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GRE Vocabulary > CrunchPrep > Flashcards

CrunchPrep Flashcards

https://crunchprep.com/gre/2014/101-high-frequency-gre-words

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1
Q

laconic

A

brief and to the point; effectively cut short

Jessica is so talkative that her sister thought the situation warranted conciseness, and her being laconic.

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2
Q

insipid

A

lacking taste or flavor

Too much sugar tends to make this otherwise delightful fruit pie insipid.

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3
Q

iconoclast

A

someone who attacks cherished beliefs or institutions

Irrespective of his actuating motives, his deeds as an iconoclast will be treated harshly and is answerable in court.

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4
Q

arduous

A

difficult to accomplish, hard to endure

James and Matthew are planning to leave next week for their Masters, following months of arduous GRE preparation.

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5
Q

profligate

A

recklessly extravagant or wasteful in the use of resources

The senate is particularly perturbed over our profligate use of natural resources such as forest, oil, water, land, and minerals.

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6
Q

prosaic

A

commonplace; dull and lacking excitement; not challenging

The project was full of prosaic ideas, such as using sand and stone to raise natural walls around monument built in honor of the late president.

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7
Q

amellorate

A

make, become better

Increase in penalties and effective awareness programs would ameliorate the growing pollution levels it may have generated.

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8
Q

obsequlous

A

obedient or attentive to an excessive degree

It was evident that the manager was flattering – from his obsequious manner in receiving his boss.

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9
Q

capricious

A

given to sudden behavior change

The recent recession is yet another example of how making rules without forethought and acting without thinking the arbitrary and capricious effects these changes in policies have on our economy.

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10
Q

fortuitous

A

happening by accident or chance

The alignment timing proved to be scientifically fortuitous of planetary astronomers, who already have a orbital satellite stationed around the moon.

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11
Q

orthodox

A

conforming to all the traditional beliefs and religious practices

Alice describes her childhood in a conservative Orthodox community in Iraq, which kept to traditional religious beliefs.

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12
Q

alacrity

A

lively and cheerful readiness

After marriage, Jenny rushed off with excitement to visit her parents, but her father did not accept their marriage with equal alacrity.

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13
Q

pellucid

A

translucently clear

The river water was so pellucid that Mary could see clearly that it swarmed with countless small fish and loaves.

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14
Q

corroborate

A

confirm or give support to

The police officials said, allegations of misconduct by the officer have been corroborated by video from closed circuit cameras.

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15
Q

scrupulous

A

diligent, thorough, and extremely careful

The health inspector during his usual visit found pests in the restaurant’s kitchen and hence ordered the owner to observe scrupulous hygiene to stop spreading illness or he would issue an immediate closure notice.

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16
Q

prolific

A

fruitful, present in large number

Ryan is furiously prolific, releasing albums on Maple, Mr. Siebel’s label, as well as his own label.

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17
Q

dogmatic

A

inclined to lay down principles as incontrovertibly true; dictatorial, opinionated

Most Americans have less dogmatic, more open-ended views and would ignore such as request, but Mr. Johns did not hesitate, and removed his coat immediately.

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18
Q

placate

A

make (someone) less angry or hostile

Sam started working at an unsustainable pace in order to placate the company investors and shareholders.

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19
Q

mercurial

A

subject to sudden or unpredictable changes of mood; temperamental

The mercurial senator, who retained office for more than 25 years, has frequently gone back and forth on his resignation.

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20
Q

exacerbate

A

infuriate, make worse

Hummingbird declines have been connected to a lack of appropriate habitat, so increasing the number of Washington’s hives could exacerbate the issue.

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21
Q

hackneyed

A

unoriginal and trite

Girls dreaming their way to a wonderland to marry a prince and live happily ever after was already a hackneyed notion by the time Snow White was written.

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22
Q

prudent

A

acting with or showing care and thought

When the food manufacturer discovered toxins in a product sample case of one of its containers, it made a prudent decision to destroy all the boxes from the shipment.

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23
Q

esoteric

A

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

A couple of months ago, Mr. Niobe submitted a thesis with his analysis and computations – a fairly esoteric mathematical dissent about how best to gather rational generalizations on the origin of the universe theory.

