GRE Vocabulary

Ambiguous

- not clear, hard to understand, open to having several meanings or interpretations - The meaning of this ancient text is ________: either we are missing some cultural context or else the writer actually wanted to be mysterious.

Complaint

- obeying, submissive; following the requirements - Those who are not ________ with the regulations will be put on probation and possibly expelled.

Apathy/Apathetic

- not caring; absence of feeling; lack of interest or concern - Many parents of teens are concerned by their teens' _______ about the future.

Abridge/Abridged

- Condense or curtail; shorten by omitting parts throughout while retaining the main idea - Our romantic vacation was _____ when the babysitter called to say that the kids were sick

Affectation/Affected

- Fake behavior (such as in speech or dress) adopted to give a certain impression - I'm annoyed whenever americans move to England and suddenly start speaking with an __________ British accent.

Chauvinism/Chauvinist/Chauvinistic

- Fanatical patriotism or blind enthusiasm for military glory; undue or biased devotion to any group, cause, etc. - He is such a ________ that he denies that any other nation could be better than ours at anything.

Aggregate

- Gather together, amount to; constituting a whole made up of constituent parts; a collection of things forming a whole - While some of the company's divisions did better than others, in _______, we made a profit.

Conundrum

- a riddle/mystery - Sherlock Holmes is famous for his ability to solve the most complex _____ with simple observations.

Aberrant/Aberration

- abnormal, deviant - The teen's ______ behavior made his family suspect that he was using drugs.

Anarchy

- absence of law or government; chaos, disorder - Once the dictator was assassinated, the country fell into total _______, as none of the opposition groups were strong enough to seize power.

Ascetic/Asceticism

- abstinent or austere in lifestyle; a person who leads an austere and simple life without material pleasures, especially someone who does this for religious reasons - _______ such as monks take actual vows of poverty.

Capricous/Caprice

- acting on impulse; erratic - The headmaster's punishments were _______: break the rules one day, you get a warning, but break them another day, you get expelled.

Artifact

- any object made by humans, especially those from an earlier time, such as those excavated by archeologists - The archeologists dug up countless _______, from simple pottery shards and coins to complex written tablets.

Concur

- approve/agree - John Locke wrote that justice is based on a social contract, and I ______. In fact, my latest book is all about contractual justice.

Chronological

- arranged in or relating to time order - The point of making a timeline is to put the information in __________ order.

Canonical/Canon

- authorized; recognized; pertaining to a body of accepted rules, standards, or artistic works - School boards often start controversies when replacing _______ books in the curriculum with modern literature.

Arbitrary

- based entirely on one's direction; capricious, unreasonable, or having no basis - The judge's ruling was truly _______: one defendant got community service for stealing a TV while another got 3 years for the same crime.

Caustic

- capable of corroding metal or burning the skin; very critical or sarcastic - Wait, those chemicals are ______! You need safety gloves and glasses before performing the experiment.

Alienate/Inalienable

- cause to become unfriendly, hostile, or distant - The host was trying to help, but only ______ her viewers when she suggested that they cope with the tough economy by checking themselves into a spa.

Catalyst

- causer of change - The young manager was a _____ at the old company. Once he introduced employee laptops, telecommuting, and mobile workstations, even the most conventional employees totally changed the way they worked.

Archaic/Archaism

- characteristic of an earlier period, ancient, primitive - The school's ________ computer system predated even floppy disks - it stored records on tape drives.

Alacrity

- cheerful or speedy willingness - Any boss wants an employee to respond with ______ to their requests, handling them promptly and with enthusiasm.

Coalesce

- come together, unite; fuse together - While at first everyone on the team was jockeying for power and recognition, eventually, the group _______ and everyone was happy to share credit for a job well done.

Analogous

- comparable, corresponding in some particular way - In the US, whenever opponents of a war want to suggest that the war is not winnable, they point out all of the ways in which the war is _______ to the Vietnam War.

Complementary

- completing; fitting together well; filling mutual needs - The couple had ______ personalities: while he is overwhelmed with details, she takes care of everything.

