Some Gre Words

Front 1

dolt

Back 1

idoit

Front 2

aberrant

Back 2

deviating from normal or correct.

Front 3

abscond

Back 3

to leave secretly and hide, often to avoid the law.

Front 4

advocate

Back 4

to speak, plead, or argue for a cause, or in another’s behalf. (n) -- one who advocates.

Front 5

aggrandize

Back 5

to make greater, to increase, thus, to exaggerate.

Front 6

amalgamate

Back 6

to unite or mix. (n) -- amalgamation.

Front 7

ambiguous

Back 7

vague; subject to more than one interpretation

Front 8

ambrosial

Back 8

extremely pleasing to the senses, divine (as related to the gods) or delicious (n: ambrosia)

Front 9

anachronism

Back 9

a person or artifact appearing after its own time or out of chronological order (adj: anachronistic)

Front 10

anomalous

Back 10

peculiar; unique, contrary to the norm (n: anomaly)

Front 11

antediluvian

Back 11

ancient; outmoded; (literally,before the flood)

Front 12

antipathy

Back 12

hostility toward, objection, or aversion to

Front 13

arbitrate

Back 13

to settle a dispute by impulse (n: arbitration)

Front 14

assuage

Back 14

to make less severe; to appease or satisfy

Front 15

attenuate

Back 15

weaken (adj: attenuated)

Front 16

audacious

Back 16

extremely bold; fearless, especially said of human behavior (n: audacity)

Front 17

aver

Back 17

to declare

Front 18

banal

Back 18

commonplace or trite (n: banality)

Front 19

barefaced

Back 19

unconcealed, shameless, or brazen

Front 20

blandishment

Back 20

speech or action intended to coax someone into doing something

Front 21

bombast

Back 21

pompous speech (adj: bombastic)

Front 22

breach

Back 22

a lapse, gap or break, as in a fortress wall. To break or break through.ex: Unfortunately, the club members never forgot his breach of ettiquette.

Front 23

burgeon

Back 23

to grow or flourish; a bud or new growth (adj: burgeoning )

Front 24

buttress

Back 24

to support. a support

Front 25

cadge

Back 25

beg something from somebody
;to get something by taking advantage of someone

Front 26

caprice

Back 26

impulse (adj: capricious)

Front 27

castigate

Back 27

to chastise or criticize severely

Front 28

catalyst

Back 28

an agent of change (adj: catalytic; v. catalyze)

Front 29

caustic

Back 29

capable of dissolving by chemical action; highly critical: "His caustic remarks spoiled the mood of the party."

Front 30

chicanery

Back 30

deception by trickery

Front 31

complaisant

Back 31

willingly compliant or accepting of the status quo (n: complaisance)

Front 32

conflagration

Back 32

a great fire

Front 33

corporeal

Back 33

of or having to do with material, as opposed to spiritual; tangible. (In older writings, coeporeal could be a synonym for corporal. This usage is no longer common)

Front 34

corporal

Back 34

of the body: "corporal punishment." a non-commissioned officer ranked between a sergeant and a private.

Front 35

corroborate

Back 35

to strengthen or support: "The witness corroborted his story." (n: corroboration)

Front 36

craven

Back 36

cowardly; a coward

Front 37

culpable

Back 37

deserving of blame (n: culpability)

Front 38

dearth

Back 38

lack, scarcity: "The prosecutor complained about the dearth of concrete evidence against the suspect."

Front 39

deference

Back 39

submission or courteous yielding: "He held his tongue in deference to his father." (n: deferential. v. defer)

Front 40

depict

Back 40

to show, create a picture of.

Front 41

deprecation

Back 41

condemn something or somebody; belittlement. (v. deprecate)

Front 42

depredation

Back 42

the act of preying upon or plundering: "The depredations of the invaders demoralized the population."

Front 43

descry

Back 43

to see; to discover; to make clear, to say

Front 44

desiccate

Back 44

to dry out thoroughly (adj: desiccated)

Front 45

diatribe

Back 45

a bitter abusive denunciation.

Front 46

diffident

Back 46

lacking self-confidence, modest (n: diffidence)

Front 47

disabuse

Back 47

to free a person from falsehood or error: "We had to disabuse her of the notion that she was invited."

Front 48

disparaging

Back 48

contemptuous or disapproving; belittling (n: disparagement. v. disparage)

Front 49

dispassionate

Back 49

calm; objective; unbiased

Front 50

dissemble

Back 50

to conceal one's real motive, to feign

Front 51

dogged

Back 51

stubborn or determined: "Her dogged pursuit of the degree eventually paid off."

