GRE Vocabulary Word Groups

From Kaplan’s word groupings of GRE vocab.

Abbreviated Communication

abridge

compendium

cursory

curtail

syllabus

synopsis

terse

Act Quickly

abrupt

apace

headlong

impetuous

precipitate

Assist

abet

advocate

ancillary

bolster

corroborate

countenance

espouse

mainstay

munificent

proponent

stalwart

sustenance

Bad Mood

bilious

dudgeon

irascible

pettish

petulant

pique

querulous

umbrage

waspish

Beginner/Amateur

dilettante

fledgling

neophyte

novitiate

proselyte

tyro

Beginning/Young

burgeoning

callow

engender

inchoate

incipient

nascent

Biting (Wit/Temperment)

acerbic

acidulous

acrimonious

asperity

caustic

mordacious

mordant

trenchant

Bold

audacious

courageous

dauntless

Boring

banal

hackneyed

insipid

mundane

pedestrian

platitude

prosaic

quotidian

trite

Carousel/Revelry

bacchanalian

debauchery

depraved

dissipated

iniquity

libertine

libidinous

licentious

reprobate

ribald

salacious

sordid

turpitude

Changing Quickly

capricious

mercurial

volatile

Copy

counterpart

emulate

facsimile

factitious

paradigm

precursor

simulate

vicarious

Criticize/Criticism

aspersion

belittle

berate

calumny

castigate

decry

defame

denounce

deride

derisive

diatribe

disparage

excoriate

gainsay

harangue

impugn

inveigh

lambaste

objurgate

obloquy

opprobrium

pillory

rebuke

remonstrate

reprehend

reprove

revile

tirade

vituoerate

Death/Mourning

bereave

cadaver

defunct

demise

dolorous

elegy

knell

lament

macabre

moribund

obsequies

sepulchral

wraith

Denying of Self

abnegate

abstain

ascetic

spartan

stoic

temperate

Dictatorial

authoritarian

despotic

dogmatic

hegemonic

imperious

peremptory

tyrannical

Difficult to Understand

abstruse

ambiguous

arcane

bemusing

cryptic

enigmatic

esoteric

inscrutable

obscure

opaque

paradoxical

perplexing

recondite

turbid

Disgusting/Offensive

defile

fetid

invidious

noisome

odious

putrid

rebarbative

Easy to Understand

articulate

cogent

eloquent

evident

limpid

lucid

pellucid

Eccentric/Dissimilar

aberrant

anachronism

anomalous

discrete

eclectic

esoteric

iconoclast

Embarrass

abash

chagrin

compunction

contrition

diffidence

expiate

double

gaucherie

rue

Equal

equitable

equity

tantamount

Falsehood

apocryphal

canard

chicanery

dissemble

duplicity

equivocate

erroneous

ersatz

fallacious

feigned

guile

mendacious

perfidy

prevaricate

specious

spurious

Family

conjugal

consanguine

distaff

endogamous

filial

fraternal

fratricide

progenitor

scion

sorority

Favoring / Not Impartial

ardent/ardor

doctrinaire

fervid

partisan

tendentious

zealot

Forgive/Make Amends

absolve

acquit

exculpate

exonerate

expiate

palliative

redress

vindicate

Funny

chortle

droll

facetious

flippant

give

jocular

levity

ludicrous

raillery

riposte

simper

Gaps / Openings

abatement

aperture

fissure

hiatus

interregnum

interstice

lull

orifice

rent

respite

rift

Generous/Kind

altruistic

beneficent

clement

largess

magnanimous

munificent

philanthropic

unstinting

Greedy

avaricious

covetous

mercenary

miserly

penurious

rapacious

venal

Hard-Hearted

asperity

baleful

dour

fell

malevolent

mordant

sardonic

scathing

truculent

vitriolic

vituperation

Harmful

baleful

baneful

deleterious

inimical

injurious

insidious

minatory

perfidious

pernicious

Harsh-Sounding

cacophony

din

dissonant

raucous

strident

Hatred

abhorrence

anathema

antagonism

antipathy

detestation

enmity

loathing

malice

odium

rancor

Healthy

beneficial

salubrious

salutary

Hesitate

dither

oscillate

teeter

vacillate

waver

Hostile

antithetic

churlish

curmudgeon

irascible

malevolent

misanthropic

truculent

vindictive

Innocent/Inexperienced

credulous

gullible

ingenuous

naive

novitiate

tyro

Insincere

disingenuous

dissemble

fulsome

ostensible

unctuous

Investigate

appraise

ascertain

assay

desert

peruse

Lazy/Sluggish

indolent

inert

lackadaisical

languid

lassitude

lethargic

phlegmatic

quiescent

slothful

torpid

Luck

amulet

auspicious

fortuitous

kısmet

optimum

portentous

propitiate

propitious

providential

serendipity

talisman

Nag

admonish

belabor

cavil

enjoin

exhort

harangue

hector

martinet

remonstrate

reproof

Nasty

fetid

noisome

noxious

No a Straight Line

askance

awry

careen

carom

circuitous

circumvent

gyrate

labyrinth

meander

oblique

serrated

sidle

sinuous

undulating

vortex

Overblown/Wordy

bombastic

circumlocution

garrulous

grandiloquent

loquacious

periphrastic

prolix

rhetoric

turgid

verbose

Pacify/Satisfy

ameliorate

appease

assuage

defer

mitigate

mollify

placate

propitiate

satiate

slake

soothe

Pleasant-Sounding

euphonious

harmonious

melodious

sonorous

Poor

destitute

esurient

impecunious

indigent

Praise

acclaim

accolade

aggrandize

encomium

eulogize

extol

fawn

laud

venerate

Predict

augur

auspice

fey

harbinger

portentous

precursor

presage

prescient

prognosticate

Prevent/Obstruct

discomfit

encumber

fetter

forfend

hinder

impede

inhibit

occlude

Smart/Learned

astute

canny

erudite

perspicacious

Sorrow

disconsolate

doleful

floor

elegiac

forlorn

lament

lugubrious

melancholy

morose

plaintive

threnody

Stubborn

implacable

inexorable

intractable

intransigent

obdurate

obstinate

recalcitrant

refractory

renitent

untoward

vexing

Terse

compendious

curt

laconic

pithy

succinct

taciturn

Time/Order/Duration

anachronism

antecede

antedate

anterior

archaic

diurnal

eon

ephemeral

epoch

fortnight

millennium

penultimate

synchronous

temporal

Timid/Timidity

craven

diffident

pusillanimous

recreant

timorous

trepidation

Truth

candor

fealty

frankness

indisputable

indubitable

legitimate

probity

sincere

veracious

verity

Unusual

aberration

anomaly

iconoclast

idiosyncrasy

Walking Around

ambulatory

itinerant

meander

peripatetic

Wandering

discursive

expatiate

forage

itinerant

peregrination

peripatetic

sojourn

Weaken

adulterate

enervate

exacerbate

inhibit

obviate

stultify

undermine

vitiate

Wisdom

adage

aphorism

apothegm

axiom

bromide

dictum

epigram

platitude

sententious

truism

Withdrawal/Retreat

abeyance

abjure

abnegation

abortive

abrogate

decamp

demur

recant

recidivism

remission

renege

rescind

retrograde