GRE Common Words (N-Z)

Question 1

lacking sophistication or experience
-Having never traveled before, the elementary school students were more ________ than their high school counterparts on the field trip.

Answer 1

naive

Question 2

subtle variety
-The gray-green foliage of eucalyptus provides the soft, spatially deceptive background color of the Australian bush, monotonous at first but rippling with ________ to the acclimatized eye.

Answer 2

nuance

Question 3

hardened in feeling; resistant to persuasion
-The president was completely ________ on the issue, and no amount of persuasion would change his mind.

Answer 3

obdurate

Question 4

overly submissive and eager to please
-The ________ new associate made sure to compliment her supervisor’s tie and agree with him on every issue.

Answer 4

obsequious

Question 5

stubborn, unyielding
-The ________ child could not be made to eat any food that he disliked.

Answer 5

obstinate

Question 6

to prevent; to make unnecessary
-The river was shallow enough to wade across at many points, which ________ the need for a bridge.

Answer 6

obviate

Question 7

to stop up; to prevent the passage of
-A shadow is thrown across the Earth’s surface during a solar eclipse, when the light from the sun is ________ by the moon.

Answer 7

occlude

Question 8

troublesome and oppressive; burdensome
-The assignment was so extensive and difficult to manage that it proved ________ to the team in charge of it.

Answer 8

onerous

Question 9

impossible to see through; preventing the passage of light
-The heavy buildup of dirt and grime on the windows almost made them ________.

Answer 9

opaque

Question 10

public disgrace
-After the scheme to embezzle the elderly was made public, the treasurer resigned in utter ________.

Answer 10

opprobrium

Question 11

excessive showiness
-The ________ of the Sun King’s court is evident in the lavish decoration and luxuriousness of his palace at Versailles.

Answer 11

ostentation

Question 12

a contradiction or dilemma
-It is a ________ that those most in need of medical attention are often those least able to obtain it.

Answer 12

paradox

Question 13

model of excellence or perfection
-She is the ________ of what a judge should be: honest, intelligent, hardworking, and just.

Answer 13

paragon

Question 14

someone who shows off learning
-The graduate instructor’s tedious and excessive commentary on the subject soon gained her a reputation as a ________.

Answer 14

pedant

Question 15

willing to betray one’s trust
-The actress’s ________ companion revealed all of her intimate secrets to the gossip columnist.

Answer 15

perfidious

Question 16

done in a routine way; indifferent
-The machinelike bank teller processed the transaction and gave the waiting customer a ________ smile.

Answer 16

perfunctory

Question 17

to penetrate
-The miraculous new cleaning fluid is able to ________ stains and dissolve them in minutes!

Answer 17

permeate

Question 18

charity; a desire or an effort to promote goodness
-New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art owes much of its collection to the ________ of private collectors who willed their estates to the museum.

Answer 18

philanthropy

Question 19

to soothe or pacify
-The burglar tried to ________ the snarling dog by saying, “nice doggy,” and offering it a treat.

Answer 19

placate

Question 20

able to be molded, altered, or bent
-The new material was very ________ and could be formed into products of vastly different shapes.

Answer 20

plastic

Question 21

excess
-Assuming that more was better, the defendant offered the judge a ________ of excuses.

Answer 21

plethora

Question 22

referring to music with multiple melodic lines
-As the music becomes ________, the inner parts of the orchestra become more and more emancipated.

Answer 22

polyphonic

Question 23

practical as opposed to idealistic
-While daydreaming gamblers think they can get rich by frequenting casinos, ________ gamblers realize that the odds are heavily stacked against them.

Answer 23

pragmatic

Question 24

to throw violently or bring about abruptly; lacking deliberation
-Upon learning that the couple married after knowing each other only two months, friends and family members expected such a ________ marriage to end in divorce.

Answer 24

precipitate

Question 25

to lie or deviate from the truth -Rather than admit that he had overslept again, the employee ________ and claimed that heavy traffic had prevented him from arriving at work on time.

Answer 25

prevaricate

Question 26

fresh and clean; uncorrupted -Since concerted measures had been taken to prevent looting, the archeologist site was still ________ when researchers arrived.

Answer 26

pristine

Question 27

lavish, wasteful -The ________ son quickly wasted all of his inheritance on a lavish lifestyle devoted to pleasure.

Answer 27

prodigal

Question 28

to increase in number quickly -Although she only kept two guinea pigs initially, they ________ to such an extent that she son had dozens.

Answer 28

proliferate

Question 29

to conciliate; to appease -The management ________ the irate union by agreeing to raise wages for its members.

