GRE vocab Flashcards

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1
Q

approbation

A

expression of approval or praise

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2
Q

enervate

A

to weaken, reduce in vitality

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3
Q

fulminate

A

to loudly attack/denounce

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4
Q

obviate

A

to anticipate or make unnecessary

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5
Q

perspicacious

A

acutely perceptive

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6
Q

prevaricate

A

to mislead, deliberately avoid truth

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7
Q

truculent

A

fierce & cruel, eager to fight

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8
Q

bucolic

A

rustic & pastoral

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9
Q

chary

A

wary, cautious, sparing

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10
Q

cogent

A

appealing forcibly to the mind/reason; convincing

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11
Q

demur

A

to question/oppose, express reluctance

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12
Q

didactic

A

intended to teach/instruct

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13
Q

ebullience

A

quality of lively/enthusiastic expression of thoughts/feelings

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14
Q

elegy

A

mournful poem, especially lamenting the dead

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15
Q

emollient

A

soothing, especially to skin; mollifying

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16
Q

impecunious

A

lacking funds

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17
Q

inveigle

A

to obtain by deception/flattery

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18
Q

penurious

A

excessively thrifty/ungenerous

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19
Q

quaff

A

to drink deeply

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20
Q

quiescence

A

stillness, motionlessness, state of rest

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21
Q

redoubtable

A

awe-inspiring, worthy of honor

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22
Q

torpid

A

lethargic, sluggish, dormant

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23
Q

ubiquitous

A

widespread, easily encountered

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24
Q

adulterate

A

to reduce purity by combining with inferior ingredients

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25
Q

aver

A

to state as fact, declare, assert

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26
Q

bombastic

A

pompous, grandiloquent

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27
Q

dissemble

A

to disguise, conceal, mislead

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28
Q

endemic

A

characteristic of a particular place or people

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29
Q

hackneyed

A

rendered trite with frequent use

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30
Q

halcyon

A

calm & peaceful

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31
Q

inchoate

A

in an initial stage, not fully formed

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32
Q

obdurate

A

unyielding, hardhearted, intractable

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33
Q

occlude

A

to obscure, block

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34
Q

opprobrium

A

disgrace, contempt, scorn

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35
Q

penury

A

poverty, destitution

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36
Q

pith

A

the essential or central part

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37
Q

polemical

A

controversial, argumentative

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38
Q

prodigal

A

recklessly wasteful, lavish, extravagant

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39
Q

querulous

A

prone to complaining/grumbling

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40
Q

recalcitrant

A

obstinately defiant of authority, hard to manage

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41
Q

salubrious

A

promoting health/well-being

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42
Q

specious

A

seemingly true but actually false, deceptively attractive

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43
Q

spurious

A

false, counterfeit

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44
Q

surfeit

A

overabundance/excess

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45
Q

aggrandize

A

to increase in intensity, power, influence

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46
Q

garrulous

A

pointlessly talkative

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47
Q

inimical

A

damaging, harmful, injurious

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48
Q

laconic

A

using few words, terse

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49
Q

neophyte

A

recent convert, novice, beginner

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50
Q

obfuscate

A

to deliberately obscure, make confusing

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51
Q

phlegmatic

A

calm, sluggish, unemotional

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52
Q

probity

A

adherence to highest principles; complete & confirmed integrity

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53
Q

profligate

A

excessively wasteful, recklessly extravagant

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54
Q

prosaic

A

dull; lacking in spirit or imagination

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55
Q

quotidian

A

commonplace, occurring/recurring daily

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56
Q

rarefy

A

to make/become thin, less dense; to refine

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57
Q

recondite

A

hidden, concealed, difficult to understand, obscure

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58
Q

refulgent

A

radiant, shiny, bright

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59
Q

sedulous

A

diligent, persistent, hard-working

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60
Q

soporific

A

causing drowsiness or inducing sleep

61
Q

spendthrift

A

one who spends money wastefully

62
Q

tacit

A

implied, not explicitly stated

63
Q

trenchant

A

sharply perceptive, keen, penetrating

64
Q

variegated

A

multicolored; characterized by a variety of patches of different color

65
Q

vituperate

A

to use harsh condemnatory language; to abuse or censure severely or abusively; to berate

66
Q

august

A

majestic, venerable

67
Q

bent

A

leaning, inclination, proclivity, tendency

68
Q

cardinal

A

major, as in cardinal sin

69
Q

chauvinist

A

blindly devoted patriot

70
Q

consequential

A

pompous, self-important (primary definitions are: logically following; important)

71
Q

die

A

a tool used for shaping, as in a tool-and-die shop

72
Q

essay

A

to test/try/attempt/experiment

73
Q

fell (adj)

A

inhumanly cruel

74
Q

flag (verb)

A

to sag or droop, become spiritless, decline

75
Q

flip (adj)

A

sarcastic, impertinent (as in flippant)

76
Q

guy (noun)

