GRE Essential Flashcards by Anthony Lipscomb

affable (adj) AFF-uh-bull

Warm and friendly; pleasant; approachable Think about how affable Monson is and how not so affable Mocogni is.

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alacrity (noun) uh-LACK-rit-tee

Cheerful or speedy willingness

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arcane (adj) ar-CANE

Know or understood by only a few/ obscure; secret

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artless (adj) ART-less

Free of deceit or craftiness; natural ; genuine/ lacking skill or knowledge; crude; uncultured

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ascetic (adj; noun) uh-SET-ick

Abstinent or austere in lifestyle (adj)/ A person who leads an austere lifestyle (noun)

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assuage (verb) uh-SWAY-zh

Make milder; relieve/ soothe; pacify; or calm

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audacious (adj) aw-DAY-shus

Very bold or brave; often in a rude or reckless way/ extremely original

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austere (adj) aw-STEER

Severe in manner or appearance/ very self-disciplined; ascetic/ without luxury or ease/ sober or serious

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belie (verb) bih-LIE

Contradict or misrepresent

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boor (noun) BOO-er

Rude; ill-mannered; or insensitive person/ a peasant or country bumpkin

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burgeon (verb) BER-juhn

Grow or flourish rapidly/ put forth buds or shoots (of a plant)

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capricious (adj) cap-REE-shuss

Acting on impulse; erratic

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coalesce (verb) coh-uh-LESS

Come together/ unite/ fuse together

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craven (adj) CRAY-ven

Very cowardly; lacking courage

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credulous (adj) CREDD-joo-luss

Gullible/ prone to believing or trusting too easily or without enough evidence

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deleterious (adj) dell-uh-TEER-ee-uss

Harmful; unhealthful

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desiccate (verb) DESS-ick-ayt

Thoroughly dried up; dehydrated

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din (noun) DIN

Loud; confused noise; esp. for a long period of time

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dispassionate (adj) diss-PASH-shun-it

Unbiased; not having a selfish or personal motivation/ calm; lacking emotion

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enervate (verb) EN-er-vayt

Weaken; tire

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ephemeral (adj) ee-FEM-er-ull

Lasting only a short time

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erudite (adj) AIR-yoo-dite

Scholarly; knowledgeable/ possessing deep; often systematic; knowledge

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esoteric (adj) ess-oh-TAIR-ick

Understood by or intended for only a few/ secret

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exculpate (verb) ECK-skull-payt

Clear from guilt or blame

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exponent (noun) eck-SPOH-nent

Person who expounds or explains/ champion; advocate; or representative

foment (verb) FOH-ment or FAH-ment

Incite; instigate; stir up; promote the growth of/ apply medicated liquid to a body part

gainsay (verb) gayn-SAY

Declare false; deny/ oppose

garrulous (adj) GAIR-ull-uss

Talkative; wordy; rambling

gauche (adj) GOH'sh

Tactless; lacking social grace; awkward; crude

germane (adj) jer-MANE

Relevant and appropriate; on-topic

glib (adj) GLIB

Fluent and easy in a way that suggests superficiality or insincerity

gregarious (adj) greh-GAIR-ee-uss

Sociable; pertaining to a flock or crowd

hackneyed (adj) HACK-need

So commonplace as to be stale/ not fresh or original

hedonist (noun) HEE-dun-ist

Person devoted to pleasure

incendiary (adj) in-SEND-ee-air-ee

Setting on fire; pertaining to arson/ arousing strife; rebellion; etc./ inflaming the senses

inchoate (adj) in-COH-it

Just begun; undeveloped; unorganized

incipient (adj) in-SIP-ee-ent

Just beginning/ in a very early stage

innocuous (adj) in-NOCK-yoo-uss

Harmless; inoffensive

intractable (adj) in-TRACT-uh-bull

Difficult to control; manage; or manipulate/ hard to cure/ stubborn

intrepid (adj) in-TREPP-id

Fearless; brave; enduring in the face of adversity

jocular (adj) JOCK-yoo-ler

Joking or given to joking all the time/ jolly; playful

laconic (adj) luh-CON-ick

using few words; concise

languid (adj) LANG-wid

Drooping from exhaustion; sluggish; slow/ lacking in spirit

lassitude (noun) LASS-it-tood

Tiredness; weariness/ lazy indifference

levity (noun) LEVV-it-tee

lightness (of mind; spirit; or mood) or lack of seriousness; sometimes in an inappropriate way

