Part 2: GRE Saad Vocab - 160+ Hard Section High Frequency List Flashcards
foster
Nurture but real GRE can use it as encouragement or adoption as well.
e.g. “the teacher’s task is to foster learning”
Synonym: promote, encourage, cultivate, nurture
heterogeneous
mixed
e.g. “the seating in the hall was a heterogeneous collection of old school desk chairs, wood and metal folding chairs, and even a few plush theater seats”
Synonym: eclectic, varied, mixed, assorted
reproach
Disapproval or disappointment but real GRE can also use it as disgrace or blaming someone
e.g. “a letter of reproach was added to her dossier”
Synonym: condemnation, reprimand, censure, rebuke, decry
respite
Interval of rest or relief but real GRE can also use it as a period of temporary delay
e.g. “The weekend provided a nice respite from the pressures of her job.”
Synonym: downtime, hiatus, interruption, layoff, letup
voluble
Rotating but real GRE can also use it as glib which means fluent but insincere and shallow
e.g. “a voluble game-show host”
Synonym: garrulous. facile
intelligible
Capable of being understood
e.g. “speculation on the odds that a communication from a far-off planet would be intelligible”
Synonym: accessible, comprehensible, coherent, scrutable
rote
Use of memory usually with little intelligence but real GRE usually uses it as mechanical or unthinking routine or repetition
e.g. “He learned the rote for the exercise warm-up but not the reasoning behind it”
Synonym: routine, grind, rut, drill, groove
acute
Delicate but real GRE can use it as keen/sharp and quick
e.g. “dogs, with their acute sense of smell, are used for finding toxic substances undetectable by humans”
Synonym: intense, keen, sharp, subtle
circumstantial
it means careful attention to detail but real GRE can also use it as contingent which means empirical (not logically necessary)
e.g. “the circumstantial account of his surgery told us more than we really wanted to know about the stomach”
Synonym: detailed, thorough, full, particularized
limpid
Clear and transparent. Real GRE can also use it as something that is untroubled
e.g. “her eyes are the blue of a limpid stream of water”
proliferating
to increase in number
e.g. “rumors about the incident proliferated on the Internet”
Synonym: expand, burgeon, escalate
pedigree
Background history. Real GRE usually uses it with origin
e.g. “a woman from a good pedigree”
Synonym: lineage, ancestry, genealogy, breeding, origin
antecedents
Someone or something responsible for a result.
e.g. “what are the antecedents of the American Revolutionary War?”
Synonym: cause, determinant
precursor
predecessor
e.g. “18th-century lyric poets like Robert Burns were precursors of the Romantics”
Synonym: forerunner, harbinger, symptom, sign
novelty
Something new but the real GRE can also use it as unusual
e.g. “the novelty of having a cat wore off after the first time I had to change the litter box”
Synonym: newness, innovation, freshness, originality
tedious
tiresome
e.g. “a long and tedious staff meeting”
Synonym: boring, tiring, slow, wearying
constrict
to compress or restrict
e.g. “the vessel constricted, thereby reducing the flow of blood”
Synonym: shrink, compress, condense
encomiums
Enthusiastic praise or a tribute
e.g. “the encomiums bestowed on a teacher at her retirement ceremonies”
Synonym: accolade, commendation, eulogy, panegyric, praise
reprehend
Disapproval/censure but the real GRE can use it as to declare something as morally wrong or evil
e.g. “without exception, book reviewers reprehended the novel’s tired plot”
Synonym: admonish, berate, censure, chide, criticize, denounce, rebuke
chimerical
Not real and existing only in imagination (just like you score a 290 on your mock and want a 330 on the real GRE)
e.g. “for the time being, interplanetary travel remains a chimerical feature of life in the 21st century”
Synonym: fantastical, mythic, mythical, fictitious, fictional
succinct
Marked by the use of few words to convey much information or meaning but the real GRE can also use it as ‘abrupt’
e.g. “a pocket guide that provides succinct explanations for rules of grammar and punctuation”
Synonym: concise, brief, summary, pithy, terse, laconic
insular
Not broad or open in views or opinions
e.g. “an insular community that is not receptive of new ideas, especially from outsiders”
Synonym: parochial, circumscribed
approbation
An act of approving officially but the real GRE can use it as ‘excessive praise’
e.g. “Congress must approbate the President’s nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court”
vituperation
harsh insulting language
e.g. “He was sick of the vituperation coming from ungrateful visitors”
Synonym: abuse, invective, insult, criticism, scurrility, fulmination, vitriol
adulation
excessive flattery
e.g. “the pathetic adulation of the leader of the cult by her misguided followers”
Synonym: blandishment, flattery, sycophancy, worship
exorbitance
Propensity for extreme in one’s actions, beliefs or habits and real GRE can use it as deviation from rule, right or property.
