Gotta Know These GRE Words!

Terms	Definitions
Abate	To lessen in intensity or degree.
Abdication	To relinquish (power or responsibility) formally.
Aberration	Straying away from what is normal.
Abet	To improve, encourage or support; urge and help on.
Abeyance	Condition of being temporarily set aside; suspension.
Abhor	To hate or detest.
Abide	To be faithful; to endure.
Abjure	To renounce under oath; forswear.
Abraded	To wear down or rub away by friction.
Burnish	To make smooth or glossy as if by rubbing.
Buttress	To reinforce or support.
Cabal	A conspirational group of plotters or intriguers.
Cadge	To beg or get by begging.
Cajole	Use flattery or deceit to persuade.
Calumny	A false statement maliciously made to injure another's reputation.
Candid	frank; straightforward.
Cant	Insincere talk; to speak in jargon.
Cantankerous	Bad-tempered; quarrelsome.
Canvass	To examine carefully or discuss thoroughly; scrutinize.
Effrontery	Brazen boldness, presumptuousness.
Egress	Way out, exit.
Elegy	A lament, melancholy composition.
Elicit	To draw out.
Embezzle	Use in a wrong way for one's own benefit.
Empirical	Relying on observation or experiment.
Encomium	Warm or glowing praise.
Endemic	Prevalent to a particular locality, region or people.
Endearing	Making dear or liked.
Encumbrance	Burden, things that get in the way of.
Flak	Excessive or abusive criticism.
Fledged	Abled to fly, trained, experience.
Foilble	A minor weakness or failing of character.
Florid	Flushed with rosy color; ruddy.
Flout	To show contempt for; scorn.
Fluke	A chance occurrence; an accident.
Fluster	Make nervous or confused.
Foil	To prevent from being successful; thwart.
Forage	Food or domestic animals; fodder.
Foppish	Affect extreme elegance in dress or manner.
Foolproof	Incapable of failure or error.
Loquacious	Very Talkative, garrulous.
Lucid	Clear and easily understood.
Lucubrate	To write in a scholarly fashion; produce scholarship.
Luculent	Easily understood, clear or lucid.
Lugubrious	Mournful, dismal or gloomy.
Lull	Become quiet or less active.
Lumber	To walk or move with heavy clumsiness.
Luminary	A person who is an inspiration to others.
Lurk	To lie in wait as in ambush.
Lustrous	Having sheen or glow.
Quibble	To raise the importance of an issue by raising trivial objections.
Quiescence	State of being passive, motionless, inactivity, quiet.
Quixotic	Idealistic without regards to practicality.
Quotidian	Everyday, common place.
Rabble	A tumultuous crowd; a mob.
Raconteur	One who tells stories and anecdotes with skill and wit.
Raffish	Cheap or vulgar in appearance or nature; tawdry.
Ramify	To have complicated consequences or outgrowths.
Rancorous	Bitter, long-lasting resentment; deep-seated ill will.
Rant	To speak or write in an angry or violent manner; rave.
Rapacious	Greedy, ravenous.
Venal	Open to bribery; mercenary.
Veer	To turn aside from a course, direction or purpose; swerve.
Vanquish	To defeat or conquer in battle; subjugate.
Valiant	Possessing bravery.
Vain	Not yeilding the desired outcome.
Vagary	An extravagant notion or action.
Vacillation	To sway from one side to the other; oscillate.
Urbane	Polite, refined, and often elegant in manner.
Upbraid	To reprove sharply; reproach.
Innocuous	Causing no harm.
Inimitable	Defying imitation, unmatchable
Inimical	Injurous or harmful in effect.
Ingenuous	Lacking in cunning, guile, or wordliness, artless; openly frank.
Infuse	To fill or cause to be filled with something.
Infuriate	Fill fury or rage.
Inferno	A place or condition suggestive in hell.
Inept	Not apt or fitting; inappropriate, unskillful.
Ineluctable	Certain, inevitable.
Ineffable	Incapable of being expressed; indescribable or unutterable.
Dereliction	Deserting and leaving.
Derision	Ridicule, mockery, deriding.
Derivative	Copied or adapted; obtained from another source.
Derogatory	Insulting, tending to damage.
Descry	Catch sight of, see something in the distance.
Desiccate	To dry completely, dehydrate.
Desuetude	A state of discourse or inactivity.
Desultory	Aimless, haphazard, digressing at random.
