GRE Vocab Set 1 of 5 (Abase-Decorous)

the 500 GRE vocab words to memorize

Abase

to humble ; to disgrace “My intention was not to BLANK the comedian”

Abate

to reduce in amount, degree, or severity “As the hurricane’s force BLANKed, the winds dropped and the sea became calm”

Abdicate

to give up a position, right, or power “With the angry mob clamoring outside the palace, the king BLANKed his throne and fled”

Aberrant

deviating from what is normal or expected “Since he had been a steady, cheerful worker for many years, his fellow postal workers did not expect his BLANK burst of rage”

Abeyance

temporary suppression or suspension “The baseball game was held in BLANK while it continued to rain”

Abjure

to reject; to abandon formally “The spy BLANKed his allegiance to the US when he defected to Russia”

Abscond

to leave secretly “The patron BLANKed from the restaurant witout paying his bill by sneaking out the back door”

Abstain

to choose not to do something “Before the medical procedure, you must BLANK from eating”

Abstemious

moderate in appetite; practicing moderation or abstinence “Because Alyce is a vegetarian, she was able to eat only an BLANK meal at the Texas Steakhouse”

Abyss

an extremely deep hole “The submarine dove into the BLANK to chart the previously unseen depths”

Accretion

a gradual growth in size; an increase in amount “The committee’s strong fund-raising efforts resulted in an BLANK in scholarship money”

Acidulous

sour in taste or manner “The BLANK taste of the spoiled milk made the young boy’s lips pucker”

Acme

the highest point; the summit; the highest level or degree attainable “Just when he reached the BLANK of his power, the dictator was overthrown”

Adulterate

to make impure “The restaurateur made his ketchup last longer by BLANKing it with water”

Advocate

to speak in favor of “The vegetarian BLANKed a diet containing no meat" [wanted this for other people, encouraged others to do the same]

Aerie

a nest built high in the air; an elevated, often secluded, dwelling “Perched high among the trees, the eagler’s BLANK was filled with eggs”

Aesthetic

concerning the appreciation of beauty “The BLANK movement regarded the pursuit of beauty as the only true purpose of art”

Affected

phony; artificial “The BLANK hairdresser spouted French phrases, though she had never been to France”

Aggrandize

to increase in power, influence, and reputation “The supervisor sought to BLANK himself by claiming that the achievements of his staff were actually his own”

Alacrity

speed or quickness “The restaurant won a reputation for fine service sine the wait staff responded to their client’s requests with BLANK”

Alleviate

to make more bearable “Taking aspirin helps to BLANK a headache”

Amalgamate

to combine; to mix together “Giant Industries BLANKed with Mega Products to form Giant-Mega Products Incorporated”

Ambiguous

doubtful or uncertain; can be interpreted several ways “the directions he gave were so BLANK that we disagreed on which way to turn”

Ameliorate

to make better; to improve “The doctor was able to BLANK the patient’s suffering using painkillers”

Amortize

to diminish by installment payments “While college students are notorious for accumulating credit card debt, they are not as well known for BLANKing it”

Amulet

an ornament worn as a charm against evil spirits “Though she claimed it was not because of superstition, Vivian always wore an BLANK around her neck”

Anachronism

something out of place in time “The play was set in the nineteenth century, but was ruined by BLANKs, like the lead actor’s digital watch”

Analgesia

a lessening of pain without loss of consciousness “After having her appendix removed, Tatiana welcomed the BLANK that the painkillers provided”

Analogous

similar or alike in some way; equivalent “His mother argued that not going to college was BLANK to throwing his life away”

Anodyne

something that calms or soothes pain “The massage was an BLANK that helped remove the knots from the lawyer’s tense shoulders”

Anomaly

deviation from what is normal “An BLANK in the orbit of a binary star system led scientists to deduce the existence of a planet orbiting the two stars”

Antagonize

to annoy or provoke to anger “The child discovered that he could BLANK the cat by pulling its tail”

Antipathy

extreme dislike “The BLANK between fans of the rival soccer teams made the game even more electrifying to watch”

Apathy

lack of interest or emotion “The BLANK of the voters is so great that less than half the people who are eligible to vote actually bother to do so”

