Shared Flashcard Set

Details

GRE Vocabulary
Common GRE words
224
Language - English
Graduate
01/22/2009

Additional Language - English Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
aberrant
Definition
deviating from normal or correct.
Term
abscond
Definition
to leave secretly and hide, often to avoid the law.
Term
amalgamate
Definition
to unite or mix
Term
anachronism
Definition
a person or artifact appearing after its own time or out of chronological order
Term
anomalous
Definition
peculiar, contrary to norm
Term
antediluvian
Definition
ancient; "before the flood"
Term
antipathy
Definition
hostility; aversion
Term
assuage
Definition
make less severe; appease
Term
audacious
Definition
bold; fearless
Term
aver
Definition
to declare
Term
banal
Definition
commonplace
Term
barefaced
Definition
shameless; brazen
Term
blandishment
Definition
speech or action intended to coax someone into doing something
Term
bombast
Definition
pompous speech
Term
burgeon
Definition
to grow; flourish; new growth
Term
cadge
Definition
to get something by taking advantage of someone
Term
castigate
Definition
chastise or criticize severely
Term
caustic
Definition
capable of dissolving by chemical action; highly critical: "His caustic remarks spoiled the mood of the party."
Term
chicanery
Definition
deception by trickery
Term
conflagration
Definition
a great fire
Term
corporeal
Definition
tangible
Term
corroborate
Definition
to strengthen or support
Term
craven
Definition
cowardly
Term
culpable
Definition
deserving of blame
Term
dearth
Definition
lack; scarcity
Term
deference
Definition
submission or courteous yielding: "He held his tongue in deference to his father."
Term
deprecation
Definition
belittlement
Term
depredation
Definition
the act of preying upon or plundering: "The depredations of the invaders demoralized the population."
Term
descry
Definition
to make clear; say
Term
desiccate
Definition
to dry out thoroughly
Term
diatribe
Definition
a bitter abusive denunciation
Term
diffident
Definition
lacking self-confidence; modest
Term
disabuse
Definition
to free a person from falsehood or error: "We had to disabuse her of the notion that she was invited."
Term
disparaging
Definition
belittleing
Term
dissemble
Definition
to conceal one's real motive; to feign
Term
dogged
Definition
stubborn; determined
Term
dogmatic
Definition
relying upon doctrine as opposed to evidence
Term
efficacy
Definition
effectiveness
Term
effluent
Definition
the quality of flowing out
Term
emollient
Definition
softening
Term
encomium
Definition
eulogy; speech of praise
Term
endemic
Definition
prevalent in or native to a certain region, locality, or people: "The disease was endemic to the region." Don't confuse this word with epidemic.
Term
enervate
Definition
to weaken or destroy the strength of
Term
engender
Definition
to give rise to; to cause
Term
enigma
Definition
puzzle; mystery
Term
ephemeral
Definition
lasting for only a brief time; fleeting
Term
equivocal
Definition
unclear; ambiguous
Term
erudite
Definition
scholarly
Term
esoteric
Definition
intended for or understood by only a few
Term
exculpate
Definition
to demonstrate or prove to be blameless
"The evidence tended to exculpate the defendant."
Term
extant
Definition
in existence
Term
fervid
Definition
highly emotional; hot
Term
fledgling
Definition
a baby bird; inexperienced person
Term
florid
Definition
flushed with a rosy color; flowery; ornate
Term
garrulous
Definition
verbose; talkative; rambling
Term
gossamer
Definition
very fine fabric
Term
guile
Definition
skillful deceit
Term
guileless
Definition
honest
Term
hapless
Definition
unfortunate
Term
headlong
Definition
impulsive; headfirst
Term
iconoclast
Definition
one who attacks traditional ideas or institutions or one who destroys sacred images
Term
impecunious
Definition
poor
Term
imperious
Definition
commanding
Term
improvidence
Definition
an absence of foresight
Term
inchoate
Definition
in an initial or early stage; incomplete; disorganized: "The act of writing forces one to clarify incohate thoughts."
