GRE Practice Booklet, ETS

Question 1

deft

Answer 1

neatly skillful and quick in one’s movements

Question 2

nascent

Answer 2

just coming into existence and beginning to display signs of future potential

Question 3

coalesce

Answer 3

come together and form one mass or whole

Question 4

venality

Answer 4

the quality of being open to bribery or overly motivated by money

Question 5

objurgation

Answer 5

a harsh reprimand or criticism

Question 6

prescient

Answer 6

having or showing knowledge of events before they take place

Question 7

vestigial

Answer 7

forming a very small remnant of something that was once much larger or more noticeable

He felt a vestigial flicker of anger from last night.

Question 8

equivocation

Answer 8

the use of ambiguous language to conceal the truth or to avoid committing oneself; prevarication.

Question 9

polemical

Answer 9

of, relating to, or involving strongly critical, controversial, or disputatious writing or speech

Question 10

portentous

Answer 10

done in a pompously or overly solemn manner so as to impress

Question 11

posturing

Answer 11

behave in a way that is intended to impress or mislead others

Question 12

obviate

Answer 12

remove, avoid, prevent