tactical mistake.
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| gainsay | deny
She was too honest to gainsay the truth of the report.
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| gait | manner of walking or running; speed
The lame man walked with an uneven gait.
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| galaxy | the Milky Way; any collection of brilliant personalities
The deaths of such famous actors as Clark Gable, Gary Cooper, Spencer Tracy, and Marlene Dietrich
demonstrate that the galaxy of Hollywood superstars is rapidly disppearing.
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| gall | bitterness; nerve
The knowledge of his failure filled him with gall.
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| gall | annoy; chafe
Their taunts galled him.
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| galleon | large sailing ship
The Spaniards pinned their hopes on the galleon, the large warship; the British, on the smaller and faster
pinnace.
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| galvanize | stimulate by shock; stir up
The entire nation was galvanized into strong military activity by the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
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| gambit | opening in chess in which a piece is sacrificed
The player was afraid to accept his opponent's gambit because he feared a trap which as yet he could not
see.
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| gambol | skip; leap playfully
Watching children gamboling in the park is a pleasant experience
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| gamely | in a spirited manner; with courage
Because he had fought gamely against a much superior boxer, the crowd gave him a standing ovation when
he left the arena.
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| gamut | entire range
In this performance, the leading lady was able to demonstrate the complete gamut of her acting ability.
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| gape | open widely
The huge pit gaped before him; if he stumbled, he would fall in.
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| garbled | mixed up; jumbled; distorted
A favorite party game involves passing a whispered message from one person to another; by the time it
reaches the last player, the message has become totally garbled.
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| gargantuan | huge; enormous
The gargantuan wrestler was terrified of mice.
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| gargolye | waterspout carved in groteque figures on a building
The gargoyles adorning the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris are amusing in their grotesqueness.
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| garish | gaudy
She wore a garish rhinestone necklace.
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| garner | gather; store up
She hoped to garner the world's literature in one library.
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| garnish | decorate
Parsley was used to garnish the boiled potato.
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| garrulity | talkativeness
The man who married a dumb wife asked the doctor to make him deaf because of his wife's garrulity after her cure.
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| garrulous | excessively talkative, especially about unimportant subjects; loquacious; wordy
Many club members avoided the company of the garrulous junior executive because his contant chatter
bored them to tears.
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| gastronomy | science of preparing and serving good food
One of the by-products of his trip to Europe was his interest in gastronomy; he enjoyed preparing and
serving foreign dishes to his friends.
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| gauche | clumsy; boorish
Such remarks are gauche and out of place; you should apologize for making them.
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| gaudy | flashy; showy
Her gaudy taste in clothes apalled us.
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| gaunt | lean and angular; barren
His once-round face looked surprisingly gaunt after he had lost weight.
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| gawk | stare foolishly; look in open-mouthed awe
The country boy gawked at the skyscrapers and neon lights of the big city.
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| gazette | official publication
He read the gazettes regularly for announcement of his promotion.
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| genealogy | record of descent; lineage
He was proud of his genealogy and constantly referred to the achievements of his ancestors.
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| generality | vague statement
This report is filled with generalities; you must be more specific in you statements.
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| generic | characteristic of an entire class or species
Sue knew so many computer programmers who spent their spare time playing fantasy games that she
began to think that playing Dungeon & Dragons was a generic trait.
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| genesis | beginning; origin
Tracing the genesis of a family is the theme of "Roots."
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| geniality | cheerfulness; kindliness; sympathy
This restaurant is famous and popular because of the geniality of the proprietor, who tries to make
everyone happy.
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| genre | particular variety of art or literature
Both a short story writer and a poet, Langston Hughes proved himself equally skilled in either genre.
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| genteel | well-bred; elegant
We are looking for a man with a genteel apperance who can inspire confidence by his cultivated manner.
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| gentility | those of gentle birth; refinement Her family was proud of its gentility and elegance.
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| gentry | people of standing; class of people just below nobility
The local gentry did not welcome the visits of the summer tourists and tried to ignore their presence in the
community.
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| genuflect | bend the knee as in worship
A proud denocrat, he refused to genuflect to any man.