Front 52

dogmatic

Back 52

relying upon doctrine or dogma, as opposed to evidence

Front 53

eclectic

Back 53

selecting or employing individual elements from a variety of sources: "Many modern decorators prefer an eclectic style." (n: eclecticism)

Front 54

efficacy

Back 54

effectiveness; capability to produce a desired effect

Front 55

effluent

Back 55

the quality of flowing out. something that flows out, such as a stream from a river (n: effluence)

Front 56

emollient

Back 56

softening; something that softens

Front 57

emulate

Back 57

to strive to equal or excel (n: emulation)

Front 58

encomium

Back 58

a formal eulogy or speech of praise

Front 59

endemic

Back 59

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.

Front 60

enervate

Back 60

to weaken or destroy the strength or vitality of: "The heatenervated everyone." (adj: enervating)

Front 61

engender

Back 61

to give rise to, to propagate, to cause: "His slip of the toungue engendered much laughter."

Front 62

enigma

Back 62

puzzle; mystery: "Math is an enigma to me." (adj: enigmatic)

Front 63

ephemeral

Back 63

lasting for only a brief time, fleeting (n: ephemera)

Front 64

equivocal

Back 64

ambiguous; unclear; subject to more than one interpretation -- often intentionally so: "Republicans complained that Bill Clinton's answers were equivocal." (v. equivocate)

Front 65

erudite

Back 65

scholarly; displaying deep intensive learning. (n: erudition)

Front 66

esoteric

Back 66

intended for or understood by only a few: "The esoteric discussion confused some people." (n: esoterica)

Front 67

eulogy

Back 67

a spoken or written tribute to the deceased (v. eulogize)

Front 68

exacerbate

Back 68

to increase the bitterness or violence of; to aggravate: "The decision to fortify the border exacerbated tensions."

Front 69

exculpate

Back 69

to demonstrate or prove to be blameless: "The evidence tended to exculpate the defendant."(adj: exculpatory)

Front 70

exorbitant

Back 70

exceeding customary or normal limits, esp. in quantity or price: "The cab fare was exorbitant."

Front 71

explicit

Back 71

fully and clearly expressed

Front 72

extant

Back 72

in existence, still existing: The only extant representative of that species."

Front 73

fathom

Back 73

comprehend something; a measure of length (six feet) used in nautical settings. to penetrate to the depths of something in order to understand it: "I couldn't fathom her reasoning on that issue."

Front 74

fawn

Back 74

to seek favor or attention; to act subserviantly (n, adj: fawning)

Front 75

feign

Back 75

to give false appearance or impression: "He feigned illness to avoid going to school." (adj: feigned)

Front 76

fervid, fervent

Back 76

highly emotional; hot: "The partisans displayed a fervent patriotism." (n: fervor)

Front 77

fledgling

Back 77

a baby bird; an inexperienced person; inexperienced.

Front 78

florid

Back 78

flushed with a rosy color, as in complexion; very ornate and flowery: "florid prose."

Front 79

floundering

Back 79

struggling: "We tried to save the floundering business."

Front 80

garrulous

Back 80

verbose; talkative; rambling: "We tried to avoid our garrulous neighbor."

Front 81

gossamer

Back 81

fine cobweb on foliage; fine gauzy fabric; very fine: "She wore a gossamer robe."

Front 82

guile

Back 82

skillful deceit: "He was well known for his guile." (v. bequile; adj: beguiling. Note, however, that these two words have an additional meaning: to charm (v.) or charming (adj:), while the word guile does not generally have any such positive connotations)

Front 83

guileless

Back 83

honest; straightforward (n: guilelessness)

Front 84

hapless

Back 84

unfortunate

Front 85

headlong

Back 85

headfirst; impulsive; hasty. impulsively; hastily; without forethought: "They rushed headlong into marriage."

Front 86

homogenous

Back 86

similar in nature or kind; uniform: "a homogeneous society."

Front 87

iconoclast

Back 87

one who attacks traditional ideas or institutions or one who destroys sacred images (adj: iconoclastic)

Front 88

impecunious

Back 88

penniless; poor

Front 89

imperious

Back 89

commanding

Front 90

implication

Back 90

indirect suggestion; involvement; implicit understanding; insinuation or connotation (v. implicate)

Front 91

imply

Back 91

to suggest indirectly; to entail: "She implied she didn't believe his story." (n: implication)

Front 92

improvidence

Back 92

an absence of foresight; a failure to provide for future needs or events: "Their improvidence resulted in the loss of their home."

Front 93

inchoate

Back 93

in an initial or early stage; incomplete; disorganized: "The act of writing forces one to clarify incohate thoughts."

