GRE Common Vocab Flashcards
Askance
With a look of suspicion or disapproval
Impertinent
Disrespectful; improperly bold
Intrepid
Fearless
Precipitous
Done with great haste without due deliberation
Eschew
To avoid or stay away from
Magnanimous
Noble and generous
Polemic
Extreme verbal attack
Perfidy
Act of deliberate betrayal
Heretic
One who holds unorthodox opinions
Fallacious
Of a belief based on faulty reasoning
Acrimony
Bitterness; ill-will
Tractable
Easily influenced; amenable
Veracious
Truthful
Pernicious
Exceedingly harmful
Diffident
Lacking self-confidence; modest
Gall
Impertinence; feeling of deep anger and ill-will
Craven
Pathetically cowardly
Travesty
An absurd presentation; mockery
Inscrutable
Not easily understood; unfathomable
Languid
Slow and relaxed
Intransigent
Unwilling to change one’s beliefs; stubborn
Propitious
Presenting favorable circumstances
Dilatory
Wasting time
Inveterate
Habitual
Profligate
Spending resources wastefully
Impudent
Improperly forward or bold; impertinent
Involved
Complicated; difficult to understand
Refractory
Stubbornly resistant to authority
Capricious
Determined by chance or impulse
Largess
Extreme generosity
Culpability
State of guilt
Burgeon
To grow and flourish
Delineate
To describe in detail
Munificent
Very generous
Fastidious
Overly concerned with details
Germane
Relevant and appropriate
Egregious
Shockingly bad
Truncate
To reduce the length of something
Ambivalent
Mixed or conflicting emotions
Garrulous
Full of trivial conversation
Confound
To cause confusion; mistake one for another
Admonitory
Serving to warn; expressing reproach for correction
Pejorative
Expressing disapproval
Petulant
Easily irritated or annoyed
Obsequious
Attentive in an ingratiating or servile manner
Ignominious
Deserving disgrace and shame
Pedantic
Marked by narrow focus on triviality
Prevaricate
To speak evasively
Belie
To give false representation to
Predilection
Strong liking of
Itinerant
Traveling from place to place
Acerbic
Harsh in tone
Espouse
To adopt or support an idea
Panache
Distinctive and showy elegance
Hackneyed
Trite
Contrive
To pull off a plan or scheme, usually through skill or trickery
Mawkish
Overly sentimental
Vindicate
To clear of accusation / blame with argument or proof
Parsimonious
Extremely frugal; miserly
Upbraid
To reproach; scold
Deleterious
Harmful to living things
Iconoclast
One who attacks cherished beliefs or institutions
Winsome
Charming in a childlike way
Taciturn
Habitually reserved and uncommunicative
Gregarious
Likely to socialize with others
Demur
To object or show reluctance
Volubility
Quality of writing or talking easily
Sycophant
A person who tries to please someone to gain favor
Foment
To try to stir up public opinion
Prodigal
Rashly or wastefully extravagant
Ravenous
Extremely hungry
Enervate
To sap energy from
Recondite
Difficult to penetrate; incomprehensible
Intimate
To suggest subtly
Mendacity
Tendency to be untruthful
Forthcoming
At ease talking to others
Gauche
Lacking social polish
Vociferous
Conspicuously and offensively loud
Gainsay
To deny or contradict; speak against
Insolent
Rude and arrogant
Dogmatic
Highly opinionated
Soporific
Inducing mental lethargy; sleep-inducing
Nonplussed
Unsure of how to act or respond
Efficacious
Producing the intended result; effective
Edifying
Enlightening toward intellectual or moral improvement
Unscrupulous
Without principles
Dilettante
An amateur without serious intentions or knowledge
Torpor
Inactivity resulting from lethargy
Apocryphal
Of questionable authority
Venality
Susceptibility to bribes or corruption
Subsume
To contain or include
Arcane
Requiring secret or mysterious knowledge
Ingenuous
Naïve; innocent
Contrition
Feeling of remorse or guilt
Scrupulous
Extremely careful with great effort; principled
Calumny
False statement intended to injure one’s reputation
Equivocal
Confusing; ambiguous
Austere
Practicing self-denial; unadorned; harsh in manner
Spurious
Plausible but false
Harange
A long, pompous speech; tirade
Ignoble
Dishonorable
Maladroit
Bumbling; clumsy
Harried
Troubled persistently by petty annoyances
Gossamer
Unusually light and delicate
Platitude
A trite or obvious remark
Inexorable
Impossible to stop or prevent
Disaffected
Discontent toward authority
Expound
To add details or explanation; clarify
Querulous
Habitually complaining
Decorous
Good taste in manners and conduct
Specious
Deceptively false; spurious
Forlorn
Showing hopelessness
Tortuous
Marked by repeated turns and bends
Prolific
Intellectually productive