Apocryphal

of questionable authority or authenticity “There is no heard or authoritative evidence to support the BLANK tales that link the Roswell, New Mexico, incident to a downed UFO”

Apostate

one who renounces a religious faith “So that he could divorce his wife, the kind scoffed at the church doctrines and declared himself an BLANK”

Approbration

approval and praise “The BLANK that Jerry Lewis received in France included a medal from the Ministry of Culture”

Arbitrary

determined by chance or impulse “When you lack the information to judge what to do next, you will be forced to make an BLANK decision”

Arbitrate

to judge a dispute between two opposing parties “Since the couple could not come to an agreement, a judge was forced to BLANK their divorce proceedings”

Archaic

ancient; old-fashioned “Her BLANK Commodore computer could not run the latest software”

Ardor

intense and passionate feeling “Bishop’s BLANK for landscape was evident when he passionately described the beauty of the scenic Hudson Valley”

Arrogate

to claim without justification; to claim for oneself without right “Gretchen watched in astonishment as her boss BLANKed the credit for her brilliant work on the project”

Articulate

able to speak clearly and expressively “She is extremely BLANK when it comes to expressing her pro-labor views; as a result, unions are among her strongest supporters”

Assail

to attack; to assault “The foreign soldiers will try to BLANK our bases, but they will not be successful in their attack”

Assuage

to make something unpleasant less severe “The statistics indicating how safe air travel actually is did nothing to BLANK Griffin’s fear of flying”

Attenuate

to reduce in force or degree; to weaken “The Bill of Rights BLANKed the traditional power of government to change laws at will”

Audacious

fearless and daring “The BLANK peasant dared to insult the king’s mother”

Augury

a prophecy; a prediction of events “Troy hoped the rainbow was an BLANK of good things to come”

August

dignified, grandiose “The BLANK view of the Grand Teton summit took my breath away”

Austere

severe or stern in appearance; undecorated “the lack of decoration makes Zen temples seem BLANK to the untrained eye”

Axiom

premise; postulate; self-evident truth “Halle lived her life based on the BLANK her grandmother had passed on to her”

Banal

predictable; clichéd; boring “His conversation consisted of BLANK phrases like ‘Have a nice day’ or ‘Another day, another dollar’”

Belfry

a bell tower; the room in which a bell is hung “The town was shocked when a bag of money was found stashed in the old BLANK of the church”

Bevy

a group “As predicted, a BLANK of teenagers surrounded the rock star’s limousine”

Bifurcate

to divide into two parts “The large corporation just released a press statement announcing its plans to BLANK”

Bilk

to cheat; to defraud “When the greedy salesman realized that his customer spoke poor French, he BLANKed the tourist out of 20 euros”

Blight

to afflict; to destroy “The farmers feared that the night’s frost would BLANK the potato crops entirely”

Blithe

joyful, cheerful, or without appropriate thought “Summer finally came, and the BLANK students spent their days at the beach”

Bolster

to support; to prop up “The presence of giant footprints BLANKed the argument that Bigfoot was in the area”

Bombastic

pompous in speech and manner “Mussolini’s speeches were mostly BLANK; his boasting and outrageous claims had no basis in fact”

Bonhomie

good-natured geniality; an atmosphere of good cheer “The aspects of her job that Dana loved the most were the flexible hours and the pleasant BLANK in the office”

Boor

a crude person; one lacking manners or taste “‘That utter BLANK ruined my recital with his constant guffawing’ wailed the pianist”

Burgeon

to grow and flourish “Faulkner neither confirmed nor denied stories about himself, allowing rumor to BLANK where it would”

Burnish

to polish “He BLANKed the silver coffee pot until it shone brightly”

Cabal

a secret group seeking to overturn something “The boys on the street formed a BLANK to keep girls out of their treehouse”

Cacophony

a harsh, jarring noise “The junior high orchestra created an almost unbearable BLANK as they tried to tune their instruments”

Calumny

a false and malicious accusation; misrepresentation “The unscrupulous politician used BLACNK to bring down his opponent in the senatorial race”