Front 94

incorrigible

Back 94

not capable of being corrected: "The school board finally decided the James was incorrigible and expelled him from school."

Front 95

indelible

Back 95

permanent; unerasable; strong: "The Queen made an indelible impression on her subjects."

Front 96

ineffable

Back 96

undescribable; inexpressible in words; unspeakable

Front 97

infer

Back 97

to deduce: "New genetic evidence led some zoologists to infer that the red wolf is actually a hybrid of the coyote and the gray wolf."

Front 98

ingenious

Back 98

clever: "She developed an ingenious method for testing her hypothesis."(n: ingenuity)

Front 99

ingenuous

Back 99

unsophisticated; artless; straightforward; candid: "Wilson's ingenuous response to the controversial calmed the suspicious listeners."

Front 100

inhibit

Back 100

to hold back, prohibit, forbid, or restrain (n: inhibition, adj: inhibited)

Front 101

innocuous

Back 101

harmless; having no adverse affect; not likely to provoke strong emotion

Front 102

insensible

Back 102

numb; unconscious: "Wayne was rendered insensible by a blow to the head." unfeeling; insensitive: "They were insensibile to the suffering of others.:

Front 103

insipid

Back 103

lacking zest or excitement; dull

Front 104

insular

Back 104

of or pertaining to an island, thus, excessively exclusive: "Newcomers found it difficult to make friends in the insular community."

Front 105

intransigent

Back 105

stubborn; immovable; unwilling to change: "She was so intransigent we finally gave up trying to convince her." (n: intransigence)

Front 106

irascible

Back 106

prone to outbursts of temper, easily angered

Front 107

laconic

Back 107

using few words; terse: "a laconic reply."

Front 108

latent

Back 108

present or potential but not evident or active (n: latency)

Front 109

laudable

Back 109

praiseworthy; commendable (v. laud)

Front 110

leviathan

Back 110

giant whale, therefore, something very large

Front 111

loquacious

Back 111

talkative

Front 112

lucid

Back 112

clear; translucent: "He made a lucid argument to support his theory."

Front 113

lugubrious

Back 113

weighty, mournful, or gloomy, especially to an excessive degree: "Jake's lugubrious monologues depressed his friends."

Front 114

magnanimity

Back 114

generosity and nobility. (adj: magnanimous)

Front 115

malevolent

Back 115

malicious; evil; having or showing ill will: "Some early American colonists saw the wilderness as malevolent and sought to control it."

Front 116

misanthrope

Back 116

one who hates people: "He was a true misanthrope and hated even himself."

Front 117

misnomer

Back 117

incorrect name or word for something

Front 118

misogynist

Back 118

one who hates women

Front 119

mitigate

Back 119

to make less forceful; to become more moderate; to make less harsh or undesirable: "He was trying to mitigate the damage he had done." (n: mitigation)

Front 120

nefarious

Back 120

wicked, evil: "a nefarious plot."

Front 121

noisome

Back 121

harmful, offensive, destructive: "The noisome odor of the dump carried for miles."

Front 122

obdurate

Back 122

hardened against influence or feeling; intractable.

Front 123

obviate

Back 123

to prevent by anticipatory measures; to make unnecessary:

Front 124

occlude

Back 124

to close or shut off; to obstruct (n: occlusion)

Front 125

opaque

Back 125

not transparent or transluscent; dense; difficult to comprehend, as inopaque reasoning

Front 126

ossified

Back 126

turned to bone; hardened like bone; Inflexible: "The ossified culture failed to adapt to new economic conditions and died out."

Front 127

panegyric

Back 127

a writing or speech in praise of a person or thing

Front 128

peccadillo

Back 128

a small sin or fault

Front 129

pedantic

Back 129

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).

Front 130

perfidious

Back 130

deliberately treacherous; dishonest (n: perfidy)

Front 131

petulant

Back 131

easily or frequently annoyed, especially over trivial matters; childishly irritable

Front 132

philanthropy

Back 132

tendency or action for the benefit of others, as in donating money or property to a charitible organization

Front 133

phlegmatic

Back 133

not easily excited; cool; sluggish

Front 134

placate

Back 134

to calm or reduce anger by making concessions: "The professor tried to placate his students by postponing the exam."

Front 135

plastic

Back 135

related to being shaped or molded; capable of being molded. (n: plasticity n: plastic)

Front 136

plethora

Back 136

excessively large quantity; overabundance: "We received a p lethora of applications for the position."

Front 137

ponderous

Back 137

heavy; massive; awkward; dull: "A ponderous book is better than a sleeping pill."