loquacious (adj) loh-KWAY-shuss

Talkative; wordy

mendacious (adj) men-DAY-shuss

lying; habitually dishonest

mercurial (adj) mer-CURE-ee-ull

Quickly and unpredictably changing moods/ fickle; flighty

mollify (verb) MAH-lih-fy

Calm or soothe (an angry person)/ lessen or soften

nascent (adj) NA-sent or NAY-sent

Coming into existence/ still developing

obsequious (adj) ahb-SEEK-wee-uss

Servile/ very compliant; fawning

obviate (verb) AHB-vee-ayt

Prevent; eliminate; or make unnecessary

officious (adj) uh-FISH-uss

Excessively eager in giving unwanted advice or intruding where one is not wanted/ meddlesome; pushy/ Think about your mother-in-law

opaque (adj) oh-PAYK

Not translucent/ not allowing light; heat; etc. to pass through/ dark; dull; unclear or stupid

paucity (noun) PAW-sit-ee

Scarcity; the state of being small in number

peccadillo (noun) peck-uh-DILL-oh

Small sin or fault

perfidious (adj) per-FIDD-ee-uss

Disloyal; treacherous; violating one's trust

pith (noun) PITH

Core; essence/ significance or weight

precarious (adj) prick-CAIR-ee-uss

Unstable; insecure; dangerous

probity (noun) PROH-bit-ee

Honesty; integrity

profuse (adj) proh-FYOOSS

Abundant; extravagant; giving or given freely

pugnacious (adj) pug-NAY-shuss

Inclined to fight; combative

quotidian (adj) kwoh-TIDD-ee-un

Daily/ everyday; ordinary

requite (verb) rick-WHITE

Reciprocate; repay; or revenge

restive (adj) REST-iv

Impatient or uneasy under the control of another/ resisting being controlled

reticent (adj) RET-iss-sent

Not talking much/ private (of a person); restrained; reserved

sacrosanct (adj) SACK-roh-sank-t

Sacred; inviolable; not to be trespassed on or violated/ above any criticism

sagacious (adj) suh-GAY-shuss

Wise/ showing good judgment and foresight

salubrious (adj) suh-LOO-bree-uss

Healthful; promoting health

sanguine (adj) SANG-gwinn

Cheerfully optimistic/ hopeful/ reddish; ruddy (as in rosy-red cheeks indicting health or vitality)/ Think of 2 Sam's description of young David as 'ruddy'

sedulous (adj) SEDD-joo-luss

Persevering; persistent; diligent in one's efforts

sentient (adj) SENT-shent

Conscious; experiencing sensation or perceiving with the senses

soporific (adj; noun) sah-per-RIFF-ick

Causing sleep/ sleepy; drowsy (adj)/ something that causes sleep (noun)

specious (adj) SPEE-shuss

Seemingly true but actually false/ deceptively attractive

stolid (adj) STAH-lid

Unemotional; showing little emotion; not easily moved

surfeit (noun) SURF-it

Excess; excessive amount; overindulgence

sycophant (noun) SICK-uh-fint

Servile flatterer; parasitic person who fawns in order to get ahead Think about Tom Haverford who is the classic sycophant.

timorous (adj) TIM-er-uss

Fearful; timid

torpor (noun) TORE-pore

Sluggishness; lethargy; or apathy/ a period of inactivity

torrid (adj) TORE-id

Very hot; parching; burning/ passionate

ubiquitous (adj) yoo-BICK-wit-uss

Existing everywhere at the same time

verbose (adj) ver-BOH-ss

Wordy

vituperate (verb) vye-TOO-per-ayt

Verbally abuse; rebuke or criticize harshly

GRE Essential Flashcards

(83 cards)