peril; perilous
Exposure to risk. Real GRE can use it as ‘danger’ or ‘trouble’.
e.g. “a perilous journey through hostile territory”
Synonym: precarious, unsafe, treacherous, menacing
render
To give up. Real GRE can use it as ‘to give in acknowledgement of dependence or obligation: pay’
e.g. “rendered Thomas Jefferson’s signature for use on an array of gift items”
eviscerate
To clean/disembowel usually used in the context of removing an organ.
Real GRE can also use it as depriving of vital content or force.
e.g. “the goat had been skinned and neatly eviscerated”
Synonym: disembowel, destruction
spurring
To incite to action or to stimulate
e.g. “governments cut interest rates to spur demand”
Synonym: poking, goading, prodding, digging, nudging
codifying
To arrange or assign according to type. This is usually used with the word ‘cataloging’.
e.g. “They were codifying these ancient cultures according to their political structures”
Synonym: systematize, catalogue, systemize, organize
shackle
Something that physically prevents free movement. This is usually used with the word ‘stifle’
e.g. “unwilling to shackle the dogs to the wall of the house”
Synonym: stifle, bind, handcuff
enliven
To give life, action, or spirit to: animate
e.g. “in most instances it’s a good idea to enliven a speech with a joke or two”
Synonym: animate, stimulate, invigorate, energize
symbiosis
A cooperative relationship between two dissimilar organisms
e.g. “The two artists, each with their own style, share a symbiosis that enriches both their individual and collaborative work.”
Synonym: mutualism, alliance
stasis
A state of static balance or equilibrium: stagnation. This word is usually used with the word ‘inertia’
e.g. “for the time being, the populations of the national park’s predators and prey remain in stasis”
Synonym: inertia
espoused
To become attached to. Real GRE can also use it as ‘marry’.
e.g. “heeded his father’s advice to espouse someone with whom he had common interests”
Synonym: marry, conjugal
eschewed
To avoid habitually especially on moral or practical grounds: shun.
e.g. “the minister eschews involvement in local politics, since he doesn’t want to diminish his moral authority in the community”
Synonym: avoid, eluded, abandon, renounce
derided
To ridicule or mock someone. It is usually used with the word ‘lambaste’
e.g. “my brothers derided our efforts, but were forced to eat their words when we won first place”
Synonym: disdain, disparage, mock, ridicule, scorn
bedrock
Basis/foundation. Real GRE can also use it as the ‘lowest point’.
e.g. “my religious faith is the bedrock of my life”
Synonym: cornerstone / depth, abyss
utilitarian
Designed to be useful or practical rather than attractive
e.g. “She found his theories utilitarian in constructing her own”
Synonym: functional, sensible, pragmatic
index
An arrow shaped piece on a dial or scale for registering information.
Real GRE can also use it as indicating something or as ‘a measure of’.
e.g. “the index on the thermometer dropped below zero”
Synonym: indicator
diatribe
Abusive speech.
