333 high frequency words for GRE Buttress v.

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