Canard

a lie “That tabloids feature story about a goat giving birth to a human child was clearly a BLANK”

Candid

impartial and honest in speech “The observations of a child can be charming since they are BLANK and unpretentious”

Capricious

changing one’s mind quickly and often “Queen Elizabeth I was quite BLANK; her courtiers could never be sure which one would catch her fancy”

Cartography

the science or art of making maps “Gail’s interest in BLANK may stem from the extensive traveling she did as a child”

Castigate

to punish or criticize harshly “Martina BLANKed her boyfriend for not remembering her birthday”

Catalyst

something that brings about a change in something else “The imposition of harsh taxes was the BLANK that finally brought on the revolution”

Catholic

universal; broad and comprehensive “His BLANK musical tastes included everything from opera to rap”

Caustic

biting in wit “Dorothy Parker gained her BLANK reputation from her cutting, yet witty insults”

Chaos

great disorder; a confused situation “The tornado blew the roof off the house and reduced an impeccably ordered living room to a state of BLANK: furniture was overturned and books and window glass were scattered across the floor”

Chauvinist

Someone prejudiced in favor of a group to which he or she belongs “The attitude that men must be obeyed since they are inherently superior to women is a common among male BLANKs”

Chicanery

deception by means of craft or guile “Dishonest used car salespeople often use BLANK to sell their beat-up old cars”

Circumspect

cautious; aware of potential consequences “She was very BLANK in her language and behavior when first introduced to her fiancé’s parents”

Cloying

sickly sweet; excessive “When Enid and Jay first started dating, their BLANK affection toward one another often made their friends ill”

Coalesce

to grow together to form a single whole “The sun and planets eventually BLANKed out of a vast cloud of gas and dust”

Coffer

a strongbox; a large chest for money “The bulletproof glass of the BLANK is what keeps the crown jewels secure”

Cogent

convincing and well-reasoned “Swayed by the BLANK argument of the defense, the jury had no choice but to acquit the defendant”

Collusion

a collaboration; complicity; conspiracy “It came to light that the success of the numbers racket was a result of BLANK between the police chief and an organized crime syndicate”

Condone

to overlook, pardon, or disregard “Some theories believe that failing to prosecute minor crimes is the same as BLANKing an air of lawlessness”

Connoiseur

a person with expert knowledge or discriminating tastes “Dr. Ramirez was a BLANK of fine food and wine, drinking and eating only the best”

Contrite

deeply sorrowful and repentant for a wrong “After three residents were mugged in the libby while a watchman was away from his post, he felt very BLANK”

Contumacious

rebellious “The BLANK teenager ran away from home when her parents told her she was grounded”

Convoluted

intricate and complicated “Although many people bought the professor’s book, few people could follow its BLANK ideas and theories”

Corroborate

to support with evidence “All the DA needed were fingerprints to BLANK the witness’s testimony that he saw the defendant in the victim’s apartment”

Cosset

to pamper; to treat with great care “Marta just loves to BLANK her first and only grandchild”

Coterie

an intimate group of persons with a similar purpose “Angel invited a BLANK of fellow stamp enthusiasts to a stamp-trading party”

Craven

lacking courage “The BLANK lion cringed in the corner of his cage, terrified of the mouse”

Credulous

too trusting; gullible “Although some four-year-olds believe in the Tooth Fairy, only the most BLANK nine-year-olds also believe in her”

Crescendo

steady increase in volume or force “The detective novel’s intricate plotting had masterfully created a BLANK of suspense in the pages leading to the revelation of the perpetrator’s identity”

Cupidity

greed; strong desire “The thief stared at the shining jewels with BLANK in his gleaming eyes”

Curmudgeon

a cranky person, usually an old one “Ernesto was a notorious BLANK who snapped at anyone who disturbed him for any reason”

Debutante

a young woman making debut in high society “The BLANK spent hours dressing for her very first ball, hoping to catch the eye of an eligible bachelor”

Declivity

a downward slope “Because the village was situated on the BLANK of a hill, it never flooded”

Decorous

proper; tasteful; socially correct “The countess trained her daughters in the finer points of BLANK behavior, hoping they would make a good impression when she presented them at Court”