GRE Vocabulary

Question 1

Amalgamate

Answer 1

Blend merge or unite

Related Words: Agglomerate, Aggregate, Conglomerate

Question 2

Adumbrate

Answer 2

Give a rough outline of; foreshadow; obscure

Question 3

Adulterate

Answer 3

Make impure by adding inappropriate or inferior ingredients

Question 4

Aceptic

Answer 4

Free from germ

Question 5

Arrogate

Answer 5

Claim or take presumptuously or without the right to do so

Question 6

Attuned

Answer 6

In harmony; in sympathetic relationship

Question 7

Attenuate

Answer 7

Weaken or thin out

When you attenuate something, it becomes tenuous, which means thin or weak (a tenuous agreement)

Question 8

Abasement

Answer 8

Degrade or humble; to lower in rank, status, or esteem

Question 9

Apposite

Answer 9

Highly appropriate, suitable. or relevant

Question 10

Antedate

Answer 10

=/= postdate

Question 11

Aerie

Answer 11

Stronghold; Dwelling or fortress built on a high place

Question 12

Accretion

Answer 12

Gradual increase; an added part or addition.

Bank accounts accure interest.. Good deeds, ideally, accure rewards.

Question 13

Acerbic

Answer 13

Sour harsh or severe

Related Words: Caustic; Acrid; Astringent

Question 14

Anodyne

Answer 14

Medicine that relieves pain; soothing, relieving pain (adj)

Question 15

Asperity

Answer 15

Rigour, severity; harshness or sharpness of tone

Asperity describes a wide variety of unpleasant things: hardship, people speaking to us in an unnecessarily harsh way, or physical roughness.

Question 16

Analgesia

Answer 16

Pain relief; inability to feel pain

Question 17

Baying

Answer 17

Howling in a deep way, like a dog or wolf.

Bay comes from an Old French word meant to actually sound like the baying of an animal. In a related expression, when a person is at bay or brought to bay, that means that person is in captured position, powerless and unable to flee.

Question 18

Bilk

Answer 18

Cheat or defraud

Related Words: Hoodwink, swindle, Con and Fleece.

Question 19

Bifurcate

Answer 19

To fork into two branches or divide into two halves; split or forked

Question 20

Bucolic

Answer 20

Suggesting a peaceful and pleasant view of rural life.

Question 21

Bucolic

Answer 21

Suggesting a peaceful and pleasant view of rural life.

Pastoral, Idyllic, Georgic, Arcadian

Question 22

Bombastic

Answer 22

far too showy or dramatic than is appropriate; pretentious

Question 23

Connote

Answer 23

Suggest or imply in addition to the precise, literal meaning

A denotation is the literal meaning of a word; a connotation is the feeling that accompanies a word

Question 24

Contrite

Answer 24

Remorseful; feeling sorry for one’s offenses or sins

Question 25

Contumacious

Answer 25

Rebellious; stubbornly disobedient

Related Words: recalcitrant; Refractory

Question 26

Cosset

Answer 26

Treat as a pet, pamper

Related Words: coddle

Question 27

Coterie

Answer 27

close or exclusive group, clique

Related Words: Cabal; Entourage

Question 28

Curmudgeon

Answer 28

Bad-tempered, difficult person; grouch

Curmudegon, like crotchety, is almost always used to describe old men

Question 29

Circumscribe

Answer 29

strictly limit a role, range of activity, or area

Question 30

Circumspect

Answer 30

Cautious, prudent; careful to consider the circumstances and consequences

Question 31

Coagulate

Answer 31

cause a liquid to become solid or semisolid

Related Words: Curdle; Clot

Question 32

Chicanery

Answer 32

Trickery, deception by knowing false arguments

Related Words: Quibbling (the use of ambiguous, petty, or irrelevant arguments, especially to evade the issue(, Sophistry (deliberately tricky argumentation)

Question 33

Calumny

Answer 33

Malicious lie intended to hurt someone’s reputation; the act of telling such lies

Related Words: slander is a synonym. Libel is the written version of slander. Traduce, Vilify, and Defame are verbs meaning to slander, to damage a person’s reputation with lies.)

Question 34

Dictum

Answer 34

Formal or authoritative pronouncement; saying or proverb

Think: aphorism

Question 35

Diffident

Answer 35

Lacking confidence, shy

Question 36

Diaphanous

Answer 36

Very sheer, fine, translucent

Diaphanous generally describes fabric or the (beautiful, translucent wings of certain insects)

Question 37

Desultory

Answer 37

Lacking consistency or order, disconnected, sporaic, going off topic

Question 38

Demur

Answer 38

Show reluctance or object for moral reasons

Balk

Question 39

Delimit

Answer 39

Fix mark or define the boundaries of

Related Words: Demarcate; Delineate

Question 40

Declaim

Answer 40

Speak in an impassioned, pompous, or oratorical manner; give a formal speech

Related Words: grandstand. Don’t confuse with disclaim, which simply means deny, repudiate.

Question 41

Declivity

Answer 41

Downward slope

Not just any declivity can serve as a wheelchair ramp - I’m pretty sure this thing is too steep to pass regulations

Question 42

Antithetical

Answer 42

Directly opposed, opposite; involving antithesis.

Partying all night, every night, is antithetical to one’s academic performance.

Deleterious, inimical

Question 43

Appropriate

Answer 43

set side a authorise for a particular purpose; take for one’s own use.

Question 44

Bane

Answer 44

Something that ruins or spoils

The opposite of bane is boon, a benefit or blessing. The words are often used together to ask a question, as in the ‘the new regulations: bane or boon)

Don’t confuse baneful with baleful, which means threatening