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| germane | pertinent; bearing upon the case at hand
The lawyer objected that the testimony being offered was not germane to the case at hand.
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| germinal | pertaining to a germ; creative
Such an idea is germinal; I am certain that it will influence thinkers and philosophers for many generations.
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| germinate | cause to sprout; sprout
After the seeds germinate and develop their permanent leaves, the plants may be removed from the cold
frames and transplanted to the garden.
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| gerontocracy | government ruled by old people
Gulliver visited a gerontocracy in which the young people acted as servants to their elders, all the while
dreaming of the day they would be old enough to have servants of their own.
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| gerrymander | change in voting district lines in order to favor a political party
The illogical pattern of the map of this congressional district is proof that the state legislature
gerrymandered this area in order to favor the majority party.
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| gestate | evolve, as in prenatal growth
While this scheme was being gestated by the conspirators, they maintained complete silence about their
intentions.
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| gesticulation | motion; gesture
Operatic performers are trained to make exaggerated gesticulations because of the large auditoriums in
whic they appear.
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| ghastly | horrible
The murdered man was a ghastly sight.
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| gibberish | nonsense; babbling
Did you hear that foolish boy spouting gibberish about monsters from outer space?
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| gibe | mock
As you gibe at their superstitious beliefs, do you realize that you, too, are guilty of similarly foolish
thoughts?
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| giddy | light-hearted; dizzy
He felt his giddy youth was past.
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| gingerly | very carefully To separate egg whites, first crack the egg gingerly.
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| girth | distance around something; circunference
It took an extra-large cummerbund to fit around Andrew Carnegie's considerable girth.
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| gist | essence
she was asked to give the gist of the essay in two sentence.
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| glacial | like a glacier; extremely cold
Never a warm person, when offended hugo could seem positively glacial.
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| glaring | highly conspicuous; harshly bright
glaring spelling or grammatical errors in your resume will unfavorably impress potential employers.
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| glaze | cover with a thin and shiny surface
The freezing rain glazed the streets and made driving hazardous.
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| glean | gather leavings
After the crops had been harvested by the machines, the peasants were permitted to glean the wheat left in
the fields.
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| glib | fluent
He is a glib and articulate speaker.
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| glimmer | shine erratically; twinkle
In the darkness of the cavern, the glowworms hanging from the cavern roof glimmered like distant stars.
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| gloat | express evil satisfaction; view malevolently
As you gloat over your ill-gotten wealth, do you think of the many victims you have defrauded?
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| gloss | over explain away
No matter how hard he tried to talk around the issue, President Bush could not gloss over the fact that he
had raised the taxes after all.
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| glossary | brief explanation of words used in the text
I have found the glossary in this book very useful; it has eliminated many trips to the dictionary.
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| glossy | smooth and shining
I want this photograph printed on glossy paper, not matte.
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| glower | scowl
The angry boy glowered at his father.
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| glut | overstock; fill to excess
The many manufacturers glutted the market and could not find purchasers for the many articles they had
produced.
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| glutinous | sticky; viscous
Molasses is a glutinous substance.
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| glutton | someone who eats too much
When Mother saw that Bobby had eaten all the cookies, she called him a little glutton.
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| gnarled | twisted
The gnarled oak tree had been a landmark for years and was mentioned in several deeds.
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| gnome | dwarf; underground spirit
In medieval mythology, gnomes were the special guardians and inhabitants of subterranean mines.
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| goad | urge on
He was goaded by his friends until he yielded to their wishes.
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| gorge | narrow canyon; steep, rocky cleft
Terrified of heights, George could not bring himself to peer down into the gorge to see the rapids below.
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| gorge | stuff oneself
The gluttonous guest gorged himself with food as though he had not eaten for days.
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| gory | bloody
The audience shuddered as they listened to the details of the gory massacre.
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| gossamer | sheer; like cobwebs
Nylon can be woven into gossaner or thick fabrics.
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| gouge | tear out
In that fight, all the rules were forgotten; the adversaries bit, kicked, and tried to gouge each other's eyes
out.
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| gourmand | epicure; person who takes excessive pleasure in food and drink
goumands lack self-restraint; if they enjoy a particular cuisine, they eat far too much of it.
