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GRE Vocabulary > 300 Absolutely Essential GRE Words > Flashcards

300 Absolutely Essential GRE Words Flashcards

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1
Q

abeyance

A

a state of temporary disuse or suspension

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2
Q

abscond

A

escape, flee; fail to surrender oneself for custody at the appointed time

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3
Q

abstemious

A

abstinent, moderate

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4
Q

admonish

A

warn; reprimand

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5
Q

alacrity

A

cheerful readiness, enthusiasm, eagerness

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6
Q

ameliorate

A

improve

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7
Q

apprise

A

inform or tell

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8
Q

approbation

A

approval or praise

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9
Q

ascetic

A

characterized by severe self-discipline and abstention from all forms of indulgence, typically for religious reasons

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10
Q

assiduous

A

showing great care or perseverance, meticulous, diligent, fastidious

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11
Q

assuage

A

make (an unpleasant feeling) less intense, alleviate

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12
Q

austere

A

severe or strict in manner or attitude; moderate, self-denying, ascetic; unadorned, simple, plain

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13
Q

aver

A

assert

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14
Q

belie

A

(of an appearance) fail to give a true impression of (something).
“his lively, alert manner belied his years”;
fail to fulfil or justify (a claim or expectation).
“the quality of the music seems to belie the criticism”

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15
Q

beneficent

A

benevolent

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16
Q

bombastic

A

pompous, self-important

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17
Q

boorish

A

rough and bad-mannered, coarse

“boorish behaviour”

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18
Q

burgeon

A

begin to grow or increase rapidly, flourish

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19
Q

burnish

A

polish something by rubbing; enhance or improve; the shine on a highly polished surface

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20
Q

buttress

A

support

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21
Q

capricious

A

fickle, unstable

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22
Q

castigate

A

reprimand severely, admonish

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23
Q

coagulate

A

(of a fluid, especially blood) clot

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24
Q

coda

A

concluding section or passage

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25
Q

commensurate

A

equivalent (commensurate with)

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26
Q

compendium

A

compilation; collection or set of similar items

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27
Q

complaisant

A

willing to please others or to accept what they do or say without protest

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28
Q

confound

A

cause surprise or confusion (“the inflation figure confounded economists”); invalidate (“confound a theory”); defeat a plan, aim, or hope; mix up (“confound managerialism with idealism”)

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29
Q

contention

A

disagreement (“an area of contention”); argument or claim (“Freud’s contentions”)

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30
Q

contentious

A

controversial; likely to provoke argument

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31
Q

craven

A

cowardly

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32
Q

deference

A

respect

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33
Q

delineate

A

describe precisely
“the law should delineate behaviour that is socially abhorrent”;
indicate the exact position of (a border or a boundary)

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34
Q

denigrate

A

criticise unfairly, disparage, belittle, deprecate

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35
Q

desiccate

A

dry

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36
Q

desultory

A

half-hearted, cursory (e.g. desultory dancing, a desultory conversation); occurring randomly or occasionally; rambling

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37
Q

dichotomy

A

separation or division

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38
Q

diffidence

A

shyness

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39
Q

diffuse

A

spread over a wide area or between a large number of people

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40
Q

dirge

A

a lament for the dead; a mournful song or piece of music

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41
Q

disabuse

A

persuade (someone) that an idea or belief is mistaken

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42
Q

discerning

A

adjective: showing or having good judgement, selective, shrewd
verb: to distinguish or recognise

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43
Q

discordant

A

disagreeing; characterised by conflict (e.g. discordant homes)

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44
Q

discredit

A

harm the good reputation of; invalidate, disprove

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45
Q

disinterested

A

unbiased; uninterested

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46
Q

dissemble

A

deceive, disguise, or conceal

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47
Q

dissolution

A

the action of formally ending or dismissing an assembly, partnership, or official body (e.g. dissolution of marriage, committee); disintegration; debauched living, dissipation

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48
Q

distend

A

swell

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49
Q

doctrinaire

A

seeking to impose a doctrine in all circumstances without regard to practical considerations
“the administration’s doctrinaire economic policy”
synonyms: dogmatic, rigid, inflexible, uncompromising, unyielding

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50
Q

eclectic

A

wide-ranging; a person who derives ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources

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51
Q

efficacy

A

effectiveness

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52
Q

effrontery

A

insolent or impertinent behaviour

“one juror had the effrontery to challenge the coroner’s decision”

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53
Q

elegy

A

a poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead
“an elegy could be a dirge”

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54
Q

enervate

A

exhaust or tire

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55
Q

engender

A

cause, give rise to

“the issue engendered continued controversy”

