Kaplan Gre Vocab Practice 2

Front 1

hackneyed

Back 1

adj. repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse

Front 2

quotidian

Back 2

adj. found in the ordinary course of events

Front 3

vagaries

Back 3

noun

an unexpected and inexplicable change in a situation or in someone's behavior."the vagaries of the weather"

Front 4

histrionic

Back 4

adj. characteristic of acting or a stage performance; often affected

Front 5

extemporaneous

Back 5

adj. with little or no preparation or forethought

Front 6

implacable

Back 6

adj. incapable of being placated

Front 7

erudition

Back 7

noun

profound scholarly knowledge

Front 8

hapless

Back 8

adj. deserving or inciting pity

Front 9

piecemeal

Back 9

adj. one thing at a time; adv. a little bit at a time

Front 10

munificent

Back 10

adj. very generous

Front 11

adroit

Back 11

adj. quick or skillful or adept in action or thought; skillful (or showing skill) in adapting means to ends

Front 12

floundering

Back 12

verb

struggle or stagger helplessly or clumsily in water or mud."he was floundering about in the shallow offshore waters"

Front 13

bungling

Back 13

adj. showing lack of skill or aptitude; lacking physical movement skills, especially with the hands

Front 14

plucky

Back 14

adj. marked by courage and determination in the face of difficulties or danger; robust and uninhibited; showing courage

Front 15

anodyne

Back 15

adj. capable of relieving pain; noun a medicine used to relieve pain

Front 16

vertiginous

Back 16

adj. having or causing a whirling sensation; liable to falling

Front 17

soporific

Back 17

adj. sleep inducing; inducing mental lethargy; noun a drug that induces sleep

Front 18

indolent

Back 18

adj. (of tumors e.g) slow to heal or develop and usually painless; disinclined to work or exertion

Front 19

desultory

Back 19

adj. marked by lack of definite plan or regularity or purpose; jumping from one thing to another

Front 20

laconic

Back 20

adj. brief and to the point; effectively cut short

Front 21

estimable

Back 21

adj. deserving of respect or high regard; deserving of esteem and respect; may be computed or estimated

Front 22

arbitrary

Back 22

adj. based on or subject to individual discretion or preference or sometimes impulse or caprice

Front 23

equivocal

Back 23

adj. uncertain as a sign or indication; open to two or more interpretations; or of uncertain nature or significance; or (often) intended to mislead; open to question

Front 24

uninspired

Back 24

adj. having no intellectual or emotional or spiritual excitement; deficient in originality or creativity; lacking powers of invention

Front 25

piquant

Back 25

adj. engagingly stimulating or provocative; having an agreeably pungent taste; attracting or delighting

Front 26

querulous

Back 26

adj. habitually complaining

Front 27

meritorious

Back 27

adj. deserving reward or praise

Front 28

recreant

Back 28

adj. having deserted a cause or principle; lacking even the rudiments of courage; abjectly fearful; noun a disloyal person who betrays or deserts his cause or religion or political party or friend etc.; an abject coward

Front 29

dilatorily

Back 29

adj. tending to delay or procrastinate; slow; tardy

Front 30

fastidiously

Back 30

adv. in a fastidious manner; in a fastidious and painstaking manner

Front 31

rescind

Back 31

verb

annul by recalling or rescinding

Front 32

cogitation

Back 32

noun

attentive consideration and meditation; a carefully considered thought about something

Front 33

audacious

Back 33

adj. disposed to venture or take risks; unrestrained by convention or propriety; invulnerable to fear or intimidation

Front 34

obstreperous

Back 34

adj. boisterously and noisily aggressive; noisily and stubbornly defiant

Front 35

implacable

Back 35

adj. incapable of being placated

Front 36

beneficent

Back 36

adj. doing or producing good; generous in assistance to the poor

Front 37

filial

Back 37

adj. relating to or characteristic of or befitting an offspring; designating the generation or the sequence of generations following the parental generation

Front 38

approbation

Back 38

noun

official recognition or approval; official approval

Front 39

decorum

Back 39

noun

behavior in keeping with good taste, propriety in manners and conduct

Front 40

reprisal

Back 40

noun

a retaliatory action against an enemy in wartime

Front 41

venerate

Back 41

verb

regard with feelings of respect and reverence; consider hallowed or exalted or be in awe of

Front 42

enervate

Back 42

verb

weaken mentally or morally; disturb the composure of

Front 43

astringent

Back 43

adj. tending to draw together or constrict soft organic tissue; sour or bitter in taste; noun a drug that causes contraction of body tissues and canals

Front 44

lackadaisical

Back 44

adj. idle or indolent especially in a dreamy way; lacking spirit or liveliness

Front 45

decorous

Back 45

adj. characterized by propriety and dignity and good taste in manners and conduct; according with custom or propriety

Front 46

rapturous

Back 46

adj. feeling great rapture or delight

Front 47

punctilious

Back 47

adj. marked by precise accordance with details

Front 48

exquisite

Back 48

adj. of extreme beauty; lavishly elegant and refined; intense or sharp; delicately beautiful

Front 49

exultant

Back 49

adj. joyful and proud especially because of triumph or success

Front 50

circuitous

Back 50

adj. marked by obliqueness or indirection in speech or conduct; deviating from a straight course

Front 51

onerous

Back 51

adj. not easily borne; wearing

Front 52

portents

Back 52

noun

a sign or warning that something, especially something momentous or calamitous, is likely to happen

Front 53

auguries

Back 53

noun

a sign of what will happen in the future; an omen

Front 54

anachronisms

Back 54

noun

a thing belonging or appropriate to a period other than that in which it exists, especially a thing that is conspicuously old-fashioned.