Aesthetic/Aesthete

- concerning the appreciation of beauty or good taste; pertaining to the science of what is beautiful; a set of principles or tastes guiding an artistic practice - One twin possessed a truly baroque ________, preferring golden, gilded decor. The other twin lived in a world of pure logic, untouched by any ______ sense whatsoever.

Confer

- consult, compare views; bestow or give - A PhD ________ upon a person the dight to be addressed as "Doctor"

Belie

- contradict or misrepresent - The actress's public persona as a perky girl next door ______ her private penchant for abusing her assistants and demanding that her trailer be filled with luxury goods.

Contentious/Contend/Contention

- controversial; prone to causing arguments, especially gratuitous or petty ones - The death penalty is a ______ issue that is constantly debated about.

Castigate

- criticize severely; punish in order to correct - At the grocery store, the mother attracted stares when she ______, rather than admonished, her child for throwing a box of instant oatmeal

Aver

- declare or affirm with confidence; say - I _______ that the existence of natural rights inevitably leads to certain immutable ethical boundaries.

Antipathy

- deep dislike, aversion, or repugnance, sometimes without reason - The environmentalist had nothing but ________ for the mining company drilling in and polluting his hometown

Anomaly/Anomalous

- deviation from what is common; inconsistency - While the cosmetics division of the company has many female executives, it is an _________; in the rest of the company, only 4% of management positions are filled with women

Abhor

- disgust, regard with disgust - "I _______ you! I would rather date a fish."

Appreciable

- enough to be perceived, considerable - She ruefully concluded that the diet was a scam and had made no _______ difference in her appearance - after 4 weeks, she had lost 3/4 of a pound.

Avid/Avidity

- enthusiastic, dedicated, passionate; excessively desirous - An _______ cyclist, she was on her bike every weekend, and even bought the same bike that Lance Armstrong last ed in the tour de France.

Connoisseur

- expert, especially in the fine arts; person of educated, refined tastes - A chocolate _______, Mom eschews grocery store brands and will only eat 80% cocoa or higher artisanal chocolate.

Bogus

- fake/fraudulent - The back of his bodybuilding magazine was full of ads for ______ products, including one that promised 22 inch biceps just from wearing magnetic armbands!

Ascertain

- find out with certainty - Hopefully, the investigation will allow us to _____ who is at fault here.

Abdicate/Abdicating

- formally give up the throne (or some other power or responsibility) - King Edward VIII of England famously ________ the throne in order to marry an American divorcee.

Artless

- free of deceit or craftiness, natural, genuine; lacking skill or knowledge, crude, uncultured - Children can be so _____ that, when you try to explain war to them, they say things like "but isn't that mean?"

Concede/Concession

- give in, admit, yield, acknowledge reluctantly; grant or give up - Each side's representatives instructed their home countries to make no ________ as negotiations were pointless.

Abjure

- give up, renounce; repudiate, recant, or shun (especially formally or under oath) - To become a citizen of the US, you must ______ loyalty to the nation of your birth.

Bureaucracy/Bureaucratic

- government characterized by many bureaus and petty administrators or by excessive, seemingly meaningless requirements - Some nations have a worse reputation for _____ than others; in order to get a visa, he had to file papers with four different agencies, wait for three hours in three different waiting rooms, and weeks later, follow up with some petty _______ who complained about the original applications.

Burgeon

- grown or flourish rapidly; put forth buds or shoots (of a plant) - The dictator was concerned about the people's ________ discontent and redoubled his personal security.

Benign/Benignant

- harmless; favorable; kindly; gentle or beneficial; not cancerous - He was relieved when the biopsy results informed him that the growth was ________.

Cacophony/Cacophonous

- harsh, discordant, or meaningless mixture of sounds - The first day of elementary school marching band practice was nothing by _______, as students who had not learned how to play their instruments at all nevertheless banged on or puffed air into them.

Abstain/Abstemious

- hold back, refrain (especially from something bad or unhealthy); decline to vote - The church board voted on whether to hold an _________ rally to encourage young people not to be sexually active

Conversely

- in an opposite way; on the other hand - I am not here to argue that lack of education causes poverty. _____, I am here to argue that poverty causes lack of education.

