GRE Essential Flashcards
affable (adj) AFF-uh-bull
Warm and friendly; pleasant; approachable Think about how affable Monson is and how not so affable Mocogni is.
alacrity (noun) uh-LACK-rit-tee
Cheerful or speedy willingness
arcane (adj) ar-CANE
Know or understood by only a few/ obscure; secret
artless (adj) ART-less
Free of deceit or craftiness; natural ; genuine/ lacking skill or knowledge; crude; uncultured
ascetic (adj; noun) uh-SET-ick
Abstinent or austere in lifestyle (adj)/ A person who leads an austere lifestyle (noun)
assuage (verb) uh-SWAY-zh
Make milder; relieve/ soothe; pacify; or calm
audacious (adj) aw-DAY-shus
Very bold or brave; often in a rude or reckless way/ extremely original
austere (adj) aw-STEER
Severe in manner or appearance/ very self-disciplined; ascetic/ without luxury or ease/ sober or serious
belie (verb) bih-LIE
Contradict or misrepresent
boor (noun) BOO-er
Rude; ill-mannered; or insensitive person/ a peasant or country bumpkin
burgeon (verb) BER-juhn
Grow or flourish rapidly/ put forth buds or shoots (of a plant)
capricious (adj) cap-REE-shuss
Acting on impulse; erratic
coalesce (verb) coh-uh-LESS
Come together/ unite/ fuse together
craven (adj) CRAY-ven
Very cowardly; lacking courage
credulous (adj) CREDD-joo-luss
Gullible/ prone to believing or trusting too easily or without enough evidence
deleterious (adj) dell-uh-TEER-ee-uss
Harmful; unhealthful
desiccate (verb) DESS-ick-ayt
Thoroughly dried up; dehydrated
din (noun) DIN
Loud; confused noise; esp. for a long period of time
dispassionate (adj) diss-PASH-shun-it
Unbiased; not having a selfish or personal motivation/ calm; lacking emotion
enervate (verb) EN-er-vayt
Weaken; tire
ephemeral (adj) ee-FEM-er-ull
Lasting only a short time
erudite (adj) AIR-yoo-dite
Scholarly; knowledgeable/ possessing deep; often systematic; knowledge
esoteric (adj) ess-oh-TAIR-ick
Understood by or intended for only a few/ secret
exculpate (verb) ECK-skull-payt
Clear from guilt or blame
exponent (noun) eck-SPOH-nent
Person who expounds or explains/ champion; advocate; or representative
foment (verb) FOH-ment or FAH-ment
Incite; instigate; stir up; promote the growth of/ apply medicated liquid to a body part
gainsay (verb) gayn-SAY
Declare false; deny/ oppose
garrulous (adj) GAIR-ull-uss
Talkative; wordy; rambling
gauche (adj) GOH’sh
Tactless; lacking social grace; awkward; crude
germane (adj) jer-MANE
Relevant and appropriate; on-topic
glib (adj) GLIB
Fluent and easy in a way that suggests superficiality or insincerity
gregarious (adj) greh-GAIR-ee-uss
Sociable; pertaining to a flock or crowd
hackneyed (adj) HACK-need
So commonplace as to be stale/ not fresh or original
hedonist (noun) HEE-dun-ist
Person devoted to pleasure
incendiary (adj) in-SEND-ee-air-ee
Setting on fire; pertaining to arson/ arousing strife; rebellion; etc./ inflaming the senses
inchoate (adj) in-COH-it
Just begun; undeveloped; unorganized
incipient (adj) in-SIP-ee-ent
Just beginning/ in a very early stage
innocuous (adj) in-NOCK-yoo-uss
Harmless; inoffensive
intractable (adj) in-TRACT-uh-bull
Difficult to control; manage; or manipulate/ hard to cure/ stubborn
intrepid (adj) in-TREPP-id
Fearless; brave; enduring in the face of adversity
jocular (adj) JOCK-yoo-ler
Joking or given to joking all the time/ jolly; playful
laconic (adj) luh-CON-ick
