GRE vocab

words on lists that i didn't already know

Sedulous

diligent, persistent, maintained

Raft

a large number of something

Expansive

prone to talking in a sociable manner

Benighted

in a state of ignorance (in the dark/night)

galvanize

to excite to action

fell

evil

Arch

teasing

to intimate

to suggest subtly

Prevaricate

to speak in an evasive way

Histrionic

overly theatrical

Beatific

radiating bliss

Perfunctory

Routine, done without care

Nadir

low point, point of great adversity

Peremptory

Bossy

Arrant

complete and utter

Expurgate

remove objectionable material

supercilious

haughty, disdainful

protean

versatile artist/actor/writer

Sartorial

relating to clothes

Sybarite

someone who indulges in luxury

Insolvent

Bankrupt, can’t pay your bills

prodigal

wastefully extravagant

Cupidity

Greed for money; avarice

Defray

to bear or pay all or part of

Mulct

to swindle, defraud

Jejune

dull, lackluster (or childish, immature)

Bilious

irritable

Sanguine

cheerful, optimistic

martinet

strict disciplinarian

Virago

ill-tempered and sometimes violent woman

apostasy

desertion from one’s cause/religion/political party

Sanctimonious

holier-than-thou

Iconoclast

someone who attacks cherished beliefs

Malfeasance

wrongdoing by a public official

Venality

corruption

Turpitude

depravity

Apogee

highest point, culmination

Apotheosis

god-like

Upbraid

to scold, berate

Overweening

presumptuously conceited

Truculent

Fierce, savage nature, like a man with an oversized truck

Jingoist

nationalist with extreme foreign policy, thinks we should always be at war

Mellifluous

pleasant-sounding, sweet like honey

Palimpsest

something that has been changed multiple times but traces of the original remain (originally meant a papyrus written on multiple times)

Invective

vehement or violent denunciation, censure, or reproach; verb form: inveigh

inveigle

to coax

etiolated

pale, feeble, sickly in appearance

anodyne

soothing, not likely to offend

monocoque

structural design where the outside “skin” bears the weight

pavonine

relating to a peacock, iridescent

parietal

relating to the walls of a cavity or organ

saturnine

cold, gloomy disposition

inure

strengthen

stolidity

indifference

Philistine

ignorant of value of culture, smug and conventional in thinking