GRE Vocab Flashcards
Alacrity
eager willingness to do something
“When I get to work I lack alacrity; I just stare at my computer and wait for 5 o’clock to roll around”
Prosaic
dull and lacking imagination
“All I can say is I’m terrible at arts and crafts. Everything ends up prosaic and blahhh”
Veracity
truthful
“Alyssa is known for her veracity, thats what makes her a good friend. She’s not afraid to tell you the good and the bad”
Paucity
lack of something
“Paul seems to have a paucity of money. How will we pay the bills?”
Maintain
Assert
Contrite
Remorseful
Laconic
A person who uses very few words
“I typically go for the guy who is very outgoing but this guy is different. He’s laconic and quiet”
Pugnacious
one who argues aggressively about everything
“My dad is very good at giving people a hard time but as soon as someone does it him he becomes pugnacious making the person feel bad”
Disparate
Fundamentally different
“Speech and and religion are so disparate they can’t even been compared”
Egregious
standing out in a negative way
Innocuous
harmless, produces no ill effect
“Unless you have a thin skin, Ike’s sarcasm is innocuous”
Candid
straightforward and honest
“When I take a double chin photo it is more candid than a selfie”
Erratic
Unpredictable, strange and unconventional
“It doesn’t surprise me when Chris has many different jobs and talks a million words a minute. His ADHD makes him erratic”
Bleak
very depressing
“After my parents divorce the future seemed bleak, but time passed and think turned to be better then I could have believed”
Profuse
literally pours out in abundance
“The first and second day of my period are so profuse I have to wear more than the average. After that it’s hardly anything”
Extant
to still be in existence
“Most people believe marriage is becoming extincting but I believe it will be more extant than people believe”
Contentious
likes to argue
“I feel like my father is so contentious. We can never have a peaceful discussion”
Auspicious
favorable
“I was auspicious of Trump until i heard the filth coming out of his mouth about women”
Enervate
sap the energy from
“I am awake and ready to go at the beginning of the day. By 3 o’clock i feel enervated.
Equivocate
to speak vaguely, usually with the intention to mislead
“As a teenage I would equivocate with my parents often so I could trick them into letting me do things”
Ambivalent
having mixed feelings or emotions about something
Sedulous
the opposite of idle, working diligently and carefully
“I sedulous study for the GRE by listening to lectures on Magoosh and making flashcards”
Stem
hold back or limit the flow or growth of something
“To stem the tide of applications, schools require you to get a certain score on the GRE”
Blinkered
limited outlook or understanding
“A teenager has a blinkered mindset believing they know everything when they have only had a little experience in life”
Unchecked
Describing something undesirable that has grow out of control
“When my mom decided to move, she let the grass die and didn’t do any yard work, leaving the weeks unchecked and the grass dead”
Checkered
A past that is marked by disreputable happenings
“One by one, the presidential candidates dropped out of the race, their respective checkered pasts—
from embezzlement to infidelity—sabotaging their campaigns”
Raft
A large number of something
“Even though Ralph had a raft of pens, he didn’t hesitate and bought 20 more”
Involved
complicated, difficult to comprehend
“Anatomy is very involved; you have to memorize everything and every part from the toes to the head”
Retiring
shy, to be inclined to retract from company
“Nelson was always the first to leave soirees—rather than mill about with “fashionable” folk, he was
retiring, and preferred the solitude of his garret.”
Expansive
communicative, prone to talking in a sociable manner
“After a few sips of cognac, the octogenarian shed his irascible demeanor and became expansive,
speaking fondly of the “good old days”.”
Moment
Significant and important
“Despite the initial hullabaloo, the play was of no great moment in Hampton’s writing career, and,
within a few years, the public quickly forgot his foray into theater arts.”
Base
contemptible and ignoble
“She was not so base as to begrudge the beggar the unwanted crumbs from her dinner plate.”
Imbibe
An intake of knowledge or information
“Plato imbibed Socrates’ teachings to such an extent that he was able to write volumes of work that he
directly attributed, sometimes word for word, to Socrates.”
Inundate
being overwhelmed by too many people or things
“The newsroom was inundated with false reports that only made it more difficult for the newscasters
to provide an objective account of the bank robbery”
Scintillating
someone who is brilliant and lively
“Richard Feynman was renowned for his scintillating lectures—the arcana of quantum physics was made
lucid as he wrote animatedly on the chalkboard.”
Benighted
falling into a state of ignorance
“Far from being a period of utter benightedness, The Medieval Ages produced some inestimable works
of theological speculation.”
Galvanize
to excite to action or to spur on
“At mile 23 of his first marathon, Kyle had all but given up, until he noticed his friends and family
holding a banner that read, “Go Kyle”; galvanized, he broke into a gallop, finishing the last three
miles in less than 20 minutes.”
Hedge
to avoid making a direct statement, as in equivocating
“When asked why he had decided to buy millions of shares at the very moment the tech companies
stock soared, the CEO hedged, mentioning something vague about gut instinct.”
Flush
to be in abundance
to drive out of hiding
“The GRE Reading Comprehension passage is flush with difficult words, words that you may have
learned only yesterday.”
Fell
terrible wicked
“For fans of the Harry Potter series, the fell Lord Voldemort, who terrorized poor Harry for seven
lengthy installments, has finally been vanquished by the forces of good—unless, that is, JK Rowling
decides to come out of retirement.”
Arch
deliberately teasing
“The baroness was arch, making playful asides to the townspeople; yet because they couldn’t pick up on
her dry humor, they thought her supercilious.”
Beg
evade a question, invite an obvious question, ask a question in itself is makes unwarranted presumptions
“By assuming that Charlie was headed to college—which he was not—Maggie begged the question when
she asked him to which school he was headed in the Fall.”
