VOCABULARY LISTS > TEST PREP
Need-to-know GRE words 99 wordsMay 29, 2008 By Ben Zimmer (New York, NY)
2. adamant
very hard native crystalline carbon valued as a gem
3. approbation
official approval
4. ascribe
attribute or credit to
5. austere
of a stern or strict bearing or demeanor; forbidding in aspect
6. bastion
projecting part of a rampart or other fortification
7. boorish
ill-mannered and coarse and contemptible in behavior or appearance
8. bumptious
offensively self-assertive
9. burgeon
grow and flourish
10. cajole
influence or urge by gentle urging, caressing, or flattering
11. cant
a slope in the turn of a road or track; the outside is higher than the inside in order to reduce the effects of centrifugal force
12. chauvinism
fanatical patriotism
13. chimerical
being or relating to or like a chimera
14. coquettish
like a coquette
15. corpulence
the property of excessive fatness
16. deign
do something that one considers to be below one's dignity
17. deleterious
harmful to living things
18. desultory
marked by lack of definite plan or regularity or purpose; jumping from one thing to another
19. diffidence
lack of self-confidence
20. dint
interchangeable with `means' in the expression `by means of'
21. discursive
(of e.g. speech and writing) tending to depart from the main point or cover a wide range of subjects
22. dupe
fool or hoax
23. ebullient
joyously unrestrained
24. elysian
relating to the Elysian Fields
25. emendation
a correction by emending; a correction resulting from critical editing
26. engender
make children
27. ennui
the feeling of being bored by something tedious
28. fastidious
giving careful attention to detail; hard to please; excessively concerned with cleanliness
29. fodder
coarse food (especially for livestock) composed of entire plants or the leaves and stalks of a cereal crop
30. fulminate
cause to explode violently and with loud noise
31. glib
artfully persuasive in speech
32. ignominious
(used of conduct or character) deserving or bringing disgrace or shame
33. incorrigible
impervious to correction by punishment
34. incumbent
necessary (for someone) as a duty or responsibility; morally binding
35. ineffable
defying expression or description
36. ingenuous
lacking in sophistication or worldliness
37. invective
abusive or venomous language used to express blame or censure or bitter deep-seated ill will
38. itinerant
traveling from place to place to work
39. knavery
lack of honesty; acts of lying or cheating or stealing
40. lachrymose
showing sorrow
41. laconic
brief and to the point; effectively cut short
42. livid
furiously angry
43. lugubrious
excessively mournful
44. maverick
someone who exhibits great independence in thought and action
45. mendicant
a pauper who lives by begging
46. mercurial
liable to sudden unpredictable change
47. mordant
harshly ironic or sinister
48. nugatory
of no real value
49. obdurate
stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing
50. odious
unequivocally detestable
51. ostentatious
intended to attract notice and impress others
52. pastiche
a work of art that imitates the style of some previous work
53. paucity
an insufficient quantity or number
54. pejorative
expressing disapproval
55. penchant
a strong liking
56. penitent
feeling or expressing remorse for misdeeds
57. penurious
excessively unwilling to spend
58. perfidy
an act of deliberate betrayal
59. perfunctory
hasty and without attention to detail; not thorough
60. pernicious
exceedingly harmful
61. perspicacious
mentally acute or penetratingly discerning
62. petulant
easily irritated or annoyed
63. precocious
characterized by or characteristic of exceptionally early development or maturity (especially in mental aptitude)
64. pristine
immaculately clean and unused
65. prodigal
recklessly wasteful
66. progenitor
an ancestor in the direct line
67. pugnacious
tough and callous by virtue of experience
68. pungent
strong and sharp;"the pungent taste of radishes"
69. pusillanimous
lacking in courage and manly strength and resolution; contemptibly fearful
70. rancor
a feeling of deep and bitter anger and ill-will
71. recondite
difficult to penetrate; incomprehensible to one of ordinary understanding or knowledge
72. repose
freedom from activity (work or strain or responsibility)
73. respite
a pause from doing something (as work)
74. rife
excessively abundant
75. risible
arousing or provoking laughter
76. sardonic
disdainfully or ironically humorous; scornful and mocking
77. saturnine
bitter or scornful
78. savant
someone who has been admitted to membership in a scholarly field
79. sedition
an illegal action inciting resistance to lawful authority and tending to cause the disruption or overthrow of the government
80. sedulous
marked by care and persistent effort
81. solicitous
full of anxiety and concern
82. specious
plausible but false
83. stolid
having or revealing little emotion or sensibility; not easily aroused or excited
84. strident
unpleasantly loud and harsh
85. stultify
deprive of strength or efficiency; make useless or worthless
86. subjugate
make subservient; force to submit or subdue
87. taciturn
habitually reserved and uncommunicative
88. tantamount
being essentially equal to something
89. tortuous
marked by repeated turns and bends
90. travesty
a composition that imitates or misrepresents somebody's style, usually in a humorous way
91. trenchant
having keenness and forcefulness and penetration in thought, expression, or intellect
92. truculent
defiantly aggressive
93. turbid
(of liquids) clouded as with sediment
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94. turpitude
a corrupt or depraved or degenerate act or practice
95. ubiquitous
being present everywhere at once
96. venal
capable of being corrupted
97. vicissitude
a variation in circumstances or fortune at different times in your life or in the development of something
98. vituperate
spread negative information about
99. winnow
the act of separating grain from chaff