MEMORIZING THE GRE’S MOST COMMON VOCABULARY WORDS
This section features the most commonly occurring words on the GRE. Besides reviewing the
words and their definitions in this section, I recommend using a dictionary or a dictionary website
while practicing the verbal section of the GRE. When you get stuck on a word, you can look it up.
After that, you’ll never forget it!
As you review these words, pay attention to the word parts (prefixes, suffixes, and roots) from
the lists earlier in this chapter. Try covering up the definitions and discerning the word meanings
from these parts. You can also make notecards and highlight the word parts. With practice,
interpreting new words becomes much easier.
A
Aberrant: abnormal; different from the accepted norm
Abeyance: state of suspension; temporary inaction
Abstemious: characterized by a state of self-denial, particularly in the area of food or drink
Acquiescent: agreeing without protest
Acrid: bitter; harsh
Acrimonious: bitter in temper, manner, and speech
Acumen: keenness; quickness of intellectual insight
Admonition: a gentle reproof
Affront: to offend, as with a gesture
Aggrandize: to widen in scope or make bigger
Aggregate: amounting to a whole
Allay: to reduce the intensity of
Amalgamate: to mix or blend together in a homogenous body
Ameliorate: to make better or improve
Anecdote: a short account of an interesting incident
Archipelago: a large group of islands
Artifice: cleverness or skill
Ascetic: given to severe self-denial; practicing excessive abstinence
Assiduous: persistent, unceasing
Astute: keen; wise
Audacious: fearless
Austere: unadorned; severely simple
Aver: to avouch, justify, or prove
B
Banal: trite; commonplace
Base: the underlying concept of a system or theory
Beset: to surround, as in an attack
Blatant: offensively loud
Bolster: to support; to reinforce
Bombastic: using inflated language; pompous (arrogant)
Boon: a timely benefit
Brevity: briefness or conciseness
Browbeat: to intimidate in an overbearing manner
Bumptious: offensively self-assertive; pushy
Bungle: to perform clumsily or inadequately; botch
1
Burgeon: to grow forth; to send out buds
C
Cacophony: a disagreeable, harsh, or discordant sound or tone
Callous: insensitive; indifferent
Calumniate: to make false and malicious statements about
Candor: to be open and sincere
Chicanery: use of trickery to deceive
Churl: a rude, boorish, or surly person
Coda: concluding section of a musical or literary piece; something that summarizes
Cognizant: aware; taking notice
Colloquial: pertaining to common speech
Complacency: a feeling of quiet security
Confidante: one to whom secrets are confided
Congruous: appropriate or fitting
Consternation: panic
Contentious: quarrelsome
Contrite: penitent
Contumacious: rebellious
Corroborate: to make more certain; confirm
Countenance: appearance, especially the look or expression of the face
Counterpart: a person or thing resembling or complementing another
Craven: cowardly
Credulity: willingness to behave or trust too readily
Cronyism: the practice of favoring one’s friends, especially in political appointments
Cursory: hasty, superficial, as of a review of something
D
Dearth: an inadequate supply; scarcity; lack
Decorum: orderliness and good taste in manners
Deleterious: hurtful, morally or physically
Delineate: to represent by sketch or diagram
Depravity: the state of being morally bad or evil
Deride: to ridicule; to make fun of
Derision: ridicule
Derivative: something obtained from a source
Desultory: aimless; haphazard
Diatribe: bitter or malicious criticism
Didactic: pertaining to teaching
Dilatory: causing delay
Disconcert: to disturb the composure of
Discretion: the power to act according to one’s own judgment; the quality of being discreet
Disquiet: lack of calm, peace, or ease
Dissemble: to disguise or pretend
Dissolution: breaking up of a union of persons
Divest: to strip; to deprive
Divulge: to tell or make known, generally of something secret or private
Doldrums: a state of inactivity or low spirits
2
Dubious: doubtful
Dupe: someone easily fooled
E
Ebullient: showing great enthusiasm or exhilaration
Efficacy: power to produce an intended effect
Effrontery: shameless boldness; impudence
Egress: exit
Elegy: a poem lamenting the dead
Elicit: to extract without violence; to learn through discussion
Elitism: consciousness or pride in belonging to a select group
Embellish: to add attractive and ornamental features
Emulate: imitate
Enervate: to weaken
Engender: to produce
Ennui: boredom
Ephemeral: short-lived; fleeting
Equable: free from many changes or variations
Equanimity: evenness of mind or temper
Equivocal: ambiguous
Equivocate: to use ambiguous or unclear expressions, usually to avoid commitment or to mislead
Eradicate: to destroy completely
Erudite: very learned
Eschew: to keep clear of
Esoteric: hard to understand; known only by a few
Exacerbate: to make more sharp or severe; to make worse
Exculpate: to free from blame
Exigency: urgent situation
Expatiate: to speak or write at some length