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56
Q

ephemeral

A

short-lasting

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57
Q

equanimity

A

calmness, composure, level-headedness

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58
Q

equivocate

A

use ambiguous language so as to conceal the truth or avoid committing oneself

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59
Q

esoteric

A

intended for or likely to be understood by only a small number of people with a specialized knowledge or interest

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60
Q

exculpate

A

show or declare that (someone) is not guilty of wrongdoing, exonerate

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61
Q

exigency

A

need

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62
Q

extraneous

A

external, irrelevant

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63
Q

facetious

A

treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humour, flippant

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64
Q

fatuous

A

silly and pointless

“a fatuous comment”

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65
Q

felicitous

A

well chosen, appropriate
“a felicitous phrase”;
advantageous, fortunate
“the view was the room’s only felicitous feature”

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66
Q

flout

A

openly disregard

“flouting the law”

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67
Q

foment

A

instigate or stir up (an undesirable or violent sentiment or course of action)
“they accused him of fomenting political unrest”

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68
Q

forestall

A

prevent or obstruct by taking action in advance, pre-empt

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69
Q

gainsay

A

contradict or oppose

70
Q

garrulous

A

talkative

71
Q

goad

A

provoke; stimulus

72
Q

gouge

A

scoop out, hollow out

73
Q

gregarious

A

sociable

74
Q

harangue

A

a lengthy and aggressive speech, diatribe, tirade; lecture (someone) at length in an aggressive and critical manner

75
Q

homogeneous

A

uniform; similar, comparable

76
Q

idolatry

A

the worship of idols, fetishism, iconolatry

77
Q

impassive

A

not feeling or showing emotion, expressionless

78
Q

imperturbable

A

calm, composed, unable to be excited

79
Q

impervious

A

not affected by; impermeable

80
Q

implacable

A

unable to be appeased or placated

81
Q

inchoate

A

not fully formed

“inchoate ideas or opinions”

82
Q

incongruity

A

unsuitability, incompatibility

“the incongruity of his fleshy face and skinny body disturbed her”

83
Q

indigence

A

a state of extreme poverty, destitution

antonym: opulence

84
Q

indolent

A

lazy

85
Q

ingenuous

A

innocent and unsuspecting, naive

86
Q

innocuous

A

harmless

87
Q

insensible

A

senseless, unconscious
“they knocked each other insensible with their fists”;
unaware of; inappreciable
“varying by insensible degrees”

88
Q

insinuate

A

imply, hint; manoeuvre oneself into (a favourable position) by subtle manipulation
“I insinuated my shoulder in the gap”
“he insinuated himself into the king’s confidence”

89
Q

insipid

A

lacking taste; lacking interest or vigour

90
Q

insularity

A

narrow-mindedness

91
Q

intractable

A

uncontrollable, unmanageable; (of a person) stubborn, obstinate

92
Q

intransigence

A

refusal to change one’s views or to agree about something

“in the face of government intransigence, he resigned in disgust”

93
Q

inundate

A

overwhelm; flood

synonym: deluge

94
Q

inure

A

harden

95
Q

invective

A

insults, swearing

96
Q

irascible

A

irritable

97
Q

laconic

A

using very few words, terse, succinct, brief, pithy

antonyms: garrulous, loquacious

98
Q

lassitude

A

a state of physical or mental weariness, exhaustion, tiredness, ennui, lethargy

99
Q

levee

A

an embankment built to prevent the overflow of a river

100
Q

log

A

cut down (an area of forest) in order to exploit the timber commercially
“there are plans to log 250,000 hectares of virgin rainforest”
synonym: itinerary

101
Q

loquacious

A

talkative, garrulous

102
Q

lucid

A

rational, sane; clear, intelligible, comprehensible; bright

103
Q

magnanimity

A

generosity, munificence

104
Q

mendacious

A

dishonest, disingenuous

“mendacious propaganda”

105
Q

mollify

A

appease, placate, conciliate

106
Q

neophyte

A

beginner, apprentice, fledgling

107
Q

obdurate

A

stubborn, obstinate, inflexible

108
Q

obsequious

A

obedient or attentive to an excessive or servile degree, grovelling, fawning

109
Q

obviate

A

remove a difficulty, get round; prevent (e.g. obviate disaster, obviate the need)

110
Q

occlude

A

block

“make-up can occlude your pores”

111
Q

officious

A

assertive of authority in a domineering way, especially with regard to trivial matters
“the security people were very officious”
intrusively enthusiastic in offering help or advice; interfering
“an officious bystander”

112
Q

onerous

A

burdensome, troublesome, inconvenient (e.g. onerous duty, onerous task)

113
Q

opprobrium

A

harsh criticism; public shame

114
Q

ostentatious

A

pretentious, showy, flamboyant

115
Q

partisan

A

biased, prejudiced; a member of an armed group formed to fight secretly against an occupying force