Deter	Discourage, hinder.
Detraction	Slandering, verbal attack, damaging comment.
Germane	Being both pertinent and fitting.
Glean	To gather facts.
Glib	Showing little thought, preparation or concern.
Gloat	To feel or express great, often malicious, self-satisfaction.
Glut	To be filled beyond capacity, especially with food; satiate.
Gnaw	Erode, bite steadily.
Goad	Urging a person to action.
Gorge	Eat greedily; narrow opening with a stream.
Gossamer	A soft sheer gauzy fabric.
Gouge	A chisel with a rounded, troughlike blade.
Penchant	A definite liking; a strong inclination.
Penitent	Feeling or expressing remorse for one's misdeeds or sins.
Penury	Extreme poverty.
Peregrination	To journey or travel from place to place, esp. on foot.
Peremptory	Putting an end to all debate or action.
Perennial	Present through the years, persistent.
Perfidy	The act or instance of treachery.
Perfunctory	Done as a duty without care.
Peripatetic	Walking about or from place to place.
Perjury	Willful false statement; unlawful act.
Grandiloquent	Pompous or bombastic speech or expression.
Grave	Serious, requiring consideration.
Gregarious	Seeking and enjoying the company of others; sociable.
Grievous	Causing grief, pain, or anguish.
Grovel	Crawl, humble oneself.
Guile	Deceit, trickery, deception.
Gullible	Easily gulled, naive.
Gush	Burst out suddenly, talk ardently.
Gust	Outburst of feeling; sudden rain, wind, fire.
Hermetic	Completely Sealed, esp. against escape or entry of air.
Heresy	An act opposed to established religious orthodoxy.
Heinous	Grossly wicked reprehensible; abominable.
Heed	To pay attention; listen to and consider.
Haughty	Arrogant and conceited.
Harrow	To distress, create stress or torment.
Harbinger	One that indicates or foreshadows what is to come; a forerunner.
Harangue	A long pompous speech, like one delivered before a gathering.
Hallow	To make holy, consecrate.
Hack	Cut roughly; hired horse.
Halcyon	Calm and peaceful; tranquil.
Suppliant	Asking humbly and earnestly; beseeching
Surcharge	Additional sum added to the usual amount.
Surfeit	To feed or supply to excess, satiety, or disgust.
Susceptibility	The capacity to be affected by deep emotions.
Sycophant	A person who tries to please in order to gain a personal advantage.
Taciturn	Habitually untalkative.
Talon	Claw of a bird of prey.
Tamp	Pack down lightly by blows or tamps.
Tangential	Merely touching or slightly connected.
Taunt	To reproach in mocking, insulting, or contemptuos manner.
Supine	Lying on the back or having to face upward, marked by legarthy.
Yarn	A long, often elaborate narrative of real or fictitious adventures.
Writ	A written order issued by a court.
Woo	To seek the attention of, with intent to romance.
Whimsical	Determined by chance or impulse, rather than necessity or reason.
Wheedle	To persuade or attempt to persuade by flattery or guile.
Wend	To go one's way; proceed.
Welter	A confused mass, a jumble.
Warrant	Authorization or certification, sanction as given by a superior
Mince	To restrain words for the sake of politeness, euphemize.
Misanthrope	Person who hates mankind.
Miser	Person who is extremely stingy.
Misogynist	One who hates women or females.
Mitigate	To soften, make milder.
Mollify	To calm in temper or feeling, soothe.
Morbid	Of, relating too or caused by disease.
Morose	Sullenly melancholy; gloomy.
Muffler	A device that absorbs noise.
Multifarious	Having great variety, diverse.
Mundane	Of, relating to, or typical of this world; secular.
Nadir	The lowest point.
Nascent	Coming into existence, emerging.
Nebulous	Cloud-like, hazy, vague, indistinct.
Neophyte	A beginner or novice.
Nexus	A connected series of groups.
Noisome	Offensive, Disgusting.
Nonplussed	Puzzled, not knowing what to do, at a loss
Nostrum	A favorite but untested remedy for problems or evils.
Nugatory	Of little or no importance; trifling.
Obdurate	Hardened, Stubborn, Inflexible
Obfuscate	To darken, make obscure, muddle.
Obloquy	Abusively detractive language or utterance, calumny.
Obsequious	Full or exhibiting servile compliance; fawning.
Obstreperous	Noisily and stubbornly defiant.
