GRE Power Vocab - E

Question 1

Ebullience

Answer 1

adj. the quality of lively or enthusiastic expression of thoughts and feelings

Question 2

Eccentric

Answer 2

adj. departing from norms or conventions

something or someone eccentric demonstrates eccentricity

Question 3

Eclectic

Answer 3

adj. composed of elements drawn from various sources

Question 4

Edifying

Answer 4

adj. enlightening, informative

Edification is the process of edifying

Some people incorrectly use edifying to mean satisfying, and while being enlightened can be satisfying, the two are not exactly the same

Question 5

Efficacy

Answer 5

n. the ability to produce an intended result

Efficicacy shares a root with effectiveness, and means pretty much the same thing

Question 6

Efflorescence

Answer 6

n. the state or a period of flowering; an example or result of growth and development

Question 7

Effrontery

Answer 7

n. extreme boldness; presumptuousness

Question 8

Effusive

Answer 8

adj. gushing; excessively demonstrative

Question 9

Egress

Answer 9

n. exit

egress can either be a noun, meaning an exit or going out, or a verb, meaning to exit or emerge. Ingress is the opposite of egress

Question 10

Elegy

Answer 10

n. a mournful poem, especially one lamenting the dead; any mournful writing or piece of music

It’s very easy to confuse elegy with eulogy, whihc is also in this book, but the two aren’t exactly the same

Question 11

Eloquent

Answer 11

adj. well-spoken; expressive; articulate

Question 12

Emollient

Answer 12

adj. soothing, especially to the skin; making less harsh; mollifying

Question 13

Empirical

Answer 13

adj. based on observation or experiment

Question 14

Encomium

Answer 14

n. glowing and enthusiastic praise; panegyric, tribute, eulogy

Question 15

Endemic

Answer 15

adj. characteristic of or often found in a particular locality, region, or people; restricted to or peculiar to that region; indigenous

for related word see pandemic

Question 16

Enervate

Answer 16

v. to weaken; to reduce in vitality

Evervation is a common symptom of anemia

don’t confuse with Enervate with innervate

Question 17

Engender

Answer 17

v. to cause, produce, give rise to

Question 18

Enigmatic

Answer 18

adj. mysterious, obscure, difficult to understand

Enigma is the noun form of enigmatic and means a mystery or puzzle

Question 19

Ennui

Answer 19

n. dissatisfaction and restlessness resulting from boredom or apathy

Question 20

Enormity

Answer 20

n. excessive wickednes, evilness

be careful not to confuse with enormousness. When we talk about the enormity of a crime we are talking about the wickedness of the crime and not the size of the crime

Question 21

Ephemeral

Answer 21

adj. brief; fleeting, short-lived

Question 22

Epicure

Answer 22

n. one devoted to sensual pleasure, particularly in food or drink; gourmand, sybarite

Epicurean menas appropriate to an epicure’s test

Question 23

Episodic

Answer 23

adj. loosely connected, not flowing logically, occurring at intervals

Question 24

Epithet

Answer 24

n. disparaging word or phrase

Question 25

Epitome

Answer 25

n. embodiment; quintessence

Question 26

Equanimity

Answer 26

n. composure, self-possession

Question 27

Equable

Answer 27

adj. level; not able to be easily disturbed

Question 28

Equivocate

Answer 28

v. to use ambiguous language with a deceptive intent

Question 29

Errant

Answer 29

adj. traveling, itinerant, periphatetic

errant doesn’t have anything to do with errors, despite its appearance and even though inerrant means infallible

Question 30

Erratic

Answer 30

adj. without consistency

erratic comes from a root meaning to wander, and that’s just how you can think of this word: wandering off the steady course. Eccentric is a close synonym

Question 31

Erudite

Answer 31

adj. very learned; scholarly

Erudition is profound learning or extensive knowledge, learned primarily through books

Question 32

Eshew

Answer 32

v. to shun or avoid

Question 33

Esoteric

Answer 33

adj. intended for or understood by a small, specific group

Question 34

Essay

Answer 34

v. to test or try; attmept, experiment

Essay can also be a noun, meaning the attempt itself

Question 35

Estimable

Answer 35

adj. worthy, formidable

Question 36

Eulogy

Answer 36

n. a speech honoring the dead

you may have already seen the word elegy in this book. It is easy to confuse elegy with eulogy, but they’re not entirely the same

Question 37

Evanescent

Answer 37

adj. tending to disappear like vapor; vanishing

Question 38

Evince

Answer 38

v. to show clearly, to indicate

Question 39

Exacerbate

Answer 39

v. to make worse or more severe

Question 40

Exact

Answer 40

v. to demand, call for, require, take

Question 41

Excoriate

Answer 41

v. to censure scathingly, to upbraid

Question 42

Exculpate

Answer 42

v. to exonerate; to clear of blame

for some examples of words with the same root , see culpable

Question 43

Exemplar

Answer 43

n. typical or standard specimen; paradigm, model

Exemplary means worthy of imitation, so an exemplar can be exemplary, bit doesn’t have to be

Question 44

Exhort

Answer 44

v. to incite, to make urgent appeals

Question 45

Exigent

Answer 45

adj. urgent; pressing; requiring immediate action or attention

Exigencies are urgent or pressing situations

Question 46

Exonerate

Answer 46

v. to remove blame

Exculpate is similar in meaning to exonerate

Question 47

Expatiate

Answer 47

v. to discuss or write about at length; to range freely

Question 48

Expiate

Answer 48

v. to atone or make amends for

Question 49

Expurgate

Answer 49

v. to remove obscenity, purify, censor

Expurgate shares a root with purge, which means to cleanse or make pure

Question 50

Extant

Answer 50

adj. existing, not destroyed or lost

Question 51

Extemporaneous

Answer 51

adj. improvised; done without preparation

Question 52

Extirpate

Answer 52

v. to destroy, exterminate, cut out, pull out by the roots