300 Absolutely Essential GRE Words Flashcards
abeyance
a state of temporary disuse or suspension
abscond
escape, flee; fail to surrender oneself for custody at the appointed time
abstemious
abstinent, moderate
admonish
warn; reprimand
alacrity
cheerful readiness, enthusiasm, eagerness
ameliorate
improve
apprise
inform or tell
approbation
approval or praise
ascetic
characterized by severe self-discipline and abstention from all forms of indulgence, typically for religious reasons
assiduous
showing great care or perseverance, meticulous, diligent, fastidious
assuage
make (an unpleasant feeling) less intense, alleviate
austere
severe or strict in manner or attitude; moderate, self-denying, ascetic; unadorned, simple, plain
aver
assert
belie
(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”
beneficent
benevolent
bombastic
pompous, self-important
boorish
rough and bad-mannered, coarse
“boorish behaviour”
burgeon
begin to grow or increase rapidly, flourish
burnish
polish something by rubbing; enhance or improve; the shine on a highly polished surface
buttress
support
capricious
fickle, unstable
castigate
reprimand severely, admonish
coagulate
(of a fluid, especially blood) clot
coda
concluding section or passage
commensurate
equivalent (commensurate with)
compendium
compilation; collection or set of similar items
complaisant
willing to please others or to accept what they do or say without protest
confound
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”)
contention
disagreement (“an area of contention”); argument or claim (“Freud’s contentions”)
contentious
controversial; likely to provoke argument
craven
cowardly
deference
respect
delineate
describe precisely
“the law should delineate behaviour that is socially abhorrent”;
indicate the exact position of (a border or a boundary)
denigrate
criticise unfairly, disparage, belittle, deprecate
desiccate
dry
desultory
half-hearted, cursory (e.g. desultory dancing, a desultory conversation); occurring randomly or occasionally; rambling
dichotomy
separation or division
diffidence
shyness
diffuse
spread over a wide area or between a large number of people
dirge
a lament for the dead; a mournful song or piece of music
disabuse
persuade (someone) that an idea or belief is mistaken
discerning
adjective: showing or having good judgement, selective, shrewd
verb: to distinguish or recognise
discordant
disagreeing; characterised by conflict (e.g. discordant homes)
discredit
harm the good reputation of; invalidate, disprove
disinterested
unbiased; uninterested
dissemble
deceive, disguise, or conceal
dissolution
the action of formally ending or dismissing an assembly, partnership, or official body (e.g. dissolution of marriage, committee); disintegration; debauched living, dissipation
distend
swell
doctrinaire
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
eclectic
wide-ranging; a person who derives ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources
efficacy
effectiveness
effrontery
insolent or impertinent behaviour
“one juror had the effrontery to challenge the coroner’s decision”
elegy
a poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead
“an elegy could be a dirge”
enervate
exhaust or tire
engender
cause, give rise to
“the issue engendered continued controversy”
ephemeral
short-lasting
equanimity
calmness, composure, level-headedness
equivocate
use ambiguous language so as to conceal the truth or avoid committing oneself
esoteric
intended for or likely to be understood by only a small number of people with a specialized knowledge or interest
exculpate
show or declare that (someone) is not guilty of wrongdoing, exonerate
exigency
need
extraneous
external, irrelevant
facetious
treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humour, flippant
fatuous
silly and pointless
“a fatuous comment”
felicitous
well chosen, appropriate
“a felicitous phrase”;
advantageous, fortunate
“the view was the room’s only felicitous feature”
flout
openly disregard
“flouting the law”
foment
instigate or stir up (an undesirable or violent sentiment or course of action)
“they accused him of fomenting political unrest”
forestall
prevent or obstruct by taking action in advance, pre-empt
gainsay
contradict or oppose
garrulous
talkative
goad
provoke; stimulus
gouge
scoop out, hollow out
gregarious
sociable
harangue
a lengthy and aggressive speech, diatribe, tirade; lecture (someone) at length in an aggressive and critical manner
homogeneous
uniform; similar, comparable
idolatry
the worship of idols, fetishism, iconolatry
impassive
not feeling or showing emotion, expressionless
imperturbable
calm, composed, unable to be excited
impervious
not affected by; impermeable
implacable
unable to be appeased or placated
inchoate
not fully formed
“inchoate ideas or opinions”
incongruity
unsuitability, incompatibility
“the incongruity of his fleshy face and skinny body disturbed her”
indigence
a state of extreme poverty, destitution
antonym: opulence
indolent
lazy
ingenuous
innocent and unsuspecting, naive
innocuous
harmless
insensible
senseless, unconscious
“they knocked each other insensible with their fists”;
unaware of; inappreciable
“varying by insensible degrees”