Obtuse	Lacking quickness of perception.
Obviate	To anticipate and dispose of effectively, render unecessary.
Occluded	To become closed, obstruct.
Odious	Arousing strong dislike, aversion, or intense displeasure.
Officious	Eagerness in offering unwanted services, offensively intrusive.
Diaphanous	Transparent or vague.
Diatribe	Bitter and violent attacks in words.
Diffidence	Shyness, lacking confidence.
Disabuse	To free from error or misconception.
Discern	To recognize or comprehend mentally.
Discomfit	To make uneccessary or perplexed.
Disconcert	To frustrate by throwing into disorder.
Discountenance	To view or treat with disfavor.
Discourse	Speech, lecture.
Disingenuous	Not straightforward or candid; insincere, calculating.
Disinter	Dig up from the Earth, exhume.
Corporeal	Of, relating to, or characteristic of the body.
Corroboration	Additional strengthening evidence, to confirm, verify.
Countenance	To give or express approval to; condone.
Countervail	To act against with equal force; counteract.
Covert	Disguised.
Coy	Flirtatiously shy or modest.
Cravat	A scarf or piece of fabric around the neck like a tie.
Craven	Characterized by abject fear; cowardly.
Credulous	Disposed to believe to readily; gullible.
Cryptic	Secret with a hidden meaning.
Quell	Suppress, Subdue
Quandary	A state of uncertainty or perplexity.
Qualm	An uneasy feeling about the rightness of a course of action.
Quail	To shrink back in fear, cower.
Quaff	To drink a beverage heartily.
Quack	A Charlatan, someone claiming to be something they aren't.
Pyre	A heap of combustibles for burning a corpse as a funeral rite.
Putrefaction	Decomposition of organic matter.
Pussillanimous	Lacking courage, cowardly.
Purvey	To supply (food for example); furnish.
Remonstrate	To say or plead in protest, rejection, reproof.
Repast	A meal or the food eaten at a meal.
Repine	To be discontented or low in spirits.
Reproach	To express disapproval of, criticism of, disappointment in.
Reprobate	A morally unprincipled person.
Repudiate	To reject the validity or authority of.
Requiet	To make payment or return for.
Restive	Uneasily impatient under restriction, opposition, criticism or delay.
Reticent	Inclined to keep one's thoughts and personal affairs to oneself.
Regicide	Crime of killing a king.
Sordid	Filthy, dirty or foul.
Specious	Having the ring of truth or plausibility.
Splenetic	Affected or marked by ill humor or irritability.
Spurious	False, Conterfeit
Spurn	To reject disdainfully or contemptuosly; scorn.
Squalid	Dirty as from poverty or lack of care.
Squander	To spend wastefully or extravagantly; dissapate.
Stanch	To stop, check or allay.
Stentorian	Extremely loud.
Stigma	A mark of token or infamy, disgrace or reproach.
Tautology	Repeating something again but in a different way.
Tawdry	Gaudy and cheap.
Teetotal	Not drinking alcohol.
Temerity	Foolhardy disregard to danger.
Temperance	Moderation or self-restraint.
Tenuous	Having little substance,flimsy.
Tepid	Halfhearted, lacking enthusiasm or warmth.
Testiness	Irritated or impatient.
Timorous	Timid, apprehensive.
Toady	A person who flatters others for self serving reasons.
Ubiquitous	Omnipresent, being everywhere at the same time.
Ulterior	Lying outside the area of interest.
Umbrage	Resent; Offense.
Uncouth	Crude, Unrefined.
Underbid	To bid lower than a competitor.
Undermine	To weaken by wearing away.
Unencumbered	Not burden with cares or responsibilities
Unfeigned	Not sincerely felt or expressed.
Unfettered	To set free.
Untoward	Not favorable.
Evince	To show or demonstrate clearly.
Excoriation	Severe criticism.
Exculpate	To clear from a charge of guilt.
Exigency	Emergency
Exoneration	To free, clear of charges.
Exorbitant	Extra, too high.
Expatiate	To roam or wander freely.
Expedient	Likely to be useful.
Expostulate	To reason earnestly with someone.
Expergate	To remove vulgar or obscene material from.
Abut	Touch one end or side, lie adjacent.
Accretion	Increase by size gradually, fusion.
Acumen	Quick, keen or accurate knowledge or insight.
Adulteration	Making impure, to corrupt.