Real GRE can also use it as ironic or satirical criticism. It’s usually paired with the word ‘rant’
e.g. “he was forced to sit through a long diatribe after he came home late once too often”
Synonym: harangue, tirade, jeremiad
disquisition
A systematic search for the truth or facts about something
e.g. “nothing can kill a radio show quicker than a disquisition on intertextual analysis”
Synonym: dissertation, treatise
malfeasance
misbehavior or fraud
e.g. “a campaign to impeach the governor for malfeasance in office”
Synonym: misconduct, wrongdoing, crime, misbehavior
hysteria
Wildly excited activity or emotion. Real GRE can also use it as uproar or agitation
e.g. “the hysteria of the mother when she realized that she had lost her four-year-old son in the crowd”
Synonym: frenzy, rampage, rage, delirium, amok
pathos
An emotion of sympathetic pity
e.g. “the actor injects his customary humour and pathos into the role”
Synonym: emotion, passion, poignancy
lucubration
intensive study
e.g. “The “gentlemen of the police and the gendarmerie” shrugged their shoulders and paid no attention to this lucubration.”
Synonym: application, attention, examination
polarized
to unify or unite
reparation
Remuneration (payment to another for a loss or injury)
e.g. “the courts required a convicted offender to make financial reparation to his victim”
Synonym: compensation, restitution, indemnity, remuneration
denunciation
Public or formal expression of disapproval. It is usually paired with the word indictments.
e.g. “the official denunciation of the congresswoman’s actions before the full house”
Synonym: indictment, accusation, censure, denouncement
stratify
to divide or arrange into classes, castes or social strata. It is usually paired with the word hierarchical
e.g. “El Niño brings surface heat from the west, and stratifies the ocean layers”
Synonym: hierarchical
extenuated
To mitigate or making something less worse
REAL GRE uses this word as to make something seem less bad by offering excuses.
e.g. “even the fact that you once helped to save my life could not extenuate your offence”
Synonym: excuse, justify, explain, palliate
downplay
to reduce in importance
e.g. “he self-deprecatingly downplays his own contributions to the festival’s success”
Synonym: understate, underplay, denigrate, disparage
provocative
To provoke, excite or stimulate. It is usually paired with the word ‘incite’ on the real GRE.
e.g. “a provocative editorial that sparked a heated discussion”
Synonym: incite, stimulate
countenance
To extend approval or toleration to. Usually paired with the word ‘sanction’ on real GRE
e.g. “They countenanced the delays and inconveniences of traveling by air with good grace”
Synonym: tolerate, accept, endure
indeterminacy
Vague or not known in advance
e.g. “an indeterminate number of people”
Synonym: erroneous, vague
pacific
peaceful. Usually paired with the word dovish on real GRE
e.g. “as a pacific gesture, we invited our feuding neighbors to our backyard barbecue”
Synonym: dovish, irenic, placate
indolent
lethargic and lazy
e.g. “they were indolent and addicted to a life of pleasure”
Synonym: lazy, idle, slothful
austere
Simple and morally strict
e.g. “he was an austere man, with a rigidly puritanical outlook”
Synonym: strict, authoritarian, rigorous, stern, severe
erroneous
Mistaken or real GRE can also use it as ‘wandering’.
e.g. “a poorly researched news article about the new virus that was filled with much erroneous information”
Synonym: spurious, distorted, inaccurate
delusive
Deceiving. Usually paired with the word specious on real GRE
e.g. “delusive promises of high-paying jobs for low-skilled workers”
Synonym: specious, misleading, deceptive, false, deceitful
relic
Relic: Shadow/trace. Usually paired with the word ‘vestige’ on the real GRE.
e.g. “a crude stone ax and other relics of the Neanderthals”
Synonym: artifact, trace, remnant, vestige
ephemeral
short-lived
e.g. “the autumnal blaze of colors is always to be treasured, all the more so because it is so ephemeral”
Synonym: temporary, brief, transient, fleeting, evanescent
oracular
a person giving wise or authoritative decisions or opinions
e.g. “he holds forth in oracular fashion”
Synonym: prescient, predictive, prophetic
prophetic
predictive
e.g. “his warnings proved prophetic”
Synonym: prescient, predictive, oracular
mirthful
Good humor. Usually paired with the word ‘jovial’.
e.g. “the mirthful laughter of old teammates telling lame jokes and ribald stories”
Synonym: jovial, gleeful, jolly
tepid
Lacking energy. Real GRE can use it as showing little or no interest/enthusiasm.