A

a rope, cord, or cable attached to something as a brace or guide; to steady or reinforce using a guy (think “guide”). (verb form: guyed, guying)

77
Q

meet (adj)

A

fitting, proper

78
Q

mince (verb)

A

to pronounce or speak affectedly; to euphemize, to speak too carefully. also to take tiny steps, tiptoe

79
Q

nice (adj)

A

exacting, fastidious, extremely precise

80
Q

obtain (adj)

A

to be established, accepted, or customary

81
Q

pied

A

multicolored, usually in blotches

82
Q

scurvy (adj)

A

contemptible, despicable

83
Q

wag (noun)

A

wit, joker

84
Q

abjure

A

to renounce or reject solemnly; to recant; to avoid

85
Q

adumbrate

A

to foreshadow vaguely; to suggest or outline sketchily; to obscure or overshadow

86
Q

anathema

A

a solemn or religious curse; accursed or thoroughly loathed person or thing

87
Q

anodyne

A

soothing; something that eases pain

88
Q

apogee

A

farthest or highest point; culmination; zenith

89
Q

apotheosis

A

deification; exalted example

90
Q

asperity

A

severity, rigor, harshness, irritability

91
Q

asseverate

A

to aver, allege, or assert

92
Q

assiduous

A

diligent, hard-working, sedulous

93
Q

augury

A

omen, portent

94
Q

bellicose

A

belligerent, pugnacious, warlike

95
Q

calumnate

A

to slander, make a false accusation

96
Q

captious

A

disposed to point out trivial faults; calculated to confuse or trap in argument

97
Q

cavil

A

to find fault without good reason

98
Q

celerity

A

speed, alacrity (think “accelerate”)

99
Q

chimera

A

illusion

100
Q

contumacious

A

insubordinate, rebellious; (“contumely” means insult, scorn, aspersion)

101
Q

denouement

A

an outcome or solution; the unraveling of a plot

102
Q

descry

A

to discriminate or discern

103
Q

desuetude

A

disuse

104
Q

desultory

A

random; aimless; marked by a lack of plan or purpose

105
Q

diaphanous

A

transparent, gauzy

106
Q

encomium

A

glowing and enthusiastic praise, panegyric, tribute, eulogy

107
Q

eschew

A

to shun/avoid

108
Q

execrate

A

to denounce, loathe, curse, declare to be evil

109
Q

exegesis

A

critical examination, explication

110
Q

expiate

A

to atone/make amends for

111
Q

extirpate

A

to destroy, exterminate, cut out, exscind

112
Q

fatuous

A

silly, inane, foolish

113
Q

fractious

A

quarrelsome, rebellious, unruly

114
Q

gainsay

A

to deny, dispute, contradict, oppose

115
Q

imbroglio

A

difficult or embarrassing situation

116
Q

indefatigable

A

not easily exhausted, tireless, dogged

117
Q

ineluctable

A

certain, inevitable

118
Q

inimitable

A

one of a kind, peerless

119
Q

insouciant

A

unconcerned, carefree, heedless

120
Q

inveterate

A

deeply rooted, ingrained, habitual

121
Q

jejune

A

vapid, uninteresting, nugatory, childish, immature, puerile

122
Q

lubricious

A

lewd, wanton, greasy, slippery

123
Q

mendicant

A

a beggar, supplicant

124
Q

meretricious

A

cheap, gaudy, tawdry, flashy, showy

125
Q

minatory

A

menacing, threatening (think minotaur)

126
Q

nadir

A

low point, perigree

127
Q

obstreperous

A

noisily & stubbornly defiant, aggressively boisterous

128
Q

palliate

A

to make something seem less serious, to gloss over, to make less severe or intense

129
Q

panegyric

A

formal praise, eulogy, encomium (expressing elaborate praise)

130
Q

parsimonoius

A

cheap, miserly

131
Q

pellucid

A

transparent, easy to understand, limpid

132
Q

pecoration

A

the concluding part of a speech; flowery, rhetorical speech

133
Q

plangent

A

pounding, thundering, resounding

134
Q

prolix

A

long-winded; verbose

135
Q

propitiate

A

to appease, conciliate

136
Q

puerile

A

childish, immature, jejune, nugatory

137
Q

puissance

A

power, strength (puissant means powerful or strong)

138
Q

pusillanimous

A

cowardly, craven

139
Q

remonstrate

A

to protest, object

140
Q

salutary

A

remedial, wholesome, causing improvement

141
Q

sanguine

A

cheerful, confident, optimistic

142
Q

saturnine

A

gloomy, dark, sullen, morose

143
Q

sententious

A

aphoristic or moralistic, epigrammatic, tending to moralize excessively

144
Q

stentorian

A

extremely loud & powerful

145
Q

stygian

A

gloomy, dark

146
Q

tendentious

A

biased; showing marked tendencies

147
Q

tyro

A

novice, greenhorn, amateur

148
Q

vitiate

A

to corrupt, debase, spoil, make ineffective

149
Q

voluble

A

fluent, verbal, having easy use of spoken language