using few words; concise
languid (adj) LANG-wid
Drooping from exhaustion; sluggish; slow/ lacking in spirit
lassitude (noun) LASS-it-tood
Tiredness; weariness/ lazy indifference
levity (noun) LEVV-it-tee
lightness (of mind; spirit; or mood) or lack of seriousness; sometimes in an inappropriate way
loquacious (adj) loh-KWAY-shuss
Talkative; wordy
mendacious (adj) men-DAY-shuss
lying; habitually dishonest
mercurial (adj) mer-CURE-ee-ull
Quickly and unpredictably changing moods/ fickle; flighty
mollify (verb) MAH-lih-fy
Calm or soothe (an angry person)/ lessen or soften
nascent (adj) NA-sent or NAY-sent
Coming into existence/ still developing
obsequious (adj) ahb-SEEK-wee-uss
Servile/ very compliant; fawning
obviate (verb) AHB-vee-ayt
Prevent; eliminate; or make unnecessary
officious (adj) uh-FISH-uss
Excessively eager in giving unwanted advice or intruding where one is not wanted/ meddlesome; pushy/ Think about your mother-in-law
opaque (adj) oh-PAYK
Not translucent/ not allowing light; heat; etc. to pass through/ dark; dull; unclear or stupid
paucity (noun) PAW-sit-ee
Scarcity; the state of being small in number
peccadillo (noun) peck-uh-DILL-oh
Small sin or fault
perfidious (adj) per-FIDD-ee-uss
Disloyal; treacherous; violating one’s trust
pith (noun) PITH
Core; essence/ significance or weight
precarious (adj) prick-CAIR-ee-uss
Unstable; insecure; dangerous
probity (noun) PROH-bit-ee
Honesty; integrity
profuse (adj) proh-FYOOSS
Abundant; extravagant; giving or given freely
pugnacious (adj) pug-NAY-shuss
Inclined to fight; combative
quotidian (adj) kwoh-TIDD-ee-un
Daily/ everyday; ordinary
requite (verb) rick-WHITE
Reciprocate; repay; or revenge
restive (adj) REST-iv
Impatient or uneasy under the control of another/ resisting being controlled
reticent (adj) RET-iss-sent
Not talking much/ private (of a person); restrained; reserved
sacrosanct (adj) SACK-roh-sank-t
Sacred; inviolable; not to be trespassed on or violated/ above any criticism
sagacious (adj) suh-GAY-shuss
Wise/ showing good judgment and foresight
salubrious (adj) suh-LOO-bree-uss
Healthful; promoting health
sanguine (adj) SANG-gwinn
Cheerfully optimistic/ hopeful/ reddish; ruddy (as in rosy-red cheeks indicting health or vitality)/ Think of 2 Sam’s description of young David as ‘ruddy’
sedulous (adj) SEDD-joo-luss
Persevering; persistent; diligent in one’s efforts
sentient (adj) SENT-shent
Conscious; experiencing sensation or perceiving with the senses
soporific (adj; noun) sah-per-RIFF-ick
Causing sleep/ sleepy; drowsy (adj)/ something that causes sleep (noun)
specious (adj) SPEE-shuss
Seemingly true but actually false/ deceptively attractive
stolid (adj) STAH-lid
Unemotional; showing little emotion; not easily moved
surfeit (noun) SURF-it
Excess; excessive amount; overindulgence
sycophant (noun) SICK-uh-fint
Servile flatterer; parasitic person who fawns in order to get ahead Think about Tom Haverford who is the classic sycophant.
timorous (adj) TIM-er-uss
Fearful; timid
torpor (noun) TORE-pore
Sluggishness; lethargy; or apathy/ a period of inactivity
torrid (adj) TORE-id
Very hot; parching; burning/ passionate
ubiquitous (adj) yoo-BICK-wit-uss
Existing everywhere at the same time
verbose (adj) ver-BOH-ss
Wordy
vituperate (verb) vye-TOO-per-ayt
Verbally abuse; rebuke or criticize harshly
