GRE High Frequency Words (Magoosh) Flashcards
Aberrant
Deviation from what is normal or expected
Abstain
Choose not to consume or take part in
Abstruse
Difficult to understand, incomprehensible
Accolade
An award or praise granted as a special honor
Acerbic
Harsh in tone
Acrimony
Bitterness and ill will
Adamant
Refusing to change one’s mind
Admonish
To warn strongly, even to the point of reprimanding
Admonitory
Serving to warn
Aesthete
One who professes great sensitivity to the beauty of art and nature
Aesthetic
Concerned with the appreciation of beauty
Amalgam
A mixture of multiple things
Ambiguous
Open to more than one interpretation
Ambivalent
Mixed or conflicting emotions
Ameliorate
To make something bad better
Amenable
Easily persuaded
Amorphous
Shapeless
Antipathy
An intense feeling of dislike
Antithetical
Sharply contrasted in character or purpose
Apathetic
Marked by a lack of interest
Apocryphal
Being of questionable authenticity
Appease
Pacify by acceding to the demands of
Arbitrary
Random, groundless decision
Arduous
Strenuous and Taxing
Artful
Clever, exhibiting artistic skill
Ascetic
One who practices self-denial
Askance
A look of suspicion or disapproval
Audacious
Willing to be bold in social situations
Audacity
Aggressive boldness
Auspicious
Favorable
Austere
Practicing self-denial; harsh in temperament
Avaricious
Excessively greedy
Banal
Repeated too often
Belie
To give a false representation
Belligerent
Characteristic of one eager to fight
Betray
To reveal or make something known
Blatant
Completely obvious
Bolster
To support or strengthen
Brazen
Unrestrained
Bucolic
Relating to the pleasant aspects of the country
Bumbling
Clumsy, especially with hands
Burgeon
Grow and flourish
Calumny
Make a false statement meant to attack a reputation
Capricious
Determined by chance or impulse rather than necessity
Castigate
To reprimand harshly
Censure
To disapprove strongly
Chastise
To reprimand harshly
Chortle
To chuckle
Circumscribe
To restrict
Circumvent
To find away out of one’s duties or obligations
Commensurate
To be in proportion in degree or amount
Concede
To admit
Confound
Be confusing or perplexing to
Conspicious
Completely obvious
Constituent
An abstract part of something
Construe
Interpreted in a particular way
Contingent
A gather of persons representative of a larger group
Contrition
The feeling of remorse or guilt that comes from doing something bad
Contrive
To pull off a plan or scheme
Copious
An abundant supply
Craven
Cowardly
Cryptic
Mysterious or vague
Culminate
To reach the highest point
Culpability
The state of guilt
Decorous
Characterized by good taste
Decorum
Propriety in manners and conduct
Deferential
Showing respect
Deleterious
Harmful to living things
Delineate
Describe in detail
Demur
To object or show reluctance
Denigrate
Attack the good name and reputation of someone
Denote
To be a sign or indication of
Derivative
Not original but a work of another person
Dictatorial
Expecting unquestioning obedience
Didactic
Instructive
Diffident
Lacking self-confidence
Dilatory
Wasting time
Dilettante
An amateur who engages in an activity without serious intentions
Disaffected
Discontent towards authority
Discrete
A separate entity or part
Disinterested
Unbiased, neutral
Dispassionate
Unaffected by strong emotions or prejudice
Disseminate
Cause to become widely known
Dogmatic
Not accepting your belief may not be correct
Duress
Compulsory force or threat
Eclectic
Comprised of a variety of styles
Economical
Efficient
Edifying
Enlightening or uplifting
Efficacious
producing the intended result
Egregious
Shockingly bad
Elicit
Call forth (emotions and feelings)
Elucidate
Make clearer
Eminent
Standing above others in quality
Enervate
To sap energy from
Engender
Give rise to
Entrenched
Fixed firmly or securely
Ephemeral
Brief and fleeting
Equivocal
Confusing or ambiguous
Eradicate
To completely destroy
Erudite
Profound knowledge
Eschew
Avoid and stay away from