Front 138

pragmatic

Back 138

concerned with facts; practical, as opposed to highly principled or traditional: "His pragmatic approach often offended idealists." (n: pragmatism)

Front 139

precipice

Back 139

cliff with a vertical or nearly vertical face; a dangerous place from which one is likely to fall; metaphorically, a very risky circumstance

Front 140

precipitate

Back 140

to fall; to fall downward suddenly and dramatically; to bring about or hasten the occurrence of something: "Old World diseases precipitated a massive decline in the American Indian population."

Front 141

precursor

Back 141

something (or someone) that precedes another: "The assasination of the Archduke was a precursor to the war."

Front 142

prevaricate

Back 142

to stray away from or evade the truth: "When we asked him what his intentions were, he prevaricated."(n: prevarication; prevaricator)

Front 143

prodigal

Back 143

rashly wasteful: "Americans' prodigal devotion to the automobile is unique."

Front 144

propitiate

Back 144

to conciliate; to appease: "They made sacrifices to propitiate angry gods."

Front 145

Pulchritudinous

Back 145

beautiful (n: pulchritude)

Front 146

pusillanimous

Back 146

cowardly, timid, or irreselute; petty: "The pusillanimous leader soon lost the respect of his people."

Front 147

quiescence

Back 147

inactivity; stillness; dormancy (adj: quiescent)

Front 148

rarefy

Back 148

to make or become thin; to purify or refine (n: rarefaction, adj: rarefied)

Front 149

reproof

Back 149

the act of censuring, scolding, or rebuking. (v. reprove).

Front 150

rescind

Back 150

to repeal or annul

Front 151

sagacious

Back 151

having a sharp or powerful intellect or discernment. (n: sagacity).

Front 152

sanguine

Back 152

cheerful; confident: "Her sanguine attitude put everyone at ease."(Sangfroid (noun) is a related French word meaning unflappibility. Literally, it means cold blood)

Front 153

sate

Back 153

to satisfy fully or to excess

Front 154

saturnine

Back 154

melancholy; having a gloomy or morose temperament

Front 155

savant

Back 155

a very knowledgable person; a genious

Front 156

sedulous

Back 156

diligent; persevering; persistent: "Her sedulous devotion to overcoming her background impressed many." (n: sedulity; sedulousness; adv. sedulously)

Front 157

specious

Back 157

seemingly true but really false; deceptively convincing or attractive: "Her argument, though specious, was readily accepted by many."

Front 158

superficial

Back 158

only covering the surface: "A superficial treatment of the topic was all they wanted."

Front 159

tacit

Back 159

unspoken: "Katie and carmella had a tacit agreement that they would not mention the dented fender to their parents."

Front 160

taciturn

Back 160

habitually untalkative or silent (n: taciturnity)

Front 161

temperate

Back 161

exercising moderation and self-denial; calm or mild (n: temperance)

Front 162

tirade (diatribe)

Back 162

an angry speech: "His tirade had gone on long enough."

Front 163

tortuous

Back 163

twisted; excessively complicated: "Despite public complaints, tax laws and forms have become increasingly tortuous." Note: Don't confuse this with torturous.

Front 164

tractable

Back 164

ability to be easily managed or controlled: "Her mother wished she were more tractable." (n: tractibility)

Front 165

turpitude

Back 165

immortality; depravity; baseness: "Mr. Castor was fired for moral turpitude."

Front 166

tyro

Back 166

beginner; person lacking experience in a specific endeavor: "They easily took advantage of the tyro."

Front 167

vacuous

Back 167

empty; without contents; without ideas or intelligence:: "She flashed a vacuous smile."

Front 168

venerate

Back 168

great respect or reverence: "The Chinese traditionally venerated their ancestors; ancestor worship is merely a popular misnomer for this tradition." (n: veneration, adj: venerable)

Front 169

verbose

Back 169

wordy: "The instructor asked her verbose student make her paper more concise." (n: verbosity)

Front 170

vex

Back 170

to annoy; to bother; to perplex; to puzzle; to debate at length: "Franklin vexed his brother with his controversial writings."

Front 171

viscous

Back 171

slow moving; highly resistant to flow: "Heintz commercials imply that their catsup is more viscous than others'." (n: viscosity)

Front 172

volatile

Back 172

explosive; fickle (n: volatility).

Front 173

voracious

Back 173

craving or devouring large quantities of food, drink, or other things. She is a voracious reader.

Front 174

waver

Back 174

to hesitate or to tremble

Front 175

wretched

Back 175

unhappy or ill; extremely pitiful or unfortunate (n: wretch)

Front 176

zeal

Back 176

enthusiastic devotion to a cause, ideal, or goal (n: zealot; zealoutry. adj: zealous)