GRE High Frequency Words
GRE High Frequency Words
- Abate – v – subside or
moderate.
- Aberrant – adj – abnormal or
deviant
- Abeyance – n – suspended
action
- Abscond – v – depart secretly
and hide
- Abstemious – adj – sparing in
eating and drinking temperate
- Admonish – v – warn; reprove.
- Adulterate – v – make impure
by adding inferior or tainted substances
- Aesthetic – artistic dealing
with or capable of appreciating the beautiful
- Aggregate – v – gather;
accumulate
- Alacrity – n – cheerful
promptness; eagerness
- Alleviate – v – relieve
- Amalgamate – v – combine;
unite in one body
- Ambiguous – adj – unclear or
doubtful in meaning
- Ambivalence – n – the state
of having contradictory or conflicting emotional attitudes
- Ameliorate – v – improve
- Anachronism – n – something
or someone misplaced in time
- Analogous – adj – comparable
- Anarchy – n – absence of
governing body; state of disorder
- Anomalous – adj – abnormal;
irregular
- Antipathy – n – aversion;
dislike
- Apathy – n - lack of caring;
indifference
- Appease – v – pacify or
soothe; relieve
- Apprise – v - inform
- Approbation – n – approval
- Appropriate – acquire; take
possession of for one’s own use
- Arduous – adj – hard;
strenuous
- Artless – adj – without
guile; open and honest
- Ascetic – adj – practicing
self-denial; austere
- Assiduous – adj- diligent
- Assuage – v – ease or lessen
(pain); satisfy (hunger); soothe (anger)
- Attenuate – v – make thinner;
weaken or lessen (in density, force, degree)
- Audacious – adj – daring bold
- Austere – forbiddingly stern;
severely simple and unornamented
- Autonomous – self-governing
- Aver – assert confidently or
declare; as used in law, state, formally as a fact
- Banal – hackneyed;
commonplace; trite; lacking originality
- Belie – contradict; give a
false impression
- Beneficent – kindly; doing
good
- Bolster – support; reinforce
- Bombastic – pompous; using
inflated language
- Boorish – rude; insensitive
- Burgeon – grow forth
- Burnish – make shiny by
rubbing; polish
- Buttress – support; prop up
- Cacophonous – discordant;
inharmonious
- Capricious – unpredictable;
fickle
- Castigation-punishment;
severe criticism
- Catalyst – agent that
influences the pace of a chemical reaction while it remains unaffected and
unchanged; person or thing that causes action
- Caustic – burning;
sarcastically biting
- Chicanery – trickery;
deception
- Coagulate – thicken; congeal;
clot
- Coda – concluding section of
a musical or literary composition; something that rounds out, summarizes, or
concludes
- Cogent – convincing
- Commensurate – corresponding
in extent, degree, amount; proportionate
- Compendium – brief;
comprehensive summary
- Complaisant – trying to
please; overly polite; obliging
- Compliant – yielding;
conforming to requirements
- Conciliatory – reconciling;
soothing
- Condone – overlook; forgive;
give tacit approval; excuse
- Confound – confuse; puzzled
- Connoisseur – person
competent to act as a judge of art
- Contention – claim; thesis
- Contentious – quarrelsome
- Contrite – penitent;
repentant
- Conundrum – riddle; difficult
problem
- Converge – approach; tend to
meet; come together
- Convoluted – coiled around;
involved; intricate
- Craven – cowardly
- Daunt – intimidate; frighten
- Decorum – propriety;
orderliness and good taste in manners
- Default – failure to act
- Deference – courteous regard
for another’s wish
- Delineate – portray; depict;
sketch
- Denigrate – blacken
- Deride – ridicule; make fun
of
- Derivative; unoriginal;
obtained from another source
- Desiccate – dry up
- Desultory – aimless;
haphazard; digressing at random
- Deterrent – something that
discourage; hindrance
- Diatribe – bitter scolding;
invective
- Dichotomy – split; branching
into two parts (usually contradictory)
- Diffidence – shyness
- Diffuse – wordy; rambling;
spread out
- Digression – wandering away
from the subject
- Dirge – lament with music
- Disabuse – correct a false
impression; undeceive
- Discerning – mentally quick
and observant; having insight
- Discordant – not harmonious;
conflicting
- Discredit – defame; destroy
confidence in; disbelieve
- Discrepancy – lack of
consistency; difference
- Discrete – separate;
unconnected; consisting of distinct parts
- Disingenuous – lacking
genuine candor; insincere
- Disinterested; unprejudiced
- Disjointed – lacking
coherence; separated at the joints
- Dismiss – eliminate from
consideration; reject
- Disparage – belittle
- Disparate – basically
different; unrelated
- Dissemble – disguise; pretend
- Disseminate – distribute;
spread; scatter
- Dissolution – disintegration;
looseness in morals
- Dissonance – discord;
opposite of harmony
- Distend – expend; swell out
- Distill – purify; refine;
concentrate
- Diverge – vary; go in
different directions from the same point
- Divest – strip; deprive
- Document – provide written
