GRE Vocabulary
Impertinent
being disrespectful Rude Improperly bold Synonym: Churlish
Misogynist
hater of women
Prevaricate
to speak in an evasive way to 'beat around the bush' (v.) to lie, tell an untruth; to mislead on purpose preach in vaguely vs direct e.g. during the hearings the witness was willing to ____________ in order to protect his friend e.g. There is not much variance in politicians; they all seem to __________
Prolix (Pro-liks) (a drunk who won't shut up)
too many words (of speech or writing); tediously lengthy e.g. he found the narrative too _____ and in concise
Inoculate
treat (a person or animal) with a vaccine to produce immunity against a disease. Vaccinate I say NO to getting a vaccine at CU, thus I am LATE
Veracious (adj)
truthful, honest
Disinterested
unbiased; neutral Impartial e.g. she strived to be __________ as to avoid office drama
Fastidious
Very attentive to and concerned about accuracy and detail Hard to please; fussy Very concerned about matters of cleanliness
Martial
Warlike
Ascetic
(N) ONE WHO PRACTICES SELF-DENIAL (ADJ) SELF-DENYING OR AUSTERE e.g. Monks, Buddhists practices self denial as spiritual discipline A-Amen or religious, Asc=acid or to strip away Etic-asy or delicacies *Opposite of Libertine*
Anomalous
(adj) Deviating from the norm Aberrant Abnormal, irregular, departing from the usual e.g. sleeping during the day and being awake at night is anomalous wake/sleep cycle and potentially harmful
Prodigious
(adj) extraordinarily large, impressive, etc. Enormous e.g. our new ------ foam mattress barley fits where we placed the bed
Palpable (adj)
(adj.) capable of being touched or felt; easily seen, heard, or recognized Tangible e.g. the shock of the guilty verdict was ________ throughout the court room e.g. a _________ sense of loss
Iconoclast
(n) Someone who destroys/attacks cherished beliefs and/or institutions synonym: skeptic, critic e.g. some who Clasts, or crashes, Icons/beliefs
Parsimonious (Par-sim-moan-e-ous)
Extremely frugal; miserly; stingy e.g. because I have been _______________ I am now debt free
Harangue
(noun) Long, pompous/aggressive speech (verb) to give a long pompous speech To lecture, berate; a long bombastic speech A tirade e.g. Hitler is known for his manipulating harangues
Mercurial (Mer-Cure-E-al) (adj)
(of a person) prone to unexpected and unpredictable changes in mood Mercury is in thermometers which change temps often volatile e.g. his _________ temperament
Augment
(v.) to make larger, increase
Artful
1) Displaying artistic skill 2)clever in a cunning way
Jettison
1) Throw or drop something from an aircraft to lighten the load *2) Abandon or discard (someone or something that is no longer wanted/needed) (v.) to cast overboard, get rid of as unnecessary or burdensome
Altruism (n) or altruistic (adj)
A concern for others; generosity Selfless act
Repute
A general opinion of someone/something; reputation A general understanding of someone's/something's characteristics Consider
Amalgam
A mixture or blend A mixture of different elements e.g. the US is an _______ of religions, ethnicities, and culture
Trope
A recurring theme; motif 'tired rope; the rope is tired of being climb over and over again'
Impetuous (adj)
Acting or done quickly and without thought or care Impulsive Something that moves with a lot of force or done with little thought 'pets are reckless without thought' e.g. the bulldozer _________ charged toward the sacred tree e.g. he _________ jumped onto the moving train
Empiricism
Action based on practice
Equivocal
Ambiguous, Confusing Vague what do these vocals equate to??? e.g. in effort to be discreet, she could not decipher her ________ remark e.g. The findings of the study were ________—the two researchers had different opinions on what the results signified.
