300 Absolutely Essential GRE Words Flashcards
(170 cards)
1
Q
abeyance
A
a state of temporary disuse or suspension
2
Q
abscond
A
escape, flee; fail to surrender oneself for custody at the appointed time
3
Q
abstemious
A
abstinent, moderate
4
Q
admonish
A
warn; reprimand
5
Q
alacrity
A
cheerful readiness, enthusiasm, eagerness
6
Q
ameliorate
A
improve
7
Q
apprise
A
inform or tell
8
Q
approbation
A
approval or praise
9
Q
ascetic
A
characterized by severe self-discipline and abstention from all forms of indulgence, typically for religious reasons
10
Q
assiduous
A
showing great care or perseverance, meticulous, diligent, fastidious
11
Q
assuage
A
make (an unpleasant feeling) less intense, alleviate
12
Q
austere
A
severe or strict in manner or attitude; moderate, self-denying, ascetic; unadorned, simple, plain
13
Q
aver
A
assert
14
Q
belie
A
(of an appearance) fail to give a true impression of (something).
“his lively, alert manner belied his years”;
fail to fulfil or justify (a claim or expectation).
“the quality of the music seems to belie the criticism”
15
Q
beneficent
A
benevolent
16
Q
bombastic
A
pompous, self-important
17
Q
boorish
A
rough and bad-mannered, coarse
“boorish behaviour”
18
Q
burgeon
A
begin to grow or increase rapidly, flourish
19
Q
burnish
A
polish something by rubbing; enhance or improve; the shine on a highly polished surface
20
Q
buttress
A
support
21
Q
capricious
A
fickle, unstable
22
Q
castigate
A
reprimand severely, admonish
23
Q
coagulate
A
(of a fluid, especially blood) clot
24
Q
coda
A
concluding section or passage
25
commensurate
equivalent (commensurate with)
26
compendium
compilation; collection or set of similar items
27
complaisant
willing to please others or to accept what they do or say without protest
28
confound
cause surprise or confusion ("the inflation figure confounded economists"); invalidate ("confound a theory"); defeat a plan, aim, or hope; mix up ("confound managerialism with idealism")
29
contention
disagreement ("an area of contention"); argument or claim ("Freud's contentions")
30
contentious
controversial; likely to provoke argument
31
craven
cowardly
32
deference
respect
33
delineate
describe precisely
"the law should delineate behaviour that is socially abhorrent";
indicate the exact position of (a border or a boundary)
34
denigrate
criticise unfairly, disparage, belittle, deprecate
35
desiccate
dry
36
desultory
half-hearted, cursory (e.g. desultory dancing, a desultory conversation); occurring randomly or occasionally; rambling
37
dichotomy
separation or division
38
diffidence
shyness
39
diffuse
spread over a wide area or between a large number of people
40
dirge
a lament for the dead; a mournful song or piece of music
41
disabuse
persuade (someone) that an idea or belief is mistaken
42
discerning
adjective: showing or having good judgement, selective, shrewd
verb: to distinguish or recognise
43
discordant
disagreeing; characterised by conflict (e.g. discordant homes)
44
discredit
harm the good reputation of; invalidate, disprove
45
disinterested
unbiased; uninterested
46
dissemble
deceive, disguise, or conceal
47
dissolution
the action of formally ending or dismissing an assembly, partnership, or official body (e.g. dissolution of marriage, committee); disintegration; debauched living, dissipation
48
distend
swell
49
doctrinaire
seeking to impose a doctrine in all circumstances without regard to practical considerations
"the administration's doctrinaire economic policy"
synonyms: dogmatic, rigid, inflexible, uncompromising, unyielding
50
eclectic
wide-ranging; a person who derives ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources
51
efficacy
effectiveness
52
effrontery
insolent or impertinent behaviour
| "one juror had the effrontery to challenge the coroner's decision"
53
elegy
a poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead
"an elegy could be a dirge"
54
enervate
exhaust or tire
55
engender
cause, give rise to
| "the issue engendered continued controversy"
56
ephemeral
short-lasting
57
equanimity
calmness, composure, level-headedness
58
equivocate