evidence
- Dogmatic – opinionated;
arbitrary; doctrinal
- Dormant – sleeping;
lethargic; latent
- Dupe – someone easily fooled
- Ebullient – showing
excitement; overflowing with enthusiasm
- Eclectic – selective;
composed of elements drawn from disparate sources
- Efficacy – power to produce
desired effect
- Effrontery – impudence;
shameless boldness; sheer nerve; presumptuousness
- Elegy – poem or song
expressing lamentation
- Elicit – draw out by
discussion
- Embellish – adorn; ornament;
enhance, as a story
- Empirical – based on
experience
- Emulate – imitate; rival
- Endemic – prevailing among a
specific group of people or in a specific area or country
- Enervate – weaken
- Engender – cause; produce
- Enhance – increase; improve
- Ephemeral – short-lived;
fleeting
- Equanimity – calmness of
temperament; composure
- Equivocate – lie; mislead;
attempt to conceal the truth
- Erudite – learned; scholarly
- Esoteric – hard to
understand; known only to the chosen few
- Eulogy – expression of
praise, often on the occasion of someone’s death
- Euphemism – mild expression
in place of an unpleasant one
- Exacerbate – worsen; embitter
- Exculpate – clear from blame
- Exigency – urgent situation;
pressing needs or demands; state of requiring immediate attention
- Extrapolation – projection;
conjecture
- Facetious – joking (often
inappropriately)
- Facilitate – help bring
about; make less difficult
- Fallacious – false;
misleading
- Fatuous – brainless; inane;
foolish, yet smug
- Fawning – trying to please by
behaving obsequiously, flattering, or cringing
- Felicitous – apt; suitably
expressed; well chosen
- Fervor – glowing ardor;
intensity of feeling
- Flag – droop; grow feeble
- Fledgling – inexperienced
- Flout – reject; mock; show
contempt for
- Foment – stir up; instigate
- Forestall – prevent by taking
action in advance
- Frugality – thrift, economy
- Futile – useless; hopeless;
ineffectual
- Gainsay – deny
- Garrulous – loquacious;
wordy; talkative
- Goad – urge on
- Gouge – overcharge
- Grandiloquent – pompous;
bombastic; using high-sounding language
- Gregarious – sociable
- Guileless – without deceit
- Gullible – easily deceived
- Harangue – long, passionate,
and vehement speech
- Homogeneous – off the same
kind
- Hyperbole – exaggeration;
overstatement
- Iconoclastic – attacking
cherished traditions
- Idolatry – worship of idols
- Immutable – unchangeable
- Impair – injure; hurt
- Impassive – without feeling;
imperturbable; stoical
- Impede – hinder; block
- Impermeable – impervious; not
permitting passage through its substance
- Imperturbable – calm placid
- Impervious – impenetrable;
incapable of being damaged or distressed
- Implacable – incapable of
being pacified
- Implicit – understood but not
stated
- Implode – burst inward
- Inadvertently –
unintentionally; by oversight; carelessly
- Inchoate – recently begun;
rudimentary; elementary
- Incongruity – lack of harmony;
absurdity
- Inconsequential –
insignificant; unimportant
- Incorporate – introduce
something into a larger whole; combine; unite
- Indeterminate – uncertain;
not clearly fixed; indefinite
- Indigence – poverty
- Indolent – lazy
- Inert – inactive; lacking
power to move
- Ingenuous – naïve and
trusting; young; unsophisticated
- Inherent – firmly established
by nature or habit
- Innocuous – harmless
- Insensible – unconscious;
unresponsive
- Insinuate – hint; imply;
creep in
- Insipid – lacking in flavor;
dull
- Insularity – narrow-mindedness;
isolation
- Intractable – unruly;
stubborn; unyielding
- Intransigence – refusal of
any compromise; stubbornness
- Inundate – overwhelm; flood;
submerge
- Inured – accustomed; hardened
- Invective – abuse
- Irascible – irritable; easily
angered
- Irresolute – uncertain how to
act; weak
- Itinerary – plan of a trip
- Laconic – brief and to the
point
- Lassitude – languor;
weariness
- Latent – potential but
undeveloped; dormant; hidden
- Laud – praise
- Lethargic – drowsy; dull
- Levee – earthen or stone
embankment to prevent flooding
- Levity – lack of seriousness
or steadiness; frivolity
- Log – record of a voyage or
flight; record of day-to-day activities
- Loquacious – talkative
- Lucid – easily understood
- Luminous – shining; issuing
light
- Magnanimity – generosity
- Malingerer – one who feigns
illness to escape duty
- Malleable – capable to being
shaped by pounding; impressionable
- Maverick – rebel;
nonconformist
- Mendacious – lying;
habitually dishonest
- Metamorphosis – change of
form
- Meticulous – excessively
careful; painstaking; scrupulous
- Misanthrope – one who hates
mankind
- Mitigate – appease; moderate
- Mollify – soothe
- Morose – ill-humored; sullen;
melancholy
- Mundane – worldly as opposed
to spiritual; everyday
- Negate – cancel out; nullify;
deny
- Neophyte – recent convert;
beginner
- Obdurate – stubborn
- Obsequious – slavishly