Expiation: the means by which atonement or reparation is made
Extirpate: to root out; to eradicate
Extrapolation: to infer an unknown from something that is known
F
Facetious: amusing
Fallacious: illogical
Fatuous: idiotic
Fervor: ardor or intensity of feeling
Fledgling: inexperienced
Foment: to nurse to life; to encourage
Forestall: to prevent by taking action in advance
Fortification: the act of strengthening or protecting
Frugal: economical
Fulminate: to cause to explode
Fumble: to feel or grope about clumsily
G
Gaffe: a social blunder; faux pas
Gainsay: to contradict; to deny
3
Garrulous: prone to trivial talking
Germane: relevant
Goad: to urge on
Grandiloquent: pompous; bombastic
Grandstand: to conduct oneself or perform showily in an attempt to impress onlookers
gregarious: sociable; outgoing
Guileless: without deceit
Gullible: easily deceived
H
Halcyon: calm
Haphazard: characterized by a lack of order or planning
Harangue: a tirade
Harbinger: one who foreruns and announces the coming of a person or thing
Hedge: a barrier or boundary; an act of preventing complete loss of a bet or investment
Heresy: opinion or doctrine subversive of settled or accepted beliefs
Homogeneous: of the same kind
Hyperbole: exaggeration or overstatement
I
Iconoclast: an image-breaker
Ignominious: shameful
Impecunious: having no money; broke
Impede: to hinder; to block
Impenitent: not feeling regret about one’s sins
Imperious: insisting on obedience
Imperturbable: calm
Impervious: impenetrable
Impetuous: impulsive
Implicit: implied
Importune: to harass with persistent demands
Impugn: to assail with arguments or accusations
Inadvertently: unintentionally
Inane: silly
Inchoate: recently begun
Inconstant: changeable; fickle; variable
Indolence: laziness
Ineffable: unutterable
Inert: inactive; lacking power to move
Inexorable: unrelenting
Ingratiating: charming, agreeable
Innocuous: harmless
Insinuate: to suggest or hint slyly
Insipid: bland
Insouciant: nonchalant
Intimation: something indicated or made known indirectly
Intrepid: fearless and bold
Inure: to harden or toughen by use, exercise, or exposure
4
Invidious: showing or feeling envy
Irascible: easily angered
Itinerant: wandering
J
Jingoism: professing one’s patriotism loudly and excessively
K
Killjoy: a person who spoils the joy or pleasure of others
L
Laconic: brief and to the point
Latent: dormant
Laudable: praiseworthy
Licentious: wanton
Liken: to represent as similar to someone or something
Loquacious: talkative
Lucid: easily understood; clear
M
Magnanimity: generosity
Malingerer: one who feigns illness to escape duty
Malleable: pliant (flexible, pliable)
Masticate: to chew or reduce to a pulp
Maverick: rebel; nonconformist
Mediocrity: the state or quality of being mediocre
Mendacious: untrue
Metamorphosis: change of form
Meticulous: overcautious
Misanthrope: one who hates mankind
Mitigate: to lessen in intensity; to appease
Modicum: a small amount
Mollify: to soothe
Mordant: biting
Moribund: near death or extinction
Morose: ill-humored; sullen
Mundane: ordinary; dull
Myopic: shortsighted or narrow-minded
N
Narcissism: excessive fascination with oneself
Nefarious: extremely wicked
Negate: to cancel out; to nullify
Neophyte: beginner
Nepotism: favoritism shown on the basis of family relationship
O
Obdurate: stubborn
Obfuscate: to darken
Obsequious: servile; ready to serve
Obviate: to make unnecessary
5
Odious: hateful
Officious: meddlesome
Onus: burden
Opprobrium: infamy; vilification
Oscillate: to waver
Ostentation: a display of vanity; showiness
P
Palpable: perceptible by feeling or touch
Panache: a grand or flamboyant manner or style
Parable: a short story designed to illustrate a lesson
Paragon: model of perfection
Parsimonious: sparing in spending of money
Partisan: one-sided; committed to one party
Pathos: having a quality that rouses emotion or sympathy
Paucity: fewness
Pejorative: having a disparaging or derogatory effect
Penchant: strong inclination
Penurious: excessively sparing in the use of money; frugal
Perennial: something long-lasting
Perfidy: treachery
Permeable: penetrable; porous
Pernicious: tending to kill or hurt
Pervasive: spread throughout
Phlegmatic: not easily roused to feeling or emotion
Pious: religious
Placate: to soothe; to bring from a hostile state to a calm one
Platitude: trite or commonplace statement
Plethora: excess; superabundance
Plumb: to make vertical
Polarize: to divide into sharply opposing factions
Pompous: ostentatiously lofty or high-flown
Ponderous: massive, awkward, unwieldy
Porous: full of pores
Portend: foretell
Poseur: a person who attempts to impress others by assuming a manner other than his true one
pragmatic: practical
Precarious: perilous
Precipitate: rash; premature
Precocious: mature at a young age
Preeminent: eminent above or before others
Prescience: knowledge of events before they happen
Presentiment: a feeling or impression that something is about to happen
Prevaricate: to use ambiguous language for the purpose of deceiving
Proclivity: natural inclination