Term
incorrigible
Definition
not capable of being corrected
Term
ineffable
Definition
inexpressible in words; unspeakable; undescribable
Term
inocuous
Definition
harmless; having no adverse affect
Term
insensible
Definition
numb; unconscious
Term
insipid
Definition
dull
Term
insular
Definition
pertaining to an island
Term
intransigent
Definition
stubborn; immovable
Term
irascible
Definition
prone to outburst of temper
Term
laconic
Definition
using few words
Term
latent
Definition
present but not active
Term
laudable
Definition
praiseworthy
Term
leviathan
Definition
giant whale; something very large
Term
loquacious
Definition
talkative
Term
lugubrious
Definition
weighty; gloomy
Term
magnanimity
Definition
generosity and nobility
Term
malevolent
Definition
evil
Term
misanthrope
Definition
one who hates people
Term
misnomer
Definition
incorrect name
Term
misogynist
Definition
one who hates women
Term
mitigate
Definition
to make less forceful; to make less harsh
Term
nefarious
Definition
wicked; evil
Term
obdurate
Definition
hardened against influence of feeling; intractable
Term
obviate
Definition
to prevent by anticipatory measures; to make unnecessary
Term
occlude
Definition
to close to obstruct or shut off
Term
opaque
Definition
dense; not transparent
Term
ossified
Definition
turned to bone; hardened like bone; inflexible
Term
panegyric
Definition
a speech in praise of a person/thing
Term
peccadillo
Definition
a small sin or fault
Term
pedantic
Definition
showing a narrow concern for rules or formal book learning; making an excessive display of one's own learning: "We quickly tired of his pedantic conversation." (n: pedant, pedantry).
Term
perfidious
Definition
deliberately treacherous; dishonest
Term
petulant
Definition
easily annoyed over trivial matters
Term
phlegmatic
Definition
not easily excited
Term
ponderous
Definition
heavy; massive; dull
Term
precipice
Definition
cliff with a vertical face; risky circumstance
Term
precipitate
Definition
to fall downward suddenly
Term
prevaricate
Definition
to stray away from or evade the truth
Term
prodigal
Definition
rashly wasteful; lavish
Term
propitiate
Definition
to appease
Term
Pulchritudinous
Definition
beautiful
Term
pusillanimous
Definition
cowardly; timid; petty
Term
quiescence
Definition
inactivity; dormancy; state of being quiet
Term
rarefy
Definition
to make thin; to purify or refine
Term
reproof
Definition
act of censuring, scolding or rebuking
Term
sagacious
Definition
having a sharp or powerful intellect
Term
sanguine
Definition
cheerful; confident
Term
sate
Definition
to satisfy
Term
saturnine
Definition
gloomy temperament
Term
sedulous
Definition
diligent; persistent
Term
specious
Definition
seemingly true but really false
Term
tacit
Definition
unspoken
Term
taciturn
Definition
habitually silent
Term
tortuous
Definition
twisted; excessively complicated
Term
tractable
Definition
ability to be easily managed
Term
turpitude
Definition
depravity; baseness
Term
tyro
Definition
beginner
Term
vacuous
Definition
empty; without intelligence
Term
venerate
Definition
great respect
Term
verbose
Definition
wordy
Term
voracious
Definition
craving or devouring large amounts of food and drink and other things
Term
wretched
Definition
extremely pitiful
Term
zeal
Definition
enthusiastic devotion to a cause
Term
vernacular
Definition
everyday speech
Term
remittance
Definition
payment to another
Term
ostensible
Definition
appearing to be true
Term
sophistry
Definition
elaborate arguments intended to deceive (noun)
Term
proscribe
Definition
command against
Term
ersatz
Definition
artificial and inferior

"ersatz chocolate made from carob beans"
Term
encapsulate
Definition
contain the essential truths in "encapsulate the story"
Term
aphorism
Definition
expression of truth in a witty saying
Term
spurious
Definition
not genuine
Term
impetus
Definition
force that keeps something moving
Term
vitriol
Definition
sharp, spiteful speech; corrosive acid (noun)
Term
viable
Definition
able to continue living or being used
"a viable company"
Term
posterity
Definition
future generations of people
Term
transliterate
Definition
rewrite using same language but different writing system
Term
disparate
Definition
vastly different (adjective)
Term
subtext
Definition
implicit meaning in a piece of writing
Term
augury
Definition
event seen as a sign of things to come (noun)
Term
vindicate
Definition
shown to be correct or innocent (verb)
Term
invective
Definition
abusive language to express blame
Term
virulent
Definition
very poisonous or infectious
Term
aplomb
Definition
composure under strain
Term
unprecedented
Definition
of events where nothing similar has happened in the past (adj)
Term
auspicious
Definition
see to show good luck (adj)
Term
untenable
Definition
unable to be believed or defended
Term
probate
Definition
the proving of a will; making a will official
Term
intestate
Definition
without a will (the document)(adj)
Term
paradigm
Definition
standard example (noun) A cultural paradigm...
