GRE Common Words (N-Z) Flashcards
lacking sophistication or experience
-Having never traveled before, the elementary school students were more ________ than their high school counterparts on the field trip.
naive
subtle variety
-The gray-green foliage of eucalyptus provides the soft, spatially deceptive background color of the Australian bush, monotonous at first but rippling with ________ to the acclimatized eye.
nuance
hardened in feeling; resistant to persuasion
-The president was completely ________ on the issue, and no amount of persuasion would change his mind.
obdurate
overly submissive and eager to please
-The ________ new associate made sure to compliment her supervisor’s tie and agree with him on every issue.
obsequious
stubborn, unyielding
-The ________ child could not be made to eat any food that he disliked.
obstinate
to prevent; to make unnecessary
-The river was shallow enough to wade across at many points, which ________ the need for a bridge.
obviate
to stop up; to prevent the passage of
-A shadow is thrown across the Earth’s surface during a solar eclipse, when the light from the sun is ________ by the moon.
occlude
troublesome and oppressive; burdensome
-The assignment was so extensive and difficult to manage that it proved ________ to the team in charge of it.
onerous
impossible to see through; preventing the passage of light
-The heavy buildup of dirt and grime on the windows almost made them ________.
opaque
public disgrace
-After the scheme to embezzle the elderly was made public, the treasurer resigned in utter ________.
opprobrium
excessive showiness
-The ________ of the Sun King’s court is evident in the lavish decoration and luxuriousness of his palace at Versailles.
ostentation
a contradiction or dilemma
-It is a ________ that those most in need of medical attention are often those least able to obtain it.
paradox
model of excellence or perfection
-She is the ________ of what a judge should be: honest, intelligent, hardworking, and just.
paragon
someone who shows off learning
-The graduate instructor’s tedious and excessive commentary on the subject soon gained her a reputation as a ________.
pedant
willing to betray one’s trust
-The actress’s ________ companion revealed all of her intimate secrets to the gossip columnist.
perfidious
done in a routine way; indifferent
-The machinelike bank teller processed the transaction and gave the waiting customer a ________ smile.
perfunctory
to penetrate
-The miraculous new cleaning fluid is able to ________ stains and dissolve them in minutes!
permeate
charity; a desire or an effort to promote goodness
-New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art owes much of its collection to the ________ of private collectors who willed their estates to the museum.
philanthropy
to soothe or pacify
-The burglar tried to ________ the snarling dog by saying, “nice doggy,” and offering it a treat.
placate
able to be molded, altered, or bent
-The new material was very ________ and could be formed into products of vastly different shapes.
plastic
excess
-Assuming that more was better, the defendant offered the judge a ________ of excuses.
plethora
referring to music with multiple melodic lines
-As the music becomes ________, the inner parts of the orchestra become more and more emancipated.
polyphonic
practical as opposed to idealistic
-While daydreaming gamblers think they can get rich by frequenting casinos, ________ gamblers realize that the odds are heavily stacked against them.
pragmatic
to throw violently or bring about abruptly; lacking deliberation
-Upon learning that the couple married after knowing each other only two months, friends and family members expected such a ________ marriage to end in divorce.
precipitate
to lie or deviate from the truth
-Rather than admit that he had overslept again, the employee ________ and claimed that heavy traffic had prevented him from arriving at work on time.
prevaricate
fresh and clean; uncorrupted
-Since concerted measures had been taken to prevent looting, the archeologist site was still ________ when researchers arrived.
pristine
lavish, wasteful
-The ________ son quickly wasted all of his inheritance on a lavish lifestyle devoted to pleasure.
prodigal
to increase in number quickly
-Although she only kept two guinea pigs initially, they ________ to such an extent that she son had dozens.
proliferate
to conciliate; to appease
-The management ________ the irate union by agreeing to raise wages for its members.
propitiate
correct behavior; obedience to rules and customs
-The aristocracy maintained a high level of ________, adhering to even the most minor social rules.
propriety
wisdom, caution, or restraint
-The college student exhibited ________ by obtaining practical experience along with her studies, which greatly strengthened her resume.
prudence
sharp and irritating to the senses
-The smoke from the burning tires was extremely _______.
pungent
motionless
-Many animals are ________ over the winter months, minimizing activity in order to conserve energy.
quiescent
to make thinner or sparser
-Since the atmosphere ________ as altitude increases, the air at the top of very tall mountains is too thin to breathe.
rarefy
to reject the validity of
-The old woman’s claim that she was Russian royalty was ________ when DNA tests showed she was of no relation to them.
repudiate
silent, reserved
-Physically small and ________ in her speech, Joan Didion often went unnoticed by those upon whom she was reporting.
reticent
effective writing or speaking
-Lincoln’s talent for ________ was evident in his beautifully expressed Gettysburg Address.
rhetoric
very important
-A ________ clause of the Magna Carta that is still relevant today references constitutional liberty.
salient
murderous; bloody
-The ________ fight left one of the students covered in blood.
sanguinary
confident
-He seemed quite ________ about his chances of success.
sanguine
to satisfy fully or overindulge
-His desire for power was so great that nothing less than complete control of the country could ________ it.
satiate
having to do with the material, temporal world
-The common perception that motets employ sacred texts while madrigals employ ________ texts does not bear scrutiny.
secular
causing sleep or lethargy
-The movie proved to be so ________ that soon loud snores were heard throughout the theatre.
soporific
deceptively attractive; seemingly plausible but fallacious
-The student’s ________ excuse for being late sounded legitimate but was proved otherwise when her teacher called her home.
specious
a mark of shame or discredit
-In “The Scarlet Letter”, Hester Prynne was required to wear the letter “A” on her clothes as a public ________ for her adultery.
stigma
unemotional; lacking sensitivity
-The prisoner appeared ________ and unaffected by the judge’s harsh sentence.
stolid
lofty or grand
-The music was so ________ that it transformed the rude surroundings into a special place.
sublime
done without using words
-Although not a word had been said, everyone in the room knew that a ________ agreement had been made about which course of action to take.
tacit
silent, not talkative
-The clerk’s ________ nature earned him the nickname “Silent Bob.”
taciturn
long, harsh speech or verbal attack
-Observers were shocked at the manager’s ________ over such a minor mistake.
tirade
extreme mental and physical sluggishness
-After surgery, the patient experienced ________ until the anesthesia wore off.
torpor
temporary, lasting a brief time
-The reporter lived a ________ life, staying in one place only long enough to cover the current story.
transitory
to sway physically; to be indecisive
-The customer held up the line as he ________ between ordering chocolate chip or rocky road ice cream.
vacillate
to respect deeply
-In a traditional Confucian society, the young ________ their elders, deferring to the elders’ wisdom and experience.
venerate
truthfulness; accuracy
-She had a reputation for ________, so everyone trusted her description of events.
veracity
wordy
-The professor’s answer was so ________ that his students forgot what the original question had been.
verbose
to annoy
-The old man who loved his peace and quiet was ________ by his neighbor’s loud music.
vex
easily aroused or changeable; lively or explosive
-His ________ personality made it hard to predict his reaction to anything.
volatile
to fluctuate between choices
-If you ________ too long before making a decision about which testing site to register for, you may not get your first choice.
waver
acting in a fanciful or capricious manner; unpredictable
-The ballet was ________, delighting the children with its imaginative characters and unpredictable sets.
whimsical
passion, excitement
-She brought her typical ________ to the project, sparking enthusiasm in the other team members.
zeal