Aesthetic	Appreciation of beauty.
Affinity	Close connection and relationship.
Aggrandize	To make larger or greater in power.
Alacrity	Eager or cheerful readiness.
Alchemy	A medieval science aimed at transmuting metal.
Abstruse	Difficult to comprehend.
Abscond	To leave quickly and secretly.
Abrogate	Repel or annul by authority.
Alloy	To debase by mixing.
Aloof	Reserved, indifferent.
Amenable	Agreeable, responsive to suggestion.
Amortize	End (a dept) by setting aside money, repay.
Anguish	Severe suffering.
Animosity	Strong dislike.
Anomolous	Irregular, deviating from the norm.
Antipathy	Dislike, hostility, extreme opposition.
Antithetical	Being in diametrical opposition.
Lith	Readily bent, supple.
Lionize	To look on or treat a person as a celebrity.
Limn	To depict by painting or drawing.
Lien	Legal claim until a debt on it is repaid.
Libertine	One who acts without moral restraint.
Liberality	The quality or state of being liberal or genereous.
Levity	Lightness of manner or speech.
Levee	Formal reception, also an embankment.
Latent	Present or potential but not active.
Lassitude	A state or feeling of weariness or diminish energy.
Veneration	Profound Respect
Veracity	Truthfullness
Verdant	Green growth.
Verisimilitude	Appearing to be real.
Veritable	Real or genuine.
Vex	To annoy.
Vilify	To make mean statements.
Vindictive	Revengful.
Virago	A women regarded as noisy.
Visceral	Obtained through intuition.
Vitiate	To reduce the value of; impair.
Vituperative	To rebuke or criticize.
Volubility	Marked by a ready flow of speech.
Waffle	To speak or write evasively.
Irresolute	Ubsure of how to act or proceed.
Ire	Anger, Wrath
Irrevocable	Impossible to revoke or take back.
Itinierate	Travel from place to place.
Jibe	To make taunting, heckling or jeering remarks.
Jocular	Characterized by joking.
Judicious	Having or exhibiting sound judgement.
Lachrymose	Weeping or inclined to weep, tearful.
Laconic	Terse, concise.
Minatory	Menacing, threatening.
Equivocal	Open to two or more interpretations.
Erudite	Having or showing profound knowledge.
Fervid	Characterized by intense emotion, hot.
Precipitate	bring about abruptly or with haste.
Prodigal	Generous or recklessly extravagant.
Apathy	Lacking enthusiasm emotion or interest.
Audacious	More likely to venture or take risks.
Capricious	Determined by chance or impulse not need or reason.
Engender	Cause, produce, give rise to.
Ephemeral	short-lived; fleeting
Pragmatic	Guided by experience and observation, not theory.
Propriety	Appropriatness of behavior.
Volatile	Likely to change or lead to violence.
Antipathy	strong dislike
Bolster	To support or reinforce.
Deride	To mock with contempt.
Dissonance	A harsh and disagreeable combination, especially of sounds.
Enervate	To weaken mentally or morally.
Obdurate	Stubborn, unyeilding.
Paradox	A contridiction or dilema.
Philanthropic	Humanitarian, giving money to the poor.
Prevaricate	To lie or mislead.
Waver	To physically sway or be undecided.
Soporific	Inducing sleep.
Sophistry	Plausible but fallacious.
Somatic	Of, relating to or affecting the body.
Snub	To ignore or act coldly toward.
Snare	A trapping device.
Slur	To pass over lightly or carelessly.
Sluggard	A slothful person.
Slake	To lesson the force or activity of.
Sinuous	Many curves or turns, winding.
Apathy	Lack of feeling emotion or interst.
Conspicious	Easily Seen, remarkable.
Consternation	A state of paralying dismay.
Consummate	Perfect, make complete.
Contemn	To scorn or despise.
Contentious	Argumentative, combative.
Contiguous	Connecting without a break.
Contrite	Filled with deep sorrow for wrong doing.
Contumacious	Disobedient or rebellious.
Convoke	To assemble in a meeting, convene.
Cordon	A line or cord to hold something back, ribbon or ornament.
Preponderance	Superiority in weight or force.
Presage	An indication or warning of a future occurence, an omen.
Presumption	Boldy arrogant or offensive.
Preternatural	Beyond the course of nature.
Prevaricate	To lie, evade the truth.
Probity	Complete and confirmed integrity.
