Top 150 Gre Words

Front 1

***anormaly

Back 1

deviation from what is normal

"Albino animals may display too great an ANORMALY in their coloring to attract normally colored mates."

Front 2

***assuage

Back 2

to make something unpleasant less severe

"Serena used aspirin to ASSUAGE her pounding headache."

Front 3

***enigma

Back 3

a puzzle; a mystery

"Speaking in riddles and dressed in old robes, the artist gained a reputation as something of an ENIGMA."

Front 4

***equivocate

Back 4

to use expressions of double meaning in order to mislead

"When faced with criticism of his polices, the politician EQUIVOCATED and left all parties thinking he agreed with them."

Front 5

***erudite

Back 5

learned, scholarly, bookish

"The annual meeting of philosophy professors."

Front 6

***fervid

Back 6

Intensely emotional; feverish

"The fans of Maria Callas were unusually FERVID, doing anything to catch a glimpse of the great opera singer."

Front 7

***lucid

Back 7

Clear and easily understood

"The explanations were written in a simple and LUCID manner so that students were immediately able to apply what they learned."

Front 8

***opaque

Back 8

Impossible to see through; preventing the passage of light

"The heavily buildup of dirt and grime on the windows almost made them OPAQUE."

Front 9

***placate

Back 9

To soothe or pacify

"The burglar tried to PLACATE the snarling dog by saying ' Nice doggy,' offering it a treat."

Front 10

***precipitate

Back 10

To throw violently or bring about abruptly; lacking deliberation

"Upon learning that the couple married after knowing each other only two months, friends and family members expected such a PRECIPITATE marriage to end in divorce."

Front 11

***prodigal

Back 11

lavish, wasteful

" The PRODIGAL son quickly wasted all of his inheritance on a lavish lifestyle devoted to pleasure."

Front 12

***zeal

Back 12

passion, excitement

" She brought her typical ZEAL to the project , sparking enthusiasm in the other team members."

Front 13

**abstain

Back 13

to choose not to do something

"She ABSTAINED from choosing a mouthwatering dessert from the tray."

Front 14

**adulterate

Back 14

to make impure

"The restaurateur made his ketchup last longer by ADULTERATING it with water."

Front 15

**apathy

Back 15

lack of interest or emotion

"The APATHY of voters is so great that less than half the people who are eligible to vote actually bother to do so."

Front 16

**audacious

Back 16

fearless and daring

"Her AUDACIOUS nature allowed her to fulfill her dream of skydiving."

Front 17

**capricious

Back 17

changing one's mind quickly and often

"Queen Elizabeth I was quite CAPRICIOUS; her courtiers could never be sure which of their number would catch her fancy."

Front 18

**corroborate

Back 18

to provide supporting evidence

"Fingerprints CORROBORATE the witness's testimony that he saw the defendant in the victim's apartment."

Front 19

**desiccate

Back 19

to dry out thoroughly

"After a few weeks of lying on the desert's baking sand, the cow's carcass became completely DESICCATED."

Front 20

**engender

Back 20

to produce, cause or bring about

"His fear and hatred of clowns was ENGENDERED when he witnessed the death of his father at the hands of a clown."

Front 21

**ephemeral

Back 21

lasting a short time

"The lives of mayflies seem EPHEMERAL to us, since the flies' average life span is a matter of hours."

Front 22

**gullible

Back 22

easily deceived

"The con man pretended to be a bank officer so as to fool GULLIBLE bank customers into giving him their account information."

Front 23

**homogeneous

Back 23

a similar kind

"The class was fairly HOMOGENEOUS, since almost all of the students were senior journalism majors."

Front 24

**laconic

Back 24

using few words

"She was a LACONIC poet who built her reputation on using words sparingly when possible."

Front 25

**laudable

Back 25

to give praise; to glorify

" Parades and fireworks were staged to LAUD the success of the rebels."

Front 26

**loquacious

Back 26

talkative

"She was naturally LOQUACIOUS, which was a problem in situations in which listening was more important than talking."

Front 27

**mitigate

Back 27

to soften; to lessen

"A judge may MITIGATE a sentence if she decides that a person committed a crime out of need."

Front 28

**pedant

Back 28

someone who shows off learning

"The graduate instructor's tedious and excessive commentary on the subject soon gained her a reputation as a PEDANT."

Front 29

**pragmatic

Back 29

practical as opposed to idealistic

"While daydreaming gamblers think they can get rich by frequenting casinos, PRAGMATIC gamblers realize that the odds are heavily stacked against them."

Front 30

**propriety

Back 30

correct behavior; obedience to rules and customs

"The aristocracy maintain a high level of PROPRIETY, adhering to even the most minor social rules."

Front 31

**vacillate

Back 31

to sway physically; to be indecisive

"The customer held up the line as he VACILLATED between ordering chocolate chip or rocky road ice cream."