Answer 29

propitiate

Question 30

correct behavior; obedience to rules and customs -The aristocracy maintained a high level of ________, adhering to even the most minor social rules.

Answer 30

propriety

Question 31

wisdom, caution, or restraint -The college student exhibited ________ by obtaining practical experience along with her studies, which greatly strengthened her resume.

Answer 31

prudence

Question 32

sharp and irritating to the senses -The smoke from the burning tires was extremely _______.

Answer 32

pungent

Question 33

motionless -Many animals are ________ over the winter months, minimizing activity in order to conserve energy.

Answer 33

quiescent

Question 34

to make thinner or sparser -Since the atmosphere ________ as altitude increases, the air at the top of very tall mountains is too thin to breathe.

Answer 34

rarefy

Question 35

to reject the validity of -The old woman's claim that she was Russian royalty was ________ when DNA tests showed she was of no relation to them.

Answer 35

repudiate

Question 36

silent, reserved -Physically small and ________ in her speech, Joan Didion often went unnoticed by those upon whom she was reporting.

Answer 36

reticent

Question 37

effective writing or speaking -Lincoln's talent for ________ was evident in his beautifully expressed Gettysburg Address.

Answer 37

rhetoric

Question 38

very important -A ________ clause of the Magna Carta that is still relevant today references constitutional liberty.

Answer 38

salient

Question 39

murderous; bloody -The ________ fight left one of the students covered in blood.

Answer 39

sanguinary

Question 40

confident -He seemed quite ________ about his chances of success.

Answer 40

sanguine

Question 41

to satisfy fully or overindulge -His desire for power was so great that nothing less than complete control of the country could ________ it.

Answer 41

satiate

Question 42

having to do with the material, temporal world -The common perception that motets employ sacred texts while madrigals employ ________ texts does not bear scrutiny.

Answer 42

secular

Question 43

causing sleep or lethargy -The movie proved to be so ________ that soon loud snores were heard throughout the theatre.

Answer 43

soporific

Question 44

deceptively attractive; seemingly plausible but fallacious -The student's ________ excuse for being late sounded legitimate but was proved otherwise when her teacher called her home.

Answer 44

specious

Question 45

a mark of shame or discredit -In "The Scarlet Letter", Hester Prynne was required to wear the letter "A" on her clothes as a public ________ for her adultery.

Answer 45

stigma

Question 46

unemotional; lacking sensitivity -The prisoner appeared ________ and unaffected by the judge's harsh sentence.

Answer 46

stolid

Question 47

lofty or grand -The music was so ________ that it transformed the rude surroundings into a special place.

Answer 47

sublime

Question 48

done without using words -Although not a word had been said, everyone in the room knew that a ________ agreement had been made about which course of action to take.

Answer 48

tacit

Question 49

silent, not talkative -The clerk's ________ nature earned him the nickname "Silent Bob."

Answer 49

taciturn

Question 50

long, harsh speech or verbal attack -Observers were shocked at the manager's ________ over such a minor mistake.

Answer 50

tirade

Question 51

extreme mental and physical sluggishness -After surgery, the patient experienced ________ until the anesthesia wore off.

Answer 51

torpor

Question 52

temporary, lasting a brief time -The reporter lived a ________ life, staying in one place only long enough to cover the current story.

Answer 52

transitory

Question 53

to sway physically; to be indecisive -The customer held up the line as he ________ between ordering chocolate chip or rocky road ice cream.

Answer 53

vacillate

Question 54

to respect deeply -In a traditional Confucian society, the young ________ their elders, deferring to the elders' wisdom and experience.

Answer 54

venerate

Question 55

truthfulness; accuracy -She had a reputation for ________, so everyone trusted her description of events.

Answer 55

veracity

Question 56

wordy -The professor's answer was so ________ that his students forgot what the original question had been.

Answer 56

verbose

Question 57

to annoy -The old man who loved his peace and quiet was ________ by his neighbor's loud music.

Answer 57

vex

Question 58

easily aroused or changeable; lively or explosive -His ________ personality made it hard to predict his reaction to anything.

Answer 58

volatile

Question 59

to fluctuate between choices -If you ________ too long before making a decision about which testing site to register for, you may not get your first choice.

Answer 59

waver

Question 60

acting in a fanciful or capricious manner; unpredictable -The ballet was ________, delighting the children with its imaginative characters and unpredictable sets.

Answer 60

whimsical

Question 61

passion, excitement -She brought her typical ________ to the project, sparking enthusiasm in the other team members.

Answer 61

zeal