Beatification
Declaration by the Pope that a dead person is in a state of bliss, constituting a step toward canonization and permitting public veneration. Blessedness
Cavernous
Deep and empty, like a cavern Like a large cave in size or darkness
Enumerate
Determine number of
Apportion
Divide and allocate to distribute proportionally; to divide into portions
Amenable
Easily persuaded; responsive; open to advice/suggestion
Cupidity
Excessive Greed Greed, great or excessive desire
Jingoism
Excessive Patriotism extreme, chauvinistic patriotism, often favoring an aggressive/warlike foreign policy Jing-Bingo, old people like to play bingo- many old people are often veterans and have strict ideas of foreign policies and are often patriotic
Augury
An omen or prophecy 'Ah! said the prophet Gury'
Evasive
Avoiding commitment
Gall
Being rude, impertinent Feeling of deep bitter anger and ill-will
Acrimony (Acne, mone)
Bitterness Ill will Harsh temper or bitter feeling e.g. The ___________ between the president and vice-president sent a clear signal to voters: the health of the current administration was imperiled.
Terse
Brief concise; to the point sparing in the use of words; abrupt. 'Tease' or Terse, short, sparing
Fiat
Command, Decree An official order (n.) an arbitrary order or decree; a command or act of will or consciousness
Involved
Complicated and difficult to understand
Gainsay
Contradict or deny To speak against/oppose
Lambaste
Criticize Harshly; Verbally Attack
Hoodwink
Deceive
Calumny
False statement, meant to injury someone's reputation Cal-callus from injury-to injury someone's reputation An attempt to spoil someone else's reputation by spreading lies Slander
Auspicious
Favorable Prosperous Promising success Ah ha! said the suspicious man turning his luck around e.g. It was not the most __________ moment to hold an election
Fecund (FeK-und)
Fertile; fruitful; productive e.g. I must have a quite place to study as to have the most _______ study time e.g. a lush and ______ garden
Ebb
Gradually lessen Recede
Agile
Having a quick resourceful and adaptive character
Retroactive
Having an effect on things in the past; (especially of legislation) taking effect from a date in the past.
Ingenuous
Innocent; Naive; Sincere; Unsuspecting artless; frank and candid; lacking in sophistication
Wanting
Lacking or absent; Inadequate supply Destitute
Degenerate
Lacking order, distinctness of structure A corrupt wrongdoer to break down; to deteriorate
Torpor
Lethargy, laziness, lack of energy, inactivity Extreme mental and physical sluggishness Tired and POor
Gregarious
Likely to socialize with others Sociable and outgoing
Ambivalent (adj)
Mixed or conflicting feelings about something/someone similar to Ambiguous (i.e. mixed) e.g. many times I have felt _______ about our relationship e.g. some loved her, some hated her, but few were ambivalent about her
Nonpartisan
Neutral, objective view point/stance in politics, religion, or other formed ideals not biased or partisan, especially toward any particular political group.
Unviable
Not able to work
Aberrant
Out of the ordinary; Deviation from the norm; Abnormal
Palatable
Pleasant, Acceptable, Pleasing Pleasant Taste
Commensurate
Proportionate; Adequate Corresponding in amount, magnitude, or degree
Prodigal
Rashly or wastefully extravagant Spending resources recklessly e.g. often times on pay day, there is an urge to prodigally spend our earnings on meaningless things
Profligate
Recklessly extravagant or prodigal; wasteful spending resources recklessly or wastefully pro-Flood-Gate
Balk
Refuse to proceed or to do something; hesitate or unwilling to accept an idea/task To refuse stubbornly or abruptly; to stop short and refuse to go on
Austere
Rigorously self-discipled, severely moral or religious; Ascetic Without adornment or luxury, simple, PLAIN, Harsh or sour in flavor think plan or harsh, the cold gray Austrian castle
Canard
Rumor or false report
Doleful
Sad, Mournful, Sorrowful
Canonization
Sainthood The process by which the Church names someone a saint (always after their death).