Front 32

**volatile

Back 32

easily aroused or changeable; lively or explosive

"His VOLATILE personality made it difficult to predict his reaction to anything."

Front 33

*advocate

Back 33

to speak in favor of

"The vegetarian ADVOCATED a diet containing no meat."

Front 34

*antipathy

Back 34

extreme dislike

"The ANTIPATHY between the French and the English regularly erupted into open warfare."

Front 35

*bolster

Back 35

to support; to prop up

"The presence of giant footprints BOLSTERED the argument that Sasquatch was in the area."

Front 36

*cacophony

Back 36

harsh, jarring noise

"The junior high orchestra created an almost unbearable CACOPHONY as they tried to tune their instruments."

Front 37

*deride

Back 37

to speak of or treat with contempt; to mock

"The awkward child was often DERIDED by his 'cooler' peers."

Front 38

*dissonance

Back 38

a harsh and disagreeable combination, often of sounds

"Cognitive DISSONANCE us the inner conflict produced when long-standing beliefs are contradicted by new evidence."

Front 39

*enervate

Back 39

to reduce in strength

"The guerrillas hoped that a series of surprise attacks would ENERVATE the regular army."

Front 40

*eulogy

Back 40

speech in praise of someone

"His best friend gave the EULOGY, outlining his many achievements and talents."

Front 41

*garrulous

Back 41

tending to talk a lot

"The GARRULOUS parakeet distracted its owner with its continuous talking."

Front 42

*ingenuous

Back 42

showing innocence or childlike simplicity

"She was so INGENIOUS that her friends feared that her innocence and trustfulness would be exploited when she visited a big city."

Front 43

*lethargic

Back 43

acting in an indifferent or slow, sluggish manner

"The clerk was so LETHARGIC that, even when the store was slow, he always had a long line in front of him."

Front 44

*malleable

Back 44

capable of being shaped

"Gold is the most MALLEABLE of precious metals; it can easily be formed into almost any shape."

Front 45

*misanthrope

Back 45

a person who dislikes others

"The character Scrooge in A Christmas Carol is such a MISANTHROPE that even the sight of children singing makes him angry."

Front 46

*obdurate

Back 46

hardened in feeling; resistant to persuasion

" The president was completely OBDURATE on the issue, and no amount of persuasion would change his mind."

Front 47

*ostentation

Back 47

excessive showiness

"The OSTENTATION of the Sun King's court is evident in the lavish decoration and luxuriousness of his palace at Versailles."

Front 48

*paradox

Back 48

a contradiction or dilemma

"It is a PARADOX that those most in need of medical attention are often those least able to obtain it."

Front 49

*philanthropy

Back 49

charity; a desire or effort to promote goodness

"New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art owes much of its collection to the PHILANTHROPY of private collectors who willed their estates to the museum."

Front 50

*prevaricate

Back 50

to lie or deviate from the truth

"Rather than admit that he has overslept again, the employee PREVARICATED and claimed that heavy traffic had prevented him from arriving at work on time."

Front 51

*venerate

Back 51

to respect deeply

"In a traditional Confucian society, the young VENERATE their elders, deferring to the elders' wisdom and experience."

Front 52

*waver

Back 52

to fluctuate between choices

" If you WAVER too long before making a decision about which testing site to register for, you may not get your first choice."

Front 53

abate

Back 53

to reduce in amount, degree, or severity

"As the hurricane's force ABATED, the winds dropped and the sea became calm."

Front 54

abscond

Back 54

to leave secretly

"The patron ABSCONDED from the restaurant without paying his bill by sneaking out the back door."

Front 55

abyss

Back 55

an extremely deep hole

"The submarine dove into the ABYSS to chart the previously unseen depths."

Front 56

aesthetic

Back 56

concerning the appreciation of beauty

"Followers of the AESTHETIC Movement regarded the pursuit of beauty as the only true purpose of art."

Front 57

aggrandize

Back 57

to increase in power, influence, and reputation

"The supervisor sought to AGGRANDIZE himself by claiming that the achievements of his staff were actually his own."

Front 58

alleviate

Back 58

to make more bearable

"Taking aspirin helps to ALLEVIATE a headache."

Front 59

amalgamate

Back 59

to combine; to mix together

"Giant Industries AMALGAMATED with Mega Productions to form Giant-Mega Products Incorporated."

Front 60

ambiguous

Back 60

doubtful or uncertain; able to be interpreted several ways

"The directions she gave were AMBIGUOUS that we disagreed on which way to turn."

Front 61

ameliorate

Back 61

to make better; to improve

"The doctor was able to AMELIORATE the patient's suffering using painkillers."

Front 62

anachronism

Back 62

something out of place in time

"The aged hippie used ANACHRONISTIC phrases like 'groovy' and 'far out' that had not been popular for years."