Prodigal: wasteful or lavish
Prodigious: immense
6
Prodigy: a person, usually a child, having extraordinary talent
Profound: deep; not superficial
Proliferate: to grow rapidly
Propensity: natural inclination
Prophetic: of the nature or containing a prophecy
Propitious: indicative of favor
Prosaic: commonplace or dull
Protean: changeable in shape or form
Prudence: caution
Puerile: childish
Pugnacious: quarrelsome
Pungent: stinging; sharp in taste or smell
Pusillanimous: cowardly; fainthearted
Q
Qualms: misgivings; uneasy fears
Quibble: minor objection or complaint
Quiescence: being quiet or still; inactivity
Quixotic: idealistic; romantic to a ridiculous degree
R
Recant: to formally withdraw one’s belief
Recidivism: the tendency toward repeated or habitual relapse
Recondite: incomprehensible to one of ordinary understanding; profound
Redress: to set right by compensation or punishment
Refutation: an act of disproving a statement or charge
Repose: the state of being at rest
Reprobate: a sinful and depraved person
Repudiate: to refuse to have anything to do with
Rescind: to void by enacting authority
Respite: interval of rest
Restive: impatient or refusing to go forward
Reticent: reserved; inclined to silence
Reverent: respectful
Rhetoric: the art of effective communication
Rout: to drive out; to stampede
Rueful: causing sorrow or pity
Ruminate: to chew over again; to think over
S
Sagacious: wise
Salacious: having strong sexual desires
Salubrious: healthful
Sanction: to approve
Sanguine: cheerfully confident; optimistic
Satiate: to satisfy or fulfill the appetite or desire of
Savor: to satisfy fully
Secrete: to hide away
Sedulous: persevering in effort or endeavor
7
Seethe: to be disturbed
Seminal: influencing future developments
Shard: fragment
Shirk: to avoid
Shoddy: not genuine; inferior
Sinuous: curving in and out
Skeptic: doubter
Skepticism: doubt or disbelief
Skittish: lively; frisky
Slander: defamation
Slothful: slow-moving, lazy
Solicitous: worried; concerned
Sonorous: resonant
Soporific: causing sleep
Spate: a sudden, almost overwhelming outpouring
Specious: seemingly reasonable but incorrect
Spendthrift: someone who wastes money
Spurious: not genuine
Stentorian: extremely loud
Stigma: a token of disgrace
Stint: to be thrifty
Stipulate: to make express conditions
Stolid: dull; impassive
Stratify: to form or place in layers
Striated: marked with parallel bands
Strut: a pompous walk
Sublime: supreme or outstanding; elevated
Subterfuge: evasion
Supercilious: showing careless contempt
Superfluous: more than what is needed
Supersede: to cause to be set back
Supine: lying on the back
Sybarite: a person devoted to luxury and pleasure
Sycophant: a self-seeking, servile flatterer
T
Tacit: understood
Taciturn: stern; silent
Tangential: digressing
Tantamount: equivalent in effect or value
Tawdry: cheap
Temerity: a foolish disregard of danger
Tempestuous: stormy; impassioned
Tenacious: holding fast
Tendentious: having or showing a definite tendency, bias, or purpose
Tenuous: thin; slim
Tepid: lukewarm
8
Thrall: slave; bondage
Thwart: to frustrate
Timidity: lacking in self-assurance or courage
Titillate: to tickle
Titular: pertaining to the nature of a title
Torpid: dull; sluggish; inactive
Tortuous: abounding in irregular bends or turns
Tractable: docile
Transgression: violation; sin
Transience: being in a state of transition
Transmute: to change
Transparent: easily detected
Transpire: to happen, to be revealed
Trepidation: nervous feeling; fear
Truculence: ferocity
Turgid: inflated, overblown, or pompous
Tutelage: the act of training or being under instruction
Tyro: beginner
U
Ubiquitous: being present everywhere
Umbrage: sense of injury
Unassuaged: unsatisfied; not soothed
Uncouth: clumsy; rude
Undermine: to weaken; to sap
Unerringly: without fail
Ungainly: awkward; clumsy
Unison: complete accord
Unruly: disobedient
Untenable: indefensible
Upbraid: to reproach as deserving blame
Urbanity: refined courtesy or politeness
V
Vacillate: to waver; to fluctuate
Vagabond: wanderer
Vainglorious: excessive; pretentious
Valorous: courageous
Vantage: position giving advantage
Vapid: having lost quality and flavor; dull; lifeless
Variegated: many colored
Vehement: forceful
Venerate: to look upon with deep respect
Veracious: truthful
Verbiage: use of many words
Verbose: wordy
Vestigial: occurring or persisting as a rudimentary or degenerate structure
9
Vicissitude: change of condition or circumstances, generally of fortune
Virtuosity: having the character or ability of an expert
Virulence: intense sharpness of anger; intensity
Viscous: sticky; gluey
Vituperate: overwhelm with wordy abuse
Vociferous: making a loud outcry
Volatile: changeable
Volition: a choice or decision made by the will
Voluble: fluent; talkative
W
Warranted: justified
Wary: very cautious
Welter: turmoil
Whet: to sharpen or stimulate
Whimsical: fanciful
Whorl: ring
Winsome: attractive
Wreak: inflict
Writhe: twist
Y
Yore: time past
Z
Zealot: fanatic
Zeitgeist: intellectual and moral tendencies of any age
10