GRE Barron Wordlist B
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Created by:
mahadevanswamy on July 18, 2011
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163 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 babble | chatter idly or foolishly; make continuous sounds like water running gently over rounded stone; N. |
| bacchanalian | drunken |
| badger | pester; annoy continually with demands; persuade by asking again and again; Ex. The children badgered me into taking them into the cinema; N: a kind of mountain animal |
| badinage | teasing conversation; banter; joking talk |
| baffle | frustrate; perplex |
| bait | harass; tease; torment; Ex. badger baiting; N: food or other lure used to catch fish or trap animals |
| baleful | evil; malignant in intent or effect; deadly; having a malign influence; portending evil; ominous; threatening; Ex. baleful look |
| balk | stop short, as if faced with an obstacle, and refuse to continue; foil; stop or get in the way of; frustrate |
| ballast | heavy substance used to add stability or weight; V. supply with ballast |
| balm | something that relieves pain; oily liquid with a pleasant smell from trees |
| balmy | soft and mild (of air); fragrant |
| banal | hackneyed; commonplace; trite; lacking originality; clich\'ed |
| bandy | discuss lightly or glibly; discuss in a frivolous manner; exchange (words) heatedly; quarrel; Ex. bandy words with |
| bane | posion; cause of ruin; ADJ. baneful: harmful; poisonous |
| bantering | joking talk; good-naturedly ridiculing; N.V. banter |
| barb | sharp projection from fishhook, arrow, or other object; openly cutting remark |
| bard | poet |
| barefaced | shameless and noticeable; blatant; bold; unconcealed; having no covering on the face; Ex. barefaced lie |
| baroque | highly ornate |
| barrage | barrier laid down by artillery fire; overwhelming profusion; large number of questions or statements; Ex. a barrage of criticism |
| barrister | counselor-at-law or lawyer in the higher court of law; CF. bar |
| barterer | trader; V. barter: trade; exchange good for other goods rather than money |
| bask | luxuriate; take pleasure in warmth |
| bastion | stronghold; something seen as a source of protection; Ex. the last bastion of male chauvinism |
| bate | let down; lessen the force of; moderate; restrain; Ex. with bated breath; CF. abate |
| bauble | trinket; cheap jewel; trifle |
| bawdy | indecent; obscene; about sex in a rude funny way; CF. bawd |
| beatific | giving or showing bliss; blissful |
| bedizen | dress with vulgar finery |
| bedraggle | wet thoroughly; ADJ. bedraggled: draggled |
| beeline | direct quick route |
| befuddle | confuse thoroughly |
| beget | father; become the father of; produce; give rise to |
| begrudge | envy; give or allow unwillingly; grudge; Ex. We shouldn't begrudge him his success. |
| beguile | deceive; mislead or delude; cheat; pass time pleasantly; charm or attract; Ex. beguiling smile |
| behemoth | huge creature; something of monstrous size or power |
| beholden | obligated; indebted; owing thanks; obliged or indebted from gratitude |
| behoove | be suited to; be incumbent upon; be right and necessary; Ex. It behooves one to do. |
| belabor | harp on; dwell on tediously; explain or go over excessively or to a ridiculous degree; assail verbally; beat severely; attack physically |
| belated | delayed |
| beleaguer | besiege or attack (with an army); harass; beset |
| belie | contradict; give a false impression; disguise; Ex. The poor sales belied our high hopes; Ex. Her smile belies her true feeling of displeasure. |
| belittle | disparage; depreciate |
| bellicose | warlike |
| belligerent | quarrelsome |
| bemoan | lament; moan for; express sorrow or disapproval of |
| bemused | confused; lost in thought; preoccupied |
| benediction | blessing |
| benefactor | gift giver; patron; person who does good or who gives money for a good purpose |
| beneficent | kindly; doing good |
| beneficial | helpful; useful; advantageous |
| beneficiary | person entitled to benefits or proceeds of an insurance policy or will |
| benefit | advantage; anything that brings helpl, advantage, or profit; money provided by the government to the people; fund-raising public entertainment; Ex. unemployment benefit; V: receive benefits; be beneficial to; give benefits |
| benevolent | generous; charitable; having a wish to do good |
| benign | kindly; favorable; not malignant (disease); Ex. benign tumor |
| benison | blessing |
| bent | determined; Ex. bent on advancing in the business; N: natural talent or inclination |
| bequeath | leave to someone by means of a will; hand down in his will; N. bequest |
| berate | scold strongly |
| bereavement | state of being deprived of something valuable or beloved; state of being bereaved or bereft |
| bereaved | deprived of (someone beloved through death) |
| bereft | deprived of (something valuable); lacking |
| berserk | mad with violent anger; frenzied; madly excited |
| beseech | beg; plead with |
| beset | harass or trouble from all directions; hem in |
| besiege | surround with armed forces; harass (with requests); annoy continually |
| besmirch | soil; defile; make dirty |
| bestial | beastlike; brutal; inhuman; very cruel |
| bestow | confer |
| betoken | signify; indicate; be a sign of |
| betray | be unfaithful; reveal (unconsciously or unwillingly); Ex. Her trembling hands betray her anxiety. |