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24
Q

cacophony

A

a harsh, discordant mixture of sounds

The cacophony surrounding the multi-billion dollar buyout of leading messaging service by a social networking company shook the whole tech industry.

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25
Q

impetuous

A

acting or done quickly without thought or care

Michael is methodical, barely the impetuous kind, and he has had ample time to come to a consolidated opinion of the university he wishes to apply for.

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26
Q

idiosyncrasy

A

an odd habit or peculiar behavior; behavior or way of thought specific to an individual

Her worst idiosyncrasy involved repeating back every word that was said to her.

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27
Q

didactic

A

intended to teach, educational

Though more didactic, Rama’s story of the triumph over evil and of a king’s dharma and nobility is quite powerful and enchanting.

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28
Q

pithy

A

brief, to the point

The professor was not known for talking much, but what he did say was always pithy.

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29
Q

copious

A

abundant in supply or quantity

Matthew insisted that Sophie track all her household expenditures, including every penny spent for hair clips, in copious account books.

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30
Q

adulterate

A

alter or debase, often for profit

Of all teas, I love green tea the most and would never adulterate it with sweeteners; even a pitch of sugar would be a desecration.

31
Q

vociferous

A

loud and clamorous

The protesters were vociferous in their demands as they screamed outside of the mayor’s house.

32
Q

taciturn

A

reserved or uncommunicative in speech

Over the past 50 ears, as a recruiter, Yuri has come across different types of candidates, some of them speak a lot while some stay taciturn.

33
Q

obdurate

A

refuse to change one’s opinion; stubborn

The teacher could not stand the obdurate student as he yelled at anyone who dared to disagree with his opinions during the debate.

34
Q

garrulous

A

excessively talkative

Though not garrulous by nature, Ryan seems to be comfortable with the diverse audiences at the education conference and managed to have conversations with several of them.

35
Q

misanthrope

A

person who hates others

People thought the old woman was a misanthrope since should wouldn’t talk to any of her neighbors, let alone help them, but they realized how much she loved them when she put a huge bad of candy out on Halloween.

36
Q

lionize

A

treat someone as a celebrity

The retired lieutenant is being lionized as a paragon of integrity for standing up against corruption.

37
Q

frivolous

A

trivial, silly

Ram was passionate and serious about collecting coins, but his friends thought it was a frivolous activity.

38
Q

inculpate

A

accuse or blame

Although the killer successfully disposed of the murder weapon, his friends provided evidence that could actually inculpate both the killer and the people who tried to cover up the killing.

39
Q

docile

A

compliant, submissive

Although a trained lion appears docile during the circus acts, it really is a fierce animal when not controlled by a trainer.

40
Q

prevaricate

A

deceive; stretch the truth

Aria does not take bad news well and hence her brother always prevaricates when telling her something she does not want to hear.

41
Q

chicanery

A

deception; trickery

The judge has plenty of reason to suspect chicanery because the lawyer has a reputation of aggressively defending his clients and of getting verdicts of innocence on guilty policemen.

42
Q

gainsay

A

deny or contradict

Some of the officers were about to reject the project, but it had come from them; they could not well gainsay it.

43
Q

providential

A

lucky, occurring at a favorable time; opportune

Sam’s dangerous and providential escape made her tremble. So pale did she look, that she could scarcely believe she was uninjured.

44
Q

diffidence

A

hesitancy; lack of confidence

A lot of sportsmen attain prominence before they know what to do with it; others put across a diffidence to fame while secretly craving it, and some just do not treasure their moments in the spotlight.

45
Q

fractious

A

irritable and quarrelsome

Third world powers are hesitant about sending arms to aid the war, partially due to the fractious politics of the hostile political group abroad.

46
Q

sanguine

A

optimistic or positive

Among those who remain sanguine about the nation’s economic revival, there is always the lively topic of tax reduction policies, the remedy to deflationary recession in the US.

47
Q

venerate

A

regard with great respect

In a nod to the religious customs of the Vatican, which popes here venerate, there are plans for a cathedral between the St. Peter’s Square and Mount Street.

48
Q

trite

A

silly, commonplace

Of these athletes, only Johnson delivered movements with any firmness; he moved with such a professional awe that rendered everything trite.

