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GRE vocab > Obscure Words > Flashcards

Obscure Words Flashcards

1
Q

Vituperate

A

To use harsh condemnation, to abuse or berate

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2
Q

Variegated

A

Multicolored

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3
Q

Trenchant

A

Sharply perceptive

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4
Q

Spendthrift

A

One that spends money wastefully

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5
Q

Soporific

A

Causing drowsiness

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6
Q

Recondite

A

Hidden, concealed

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7
Q

Rarefy

A

To make thin or refine

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8
Q

Profligate

A

Excessively wasteful

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9
Q

Astringent

A

Having a tightening effect on tissue

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10
Q

Surfeit

A

An overabundant supply

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11
Q

Salubrious

A

Promoting health

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12
Q

Recalcitrant

A

Defiant, difficult to manage

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13
Q

Prodigal

A

Excessive, wasteful, lavish

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14
Q

Oppobrium

A

Disgrace or contempt, criticism

“his films and the critical opprobrium they have generated”

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15
Q

Infelicitious

A

Unfortunate, inappropriate

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16
Q

Inchoate

A

Not fully formed

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17
Q

Halcyon

A

Calm, peaceful

“the halcyon days of the mid-1980s, when profits were soaring”

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18
Q

Torpid

A

Lethargic, sluggish

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19
Q

Supplant

A

To take the place of or supercede

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20
Q

Redoubtable

A

Awe inspiring or worthy

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21
Q

Quaff

A

To drink deeply

“he quaffed pint after pint of good Berkshire ale”

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22
Q

Penury

A

Poverty

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23
Q

Inveigle

A

To obtain by deception or flattery

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24
Q

Incipent

A

Becoming apparent, coming into being

“he could feel incipient anger building up”

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25
Q

Impecunious

A

Lacking funds

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26
Q

Emollient

A

Soothing, mollifying

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27
Q

Chary

A

Wary or cautious

“most people arechary ofallowing themselves to be photographed”

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28
Q

Bucolic

A

Rustic and pastoral

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29
Q

Burgeon

A

To grow rapidly and flourish

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30
Q

Truculent

A

Eager to fight, cruel or fierce

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31
Q

Precipitate

A

To cause to happen unexpectedly or prematurely

“the incident precipitated a political crisis”

Done suddenly or without thinking carefully

“I must apologize for my staff—their actions were precipitate”

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32
Q

Perspicacious

A

Accutely perceptive

“it offers quite a few facts to the perspicacious reporter”

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33
Q

Perfidy

A

Intentional breach of faith or treachery

“it was an example of his perfidy”

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34
Q

Paean

A

Song of praise and thanksgiving, expression of enthusiastic praise

“his books are paeans to combat”

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35
Q

Dilettante

A

A person who cultivates interest in some subject without commitment

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36
Q

Adumbrate

A

To vaguely foreshadow or outline

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37
Q

Discursive

A

Rambling aimlessly through subjects, digressive

“students often write dull, secondhand, discursive prose”

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38
Q

Assiduous

A

Showing great care and preserverence

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39
Q

Promulgated

A

To promote or make widely known

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40
Q

Castigate

A

Reprimand severely

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41
Q

Pugnacious

A

Eager or quick to quarrel, argue or fight

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42
Q

Skein

A

A tangled,complicated situation

“the skeins ofher long hair”

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43
Q

Pavid

A

Timid

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44
Q

Supplication

A

Begging or asking earnestly

“he fell to his knees in supplication”

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45
Q

Entreaty

A

Earnest or humble request

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46
Q

Apposite

A

Relevant, suitable or fitting

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47
Q

Pertinacious

A

Holding tenaciously to a belief

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48
Q

Fulsome

A

Offensively flattering or insincere

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49
Q

Apoplectic

A

Furious, enraged

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50
Q

Jettison

A

Throw or drop something from an aircraft or ship

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51
Q

Aureate

A

Like gold, elaborate or ornamental

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52
Q

Trundle

A

To move slowly and heavily, often in an uneven way

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53
Q

Sanguine

A

Optimistic or positive, especially in a bad situation

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54
Q

Evanescent

A

soon passing out of sight, memory, or existence; quickly fading or disappearing

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55
Q

Intractable

A

hard to control or deal with, stubborn

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56
Q

Temerity

A

Reckless confidence

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57
Q

Perfunctory

A

Carried out with minimal effort or thought

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58
Q

Tendentious

A

expressing or intending to promote a particular cause or point of view, especially a controversial one

“a tendentious reading of history”

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59
Q

Ingenuous

A

Frank and candid, artless or unsuspecting

“he eyed her with wide, ingenuous eyes”

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60
Q

Fulminate

A

Loudly attack or denounce

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61
Q

Exigent

A

Urgent, pressing or demanding

“the exigent demands of the music took a toll on her voice”

