Cracking the New GRE (2012) Hit Parade Group 1

Question 1

Aberrant

Answer 1

adj. markedly different from an accepted norm

Question 2

Abscond

Answer 2

v. to depart clandestinely; to steal off and hide

Question 3

Alacrity

Answer 3

n. eager and enthusiastic willingness

Question 4

Anomaly

Answer 4

n. something different from the norm

Question 5

Approbation

Answer 5

n. an expression of approval or praise

Question 6

Arduous

Answer 6

adj. strenuous, taxing; requiring significant effort

Question 7

Assuage

Answer 7

v. to ease or lessen; to appease or pacify

Question 8

Audacious

Answer 8

adj. daring and fearless; recklessly bold

Question 9

Austere

Answer 9

adj. without adornment; bare; severely simple; ascetic

Question 10

Axiomatic

Answer 10

adj. taken as a given; possessing self-evident truth

Question 11

Canonical

Answer 11

adj. following or in agreement with accepted, traditional standards

Question 12

Capricious

Answer 12

adj. inclined to change one’s mind impulsively; erratic, unpredictable

Question 13

Censure

Answer 13

v. to criticize severely; to officially rebuke

Question 14

Chicanery

Answer 14

adj. trickery or subterfuge

Question 15

Connoisseur

Answer 15

n. an informed and astute judge in matters of taste; expert

Question 16

Convoluted

Answer 16

adj. complex or complicated

Question 17

Disabuse

Answer 17

v. to undeceive; to set right

Question 18

Discordant

Answer 18

adj. conflicting; dissonant or harsh in sound

Question 19

Disparate

Answer 19

adj. fundamentally distinct or dissimilar

Question 20

Effrontery

Answer 20

n. extreme boldness; presumptuousness

Question 21

Eloquent

Answer 21

adj. well-spoken, expressive, articulate

Question 22

Enervate

Answer 22

v. to weaken; to reduce in vitality

Question 23

Ennui

Answer 23

n. dissatisfaction and restlessness resulting from boredom or apathy

Question 24

Equivocate

Answer 24

v. to use ambiguous language with a deceptive intent

Question 25

Erudite

Answer 25

adj. very learned; scholarly

Question 26

Exculpate

Answer 26

v. exonerate; to clear of blame

Question 27

Exigent

Answer 27

adj. urgent, pressing; requiring immediate action or attention

Question 28

Extemporaneous

Answer 28

adj. improvised; done without preparation

Question 29

Filibuster

Answer 29

n. intentional obstruction, esp. using prolonged speechmaking to delay legislative action

Question 30

Fulminate

Answer 30

v. to loudly attack or denounce

Question 31

Ingenuous

Answer 31

adj. artless; frank and candid; lacking in sophistication

Question 32

Inured

Answer 32

adj. accustomed to accepting something undesirable

Question 33

Irascible

Answer 33

adj. easily angered; prone to temperamental outbursts

Question 34

Laud

Answer 34

v. to praise highly

Question 35

Lucid

Answer 35

adj. clear; easily understood

Question 36

Magnanimity

Answer 36

n. the quality of being generously noble in mind and heart, esp. in forgiving

Question 37

Martial

Answer 37

adj. associated with war and the armed forces

Question 38

Mundane

Answer 38

adj. of the world; typical of or concerned with the ordinary

Question 39

Nascent

Answer 39

adj. coming into being; in early developmental stages

Question 40

Nebulous

Answer 40

adj. vague; cloudy; lacking clearly defined form

Question 41

Neologism

Answer 41

n. a new word, expression, or usage; the creation of new words or senses

Question 42

Noxious

Answer 42

adj. harmful, injurious

Question 43

Obtuse

Answer 43

adj. lacking sharpness of intellect; not clear or precise in thought or expression

Question 44

Obviate

Answer 44

v. to anticipate and make unnecessary

Question 45

Onerous

Answer 45

adj. troubling; burdensome

Question 46

Paean

Answer 46

n. a song or hymn of praise and thanksgiving

Question 47

Parody

Answer 47

n. a humorous imitation intended for ridicule or comic effect, esp. in literature and art

Question 48

Perennial

Answer 48

adj. recurrent through the year or many years; happening repeatedly

Question 49

Perfidy

Answer 49

n. intentional breach of faith; treachery

Question 50

Perfunctory

Answer 50

adj. cursory; done without care or interest

Question 51

Perspicacious

Answer 51

adj. acutely perceptive; having keen discernment

Question 52

Prattle

Answer 52

v. to babble meaninglessly; to talk in an empty and idle manner

Question 53

Precipitate

Answer 53

v. to cause or happen before anticipated or required

Question 54

Precipitate

Answer 54

adj. acting with excessive hast or impulse

Question 55

Predilection

Answer 55

n. a disposition in favor of something; preference

Question 56

Prescience

Answer 56

n. foreknowledge of events; knowing of events prior to their occurring

Question 57

Prevaricate

Answer 57

v. to deliberately avoid the truth; to mislead

Question 58

Qualms

Answer 58

n. misgivings; reservations; causes for hesitancy

Question 59

Recant

Answer 59

v. to retract, esp a previously held belief

Question 60

Reticent

Answer 60

adj. quiet; reserved; reluctant to express thoughts and feelings

Question 61

Solicitous

Answer 61

adj. concerned and attentive; eager

Question 62

Sordid

Answer 62

adj. characterized by filth, grime or squalor; foul

Question 63

Sporadic

Answer 63

adj. occurring only occasionally, or in scattered instances

Question 64

Squander

Answer 64

v. to waste by spending or using irresponsibly

Question 65

Static

Answer 65

adj. not moving, active, or in motion; at rest

Question 66

Stupefy

Answer 66

v. to stun, baffle, or amazing

Question 67

Stymie

Answer 67

v. to block; thwart

Question 68

Synthesis

Answer 68

n. the combination of parts to make a whole

Question 69

Torque

Answer 69

n. a force that causes rotation

Question 70

Tortuous

Answer 70

adj. winding, twisting; excessively complicated

Question 71

Truculent

Answer 71

adj. fierce and cruel; eager to fight

Question 72

Veracity

Answer 72

n. truthfulness, honesty

Question 73

Virulent

Answer 73

adj. extremely harmful or poisonous; bitterly hostile or antagonistic

Question 74

Voracious

Answer 74

adj. having an insatiable appetite for an activity or pursuit; ravenous

Question 75

Waver

Answer 75

v. to move to and fro; to sway; to be unsettled in opinion