Princeton Review GRE words
Terms
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- abscond
- to depart clandestinely; to steal away and hide
- acerbic
- having a sour or bitter taste
- acumen
- quick, keen, or accurate knowledge or insight
- adulterate
- to reduce purity by combining with inferior ingredients
- alacrity
- eager and enthusiastic willingness
- ameliorate
- to make better or more tolerable
- approbation
- an expression of approval or praise
- ascetic
- one who practices rigid self-denial, especially as an act of religious devotion
- astringent
- having a tightening effect on living tissue; harsh; severe
- austere
- without adornment; bare; severely simple; ascetic
- aver
- to state as a fact; to confirm or support
- bombast/bombastic
- self-evident or pompous writing or speech; pompous; grandiloquent
- bucolic
- rustic and pastoral; characteristic of rural areas and their inhabitants
- burgeon
- to grow rapidly; to flourish
- canon
- an established set of principles or code of laws, often religious in nature
- canonical
- following or in agreement with orthodox requirements
- castigation
- severe criticism or punishment
- caustic
- burning or stinging causing corrosion
- chary
- wary; cautious
- chicanery
- trickery or subterfuge
- cogent
- appealing forcibly to the mind or reason; convincing
- complaisance
- the willingness to comply with the wishes of others
- contrite
- regretful; penitent; seeking forgiveness
- credulous
- tending to believe too readily; gullible
- culpable
- deserving blame
- dearth
- smallness of quantity or number; scarcity; a lack
- demur
- to question or oppose
- derision
- scorn; ridicule, contemptuous treatment
- desiccate
- to dry out or dehydrate; to make dry or dull
- diatribe
- a harsh denunciation
- dilettante
- one with an amateurish or superficial interest in the arts or a branch of knowledge
- disabuse
- to undeceive; to set right
- dissemble
- to disguise or conceal; to mislead
- dogmatic
- stubbornly opinionated
- effrontery
- extreme boldness; presumptuousness
- emollient
- soothing; especially to the skin; making less harsh; mollifying
- endemic
- characteristic of or often found in a particular locality, region, or people
- enervate
- to weaken; to reduce in vitality
- ennui
- dissatisfaction and restlessness resulting from boredom or apathy
- ephemeral
- brief; fleeting
- erudite
- very learned; scholarly
- esoteric
- intended for or understood by a small, specific group
- exculpate
- exonerate; to clear of blame
- exigent
- urgent; pressing; requiring immediate action or attention
- extemporaneous
- improvised; done without preparation
- facetious
- playful; humorous
- flout
- to demonstrate contempt for, as in a rule or convention
- fulminate
- to loudly attack or denounce
- furtive
- marked by stealth; covert; surreptitious
- garrulous
- pointlessly talkative, talking too much
- germane
- relevant to the subject at hand; appropriate in subject matter
- glib
- marked by ease or informality; nonchalant; lacking in depth; superficial
- grandiloquence
- pompous speech or expression
- halcyon
- calm and peaceful
- amenable
- agreeable; responsive to suggestion
- ebullience
- the quality of lively or enthusiastic expression of thoughts and feelings
- equivocate
- to use ambiguous language with a deceptive intent
- evanescent
- tending to disappear like vapor; vanishing
- hackneyed
- rendered trite or commonplace by frequent usage
- harangue
- to deliver a pompous speech or tirade
- hegemony
- the consistant dominance of one state or ideology over others
- iconoclast
- one who attacks or undermines traditional conventions or institutions
- idolatrous
- given to intense or excessive devotion to something
- impassive
- revealing no emotion
- impecunious
- lacking funds; without money
- impunity
- immunity from punishment or penalty
- inchoate
- in an initial stage; not fully formed
- incipient
- beginning to come into being or to become apparent
- infelicitious
- unfortunate; lethargic; sluggish
- ingenuous
- artless; frank and candid; lacking in sophistication
- inimical
- damaging; harmful; malevolent
- insipid
- without taste or flavor; lacking in spirit; bland
- intractable
- not easily managed or directed; stubborn, obstinate
- inured
- accustomed to accepting something undesirable
- inveigle
- to obtain by deception or flattery
- irascible
- easily angered; prone to temperamental outbursts
- laconic
- using few words; terse
- loquacious
- extremely talkative
- magnanimity
- the quality of being generously noble in mind and heart, especially in forgiving
- martial
- associated with war and the armed forces
- maverick
- an independant individual who does not go along with a group or party
- mendacity
- the condition of being untruthful; dishonesty
- mercurial
- characterized by rapid and unpredictable change in mood