use ambiguous language so as to conceal the truth or avoid committing oneself
59
esoteric
intended for or likely to be understood by only a small number of people with a specialized knowledge or interest
60
exculpate
show or declare that (someone) is not guilty of wrongdoing, exonerate
61
exigency
need
62
extraneous
external, irrelevant
63
facetious
treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humour, flippant
64
fatuous
silly and pointless
| "a fatuous comment"
65
felicitous
well chosen, appropriate
"a felicitous phrase";
advantageous, fortunate
"the view was the room's only felicitous feature"
66
flout
openly disregard
| "flouting the law"
67
foment
instigate or stir up (an undesirable or violent sentiment or course of action)
"they accused him of fomenting political unrest"
68
forestall
prevent or obstruct by taking action in advance, pre-empt
69
gainsay
contradict or oppose
70
garrulous
talkative
71
goad
provoke; stimulus
72
gouge
scoop out, hollow out
73
gregarious
sociable
74
harangue
a lengthy and aggressive speech, diatribe, tirade; lecture (someone) at length in an aggressive and critical manner
75
homogeneous
uniform; similar, comparable
76
idolatry
the worship of idols, fetishism, iconolatry
77
impassive
not feeling or showing emotion, expressionless
78
imperturbable
calm, composed, unable to be excited
79
impervious
not affected by; impermeable
80
implacable
unable to be appeased or placated
81
inchoate
not fully formed
| "inchoate ideas or opinions"
82
incongruity
unsuitability, incompatibility
| "the incongruity of his fleshy face and skinny body disturbed her"
83
indigence
a state of extreme poverty, destitution
| antonym: opulence
84
indolent
lazy
85
ingenuous
innocent and unsuspecting, naive
86
innocuous
harmless
87
insensible
senseless, unconscious
"they knocked each other insensible with their fists";
unaware of; inappreciable
"varying by insensible degrees"
88
insinuate
imply, hint; manoeuvre oneself into (a favourable position) by subtle manipulation
"I insinuated my shoulder in the gap"
"he insinuated himself into the king's confidence"
89
insipid
lacking taste; lacking interest or vigour
90
insularity
narrow-mindedness
91
intractable
uncontrollable, unmanageable; (of a person) stubborn, obstinate
92
intransigence
refusal to change one's views or to agree about something
| "in the face of government intransigence, he resigned in disgust"
93
inundate
overwhelm; flood
| synonym: deluge
94
inure
harden
95
invective
insults, swearing
96
irascible
irritable
97
laconic
using very few words, terse, succinct, brief, pithy
| antonyms: garrulous, loquacious
98
lassitude
a state of physical or mental weariness, exhaustion, tiredness, ennui, lethargy
99
levee
an embankment built to prevent the overflow of a river
100
log
cut down (an area of forest) in order to exploit the timber commercially
"there are plans to log 250,000 hectares of virgin rainforest"
synonym: itinerary
101
loquacious
talkative, garrulous
102
lucid
rational, sane; clear, intelligible, comprehensible; bright
103
magnanimity
generosity, munificence
104
mendacious
dishonest, disingenuous
| "mendacious propaganda"
105
mollify
appease, placate, conciliate
106
neophyte
beginner, apprentice, fledgling
107
obdurate
stubborn, obstinate, inflexible
108
obsequious
obedient or attentive to an excessive or servile degree, grovelling, fawning
109
obviate
remove a difficulty, get round; prevent (e.g. obviate disaster, obviate the need)
110
occlude
block
| "make-up can occlude your pores"
111
officious
assertive of authority in a domineering way, especially with regard to trivial matters
"the security people were very officious"
intrusively enthusiastic in offering help or advice; interfering
"an officious bystander"
112
onerous
burdensome, troublesome, inconvenient (e.g. onerous duty, onerous task)
113
opprobrium
harsh criticism; public shame
114
ostentatious
pretentious, showy, flamboyant
115
partisan
biased, prejudiced; a member of an armed group formed to fight secretly against an occupying force
116
pathological
relating to pathology; caused by a physical or mental disease
"pathological abnormality";