Esoteric
Confined to and understandable only by a small circle
Espouse
To adopt or support an idea or cause
Exacerbate
To make worse
Exacting
Requiring and demanding accuracy
Exalt
Praise or glorify
Exonerate
Pronounce not guilty
Expound
Add details or explanation
Extant
Still living (opposite of extinct)
Fallacious
Belief that is based on faulty reasoning
Fastidious
Overly concerned with details, fussy
Flux
A state of uncertainty about what should be done
Foment
Try to stir up public opinion
Forlorn
Marked by or showing hopelessness
Forthcoming
At ease in talking to others
Fortuitious
Occurring by happy chance
Frivolous
Not serious in content or attitude or behavior
Frugal
Not spending much money
Frustrate
Hinder or prevent
Furtive
Quiet, caution, and secrecy
Gainsay
Deny or contradict, speak against or oppose
Gail
The trait of being rude and impertinent, deep and bitter anger
Galvanize
To excite or inspire to action
Garrulous
Full of trivial conversation
Gauche
Lacking social polish
Germane
Relavent and appropriate
Glut
Excessive supply
Gossamer
Characterized by unusual lightness and delicacy
Gregarious
Likely to socialize with others
Guileless
Free of deceit
Hackneyed
Lacking significance after becoming overused
Haphazard
Marked by great carlessness
Harangue
Long pompous speech, tirade
Harried
Troubled persistently with petty annoyances
Haughty
Having or showing arrogant superiority
Hegemony
Consistant dominance of one state over another
Heretic
A person who holds unorthodox opinions
Iconoclast
One who attacks beliefs or institutions
Idiosyncrasy
Behavioral attribute distinct and peculiar to one person
Ignoble
Dishonorable
Ignominious
Deserving or bringing disgrace and shame
Immutable
Not able to be changed
Impartial
Free from undue bias or preconceived opinipns
Impertient
Being disrespectful
Implacable
Incapable of making less angry or hostile
Implausible
Describing a statement that is not believable
Imprudent
Not wise
Impudent
Improperly forward
Incisive
Having or demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions
Incongruous
Lacking in harmony or compatability
Incorrigible
Impervious to correction by punishment
Indecorous
Not in keeping with accepted standards of what is right or proper
Indifference
Seeming not to care
Inexorable
Impossible to stop or prevent
Ingenuous
To be naive and innocent
Ingratiate
Gain favor with somebody by deliberate efforts
Inimical
Hostile conditions
Innocuous
Harmless with no ill effects
Inscrutable
Not easily understood
Insidious
Working in a subtle but destructive way
Insolent
Rude and arrogant
Intimate
To suggested something subtly
Intransigent
Unwilling to change one’s beliefs
Intrepid
Fearless
Inveterate
Habitual
Involved
Complicated and difficult to comprehend
Irrevocable
Incapable of being retracted or revoked
Itinerant
Traveling from place to place to work
Jingoism
Fanatical patriotism
Jovial
High spirited merriment
Jubilant
Full of high-spirited delight because of triumph or success
Juxtapose
Place side by side
Laconic
One who says very few words
Lambast
Criticize several or angrily
Languid
Not inclined towards physical exertion or effort; slow and relaxed
Largess
Extreme generosity and giving
Laudable
Worthy of high praise
Lionize
Assign great importance to
Magnanimous
Noble and generous in spirit
Maintain
To assert
Maladroit
Clumsy, with hands
Maverick
Someone who exhibits great independence in thought and action
Mawkish
Overly sentimental to the point that it is disgusting
Mendacity
Untruthful
Mercurial
Unexpected and unpredictable changes in mood
Miscontrue
Interpret in the wrong way
Mitigate
Lessen the severity of an offense
Mollify
To make someone angry less angry
Mundane
Repetitive and boring
Munifcent
Very generous
Myopic
Lacking foresight
Myriad
A large indefinite number
Nonplussed
Unsure how to act or respond
Nuance
A subtle difference in meaning or opinion
Obscure
Make unclear
Obsequious