- nascent
- coming into being; in early developmental stages
- neologism
- a new word, expression, or usage; the creation or use of new words or senses
- neophyte
- a recent convert; a beginner; novice
- obdurate
- unyielding; hardhearted; intractable
- obfuscate
- to deliberately obscure; to make confusing
- obsequious
- exhibiting a fawning attentiveness
- obviate
- to anticipate and make unnecessary
- occlude
- to obstruct or block
- onerous
- troubling; burdensome
- opprobrium
- disgrace; contempt; scorn
- paean
- a song of hymn or praise and thanksgiving
- oscillation
- the act or state or swinging back and forth with a steady, uninterrupted rhythm
- pedagogy
- the art or profession of training, teaching, or instruting
- pedantic
- the parading of learning; excessive attention to minutiae and formal rules
- penurious
- penny-pinching; excessively thrifty; ungenerous
- penury
- poverty; destitution
- perfidy
- intentional breach of faith; treachery
- pernicious
- extremely harmful; potentially causing death
- perspicacious
- acutely perceptive; having keen discernment
- peruse
- to examine with great care
- phlegmatic
- calm; sluggish; unemotional
- pith/pithy
- the essential or central part; precise and brief
- platitude
- a superficial remark, especially one offered as meaningful
- polemical
- controversial; argumentative
- pragmatic
- practical rather than idealistic
- precipitate
- to cause or to happen before anticipated or required; acting with excessive haste or impulse
- predilection
- a disposition in favor of something; preference
- prescience
- foreknowledge of events; knowing events prior to their occuring
- presumptious
- overstepping due bounds (as of propriety or courtesy); taking liberties
- probity
- adherence to highest principles; uprightness
- proclivity
- a natural predisposition or inclination
- prodigal
- recklessly wasteful; extravagant; profuse, lavish
- prodigious
- abundant in size, force, or extent; extraordinary
- profligate
- excessively wasteful; recklessly extravagent
- profuse
- gvien or coming forth abundantly; extravagent
- prolific
- producing large volumes or amounts; productive
- propensity
- a natural inclination or tendency; penchant
- prosaic
- dull; unimaginative
- quaff
- to drink deeply
- qualm
- misgiving; reservation; cause for hesitancy
- querulous
- prone to complaining or grumbling; quarrelsome
- quiescence
- stillness; motionlessness; quality of being at rest
- quixotic
- foolishly impractical; marked by lofty romantic ideals
- quotidian
- occuring or recurring daily; commonplace
- rancorous
- characterized by bitter, long-lasting resentment
- rarefy
- to make or become thin, less dense; to refine
- recalcitrant
- obstinately defiant of authority; difficult to manage
- recondite
- hidden; concealed; difficult to understand; obscure
- redoubtable
- awe-inspiring; worthy of honor
- refulgent
- radiant; shiny; brilliant
- relegate
- to forcibly assign, especially to a lower place or position
- repudiate
- to refuse to have anything to do with; disown
- rescind
- to invalidate; to repeal; to retract
- reverent
- marked by, feeling, or expressing profound awe or respect
- rhetoric
- the art of study of effective use of language for communication and persuasion
- salubrious
- promoting health or well being
- solicitious
- concerned and attentive; eager
- solvent
- able to meet financial obligations; able to dissolve another substance
- soporific
- causing drowsiness; tending to induce sleep
- sordid
- characterized by filth, grime, or squalor; foul
- specious
- seeming true, but actually being fallacious; misleadingly attractive
- spendthrift
- one who spends money wastefully
- spurious
- lacking authenticity or validity; false; counterfeit
- squalid
- sordid; wretched and dirty as from neglect
- stupefy
- to stun, baffle, or amaze
- stymie
- to block; thwart
- subtle
- not obvious; elusive; difficult to discern
- supplant
- to take the place of; supersede
- surfeit
- excess; overindulgence
- tacit
- implied; not explicity stated
- torpid
- lethargic; sluggish; dormant
- torque
- a force that causes rotation
- tortuous
- winding; twisting; excessively complicated
- tout
- to publicly praise or promote
- trenchant
- sharply perceptive; keen; penetrating
- truculent
- fierce and cruel; eager to fight
- variegated
- multicolored; characterized by a variety of patches of different color
- veracity
- truthfulness; honesty
- vilify
- to defame; to characterize harshly
- virulent
- extremely harmful or poisonous; bitterly hostile or antagonistic
- viscous
- thick; sticky
- vituperate
- to use harsh, condemnatory language; to abuse or censure severely or abusively; berate
- volatile
- readily changing to a vapor; changable; fickle; explosive
- urbane
- sophisticated; refined; elegant