e.g. “the proposed table tennis club met with only a tepid response”
Synonym: lukewarm, disinterested, indifferent, apathetic
inherent
Within. Usually paired with the word ‘intrinsic’.
e.g. “an inherent concept of justice”
Synonym: intrinsic, integral, innate, hereditary
strenuous
Energetic and real GRE can use it as ‘aggressive’.
e.g. “parents who voiced strenuous objections to the new textbooks”
Synonym: arduous, demanding, exhausting, laborious
subjective
Unique or particular and real GRE can use it as ‘technical’
e.g. “even seemingly unbiased judges are influenced by their own subjective assumptions and interpretations of the law”
fastidious
Demanding or hard to please
e.g. “he is very fastidious about how he arranges his music collection, and woe to anyone who dares to mess around with it”
Synonym: finicky, fussy, squeamish
puerile
Babyish or immature
e.g. “told the teenagers that such puerile behavior would not be tolerated during the ceremony”
Synonym: juvenile, infantile, jejune, petulant
paradigm
pattern
e.g. “The thesis paper provides a new paradigm for educational practices”
Synonym: example, principle, model, prototype, archetype
antagonistic
Marked by ill will and is paired with the word adversarial on the real GRE.
e.g. “countries that have been antagonistic towards each other for centuries”
Synonym: adversarial, antipathy, hostile
dichotomous
Two opposing groups and is paired with the word contradictory on the real GRE.
e.g. “She urged people to resist falling into the dichotomous thinking about the nature of independence.”
Synonym: paradox, contradictory
subversive
destruction
e.g. “A subversive organization determined to unseat a leader who they believed operated outside the law”
Synonym: violent, revolutionary, radical, provocative
trifling
Unimportant and is paired with the word minimal on the real GRE.
e.g. “deciding what you want to do for a living is no trifling matter”
Synonym: minor, nugatory, slight, trivial
momentous
Important and is paired with the word significant on the real GRE.
e.g. “a momentous occasion that will go down in the history books”
Synonym: significant, monumental
oust
Force someone to leave a place and is paired with the word forcing out on the real GRE.
e.g. “she was ousted from her job after it was proven she’d been pilfering company supplies”
Synonym: eject, out, expel, evict
professed
open and freely acknowledged and is paired with the word proclaimed on the real GRE.
e.g. “he professed his innocence to anyone who would listen”
Synonym: proclaimed, acknowledged, pledged, avowed
antediluvian
Ancient or old and is paired with the word archaic on the real GRE
e.g. “found evidence in the Middle East of an antediluvian people previously unknown to history”
Synonym: archaic, medieval, prehistoric
flighty
Lacking stability and is paired with the word capriciousness on the real GRE
e.g. “You have to be quiet while the deer are grazing, as they are flighty animals and will run if they hear you”
Synonym: capricious, mercurial, volatile
discern
to recognize as separate and is paired with detect/discovered on the real GRE.
e.g. “too young to discern between right and wrong”
Synonym: detect, discovered, anticipate, ascertain
envisage
To have a mental picture of and is paired with conjure up on the real GRE
e.g. “the Rome Treaty envisaged free movement across frontiers”
Synonym: envisioned, visualize, conjure up, predict, prescience
pugnacious
Someone who fights/quarrels and is paired with the word truculent on the real GRE
e.g. “his public statements became increasingly pugnacious”
Synonym: belligerent, bellicose, warlike
clandestine
Secretive and is paired with the word surreptitious/Furtive on the real GRE
e.g. “I took a clandestine peek at the price tag on the diamond necklace”
Synonym: covert, furtive, surreptitious
stave off
Delay something bad or dangerous and is paired with the word forestall/obviate/preclude on the real GRE
e.g. “He managed to stave off the invaders”
Synonym: withstand, repel, repulse
prosaic
Dull and is paired with the word
vapid/banal/hackneyed/insipid/commonplace/unexceptional/mundane/pedestrian on the real GRE
e.g. “an author with a knack for finding something of interest in the most prosaic details of suburban life”
Synonym: vapid, banal, hackneyed, insipid, commonplace, unexceptional, mundane, pedestrian
knotty
Difficult to understand and is paired with the word complicated/labyrinthine on the real GRE
e.g. “the knotty problems that arise when every nation is part of the global marketplace”
Synonym: complicated, labyrinthine, abstruse, convoluted, baroque
extraneous
Not relevant and is paired with the word irrelevant on the real GRE.