Front 55

sybaritic

Back 55

adj. displaying luxury and furnishing gratification to the senses

Front 56

monastic

Back 56

adj. of communal life sequestered from the world under religious vows; noun a male religious living in a cloister and devoting himself to contemplation and prayer and work

Front 57

belied

Back 57

verb

(of an appearance) fail to give a true notion or impression of (something); disguise or contradict.

"his lively alert manner belied his years"

Front 58

specious

Back 58

adj. plausible but false; based on pretense; deceptively pleasing

Front 59

cajole

Back 59

verb

influence or urge by gentle urging, caressing, or flattering

Front 60

esoteric

Back 60

adj. confined to and understandable by only an enlightened inner circle

Front 61

obviate

Back 61

verb

do away with; prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening

Front 62

vacillated

Back 62

verb

alternate or waver between different opinions or actions; be indecisive.

"I had for a time vacillated between teaching and journalism"

Front 63

languished

Back 63

verb

(of a person or other living thing) lose or lack vitality; grow weak or feeble.

"plants may appear to be languishing simply because they are dormant"

Front 64

remonstrative

Back 64

verb

to say or plead in protest, objection, or disapproval.

Front 65

mercurial

Back 65

adj. relating to or containing or caused by mercury; relating to or having characteristics (eloquence, shrewdness, swiftness, thievishness) attributed to the god Mercury; relating to or under the (astrological) influence of the planet Mercury; liable to sudden unpredictable change

Front 66

articulate

Back 66

adj. expressing yourself easily or characterized by clear expressive language; consisting of segments held together by joints; verb express or state clearly; speak, pronounce, or utter in a certain way; put into words or an expression; provide with a joint

Front 67

inundate

Back 67

verb

fill or cover completely, usually with water; fill quickly beyond capacity; as with a liquid

Front 68

venerable

Back 68

adj. impressive by reason of age; profoundly honored

Front 69

diurnal

Back 69

adj. having a daily cycle or occurring every day; belonging to or active during the day

Front 70

bacchanalian

Back 70

adj. used of riotously drunken merrymaking

Front 71

carousing

Back 71

adj. used of riotously drunken merrymaking

Front 72

cavalcade

Back 72

noun

a procession of people traveling on horseback

Front 73

peregrination

Back 73

noun

traveling or wandering around

Front 74

mendacious

Back 74

adj. intentionally untrue; given to lying

Front 75

flippant

Back 75

adj. showing inappropriate levity

Front 76

castigation

Back 76

noun

verbal punishment; a severe scolding

Front 77

incisive

Back 77

adj. suitable for cutting or piercing; having or demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions

Front 78

vindication

Back 78

noun

the act of vindicating or defending against criticism or censure etc.; the justification for some act or belief

Front 79

ersatz

Back 79

adj. artificial and inferior; noun an artificial or inferior substitute or imitation

Front 80

lugubrious

Back 80

adj. excessively mournful

Front 81

incendiary

Back 81

adj. capable of catching fire spontaneously or causing fires or burning readily; arousing to action or rebellion; involving deliberate burning of property; noun a bomb that is designed to start fires; is most effective against flammable targets (such as fuel); a criminal who illegally sets fire to property

Front 82

propensity

Back 82

noun

a disposition to behave in a certain way; a natural inclination; an inclination to do something

Front 83

semblance

Back 83

noun

an outward or token appearance or form that is deliberately misleading; picture consisting of a graphic image of a person or thing; an erroneous mental representation

Front 84

concurrence

Back 84

noun

acting together as of agents or circumstances or events; the temporal property of two things happening at the same time; agreement of results or opinions; a state of cooperation

Front 85

foible

Back 85

noun

the weaker part of a sword's blade from the forte to the tip; a behavioral attribute that is distinctive and peculiar to an individual

Front 86

deference

Back 86

noun

a courteous expression (by word or deed) of esteem or regard; courteous regard for people's feelings; a disposition or tendency to yield to the will of others

Front 87

presage

Back 87

noun

a foreboding about what is about to happen; a sign of something about to happen; verb indicate by signs

Front 88

preclude

Back 88

verb
make impossible, especially beforehand; keep from happening or arising; make impossible

Front 89

specious

Back 89

adj. plausible but false; based on pretense; deceptively pleasing

Front 90

pellucid

Back 90

adj. (of language) transparently clear; easily understandable; transmitting light; able to be seen through with clarity

Front 91

incipient

Back 91

adj. only partly in existence; imperfectly formed

Front 92

adulterate

Back 92

adj. mixed with impurities; verb corrupt, debase, or make impure by adding a foreign or inferior substance; often by replacing valuable ingredients with inferior ones