Dearth
Scarcity Inadequate supply Shortage Wanting Darth vader is Lacking Heart 'a _________ of evidence'
Furtive
Secret (Furtively=Secretively) (adj.) done slyly or stealthily, sneaky, secret, shifty; stolen the FUR trading business is illegal thus, we must be Secretive or Furtive about it
Amorphous
Shapeless, formless, vague
Transitory
Short lasting; Not permanent; Brief
Verisimilitude
Similar to Reality/Truth (n.) the quality of appearing to be true, real, likely, or probable VERy-SIMIlar-Tude Reality
Martyr
Someone who dies, gives their life in the name of their cause, religion A person who is killed because of their religious or other beliefs MARTin luther king jr died due to his beliefs
Libertine
Someone who lives an immoral live; liberated from moral (n) morally or sexually unrestrained person; freethinker (regarding religion) dissolute person; prodigal *Opposite of Ascetic*
Specter
Something widely feared as an unpleasant or dangerous occurrence 'the specter for nuclear holocaust' 'raising the specter of mass job displacement (humans vs machines)'
Anodyne
Soothing Relieve stress or pain
Riven
Split or Crack Torn apart
Egregious (adj) \ i-ˈgrē-jəs \
Standing out in a negative way; shockingly bad Really bad or offensive 'EEK!' e.g. The dictator's abuse of human rights was so ____________ that many world leaders demanded that he be tried in an international court for genocide.
Extant
Still in Existence (esp. documents) Surviving; Existing
Miserly (adj)
Stingy; mean
Venality (noun)
The condition of being susceptible to bribes or corruption All for vain purposes crooked car dealers bribed to corrupt the venn # on cars e.g. The ________ of the electors became notorious
Sanitize
To alter (something less than acceptable) to make it more palatable
Vindicate
To clear of accusation, blame, suspicion, or doubt with supporting arguments or proof victory, I was right! e.g. Even seven Tour de France wins cannot _________ Lance Armstrong in the eyes of the public--that the athlete used performance enhancing drugs invalidates all those wins. e.g. Miracles alone cannot _______ the divinity of immoral doctrine
Censure
To criticize harshly Express severe disapproval of (someone or something), typically in a formal statement. Cen=Sin, Sure=without Sureness; You are without(Sin) Sureness; thus, you do not agree and disagree greatly
Desiccate
To dry out completely; dehydrate DES-ert; dry-like
Galvanize
To excite or inspire (someone) to action To stimulate
Loathe
To hate, detest, extreme dislike Lo(hate)
Qualify
To lessen the severity of; to limit (a statement) To modify, limit, or restrict, as by giving exceptions think of qualifying as filtering: 'these are the qualified applicants that have been filtered down' e.g. in order to sufficiently be prepared, you must qualify your time watching Tv and instead study
Belie
To misrepresent False Representation To contradict
Start (to startle)
To move suddenly or involuntarily
Venerate
To respect deeply; revere To honor synonym: venerable -accorded a great deal of respect, especially because of age, wisdom, or character
Demur (verb or noun)
To show reluctance Object/Protest e.g. at first she was excited for the trip but ________ after seeing the cost e.g. they accepted his ruling without _______
Dissipate
To squander or fitter away (money, energy, resources) Prodigal/Profligate to break up or scatter; to squander; to engage in extravagant, intemperate, or dissolute pleasure.
Intimate
To suggest something subtly To imply, suggest, or insinuate e.g. Sally, while staring at Cheryl from across the way, shifted her eyes toward the gym as to _______ she needed to speak to her in private
Subvert
To upset; to overthrow; to ruin synonym: undermine _______-ive: disruptive, troublemaker
Undermine
To weaken (usually paired with an abstract term) synonym: subvert
Loath
Unwilling, reluctant, disinclined
Requite (re-kwiet)
make appropriate return for (a favor, service, or wrongdoing) return a favor to (someone) 'recoup' e.g. she bought them a gift card as to _____ their labor when putting in the new sink e.g. to win enough to ______ my friends
Deify (Dee-a-fY)
worship, regard, or treat (someone or something) as a god 'Deity' Venerate e.g. she was ______ by the early Romans as a fertility goddess