Barron's GRE with sentences - Complete Wordlist

abnegation

renunciation; self-sacrifice Though Rudolph and Duchess Flavia loved one another, their love was doomed, for she had to wed the king; their act of abnegation was necessary to preserve the kingdom.

alliteration

repetition of beginning sound in poetry "The furrow followed free" is an example of alliteration.

abrasive

rubbing away; tending to grind down Just as abrasive cleaning powders can wear away a shiny finish, abrasive remarks can wear away a listener's patience.

acclivity

sharp upslope of a hill The car could not go up the acclivity in high gear.

acrid

sharp; bitterly pungent The acrid odor of burnt gunpowder filled the room after the pistol had been fired.

acuity

sharpness In time his youthful acuity of vision failed him, and he needed glasses.

aegis

shield; defense, (n.) protection; patronage; sponsorship Under the aegis of the Bill of Rights, we enjoy our most treasured freedoms.

adroit

skillful, (adj.) skillful, expert in the use of the hands or mind His adroit handling of the delicate situation pleased his employers.

acidulous

slightly sour; sharp; caustic James was unpopular because of his sarcastic and acidulous remarks.

adjuration

solemn urging, a solemn and earnest appeal to someone to do something Her adjuration to tell the truth did not change the witnesses' testimony.

adjunct

something attached to but holding an inferior position I will entertain this concept as an adjunct to the main proposal.

adjutant

staff officer assisting the commander; assistant Though Wellington delegated many tasks to his chief adjutant, Lord Fitzroy Somerset, Somerset was in no doubt as to who made all major decisions.

allege

state without proof It is alleged that she had worked for the enemy.

acrimonious

stinging, caustic His tendency to utter acrimonious remarks alienated his audience.

agitate

stir up; disturb;To bother or upset someone; To move violently; to disturb Her fiery remarks agitated the already angry mob., ,

allegory

story in which characters are used as symbols; fable Pilgrim's Progress is an allegory of the temptations and victories of the human soul.

alimentary

supplying nourishment The alimentary canal in our bodies is so named because digestion of foods occurs there.

adherent

supporter; follower In the wake of the scandal, the senator's one-time adherent quietly deserted him.

adverse

unfavorable; hostile adverse circumstances compelled him to close his business.

abortive

unsuccessful; fruitless We had to abandon our abortive attempts.

aloft

upward The sailor climbed aloft into the rigging.

ablution

washing His daily ablutions were accompanied by loud noises that he humorously labeled "Opera in the Bath."

adage

wise saying; proverb There is much truth in the old adage about fools and their money.

abject

wretched; lacking pride On the streets of New York the homeless live in abject poverty, huddling in doorways to find shelter from the wind.

affidavit

written statement made under oath, A written statement confirmed by oath or affirmation, for use as evidence in court The court refused to accept his statement unless he presented it in the form of an affidavit.

amiss

wrong; faulty Seeing her frown, he wondered if anything were amiss.

amnesty

(n.) a general pardon for an offense against a government; in general, any act of forgiveness or absolution

alias

(n.) an assumed name, especially as used to hide one's identity; (adv.) otherwise called John Smith's alias was Bob Jones.,

agape

Adj or adverb: with mouth wide open, as in wonder, surprise, or eagernss, openmouthed, She stared, agape, at the many strange animals in the zoo.

ambidextrous

capable of using either hand with equal ease, (adj.) able to use both hands equally well; very skillful; deceitful, hypocritical A switch-hitter in baseball should be naturally ambidextrous.

abusive

coarsely insulting; physically harmful An abusive parent damages a child both mentally and physically.

amass

collect, (v.) to bring together, collect, gather, especially for oneself; to come together, assemble The miser's aim is to amass and hoard as much gold as possible.

agglomeration

collection; heap, A process involving the clustering or concentrating of people or activities. The term often refers to manufacturing plants and businesses that benefit from close proximity because they share skilled-labor pools and technological and financial amenities. It took weeks to assort the agglomeration of miscellaneous items she had collected on her trip.

ambulatory

able to walk; A patient that can walk or move from place to place. Not bedridden. He was described as an ambulatory patient because he was not confined to his bed.,

abrogate

abolish He intended to abrogate the decree issued by his predecessor.

affluence

abundance; wealth Foreigners are amazed by the affluence and luxury of the American way of life.

adventitious

accidental; casual He found this adventitious meeting with his friend extremely fortunate.

addendum

addition; appendix to book Jane's editor approved her new comparative literature text but thought it would be even better with an addendum on recent developments in literary criticism.

acclimate

adjust to climate or environment One of the difficulties of our present air age is the need of travellers to acclimate themselves to their new and often strange environments.

accede

agree If I accede to this demand for blackmail, I am afraid that I will be the victim of future demands.

amiable

agreeable; lovable; Friendly, sociable, and congenial, civil and urbane His amiable disposition pleased all who had dealings with him.,

accord

agreement She was in complete accord with the verdict.

aloof

apart; reserved, (adj.) withdrawn, standing apart from others (usually as a matter of choice) Shy by nature, she remained aloof while all the rest conversed.

accost

approach and speak first to a person When the two young men accosted me, I was frightened because I thought they were going to attack me.

advent

arrival Most Americans were unaware of the advent of the Nuclear Age until the news of Hiroshima reached them.

affected

artificial; pretended His affected mannerisms irritated may of us who had known him before his promotion.

acquiesce

assent; agree passively Although she appeared to acquiesce to her employer's suggestions, I could tell she had reservations about the changes he wanted made.

abet

assist, usually in doing something wrong She was unwilling to abet him in the swindle he had planned.

affix

attach or add on; fasten First the registrar had to affix his signature to the license; then he had to affix his official seal.

accolade

award of merit In Hollywood, an "Oscar" is the highest accolade.