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62
Q

Effrontery

A

Extreme boldness, presumptuousness

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63
Q

Probity

A

Having strong moral principles, honesty and decency

“financial probity”

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64
Q

Demur

A

To raise objections or show reluctance

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65
Q

Pellucidity

A

Allowing the maximum passage of light, transparent

Clear and easy to understand

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66
Q

Prolixity

A

Long windedness

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67
Q

Proscribe

A

To forbid by law,or denounce

“strikes remained proscribed in the armed forces”

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68
Q

Recrudescent

A

Breaking out or renewing

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69
Q

Abjure

A

To renounce or reject solemnly, to avoid

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70
Q

Asperity

A

Severity, rigor

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71
Q

Apotheosis

A

Deification, an exalted example

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72
Q

Asservate

A

To aver, assert, or allege solemnly

“the government has asseverated that a swift trial will be conducted”

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73
Q

Calumniate

A

To slander

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74
Q

Captious

A

Tending to find fault or raise petty objections

“a captious teacher”

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75
Q

Cavil

A

To find fault without good reason

“theycaviled atthe cost”

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76
Q

Celerity

A

Swiftness of movement

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77
Q

Alacrity

A

Brisk, ready and cheerful, quick

“she accepted the invitation with alacrity”

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78
Q

Contumacious

A

Especially in law, rebellious or scornful

“his refusal to make child support payments was contumacious”

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79
Q

Descry

A

To discriminate or discern, to see

“she descried two figures”

80
Q

Desuetude

A

Disuse

“the docksfell into desuetude”

81
Q

Desultory

A

Random, aimless, without planning

“the desultory conversation faded”

82
Q

Diaphanous

A

Gauzy, light, delicate

“a diaphanous dress of pale gold”

83
Q

Econmium

A

Enthusiastic written praise or eulogy

84
Q

Panergyric

A

A speech or public text in praise of someone or something

85
Q

Excoriate

A

To censure or upbraid

86
Q

Expiate

A

To atone or make amends for

“their sins must be expiated by sacrifice”

87
Q

Exscind

A

To cut out

88
Q

Extirpate

A

To root out and destroy

“the use of every legal measure to extirpate this horrible evil from the land”

89
Q

Fatuous

A

Silly, foolish

90
Q

Insouciant

A

Carefree and unconcerned, indifferent

“an insouciant shrug”

91
Q

Inveterate

A

Deep rooted

92
Q

Imbroglio

A

Difficult situation

93
Q

Jejune

A

Vapid, childish, puerile

94
Q

Nugatory

A

Of no value or importance

95
Q

Lubricious

A

Lewd, wanton, greasy

“he probed the ladies for every lubricious detail of their interactions”

96
Q

Mendicant

A

Beggar, supplicant

97
Q

Meretricious

A

Cheap, gaudy, showy

“meretricious souvenirs for the tourist trade”

98
Q

Minatory

A

Menacing

“he is unlikely to be deterred by minatory finger-wagging”

99
Q

Nadir

A

Low point or perigree

100
Q

Ossified

A

To turn to bone, or to become one rigid and reactiknary with age

101
Q

Parsimonious

A

Cheap, misery

102
Q

Peroration

A

The concluding part of a speech, typically flowery or intending to inspire enthusiasm

“he again invoked the theme in an emotional peroration”

103
Q

Plangent

A

Pounding, resounding, often melancholy

“the plangent sound of a harpsichord”

104
Q

Propitiate

A

To appease or concilitate

105
Q

Refractory

A

Stubborn, resistant

“his refractory pony”

106
Q

Pusillaminous

A

Cowardly, craven, timid

107
Q

Remonstrate

A

To protest, object

108
Q

Salutary

A

Remedial, causing improvement

“the salutary Atlantic air”

Wholesome

“a salutary reminder of where we came from”

109
Q

Saturnine

A

Gloomy, morose

110
Q

Sententious

A

Aphoristic or excessively moralizing

“he tried to encourage his men with sententious rhetoric”