Attentive in a servile manner; attempting to win favor by flattery
Opaque
Not clearly understood
Opulence
Wealth as evidenced by sumptuous living
Ostentatious
Intended to attract notice and impress others
Ostracize
Exclude from a community or group
Panache
Distinctive and stylish elegance
Parochial
Restricted in scope or outlook
Parsimonious
Extremely frugal
Pedantic
Focusing on trivial details of learning
Pedestrian
Lacking imagination
Pejorative
Expressing disapproval
Perfidy
An act of deliberate betrayal, beach of trust
Pernicious
Exceedingly harmful
Petulant
Easily irritated or annoyed
Placate
Gain the good will of
Platitude
Trite or obvious remark
Poignant
Emotionally touching
Polemic
A strong verbal or written attack
Posit
Assume as a fact
Pragmatic
Practical experience and observation rather than theory
Precipituous
Done with very great haste and without due deliberation
Preclude
Keep from happening or arising
Precocious
Characterized by exceptionally early development or maturity
Predilection
A strong liking
Prescience
Power to forsee the future`
Prevaricate
To speak in an evasive way
Prodigal
Wastefully extravagant
Prodigious
So great in size or force
Profligate
Recklessly wasteful
Prolific
Intellectually productive
Propitious
presenting favorable circumstances
Provincial
Characteristic of the limited perspective
Pundit
Someone who is a member in a scholarly field
Qualify
To make less sever or to limit
Querulous
Habitually complaining
Quotidian
Ordinary course of events
Ravenous
Extremely hungry
Rebuke
Criticize severely, censure
Reconcile
To make one thing compatible with another
Recondite
Incomprehensible to one of ordinary understanding
Refractory
Stubbornly resistant to authority or control
Refute
Prove to be false or incorrect
Reproach
To express criticism towards
Repudiate
Reject as untrue or unfounded
Rescind
Cancel officially
Restive
Restless
Resurgent
Rising again as to new life and vigor
Reticent
Reluctant to draw attention to yourself
Reverent
Feeling or showing profound respect or veneration
Rudimentary
Being in the earliest stages of development
Rustic
Characteristic of rural life
Sanction
Give authority or permission to
Scrupulous
Characterized by extreme care and great effort
Soporific
Inducing sleep
Specious
Deceptively pleasing (suspicious)
Sporadic
Recurring in scattered and irregular or unpredictable instances
Spurious
Plausible but false
Staunch
Firm and dependable
Stringent
Demanding strict attention to rules and procedures
Subsume
Contain or include
Subversive
In opposition to a civil authority or government
Sullen
Showing a brooding ill humor
Superfluous
Serving no useful purpose
Supplant
Take the place or move into the position of
Sycophant
A parasite
Taciturn
Habitually reserved and uncommunicative
Tantamount
Being essentially equal to something
Temperance
Trait of avoiding excesses
Tempered
Moderated in effect
Tenacious
Stubbornly unyielding
Timorous
Timid by nature or revealing fear and nervousness
Torpor
Inactivity from lethargy and lack of vigor or energy
Tortuous
Twisting and winding
Tractable
Readily reacting to suggestions and influences
Transient
Lasting a very short time
Travesty
An absurd presentation of something
Treacherous
Tending to betray
Trite
Repeated too often; overfamiliar
Truncate
Reduce the length of something
Undermine
To weaken
Underscore
Give extra weight to
Unequivocal
Admitting of no doubt or misunderstanding
Unscrupulous
Without principles
Upbraid
To censure, to scold
Vacillate
To waver between conflicting positions
Vehement
Marked by extreme intensity of emotions or convictions
Venality
The condition of being susceptible to brines or corruption
Venerate
To respect deeply
Veracious
Truthful
Vilify
Spread negative information about
Vindicate
To clear of accusation, blame, suspicion
Vociferous
Conspicuously and offensively loud
Volubility
The quality of talking or writing easily and continuously
Wanting
Lacking