Tender
when you offer up something
“The government was loath to tender more money in the fear that it might set off inflation.”
Intimate
to suggest something subtly
“At first Manfred’s teachers intimated to his parents that he was not suited to skip a grade; when his
parents protested, teachers explicitly told them that, notwithstanding the boy’s precocity, he was
simply too immature to jump to the 6th grade.”
Wanting
lacking
“She did not find her vocabulary wanting, yet there were so many GRE vocabulary words that inevitably
she did not know a few.”
Becoming
appropriate and matches nicely
“Her dress was becoming and made her look even more beautiful.”
Start
suddenly move or dart in a particular direction
“All alone in the mansion, Henrietta started when she heard a sound.”
Fleece
to deceive
” Many have been fleeced by Internet scams and have never received their money back.”
Telling
significant and revealing to another factor
“Her unbecoming dress was very telling when it came to her sense of fashion.”
Wax
to increase
“Her enthusiasm for the diva’s new album only waxed with each song; by the end of the album, it was
her favorite CD yet.”
Check
to limit
“When government abuses are not kept in check, that government is likely to become autocratic.”
Qualify
to limit a statement or opinion
I love San Francisco.
I love San Francisco, but it is always windy.
The first statement shows my unqualified love for San Francisco. In the second statement I qualify, or
limit, my love for San Francisco.
Miserly
you pinch every penny (negative connotation)
Frugal
you spend money wisely (positive connotation)
“Monte was no miser, but was simply frugal, wisely spending the little that he earned.”
Prevaricate
to speak in an evasive way
“The cynic quipped, “There is not much variance in politicians; they all seem to prevaricate”. “
Variance
the quality of varying
“The cynic quipped, “There is not much variance in politicians; they all seem to prevaricate”.”
Histrionic
to be overly theatrical
“Though she received a B- on the test, she had such a histrionic outburst that one would have thought
that she’d been handed a death sentence.”
Demur
a verb meaning to object or show reluctance
“Wallace dislike the cold, so he demurred when his friends suggested they going skiing in the Alps.”
Demure
to be modest and shy
“This word is typically used to describe a woman, so don’t call a man demure, as they will surely demur.”
Beatific
one who radiates bliss
“Marred by the ravages of time, the idols were hardly beautiful, yet each seemed to emanate a beatific
aura that not even 500 years could diminish.”
Perfunctory
done in a routine way, carelessly
Like washing the dishes. Dishes are perfunctory
Preemptive
to act before someone else does
“Just as Martha was about to take the only cookie left on the table, Noah preemptively swiped it.”
Peremptory
you are bossy and domineering
“My sister used to peremptorily tell me to do the dishes, a chore I would either do perfunctorily or
avoid doing altogether.”
Indigent
poor, having very little means
“In the so-called Third World, many are indigent and only a privileged few have the wherewithal to
enjoy material luxuries.”
Indigenous
relating to a certain area
“The flora and fauna indigenous to Australia are notably different from those indigenous to the U.S—
one look at a duckbill platypus and you know you’re not dealing with an opossum.”
Indignant
to feel anger over perceived injustice
” you don’t want to be indignant the day
of the test, when ETS just happens to pick that one word you always end up confusing with another
word.”
Errant
wandering, not sticking to a circumscribed path; deviating from acceptable behavior or standards
“Unlike his peers, who spent their hours studying in the library, Matthew preferred errant walks
through the university campus to help his brain function.”
Arrant
complete and utter; usually modifies a noun with a negative connotation
“An arrant fool, Lawrence surprised nobody when he lost all his money in a pyramid scheme that was
every bit as transparent as it was corrupt.”
Errand
small chore
“Maria carried out her errands with dispatch, completing most before noon.”
Err
to make an error
“He erred in thinking that errant and arrant were synonyms.”
Artless
person who is innocent, guileless
“Finally, artful and artless can refer back to the original usage of art. Therefore, Picasso is artful and I
am artless. However, the GRE rarely, if ever, tests these definitions.”
Artful
to be cunning and wily
“Finally, artful and artless can refer back to the original usage of art. Therefore, Picasso is artful and I
am artless. However, the GRE rarely, if ever, tests these definitions.”
Artifice
to be artful
Expurgate
to remove objectionable material
When a movie has been edited for TV and all the F-words are taken out. Think of the beep
Expunge
to wipe out or remove any trace of
Censure
express strong disapproval of that person
Censor
Refer to expurgate; synonyms
Ponderous
to be weighed down, to move slowly and in a labored fashion
Imponderable
somethings that is impossible to estimate, fathom, or figure out.
Kowtow
kneeling down before a person. Negative connotation showing that person is submissive.
“Paul kowtowed to his boss so often the boss herself soon became nauseated by his sycophancy.”
Powwow
informal discussion or colloquy
“Before the team takes the field, the coach always calls for a powwow so that he can make sure all the
players are mentally in the right place.”
Junta
an aggressive take over by a group
“As dangerous of a threat as North Korea is, some analysts believe that were a junta suddenly to
gain power, it could be even more unpredictable and bellicose than the current leadership.”
Imbroglio
describes a confusing and potentially embarrassing situation
“The chef cook-off featured one gourmand who had the unfortunate distinction of mixing the wrong
broths, creating an imbroglio that viewers will not soon forget.”
Juggernaut
any large force that cannot be stopped
“Napoleon was considered a juggernaut, until he decided to invade Russia in winter; within weeks his
once seemingly indomitable army was decimated by cold and famine.”
Schadenfreude
someone cackling sardonically at the suffering of others
“From his warm apartment window, Stanley reveled in schadenfreude as he laughed at the figures
below, huddled together in the arctic chill.”