Proclivity	A natural propensity or inclination.
Prodigal	Rashly or wastefully extravagant.
Prodigious	Impressively great in size, force or extent.
Profligacy	Dissolute indulgence in sensual pleasure.
Feckless	Lacking purpose or vitality.
Fecund	Capable of producing offspring, fruitful.
Feigned	To give a false appearance of.
Felicitous	An agrreebaly apprpriate manner or style.
Ferment	A state of agitation or change.
Ferocity	Savage Cruelty.
Ferret	To uncover or bring to light by searching.
Fetid	Having an offensive odor.
Fetter	Something that serves to restrict; a restraint.
Fidelity	Faithfulness to obligations.
Figurehead	Carved image on the prow of a ship.
Finesse	Refinement or delicacy of a performance.
Finical	Exact about details.
Imperious	Arrogantly domineering.
Impervious	Impossible to penetrate.
Impetous	Sudden energy or emotion.
Impiety	Lacking respect for a god.
Implicate	To involve or connect intimately.
Importune	To beset with requests.
Imprecation	An invocation of evil, a curse.
Impudent	Characterized by offensive boldness; Impertinent.
Impugned	To attack as false; challenge an argument.
Impute	To relate to a certain cause; attribute the fault to.
Inane	One that lacks sense or substance.
Incense	To cause to be angry.
Inchoate	In an initial or eraly stage, incipient.
Incorrigbility	Unable to be corrected or reformed.
Inculcate	To teach others by repetition.
Bellicose	Warlike in manner.
Benign	Kind and gentle, mild.
Bequest	Arrangement at death, legacy, inheritance.
Berate	Scold sharply.
Bilge	The bulging part of a barrel or cask.
Blandishment	To coax by flattery, cajole.
Blandness	Polite manner, comforting.
Blatant	Noisy and rough.
Blithe	Cheerful, casual, carefree.
Bombast	Grandiloquent, pompous speech or writing.
Boorish	Crude, offensive, rude.
Brash	Hasty and unthinking, lacking in sensitivty.
Broach	Bring up, announch, talk about.
Brook	To tolerate, to endure.
Burgeon	To sprout or flourish.
Caustic	Harsh or corrosive in tone.
Castigate	To chastise or punish.
Censure	An expression of disapproval or criticism.
Centurion	To commander of a century in the Roman army.
Chary	Cautious, wary.
Chastened	Corrected, punished.
Chauvinist	Devoted patriot.
Chicanery	Legal trickery, false argument.
Churl	Rude, mal-tempered person.
Cloture	Closing device to end a debate by voting.
Coagulation	To change from thick to solid.
Coda	Concluding passage in music.
Coeval	Originating or existing in the same period.
Cogent	Strong reasoning, convincing.
Cogitate	To think carefully, ponder.
Collusion	Secret agreement for decietful purpose.
Commensurate	Of the same size, extent or duration.
Pied	Patchy in color, splotched.
Pine	To wither or waste away from longing.
Pious	Having or exhibiting religious reverence.
Piquant	Pleasantely pungent or tart in taste.
Pith	The heart or essence, the central part.
Plaintive	Expressing sorrow.
Banal	Obvious, dull, repetitive.
Platitude	A trite or banal remark or statement.
Pliant	Easily bent or flexed, pliable.
Pluck	Resourceful, courage and daring in the face of difficulties.
Plumb	To examine closely or probe.
Ponderous	Lacking grace or fluency.
Portent	Prophetic, threatening significance.
Pragmatic	Practical, moved by facts rather than ideas.
Precepts	A rule prescribing a particular course of action
Preclude	To make impossible as by action taken in advance.
Predilection	To be in favor of something, a preference.
Sagacious	Having or showing keen discernment.
Salubrious	Conducive or favorable to health or well being.
Sanctimony	Feigned piety (worshiping god) or righteousness.
Sanction	Permission or approval that makes something valid.
Sanguine	Cheerful, confident.
Saturnine	Melancholy or sullen.
Scabbard	A sheath as for a daggard or sword.
Scurvey	Mean, contemptible.
Sedulous	Preserving or constant in effort, assiduous.
Seminal	High and oringally influential.
Sentious	Terse and energetic, pithy.
Sere	Withered, dry.
Servile	Abjectly (miserably) submissive; slavish.
Simper	To smile in a silly or coy way.
Stymie	To hinder or block.