| betroth | become engaged to marry |
| bevy | large group; Ex. a bevy of starlets |
| bicameral | two-chambered as a legislative body |
| bicker | quarrel |
| biennial | every two years |
| bifurcated | divided into two branches; forked |
| bigotry | stubborn intolerance |
| bigot | one who is intolerant (in matters of religion or politics) |
| bilious | suffering from indigestion; sick from having too much bile; irritable; easily irritated |
| bilk | swindle; cheat |
| billowing | swelling out in waves; surging |
| billow | large wave of water; a great swell or surge (of smoke); V: surge, swell, roll in billows |
| bivouac | temporary encampment; camp without tents; V. |
| bizarre | fantastic; violently contrasting; noticeably odd; strikingly unconventional |
| blanch | bleach; whiten; make white or pale |
| bland | soothing or mild (food); agreeable; causing no trouble or offence |
| blandishment | flattery |
| blare | loud or harsh roar or screech; dazzling blaze of light |
| blasphemy | irreverence; sacrilege; cursing; bad language about God or holy things; V. blasphem; ADJ. blasphemous; CF. sacrilege |
| blatant | extremely (offensively) obvious; loudly offensive; Ex. blatant lie; N. blatancy |
| bleak | cold or cheerless; frigid; unlikely to be favorable; depressing |
| blighted | suffering from a disease; destroyed |
| blight | plant disease; V: infect with blight; ruin; destroy |
| blithe | gay; joyous |
| bloated | (unpleasantly) swollen or puffed as with water or air |
| blowhard | talkative boaster; braggart |
| bludgeon | club; heavy-headed weapon; V. |
| bluff | pretense (of strength); deception; high cliff; ADJ: rough but good-natured |
| blunder | error; stupid mistake |
| blurt | utter impulsively from nervousness or excitement |
| bluster | blow in heavy gusts; threaten emptily; bully; speak in a noisy or bullying manner; CF. breeze, gust, gale |
| bully | one who is habitually cruel to weaker people; V. |
| bode | foreshadow; portend |
| bogus | counterfeit; not authentic; intentionally false; Ex. bogus interview |
| bohemian | unconventional (in an artistic way) |
| boisterous | violent; rough; noisy |
| bolster | support; reinforce |
| bolt | door bar; fastening pin or screw; length of fabric; large roll of cloth; V: dash or dart off; fasten (a door); gobble down |
| bombardment | attack (as with missiles or bombs); V. bombard |
| bombastic | pompous; using inflated language |
| bombast | grandiloquent, pompous speech |
| boon | blessing; benefit; something very helpful |
| boorish | rude; insensitive |
| boor | rude, insensitive person |
| bouillon | clear beef (or meat) soup |
| bountiful | generous; graciously generous; showing bounty |
| bourgeois | middle class; selfishly materialistic; too interested in material possessions |
| bovine | cowlike; placid and dull; slow-thinking; calm |
| bowdlerize | expurgate; CF. Thomas Bowdler |
| brackish | somewhat saline |
| braggadocio | boasting |
| brag | boast |
| braggart | boaster; bragger |
| brandish | wave around (a weapon); flourish |
| bravado | swagger; assumed air of defiance; false show of bravery |
| brawn | human muscle; muscular strength; sturdiness |
| brawny | muscular; having well-developed muscles |
| brazen | insolent; without shame; bold; Ex. brazen lie; V: face with bold self-assurance or with unshamed confidence |
| brawl | noisy quarrel |
| breach | breaking of contract or duty; fissure or gap; opening; V. |
| breadth | width; extent |
| brevity | conciseness; shortness of duration |
| brindled | tawny or grayish with streaks or spots (of animals) |
| bristling | rising like bristles; showing irritation |
| bristle | short stiff hair; V: (hair or fur) stand up stiffly |
| brittle | hard but easily broken; difficult; unstable; Ex. brittle situation |
| broach | introduce as a subject; moot; open up |
| brocade | rich, figured(patterned) fabric |
| brochure | pamphlet |
| brooch | ornamental clasp; pin |
| brook | tolerate; endure; Ex. brook no interference; N: small stream |
| browbeat | bully; intimidate |
| browse | graze; feed on growing grass; skim or glance at casually |
| brunt | main impact or shock (of an attack or blow); Ex. brunt of the argument |
| brusque | blunt; abrupt; curt; not wanting to waste time being nice |
| buccaneer | pirate |
| bucolic | rustic; pastoral |
| buffet | strike forcefully; slap; batter; knock out; N: table with food set out for people to server themselves; meal at which people help themselves to food that's been set |
| buffoonery | clowning |
| buffoon | stupid person; clown |
| bugaboo | bugbear; object of baseless terror |
| bullion | gold and silver in the form of bars |
| bulwark | strong wall built for defense; earthwork or other strong defense; person who defends |
| bungle | mismanage; blunder; botch; blow; spoil by clumsy behavior |
| botch | mismanage; blow |
| buoyant | able to float; cheerful and optimistic; N. buoyancy; Ex. buoyancy of wood/water/American market |
| bureaucracy | overregulated administrative system marked by red tape; ADJ. bureaucratic |
| burgeon | grow rapidly; grow forth; send out buds; Ex. burgeoning computer industry; CF. bludgeon |
| burlesque | give an imitation that ridicules; imitate mockingly |
| burnish | make shiny by rubbing; polish |
| buttress | support; prop up; N. stationary structure to support wall; Ex. flying buttress |
| buxom | full-bosomed; plump; jolly |
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