49
Q

erudite

A

well-educated, cultured

Consuming the books her father supplied, Jane, who grew up near poverty, became an erudite, self-educated woman who loves sharing her knowledge with others.

50
Q

anachronism

A

error in time placement

Since there were not laptop computers during the Civil War, the presence of a portable computer in the history film is a definite anachronism.

51
Q

conspicuous

A

obvious, easily seen

During the storm, there was a conspicuous lack of tourists at the beach.

52
Q

audacious

A

reckless, daring

Jim is known for his adventurous style and audacious nature, for when he is inside the ring, his audiences would jump off their seats to watch him play with the lion.

53
Q

tumultous

A

confused, disorderly

During the recent riots, the crowd was tumultuous and went berserk as the police arrest their leader, washing away all that impeded it.

54
Q

reticent

A

secretive, quiet

The usually reticent Swiss bank acknowledged the policy quandary at an IMF meeting in New York this month.

55
Q

fervid

A

intensely enthusiastic or passionate

During political debates, the candidates hurl fervid accusations at each other while justifying their positions on national issues.

56
Q

enervate

A

weaken, wear out

The blazing heat in mid-June caused dehydration and enervated the shipwrecked crew, leaving them almost too weak to hail the passing vessel.

57
Q

prodigal

A

wastefully extravagant

If you want to save money for college, you should stop your prodigal spending sprees.

58
Q

auspicious

A

conducive to success; favorable

The Australian skipper considered the sunny forecast to be an auspicious sign that his team would win tomorrow’s match.

59
Q

soporific

A

tending to induce drowsiness or sleep

The reality shows aired on TV tends toward the soporific; by contrast, the coverage of soccer game in newspapers is more fun because the pictures counted for everything.

60
Q

engender

A

cause or give rise to

The new technology has engendered great hope for the potential development of preventive methods for lethal genetic and severe chronic diseases such as glaucoma and cancer.

61
Q

loquacious

A

tending to talk a great deal; talkative

Julie and Katie were not being loquacious with the other guests because they were too busy making long conversations with each other.

62
Q

equivocate

A

to use unclear language especially to deceive or mislead someone

Whenever the politician responded to questions, he would avoid eye contact and equivocate his answers.

63
Q

inimical

A

tending to obstruct or harm

Though Sarah’s husband is an inimical person who often beats her for trivial reasons, she has always tried to be nice to him.

64
Q

fastidious

A

very careful and attentive

After the party, Jenny and her brother were fastidious in their efforts to clean up the mess because they knew their parents were on their way home.

65
Q

recalcitrant

A

disobedient, uncontrollable

Recalcitrant politicians, in interviews on TV and newspaper, raised their concerns over the party’s national policies publicly and were consequently punished for their disobedience.

66
Q

ephemeral

A

momentary, passing

Sophie always knew the relationship with Hayden would be ephemeral; she just didn’t expect they would break up so soon.

67
Q

pusillanimous

A

lacking courage, fearful

Despite the opportunity for heroism, the captain led his soldiers into a pusillanimous retreat, and since then the man has been rated as a coward.

68
Q

vacillate

A

go back and forth, be indecisive

Since his term exams were just around the corner, Adam vacillated between going on the family vacation and staying back at home to study.

69
Q

euphoric

A

intense excitement and happiness

The Australian cricket players were all euphoric when the government declared a bonus pay to each of them to bring the world cup home.

70
Q

pedant

A

a person who overemphasizes rules or minor details

The senior professor was obviously a pedant since she persistently focuses on mediocre details and keeps interrupting me to point out my imperfect pronunciation and grammar usage without letting me make my argument.

71
Q

inchoate

A

undeveloped, beginning

Just after the big bang explosion, before the universe expanded to the gigantic distances, it was an inchoate assemblage of elemental matter.

72
Q

lethargic

A

lazy, sluggish

In Asia, data on Tuesday showed that Japan’s economy contracted in the three months to September, as exports and domestic consumer spending remained lethargic.

73
Q

deride

A

make fun of; insult

When the US briefly considered withdrawing their forces completely out of Iraq in 2009, several patriots in public conversations derided the idea as a big mistake.

GRE Vocabulary (11 decks)

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