111
Q

Epigrammatic

A

In the style of an epigram, concise, clever and amusing

112
Q

Sycophant

A

Toady, a self serving flatterer

113
Q

Tyro

A

Novice, amateur

114
Q

Enervate

A

To drain of energy

115
Q

Gest

A

A tale of adventures

116
Q

Fetter

A

To restrain

117
Q

Unavailed

A

Producing no effect

118
Q

Sidereal

A

Relating to stars or constellations, astral

119
Q

Preternatural

A

Beyond what is normal or natural

120
Q

Vicissitudes

A

A change in fortune, typically unpleasant

121
Q

Homily

A

A sermon, tedious moralizing discourse

122
Q

Simpatico

A

Easy to get along with, friendly

123
Q

Myrmidon

A

A follower or subordinate of a powerful person

124
Q

Consanguinity

A

Related by blood, descended from the same ancestor

125
Q

Coltish

A

Energetic but awkward

126
Q

Blithe

A

Carefree, cheerful and indifferent in a callous way

127
Q

Virescent

A

Greenish

128
Q

Sanguinary

A

Causing bloodshed

129
Q

Adjuvant

A

a substance which enhances the body’s immune response to an antigen

130
Q

Obloquy

A

Abusive language, calumny

131
Q

Pulchritude

A

Beauty

132
Q

Efface

A

To erase or make inconspicuous

133
Q

Parlous

A

Full of danger, precarious

134
Q

Sangfroid

A

Composure or coolness

135
Q

Appose

A

To place with something else

“the specimen wasapposed toX-ray film”

136
Q

Eremetic

A

Isolated

137
Q

Bidizened

A

Dressed up or decorated gaudily

138
Q

Derogate

A

To detract from

139
Q

Parochial

A

Relating to church

140
Q

Arcadian

A

Someone who lives a simple, quiet life

141
Q

Callow

A

Inexperienced and immature

142
Q

Solipsism

A

the view or theory that the self is all that can be known to exist

143
Q

Fissile

A

Easily split

144
Q

Agog

A

Eager or curious

145
Q

Ecumenical

A

Unity among churches, relating to different Christian churches

146
Q

Officious

A

Assertive of authority in an annoyingly domineering way, especially with regard to petty or trivial matters

147
Q

Puffery

A

False or exaggerated praise

148
Q

Stanchion

A

An upright bar, post, or frame forming a support or barrier

149
Q

Confabulation

A

To make up stories, especially to fill gaps of memory

150
Q

Lummox

A

Idiot or clumsy person

151
Q

Vitreous

A

Like glass

152
Q

Aleatory

A

Random

153
Q

Excogitate

A

To think out

154
Q

Mordant

A

Sharp or biting

155
Q

Costive

A

Constipated

156
Q

Dotage

A

Old age

157
Q

Jouissance

A

Pleasure or ecstasy

158
Q

Picayune

A

Petty or worthless

159
Q

Contrapuntal

A

In counterpoint, music with two independent melodic lines

160
Q

Ballast

A

To give stability

161
Q

Asserve

A

To state or assert

162
Q

Conversance

A

Familiarity or personal knowledge

163
Q

Defeasible

A

Open to revision or annulment

164
Q

Unstinting

A

Giving without restraint, unsparing

165
Q

Coruscating

A

Flashing, sparkling

166
Q

Retrench

A

To use austerity, to reduce costs or diminish the size of

167
Q

Teleological

A

Relating to or involving the explanation of phenomena in terms of the purpose they serve rather than of the cause by which they arise

168
Q

Monocoque

A

A type of construction (as of a fuselage) in which the outer skin carries all or a major part of the stresses

169
Q

Pavonine

A

Peacock like

170
Q

Parietal

A

Relating to the wall of the body or of a body cavity or hollow structure

171
Q

Philippic

A

Bitter attack or denunciation

172
Q

Lissome

A

Lithe, thin and supple

173
Q

Olio

A

A miscellaneous collection of things

174
Q

Equable

A

Calm and even tempered

175
Q

Triage

A

Assign degrees of urgency to

“victims were triaged by paramedics before being transported to hospitals”

176
Q

Requite

A

Return a favor to

177
Q

Irredentist

A

Person who advocates restoring to their country any former territories

178
Q

Putative

A

Reputed, known

“the putative author of the book”

179
Q

Apprise

A

To inform or tell someone

180
Q

Quietus

A

Death or release from life

181
Q

Hale

A

Strong or hearty

182
Q

Labile

A

Liable to change, easily altered

183
Q

Tergiversate

A

To equivocate or change loyalties

184
Q

Quisling

A

A traitor who cooperates with an occupying force

185
Q

Investiture

A

The act of formally investing rank or awards upon someone

186
Q

Stolid

A

Calm, dependable, showing little emotion

187
Q

Flagitious

A

Criminal or villainous

188
Q

Apocryphal

A

Stories of doubtful authenticity often taken as true

189
Q

Sobriquet

A

A nickname

190
Q

Divagate

A

Stray, digress

“Yeats divagated into Virgil’s territory only once”

191
Q

Inter

A

To place in a grave, hold a funeral for

192
Q

Manumit

A

Release from slavery

193
Q

Imperious

A

Arrogant and domineering

194
Q

Abrogate

A

To do away with or repeal

195
Q

Tumescent

A

Swelling, pretentious or pompous

196
Q

Fettle

A

To clean or trim the rough edges of

197
Q

Dross

A

Rubbish

GRE vocab (2 decks)

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