GRE Vocab Set 2 (Princeton Review) Flashcards
Abate
To lessen in intensity
Accolade
An expression of praise
Adulation
Excessive praise; intense adoration
Aesthetic
Dealing with, appreciative of, or responsive to art or the beautiful
Ameliorate
To make better or more tolerable
Ascetic
One who practices rigid self-denial
Avarice
Greed, especially for wealth
Burgeon
To grow rapidly or flourish
Bucolic
Rustic and pastoral, characteristic of rural areas and their inhabitants
Cacophany
Harsh, jarring, discordant sound
Canon
An established set or principles or code of laws
Castigation
Severe criticism or punishment
Catalyst
A substance that accelerates the rate of chemical reaction without itself changing
Caustic
Burning or stinging
Chary
Wary, cautious, sparing
Cogent
Appealing forcibly to the mind or reason
Complaisance
Willingness to comply with the wishes of others
Contentious
Argumentative
Contrite
Regretful
Culpable
Deserving blame
Dearth
Smallness of quantity or number
Demur
To question or oppose
Didactict
Intended to teach or instruct
Discretion
Cautious reserve in speech, ability to make reasonable decisions
Disinterested
Free of bias or self-interest
Dogmatic
Expressing a rigid opinion based on unproved or improvable principles
Ebullience
The quality of lively or enthusiastic expression
Eclectic
Composed of elements drawn from various sources
Elegy
Mournful poem
Emollient
Soothing, especially to the skin
Empirical
Based on observation or experiment
Enigmatic
Mysterious, obscure, difficult to understand
Ephemeral
Brief and fleeting
Esoteric
Intended for a small, specific group
Eulogy
A speech honoring the dead
Exonerate
To remove blame
Facetious
Playful and humerous
Fallacy
Invalid or incorrect notion
Furtive
Marked by stealth
Gregarious
Sociable, outgoing, enjoying the company of other people
Harangue
To delivery a forceful or angry speech
Heretical
Violating accepted dogma
Hyperbole
An exaggerated statement
Impecunious
Lacking funds
Incipient
Beginning to come into being
Inert
Unmoving, lethargic
Innocuous
Harmless, causing no damage
Intransigent
Refusing to compromise
Inveigle
To obtain by deception or flattery
Morose
Sad, sullen, melancholy
Odious
Evoking intense aversion or dislike
Opaque
Impenetrable by light
Oscillation
The act or state of swinging back and forth
Penurious
Excessively thrifty
Pernicious
Harmful in a way that is not easily seen
Peruse
To examine with great care
Pious
Extremely reverent or devout
Precursor
One that precedes and indicates or announces another
Preen
To dress up with elaborate care
Prodigious
Abundant in size, force, or extent
Prolific
Large volumes, productive
Putrefy
To rot or decay
Quaff
To drink deeply
Quiescence
Stillness
Redoubtable
Awe-inspring
Sanction
Authoritative permission or approval
Satire
Literary work that ridicules human vices through humor
Squalid
Sordid, wretched and dirty
Stoic
Indifferent to pleasure or pain
Supplant
To take the place of
Torpid
Lethargic, sluggish, and dormant
Ubiquitous
Existing everywhere, widepsread
Urbane
Sophisticated and refined
Vilify
To defame or characterize harshly
Viscous
Thick and sticky