116
Q

pathological

A

relating to pathology; caused by a physical or mental disease
“pathological abnormality”;
obsessive; unreasonable
“pathological fear of heights”

117
Q

paucity

A

scarcity

118
Q

pedantic

A

excessively concerned with minor details or rules, overscrupulous

119
Q

penchant

A

tendency to do something

120
Q

penury

A

destitution

antonym: opulence

121
Q

perennial

A

everlasting

122
Q

perfidious

A

deceitful and untrustworthy, disingenuous

123
Q

perfunctory

A

carried out without real interest, feeling, or effort, superficial, cursory

124
Q

pervasive

A

spreading widely throughout an area or a group of people, prevalent, pervading, permeating

125
Q

phlegmatic

A

composed, calm, cool

126
Q

plethora

A

large or excessive amount of something

127
Q

precarious

A

dangerously likely to fall or collapse; insecure, uncertain( e.g. a precarious living, precarious majority)

128
Q

presumptuous

A

brazen, failing to observe the limits of what is permitted

129
Q

prevaricate

A

equivocate

130
Q

probity

A

integrity

131
Q

prodigal

A

self-indulgent, spendthrift, improvident, imprudent, wasteful, wanton; having or giving something on a lavish scale

132
Q

proliferate

A

increase rapidly in number, multiply

133
Q

propensity

A

inclination, tendency, predisposition, proneness, proclivity, penchant

134
Q

propitiate

A

mollify, appease, placate, conciliate

135
Q

propriety

A

correctness, decorum

136
Q

proscribe

A

denigrate, disparage; forbid, prohibit

137
Q

pungent

A

(of comment, criticism, or humour) having a sharp and caustic quality
“he has expressed some fairly pungent criticisms”

138
Q

qualified

A

not complete or absolute, limited

“a qualified success”

139
Q

quiescent

A

in a state or period of inactivity or dormancy

140
Q

rarefied

A

(of air, especially that at high altitudes) of lower pressure than usual, thin
“every ounce carried counts triple when you’re trudging uphill in rarefied air”
distant from the lives and concerns of ordinary people, esoteric, refined
“rarefied scholarly pursuits”

141
Q

recalcitrant

A 
having an obstinately uncooperative attitude towards authority or discipline, intractable
"a class of recalcitrant fifteen-year-olds"
142
Q

recant

A

denounce one’s beliefs; retract a statement

143
Q

recondite

A

little known information or knowledge, obscure, esoteric

144
Q

refractory

A

stubborn and unmanageable, obstinate; resistant to a process or stimulus

145
Q

reprobate

A

unprincipled

146
Q

repudiate

A

reject, renounce; rebut, refute, deny

147
Q

reticent

A

reserved, introverted

148
Q

salubrious

A

healthy; pleasant

149
Q

sanction

A

impose a penalty on; permission; penalty

150
Q

soporific

A

tending to induce drowsiness or sleep; a drug that induces drowsiness or sleep

151
Q

specious

A

superficially plausible, but actually wrong
“a specious argument”;
misleadingly attractive

152
Q

stigma

A

a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person

153
Q

stint

A

supply a very ungenerous or inadequate amount of (something), be economical with; period of work; limitation of supply or effort

154
Q

stipulate

A

demand or specify (a requirement), typically as part of an agreement
“he stipulated certain conditions before their marriage”

155
Q

stolid

A

calm, showing little emotion, impassive, phlegmatic

156
Q

striated

A

striped or streaked

157
Q

strut

A

a rod or bar forming part of a framework and designed to resist compression (and the verb associated with it)
“a supporting strut”

158
Q

subpoena

A

summon to a court (and the noun associated with it);
require (a document or other evidence) to be submitted to a court of law
“the decision to subpoena government records”

159
Q

substantiate

A

to provide evidence to support or prove the truth of

160
Q

supersede

A

replace

161
Q

tacit

A

implicit, implied, inferred

162
Q

tenuous

A

insubstantial, weak (e.g. tenuous link, tenuous connection, tenuous relationship)

163
Q

torpor

A

a state of physical or mental inactivity, lethargy

164
Q

venerate

A

revere, respect, adulate

165
Q

veracious

A

speaking or representing the truth, veritable

166
Q

vituperative

A

bitter and abusive

167
Q

volatile

A

liable to change rapidly and unpredictably, fraught, fickle

168
Q

welter

A

move in a turbulent fashion
“the pigs weltered about happily in the mud”;
lie soaked in blood; a large number of items in no order; a state of general disorder

169
Q

whimsical

A

acting in a capricious, fickle manner; playful

170
Q

zealot

A

fanatic, extremist, radical

GRE Vocabulary (6 decks)

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