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| gourmet | connoisseur of food and drink
The gourmet stated that this was the best onion soup she had ever tasted.
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| graduated | arraged by degree (of height, difficulty, etc.)
Margaret loved her graduated set of Russian hollow wooden dolls; she spent hours happily putting the
smaller dolls into their larger counterparts.
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| granary | storehouse for grain
We have reason to be thankful, for our crops were good and our granaries are full.
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| grandeur | impressiveness; stateliness; majesty
No matter how often he hiked through the mountains, David never failed to be struck by the grandeur of
the Sierra Nevada range.
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| grandiloquent | pompous; bombastic; using high-sounding language
The politician could bever speak simply; she was always grandiloquent.
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| grandiose | imposing; impressive
His grandiose manner impressed those who met him for the first time.
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| granulate | form into grains
Sugar that has been granulated dissolves more readily than lump sugar.
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| graphic | pertaining to the art of delineating; vividly described
I was particularly impressed by the graphic presentation of the storm.
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| grapple | wrestle; come to grips with
He grappled with the burglar and overpowered him.
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| grate | make a harsh noise; have an unpleasant effect; shred
The screams of the quarreling children grated on her nerves.
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| gratify | please
Her parents were gratified by her success.
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| gratis | free
The company offered to give one package gratis to every purchaser of one of their products.
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| gratuitous | given freely; unwarranted; uncalled for
Quit making gratuitous comments about my driving; no one asked you for your opinion.
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| gratuity | tip
Many service employees rely more on gratuities than on salaries for their livelihood.
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| gravity | seriousness
We could tell we were in serious trouble from the gravity of her expression.
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| gregarious | sociable
Typically, party-throwers are gregarious; hermits are not.
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| grievance | cause of complaint
When her supervisor ignored her complaint, she took her grievance to the union.
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| grill | question severely
In violation of the Miranda law, the police grilled the suspect for several hours before reading him his
rights.
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| grimace | a facial distortion to show feeling such as pain, disgust, etc.
Even though he remained silent, his grimace indicated his displeasure.
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| grisly | ghastly
She shuddered at the grisly sight.
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| grotesque | fantastic; comically hideous
On Halloween people enjoy wearing groteque costumes.
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| grotto | small cavern
The Blue Grotto in Capri can be entered only by small boats rowed by natives through a natural opening in
the rocks.
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| grouse | complain; fuss
Students traditionally grouse about the abysmal quality of "mystery meat" and similar dornitory food.
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| grovel | crawl or creep on ground; remain prostrate
Even though we have been defeated, we do not have to grovel before our conquerors.
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| grudging | unwilling; reluctant; stingy
We received only grudging support from the mayor despite his earlier promises of aid.
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| gruel | thin, liquid porridge
Our daily allotment of gruel made the meal not only monotonous but also unpalatable.
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| grueling | exhausting
The marathon is a grueling race.
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| gruesome | grisly
People screamed when her gruesome appearance was flashed on the screen.
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| gruff | rough-mannered
Although he was blunt and gruff with most people, he was always gentle with children.
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| guffaw | boisterous laughter
The loud guffaws that came from the closed room indicated that the members of the committe had not yet
settled down to a serious business.
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| guile | deceit; duplicity
She achieved her high position by guile and treachery.
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| guileless | without deceit
He is naive, simple, and guileless; he cannot be guilty of fraud.
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| guise | appearance; costume
In the guise of a plumber, the detective investigated the murder case.
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| gullible | easily deceived
He preyed upon gullible people, who believed his stories of easy wealth.
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| gustatory | affecting the sense of taste
The Thai restaurant offered an unusual gustatory experience for those used in a bland cuisine.
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| gusto | enjoyment; enthusiasm
He accepted the assignment with such gusto that I feel he would have been satisfied with a smaller salary.
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| gusty | windy
The gusty weather made sailing precarious.
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| gyroscope | apparatus used to maintain balance, ascertain direction, etc.
By using a rotating gyroscope, they were able to stabilize the vessel, counteracting the rolling movements
of the sea.
114. - apparatus used to maintain balance, ascertain direction, etc.
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