Common GRE-level Words 2

Question 1

abate

Answer 1

verb: to reduce in amount, degree, or severity

My enthusiasm for skiing might abate after falling off a ski lift and getting a mouthful of snow.

Question 2

ameliorate

Answer 2

verb: to make better, improve

Food drives can ameliorate hunger

Question 3

attenuate

Answer 3

verb: to reduce in force or degree, to weaken

The effects of aging may be attenuated by exercise

Question 4

banal

Answer 4

adjective: boring, predictable, cliched

Clichés and dull topics are banal.

Question 5

candid

Answer 5

adjective: straightforward, direct, honest in speech

the observations of a child can be charming since they are candid and unpretentious.

Question 6

castigate

Answer 6

verb: to criticize harshly, to punish

many americans are amazed at how harshly the authorities in Singapore castigate perpetrators of what would be considered minor crimes in the US.

Question 7

caustic

Answer 7

adjective: harshly critical, very sarcastic, biting

the comedian gained a reputation for having caustic wit from her cutting, yet clever insults.

Question 8

condone

Answer 8

verb: excuse, overlook, make allowances for

Your mom might say, “I don’t condone you staying up till 10, but I know you need to read.”

Question 9

deference

Answer 9

noun: courteous regard for someone’s feelings, respect
verb: defer= to yield to someone’s wishes out of respect for them

If you and your dad disagree about the best route to the grocery store, you might defer to him, and take his route. You’re taking his route out of deference to his opinion and greater experience.

Question 10

dilettante

Answer 10

noun: an amateur, often one who pretends to be very knowledgeable, a poser.

Question 11

dogma

Answer 11

a firmly held opinion, often a religious belief.

Sam’s central dogma was that children who believed in the great pumpkin would be rewarded.

Question 12

eclectic

Answer 12

selecting from or made up from a variety of sources

You can have an eclectic group of friends (friends from diverse groups), eclectic taste in furniture (a mixture of 18th-century French chairs, Andy Warhol paintings, and Persian rugs), or enjoy eclectic cuisine (fusion cooking that uses ingredients from different national cuisines).

Question 13

emulate

Answer 13

verb: to copy, to try to equal or excel

To emulate is to imitate and model yourself after someone. People emulate role models, people they want to be like.

Question 14

enervate

Answer 14

verb: to sap energy, to weaken mentally or morally

To enervate someone is to sap their energy

Question 15

foment

Answer 15

verb: to arouse, incite, to stir up public opinion (stir up something undesirable)

You would never say, “Hooray, we fomented a revolution.” Instead you’d say, “Those good for nothing scalawags fomented the rebellion.” Don’t confuse foment and ferment. Ferment can mean “to stir up” in a good way––a football game can ferment excitement in a town, or foment trouble through traffic tie-ups and litter.

Question 16

garrulous

Answer 16

adjective: tending to talk a lot, full of trivial conversation

A garrulous person just won’t stop talking (and talking, and talking, and talking…).

Question 17

homogenous

Answer 17

adjective: of a similar kind

If you have a homogenous group of friends, you probably wear the same outfits, talk the same way, live in the same kind of neighborhood, and like the same music. Boring.

Question 18

impervious

Answer 18

adjective: impossible to penetrate, incapable of being affected

“His steely personality made him impervious to jokes about his awful haircut.”

Question 19

inchoate

Answer 19

adjective: not fully formed, only partially in existence

the ideas expressed in Shakespeares mature work also appear in an inchoate form in his earliest writings

Question 20

luminous

Answer 20

bright, brilliant, glowing

the park was bathed in luminous sunshine, which warmed the bodies and the souls of the visitors

Question 21

malinger

Answer 21

verb: avoid responsibilities and duties, e.g., by pretending to be ill

a common way to avoid the draft was by malingering, pretending to be mentally or physically ill so as to avoid being taken by the army

Question 22

obviate

Answer 22

verb: to prevent, to make unnecessary

If you want to obviate the possibility of a roach infestation, clean your kitchen regularly.

Question 23

onerous

Answer 23

troublesome and oppressive, burdensome

the assignment was so extensive and difficult to manage that it proved onerous to the team in charge of it.

Question 24

prudence

Answer 24

wisdom, caution or restraint

Use the noun prudence to describe sensible decisions about everyday life, like the prudence of people who spend their money wisely, saving as much as they can.
Prudence can also describe the skill of side-stepping trouble or embarrassment, like having the prudence to avoid risks or the prudence to prepare for the unexpected, like packing a change of clothes in case the weather changes or your dinner reservations turn out to be at a fancy restaurant.

Question 25

quiescent

Answer 25

motionless, quiet, resting

like the quiescent moments lying in a hammock on a beautiful summer Sunday.

Question 26

soporific

Answer 26

causing sleep or lethargy

The movie proved to be so soporific that soon loud snores were heard throughout the theater.

Question 27

stolid

Answer 27

unemotional, lacking sensitivity

The prisoner appeared stolid and unaffected by the judge’s harsh sentence.

Question 28

torpor

Answer 28

extreme mental and physical sluggishness

After a huge Thanksgiving meal, my family members fall into a torpor; no one can even pick up the TV remote.”

Question 29

verbose

Answer 29

adjective: wordy

A verbose book report goes on and on and is packed with long, complicated words that aren’t at all necessary.

Question 30

whimsical

Answer 30

acting in a fanciful or capricious manner, unpredictable

If you decide at the last minute to fly to Europe, you could say you went there on a whim.