e.g. “the architect’s streamlined modern style shuns any sort of extraneous ornamentation”
Synonym: irrelevant, extrinsic
engender
Produce and is paired with the word yield on the real GRE.
e.g. “a suggestion to go out for pizza that didn’t seem to engender any interest”
Synonym: arouse, beget, breed, bring about, foment
interdependent
Will be paired with interrelated on the real GRE
e.g. “interdependent feedback loop is likely to increase in the future with the introduction of autonomous agents.”
Synonym: interconnection, interrelated, linkage
impair
Less than perfect condition and is paired with undermined on the real GRE
e.g. “already impaired by a crack, the windshield shattered upon impact with the baseball”
Synonym: damage, diminish, weaken, impede, hinder, mar, spoil
abound
To be present in large quantities and is paired with proliferate on the real GRE
e.g. “a city that abounds with art museums and private galleries”
Synonym: proliferate, teem, copious
coalesce
To unite and is paired with conjugate/collect on real GRE.
e.g. “several small townships have coalesced into a single metropolis”
Synonym: conjugate, polarize, collect, consolidate, amalgamate
paragon
A model of excellence/perfection and is paired with exemplar on the real GRE.
e.g. “in Arthurian legend, Sir Galahad is depicted as the one knight who is a paragon of virtue”
Synonym: epitome, incarnation, exemplar, pinnacle
nettlesome
Irritating and is paired with vexation on the real GRE
e.g. “a few nettlesome details that still required attention”
Synonym: irritating, vexation, exasperating, irksome
incontrovertible
not capable of being challenged or proved wrong
Will be paired with indisputable on the real GRE
e.g. “incontrovertible facts that left the jury with no choice but to convict”
Synonym: irrefutable, indisputable, conclusive, unquestionable, indubitable, irrefragable
palpable
Capable of being touched or felt and will be paired with tangible on the real GRE.
e.g. “a small but palpable lump in my neck”
Synonym: tangible
a liberation from
freedom
Will be paired with a rejection of on the real GRE
e.g. “the liberation of the slaves was one of the key results of the Civil War”
Synonym: rejection, emancipation
delighted in
Pleasure and will be paired with relished on the real GRE
e.g. “we’re delighted to meet you finally”
Synonym: relished, gratified
exactitude
Attention to detail and will be paired with meticulousness on the real GRE
e.g. “after its opening weekend, a movie’s final box office gross can be estimated with considerable exactitude”
Synonym: accuracy, precision, preciseness, perfection
eminence
the fact or state of being above others in rank or importance
Will be paired with superiority on the real GRE
e.g. “the eminence of the Nobel Prize in the field of awards and prizes”
Synonym: dominance, superiority, glory, repute, supremacy
unimpeachable
Reliable beyond a doubt and will be paired with blameless on the real GRE
e.g. “The information is from an unimpeachable source.”
Synonym: blameless, honorable, ethical, honest, noble, unassailable, irreproachable
unassuming
not having or showing any feelings of superiority, self-assertiveness, or showiness
Will be paired with modest on the real GRE
e.g. “a talented but surprisingly unassuming musician”
Synonym: modest, meek, humble, unpretentious
idealistic
will be paired with quixotic on the real GRE
e.g. “idealistic pacifists who thought that tyranny could be toppled by rational argument and mutual understanding”
Synonym: quixotic, utopian, impractical
seditious
causing people to rebel and will be paired with provocative/incite
e.g. “several dissidents were jailed for leading protests that the government branded as seditious”
Synonym: incite, provocative, inflammatory
untether
free from and is usually used with the word ‘divorced’
e.g. “I reached the horses and untethered them”
Synonym: divorced, untie, unbind