Construe

- interpret or translate - I do not know how you _______ my comment as an insult. All I said was "Wow, I did not know you could sing."

Conversant

- knowledgable about or experienced with - For an opera singer, she is unusually _________ in physics (she just explained the purpose of the large hadron collider).

Arcane/Arcanum

- known or understood by only a few; obscure, secret - To win at Jeopardy, you must be full of _______ knowledge.

Console

- lessen the suffering or grief of; a control panel, or small table or cabinet - I was unable to ______ Tina after she fell asleep at the head of the plain and failed her pilot's exam.

Alleviate

- lessen, make easier to endure - The stimulus package has _________ the pangs of the economic recession, but times are still tough.

Clinch

- make final or settle conclusively; to fasten or hold together - When their best player was benched, the team fell behind, but once he was allowed back in the game, the team was able to _____ the win.

Aggrandize/Self-Aggrandizing

- make greater; exaggerate - I cannot stand when my coworker _______ her role in our group projects. Stop it with your constant ___________; we do not care how many automobiles you own!

Antagonize/Antagonistic

- make hostile or unfriendly - Stop ______ your little brother! Give him back the firetruck and tell him you are sorry for pulling his hair!

Augment

- make larger - If you memorize the definitions of all of these flashcards, you will have notably __________ your vocab!

Assuage

- make milder, relieve; soothe, pacify, or calm - after losing a million dollar account, he tried to ______ his furious boss by pointing out that he was close to winning a new account worth at least as much.

Cartography

- mapmaking - The invention of better navigation tools had major effects on ________: the more ships knew precisely where they were sailing, the better the world could be mapped.

Admonish/Admonition

- mildly scold; caution, advise, or remind to do something - She was an exacting boss who castigated an employee for jamming the copier, yet she merely _________ her five year old for the same offense

Base

- morally low, mean, dishonorable; of little or no value; crude and unrefined, counterfeit - His philanthropy was underlied by true ______ motives - he was actually funneling drug money through the Children's defense fund!

Converge

- move towards one another or towards a point; unite - I know we are driving to the wedding from different states, but our routes will _______ when we reach I-95

Clamor

- noisy uproar or protest, as from a crowd; a loud, continuous noise - As soon as a scent of scandal emerged, the press was ________ for details.

Apocryphal/Apocrypha

- of questionable authenticity; false - The letter from George Washington you found at the garage sale is clearly ________- it is riddled with anarchinisms and he did not reference Martha as "baby".

Candid/Candor

- open, sincere, honest - Allow me to be _________: you do look rather poorly in those pants, and I think you should wear something else.

Adverse/Adversity

- opposing, harmful - Pioneer women persevered despite _______ circumstance, even when fording a river against an _______ current.

Condone

- overlook, tolerate, regard as harmless - While underage drinking is illegal, at many schools, it is __________ by administrations that neglect to enforce anti drinking policies.

Appease

- pacify, satisfy, relieve; concede to belligerent demands, sometimes at the expense of principles - I am hoping to _____ my mom by spending Christmas at her house this year

Bygone

- past, former; that which is in the past - At the nursing home, the time to reminisce about _______ days was pretty much all the time.

Contextualize

- place in context, such as by giving the background or circumstances - Virginia Woolf's feminism is hard to truly understand unless _______ within the mores of the highly restrained, upper class English society of her time.

Copious

- plentiful, bountiful - Although she took ______ notes in class, she found that she was missing the big picture that would tied all the information together.

Conciliatory

- reconciling, appeasing, attempting to make the peace - The hotel manager was horrified at how the guest had been treated, and approached him in a ________ manner, offering him numerous freebies and apologizing repeatedly

Abate/Abatement

- reduce, diminish - Her stress over spending so much money on a house ___________ when the real estate broker told her about the property's 15-year __________.

Balk

- refuse to proceed or to do something - at the company retreat, he reluctantly agreed to participate in the ropes course, but ______ at walking over hot coals as a trust exercise.