insinuate
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”
insipid
lacking taste; lacking interest or vigour
insularity
narrow-mindedness
intractable
uncontrollable, unmanageable; (of a person) stubborn, obstinate
intransigence
refusal to change one’s views or to agree about something
“in the face of government intransigence, he resigned in disgust”
inundate
overwhelm; flood
synonym: deluge
inure
harden
invective
insults, swearing
irascible
irritable
laconic
using very few words, terse, succinct, brief, pithy
antonyms: garrulous, loquacious
lassitude
a state of physical or mental weariness, exhaustion, tiredness, ennui, lethargy
levee
an embankment built to prevent the overflow of a river
log
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
loquacious
talkative, garrulous
lucid
rational, sane; clear, intelligible, comprehensible; bright
magnanimity
generosity, munificence
mendacious
dishonest, disingenuous
“mendacious propaganda”
mollify
appease, placate, conciliate
neophyte
beginner, apprentice, fledgling
obdurate
stubborn, obstinate, inflexible
obsequious
obedient or attentive to an excessive or servile degree, grovelling, fawning
obviate
remove a difficulty, get round; prevent (e.g. obviate disaster, obviate the need)
occlude
block
“make-up can occlude your pores”
officious
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”
onerous
burdensome, troublesome, inconvenient (e.g. onerous duty, onerous task)
opprobrium
harsh criticism; public shame
ostentatious
pretentious, showy, flamboyant
partisan
biased, prejudiced; a member of an armed group formed to fight secretly against an occupying force
pathological
relating to pathology; caused by a physical or mental disease
“pathological abnormality”;
obsessive; unreasonable
“pathological fear of heights”
paucity
scarcity
pedantic
excessively concerned with minor details or rules, overscrupulous
penchant
tendency to do something
penury
destitution
antonym: opulence
perennial
everlasting
perfidious
deceitful and untrustworthy, disingenuous
perfunctory
carried out without real interest, feeling, or effort, superficial, cursory
pervasive
spreading widely throughout an area or a group of people, prevalent, pervading, permeating
phlegmatic
composed, calm, cool
plethora
large or excessive amount of something
precarious
dangerously likely to fall or collapse; insecure, uncertain( e.g. a precarious living, precarious majority)
presumptuous
brazen, failing to observe the limits of what is permitted
prevaricate
equivocate
probity
integrity
prodigal
self-indulgent, spendthrift, improvident, imprudent, wasteful, wanton; having or giving something on a lavish scale
proliferate
increase rapidly in number, multiply
propensity
inclination, tendency, predisposition, proneness, proclivity, penchant
propitiate
mollify, appease, placate, conciliate
propriety
correctness, decorum
proscribe
denigrate, disparage; forbid, prohibit
pungent
(of comment, criticism, or humour) having a sharp and caustic quality
“he has expressed some fairly pungent criticisms”
qualified
not complete or absolute, limited
“a qualified success”
quiescent
in a state or period of inactivity or dormancy
rarefied
(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”
recalcitrant
having an obstinately uncooperative attitude towards authority or discipline, intractable "a class of recalcitrant fifteen-year-olds"
recant
denounce one’s beliefs; retract a statement
recondite
little known information or knowledge, obscure, esoteric
refractory
stubborn and unmanageable, obstinate; resistant to a process or stimulus
reprobate
unprincipled
repudiate
reject, renounce; rebut, refute, deny
reticent
reserved, introverted
salubrious
healthy; pleasant
sanction
impose a penalty on; permission; penalty
soporific
tending to induce drowsiness or sleep; a drug that induces drowsiness or sleep
specious
superficially plausible, but actually wrong
“a specious argument”;
misleadingly attractive
stigma
a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person
stint
supply a very ungenerous or inadequate amount of (something), be economical with; period of work; limitation of supply or effort
stipulate
demand or specify (a requirement), typically as part of an agreement
“he stipulated certain conditions before their marriage”
stolid
calm, showing little emotion, impassive, phlegmatic
striated
striped or streaked
strut
a rod or bar forming part of a framework and designed to resist compression (and the verb associated with it)
“a supporting strut”
subpoena
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”
substantiate
to provide evidence to support or prove the truth of
supersede
replace
tacit
implicit, implied, inferred
tenuous
insubstantial, weak (e.g. tenuous link, tenuous connection, tenuous relationship)
torpor
a state of physical or mental inactivity, lethargy
venerate
revere, respect, adulate
veracious
speaking or representing the truth, veritable
vituperative
bitter and abusive
volatile
liable to change rapidly and unpredictably, fraught, fickle
welter
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
whimsical
acting in a capricious, fickle manner; playful
zealot
fanatic, extremist, radical