abut

border upon; adjoin Where our estates abut, we must build a fence.

abysmal

bottomless His arrogance is exceeded only by his abysmal ignorance.

actuarial

calculating; pertaining to insurance statistics According to recent actuarial tables, life expectancy is greater today than it was a century ago.

allay

calm; pacify The crew tried to allay the fears of the passengers by announcing that the fire had been controlled.

accrue

come about by addition You must pay the interest that has accrued on your debt as well as the principal sum.

amenities

convenient features; courtesies In addition to the customary amenities for the business traveler; Convenient Features; Makes You More Comfortable -- fax machines, modems, a health club -- the hotel offers the services of a butler versed in social amenities.,

amend

correct; change, generally for the better Hoping to amend his condition, he left Vietnam for the United States.

affable

courteous, (adj.) courteous and pleasant, sociable, easy to speak to Although he held a position of responsibility, he was an affable individual and could be reached by anyone with a complaint.

adorn

decorate Wall paintings and carved statues adorned the temple.

acquittal

deliverance from a charge His acquittal by the jury surprised those who had thought him guilty.

abash

embarrass He was not at all abashed by her open admiration.

allure

entice; attract, (v.) to entice, tempt; to be attractive to; (n.) a strong attraction; the power to attract, charm allured by the song of the sirens, the helmsman steered the ship toward the reef.

ambience

environment; atmosphere She went to the restaurant not for the food but for the ambience.

accoutre

equip The fisherman was accoutred with the best that the sporting goods store could supply

adulation

flattery; admiration The rock star thrived on the adulation of his groupies and yes-men.

ambrosia

food of the godsExceptionally pleasing to taste or smell; extremely delicious; excellent ambrosia was supposed to give immortality to any human who ate it.,

amicable

friendly The dispute was settled in an amicable manner with no harsh words.

amity

friendship Student exchange programs such as the Experiment in International Living were established to promote international amity.

accretion

growth; increase The accretion of wealth marked the family's rise in power.

adamant

hard, inflexible He was adamant in his determination to punish the wrongdoer.

agog

highly excited; intensely curious; amazed; wide-eyed with enthusiasm We were all agog at the news that the celebrated movie star was giving up his career in order to enter a monastery.,

amok

in a state of rage, Behave uncontrollably and disruptively. The police had to be called in to restrain him after he ran amok in the department store.

allusion

indirect reference the allusions to mythological characters in Milton's poems bewilder the reader who has not studied Latin.

affront

insult; offend, (n.) an open or intentional insult; a slight; (v.) to insult to one's face; to face in defiance , confront Accustomed to being treated with respect, Miss Challoner was affronted by Vidal's offensive behavior.

affiliation

joining; associating with His affiliation with the political party was of short duration for he soon disagreed with his colleagues.

affinity

kinship, a natural relationship, a kinship She felt an affinity with all who suffered; their pains were her pains., A likeness.

abominate

loathe; hate Moses scolded the idol worshippers in the tribe because he abominated the custom.

amnesia

loss of memory Because she was suffering from amnesia, the police could not get the young girl to identify herself.

alchemy

medieval chemistry; a seemingly magical process of transformation The changing of baser metals into gold was the goal of the students of alchemy.,

acumen

mental keenness His business acumen helped him to succeed where others had failed.

alloy

mixture as of metals alloy of gold are used more frequently than the pure metal.

actuate

motivate I fail to understand what actuated you to reply to this letter so nastily.

amble

moving at an easy pace, To casually walk; stroll When she first mounted the horse, she was afraid to urge the animal to go faster than a gentle amble.

addle

muddle; drive crazy This idiotic plan is confusing enough to addle anyone.

agility

nimbleness, An ability to move quickly and easily; nimbleness The agility of the acrobat amazed and thrilled the audience.,

altercation

noisy quarrel, A loud and determined dispute; a noisy quarrel Throughout the altercation, not one sensible word was uttered.

alcove

nook; recess; A covered recess connected with or at the side of a larger room; A part off of a room; an extension Though their apartment lacked a full-scale dining room, an alcove adjacent to the living room made an adequate breakfast nook for the young couple., ,

agnostic

one who is skeptical of the existence of knowability of a god or any ultimate reality; (n) one who believes that nothing can be known about God; a skeptic; (adj) without faith, skeptical The agnostic demanded proof before she would accept the statement of the minister.,

absolve

pardon (an offense) The father confessor absolved him of his sins.

alimony

payments make to an ex-spouse after divorce Because Tony had supported Tina through medical school, on their divorce he asked the court to award him a month in alimony.

acme

peak; pinnacle; highest point Welles's success in Citizen Kane marked the acme of his career as an actor; never again did he achieve such popular acclaim.

agrarian

pertaining to land or its cultivation; Concerning farms, farmers, or the use of land As a result of its recent industrialization, the country is gradually losing its agrarian traditions.,

alluvial

pertaining to soil deposits left by running water The farmers found the alluvial deposits at the mouth of the river very fertile.

adversity

poverty, misfortune We must learn to meet adversity gracefully.

amenable

readily managed; willing to be led, GREEABLE; COOPERATIVE; SUITED, Open and responsive to suggestion; easily persuaded or He was amenable to any suggestions that came from those he looked up to; he resented advice from his inferiors., A controlled

allude

refer indirectly Try not to allude to this matter in his presence because the topic annoys him.

advert

refer to Since you advert to this matter so frequently, you must regard it as important.

abstain

refrain; withhold from participation After considering the effect of alcohol on his athletic performance, he decided to abstain from drinking while he trained for the race.

alleviate

relieve This should alleviate the pain; if it does not, we shall have to use stronger drugs.

abjure

renounce upon oath He abjured his allegiance to the king.