Abrasive/Abrade

- rough, suitable for grinding or polishing (such as sandpaper); causing irritation or annoyance - Could the inside of this mascot costume be any more _______? It have some seriously ______ remarks for whoever designed this thing.

Anoint/Anointed

- rub or sprinkle oil on; make sacred, such as by a ceremony that includes applying oil onto someone - After the principle raised test scores over 60% at her school, it was only a matter of time before she was _______ superintendent by a fawning school board.

Boor/Boorish

- rude, ill mannered, or insensitive person; a peasant or country bumpkin - Milkin was such a _________ that, when Jane brought him home to meet her parents, he laughed at their garden gnome and made fun of everyone's hairstyles in old family photos.

Autonomous/Autonomy

- self governing, independent - As the leader of an _______ region, the president was received as a peer by some world leaders, although he was not entitled to send a representative to the UN.

Complacent

- self satisfied, smug; overly content (and therefore lazy, neglectful, or some other bad quality) - They have grown _____ to their success, and now they just assume they will win without having to sweat.

Austere/Austerity

- severe in manner or appearance; very self disciplined; ascetic; without luxury or ease; sober or serious - Her design was so minimalist as to be ________.

Buffer

- something that shields, protects, absorbs shocks, or cushions - During the colonial era, England wanted Georgia as a ______ between its original colonies and Spanish Florida.

Advocate

- speak or argue in favor of; a person who pleads for a cause or on behalf of another person - I cannot possibly vote for a candidate who __________ oil drilling in federally protected natural preserves.

Constrict

- squeeze, compress; restrict the freedom of - The children disliked being gussied up in ________ clothing for a formal wedding.

Adhere

- stick (to), such as with glue, or to a plan or belief - I had a message board that ________ to my refrigerator with magnets

Bolster

- strengthen or support - the general requested reinforcements to _______ the defensive line set up at the border.

Censure

- strong disapproval or official reprimand; to issue such disapproval or reprimand - The Senator was ________ by the Senate for campaign fund improprieties (he narrowly avoided being expelled from office).

Acme

- summit, peak, highest point - The _________ of my vacation was when I climbed to the _________ of the mountain and enjoyed the view.

Buttress

- support or encourage; a support or prop, especially projecting from and supporting the wall of a building - A self defense class really helped to ______ Elaine's confidence.

Corroborate

- support, add evidence to - I have a hard time believing your story. Is there anyone who can _______ your story?

Activism/Activist

- the practice of pursuing political or other goals through vigorous action, often including protests and demonstrations - Lindsay's parents had a hard time accepting that their daughter had decided to enter the low-paying field of environmental ________.

Commensurate

- the same in size, extent, etc.; equivalent, proportional - According to the course catalog, you can take Advanced Japanese following Japanese III, or ___________ experience with the language.

Convoluted

- twisted, very complicated - Your argument is so _____ that I am not even able to understand it enough to start critiquing it.

Ambivalent/Ambivalence

- uncertain; unable to decide; wanting to do two contradictory things at once - I am _______; I do not know how I am going to decide on what to do./When I asked you if you wanted to get married some day, your ________ hurt my feelings.

Consolidate

- unite, combine, solidify, make coherent - She _____ her student loans so she would only have to make one payment per month.

Articulate

- using language in a clear, fluent way; speak distinctly or give clarity to an idea - She's so ______ that I am sure she will make a good lawyer since she can speak so well.

Audacious

- very bold or brave, often in a rude or reckless way; extremely original - He ________ asked for a raise after working at the company for less than two months!

Cogent

- very convincing; logical - Studying logic is an excellent way to improve at formulating ______ arguments.

Arduous

- very difficult, strenuous, severe, hard to endure - The _______ hike up rocky terrain was all worth it once the hiker reached the summit.

Affable/Affability

- warm and friendly, pleasant, approachable - The professional wrestler played a belligerence in the ring, but in real life, he was quite an _______ fellow: sociable, easy-going, and always ready to lend a hand.