attentive; servile; sycophantic
- Obviate – make unnecessary;
get rid of
- Occlude – shut; close
- Officious – meddlesome;
excessively pushy in offering one’s services
- Onerous – burdensome
- Opprobrium – infamy;
vilification
- Oscillate – vibrate
pendulumlike; waver
- Ostentatious – showy;
pretentious; trying to attract attention
- Paragon – model of perfection
- Partisan – one-sided;
prejudiced; committed to a party
- Pathological – pertaining to
disease
- Paucity – scarcity
- Pedantic – showing off
learning; bookish
- Penchant – strong
inclination; liking
- Penury – severe poverty;
stinginess
- Perennial – something
long-lasting
- Perfidious – treacherous;
disloyal
- Perfunctory – superficial;
not thorough; lacking interest, care, enthusiasm
- Permeable – penetrable;
porous; allowing liquids or gas to pass through
- Pervasive – spread throughout
- Phlegmatic – clam; not easily
disturbed
- Piety – devoutness; reverence
for God
- Placate – pacify; conciliate
- Plasticity – ability to be
molded
- Platitude – trite remark
- Plethora – excess;
overabundance
- Plummet – fall sharply
- Porous – full of pores; like
a sieve
- Pragmatic – practical (as
opposed to idealistic); concerned with the practical worth or impact of
something
- Preamble – introductory
statement
- Precarious – uncertain; risky
- Precipitate – rash;
premature; hasty; sudden
- Precursor – forerunner
- Presumptuous – arrogant;
taking liberties
- Prevaricate – lie
- Probity – uprightness;
incorruptibility
- Problematic – doubtful;
unsettled; questionable
- Prodigal – wasteful; reckless
with money
- Profound – deep; not
superficial; complete
- Prohibitive – tending to
prevent the purchase or use of something
- Proliferate – grow rapidly;
spread; multiply
- Propensity – natural
inclination
- Propitiate – appease
- Propriety 0 fitness; correct conduct
- Proscribe – ostracize;
banish; outlaw
- Pungent – stinging; sharp in
taste or smell; caustic
- Qualified – limited;
restricted
- Quibble - minor objection or
complaint
- Quiescent – at rest; dormant;
temporarily inactive
- Rarefied – made less dense
(of a gas)
- Recalcitrant – obstinately
stubborn; determined to resist authority; unruly
- Recant – disclaim of disavow;
retract a precious statement
- Recluse – hermit; loner
- Recondite – abstruse;
profound; secret
- Refractory – stubborn,
unmanageable
- Refute – disprove
- Relegate – banish to an
inferior position; delegate; assign
- Reproach – express
disapproval or disappointment
- Reprobate – person hardened
in sin; devoid of a sense of decency
- Repudiate - disown; disavow
- Rescind – cancel
- Resolution – determination
- Resolve – determination;
firmness of purpose
- Reticent – reserved;
uncommunicative; inclined to silence
- Reverent – respectful;
worshipful
- Sage – person celebrated for
wisdom
- Salubrious – healthful
- Sanction – approve; ratify
- Satiate – satisfy fully
- Saturate – soak thoroughly
- Savor – enjoy; have a
distinctive flavor, smell, or quality
- Secrete – hide away or cache;
produce and release a substance into an organism
- Shard – fragment, generally
of pottery
- Skeptic – doubter; person who
suspends judgment until having examined the evidence supporting a point of view
- Solicitous – worried,
concerned
- Soporific – sleep-causing;
marked by sleepiness
- Specious – seemingly
reasonable but incorrect; misleading (often intentionally)
- Spectrum – color band
produced when a beam of light passes through a prism
- Sporadic – occurring
irregularly
- Stigma – token of disgrace;
brand
- Stint – be thrifty; set
limits
- Stipulate – make express
conditions, specify
- Stolid – dull; impassive
- Striated – marked with
parallel bands; grooved
- Strut – pompous walk
- Strut – supporting bar
- Subside – settle down;
descend; grow quiet
- Substantiate – establish by
evidence; verity; support
- Supersede – cause to be set
aside; replace; make obsolete
- Supposition – hypothesis;
surmise
- Tacit – understood; not put
into words
- Tangential – peripheral; only
slightly connected; digressing
- Tenuous – thin; rare; slim
- Tirade – extended scolding;
denunciation; harangue
- Torpor – lethargy;
sluggishness; dormancy
- Tortuous – winding; full of
curves
- Tractable – docile; easily
managed
- Transgression – violation of
a law; sin
- Truculence – aggressiveness;
ferocity
- Vacillate – waver; fluctuate
- Venerate – revere
- Veracious – truthful
- Verbose – wordy
- Viable – practical or
workable; capable of maintaining life
- Viscous – sticky, gluey
- Vituperative – abusive;
scolding
- Volatile – changeable;
explosive; evaporating rapidly
- Warranted – justified;
authorized
- Wary – very cautious
- Welter – turmoil; bewildering
jumble
- Whimsical – capricious;
fanciful
- Zealot – fanatic; perso who
shows excessive zeal (enthusiasm)
- Subpoena – writ summoning a
witness to appear
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