Term
bucolic
Definition
of the countryside (adj)
Term
travesty
Definition
comedy that makes a mockery of something
Term
acerbic
Definition
bitter or sour
Term
churlish
Definition
rude or irritable
Term
unfounded
Definition
not based on fact
Term
veritable
Definition
true (adj)
Term
sycophant
Definition
someone who is excessively eager to please in order to get something (noun)
Term
stratagem
Definition
individual maneuver in a game (noun); strategy
Term
verdant
Definition
covered with green plants (adj)
Term
capitulate
Definition
to surrender under agreed circumstances
Term
umlaut
Definition
two dots occurring above a vowel (German words have many umlauts.)
Term
typify
Definition
have the essential qualities of (verb)
Term
echelon
Definition
troops arranged in a line (noun)
Term
denigrate
Definition
cast aspersion on (verb) - attack reputation
Term
meritocracy
Definition
society where power is given to intelligent and capable people (noun)
Term
disseminate
Definition
disperse; cause to become widely known (verb)
Term
arcane
Definition
very old (adj)
Term
clemency
Definition
good weather; mercy toward offenders (noun)
Term
effigy
Definition
representation of someone (sculpture)
Term
sacrosanct
Definition
sacred
Term
chagrin
Definition
embarrassment or shame (noun)
Term
retrograde
Definition
reverting to an earlier or inferior condition; moving backward
Term
pejorative
Definition
expressing disapproval (adj)
Term
delineate
Definition
represent by a diagram; give a precise description of (Verb)
Term
empirical
Definition
derived from observation (adj)
Term
polyglot
Definition
speaking several tongues (adj)
Term
disconsolate
Definition
inconsolably sad (adj)
Term
frisson
Definition
small fright or excitement
Term
inured
Definition
made strong against a particular hardship by exposure to it (adj)
Term
vestigial
Definition
a remnant of something that was once larger
Term
salient
Definition
of traits that stand out (adj)
Term
extol
Definition
praise highly
Term
pretext
Definition
false reason given to justify an action (noun)
Term
entreaty
Definition
urgent request (noun)
Term
insurgency
Definition
armed rebellion
Term
mettle
Definition
courage (noun)
Term
chasten
Definition
discipline (verb)
Term
duplicity
Definition
deceptiveness; double-dealing
Term
conflate
Definition
combine
Term
unduly
Definition
in an inappropriate manner
Term
extenuate
Definition
make forgivable (verb)
Term
shambolic
Definition
chaotic (adj)
Term
edifice
Definition
a permanent building (noun)
Term
synergy
Definition
working together giving a greater effect from combined efforts than from just individual efforts (noun)
Term
obfuscate
Definition
make unclear
Term
impunity
Definition
protection from punishment or financial loss (noun)
Term
edict
Definition
authoritative decision (by a judge)
Term
munificent
Definition
extremely generous (adj)
Term
bifurcate
Definition
fork out in two (verb); split
Term
untoward
Definition
not proper or acceptable (adj)
Term
usurp
Definition
take control without authority (verb)
Term
ameliorate
Definition
make better (verb)
Term
lachrymose
Definition
showing sorrow or tears (adj)
Term
insidious
Definition
gradual but harmful (adj)
Term
edify
Definition
build someone up by teaching (verb)
Term
transitive
Definition
of an action verb - a transitive verb
Term
bestial
Definition
like a beast (adj)
Term
substantiate
Definition
make real or solid (verb)
Term
malign
Definition
speak unfavorably of (adj)
Term
gauche
Definition
lacking social class (adj)
Term
wizened
Definition
people made thin by aging (adj)
Term
fastidiousness
Definition
hard to please (adj)
Term
compunction
Definition
a remorseful feeling (noun)
Term
convalescence
Definition
gradual healing through rest after sickness/injury (noun)
Term
moratorium
Definition
postponement of an activity (noun)
Term
plethora
Definition
excess
Term
proponent
Definition
person who advocates an idea
Term
chaste
Definition
morally pure (adj)
Term
egregious
Definition
blatantly bad (adj)
Term
vilify
Definition
cause someone to be the target of hate by denigrating their character (verb)
Term
approbation
Definition
official approval (noun)
Supporting users have an ad free experience!