obsessive; unreasonable
"pathological fear of heights"
117
paucity
scarcity
118
pedantic
excessively concerned with minor details or rules, overscrupulous
119
penchant
tendency to do something
120
penury
destitution
| antonym: opulence
121
perennial
everlasting
122
perfidious
deceitful and untrustworthy, disingenuous
123
perfunctory
carried out without real interest, feeling, or effort, superficial, cursory
124
pervasive
spreading widely throughout an area or a group of people, prevalent, pervading, permeating
125
phlegmatic
composed, calm, cool
126
plethora
large or excessive amount of something
127
precarious
dangerously likely to fall or collapse; insecure, uncertain( e.g. a precarious living, precarious majority)
128
presumptuous
brazen, failing to observe the limits of what is permitted
129
prevaricate
equivocate
130
probity
integrity
131
prodigal
self-indulgent, spendthrift, improvident, imprudent, wasteful, wanton; having or giving something on a lavish scale
132
proliferate
increase rapidly in number, multiply
133
propensity
inclination, tendency, predisposition, proneness, proclivity, penchant
134
propitiate
mollify, appease, placate, conciliate
135
propriety
correctness, decorum
136
proscribe
denigrate, disparage; forbid, prohibit
137
pungent
(of comment, criticism, or humour) having a sharp and caustic quality
"he has expressed some fairly pungent criticisms"
138
qualified
not complete or absolute, limited
| "a qualified success"
139
quiescent
in a state or period of inactivity or dormancy
140
rarefied
(of air, especially that at high altitudes) of lower pressure than usual, thin
"every ounce carried counts triple when you're trudging uphill in rarefied air"
distant from the lives and concerns of ordinary people, esoteric, refined
"rarefied scholarly pursuits"
141
recalcitrant
```
having an obstinately uncooperative attitude towards authority or discipline, intractable
"a class of recalcitrant fifteen-year-olds"
```
142
recant
denounce one's beliefs; retract a statement
143
recondite
little known information or knowledge, obscure, esoteric
144
refractory
stubborn and unmanageable, obstinate; resistant to a process or stimulus
145
reprobate
unprincipled
146
repudiate
reject, renounce; rebut, refute, deny
147
reticent
reserved, introverted
148
salubrious
healthy; pleasant
149
sanction
impose a penalty on; permission; penalty
150
soporific
tending to induce drowsiness or sleep; a drug that induces drowsiness or sleep
151
specious
superficially plausible, but actually wrong
"a specious argument";
misleadingly attractive
152
stigma
a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person
153
stint
supply a very ungenerous or inadequate amount of (something), be economical with; period of work; limitation of supply or effort
154
stipulate
demand or specify (a requirement), typically as part of an agreement
"he stipulated certain conditions before their marriage"
155
stolid
calm, showing little emotion, impassive, phlegmatic
156
striated
striped or streaked
157
strut
a rod or bar forming part of a framework and designed to resist compression (and the verb associated with it)
"a supporting strut"
158
subpoena
summon to a court (and the noun associated with it);
require (a document or other evidence) to be submitted to a court of law
"the decision to subpoena government records"
159
substantiate
to provide evidence to support or prove the truth of
160
supersede
replace
161
tacit
implicit, implied, inferred
162
tenuous
insubstantial, weak (e.g. tenuous link, tenuous connection, tenuous relationship)
163
torpor
a state of physical or mental inactivity, lethargy
164
venerate
revere, respect, adulate
165
veracious
speaking or representing the truth, veritable
166
vituperative
bitter and abusive
167
volatile
liable to change rapidly and unpredictably, fraught, fickle
168
welter
move in a turbulent fashion
"the pigs weltered about happily in the mud";
lie soaked in blood; a large number of items in no order; a state of general disorder
169
whimsical
acting in a capricious, fickle manner; playful
170
zealot
fanatic, extremist, radical
