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
