GRE Vocabulary Cartoons: G Words

gadfly

an irritating and persistent person

(noun) someone who annoys by being very critical

(noun) irritating critical person

gaffe

a clumsy social error; a faux pas

(noun) an embarrassing social mistake

gainsay

(verb) to deny

gallant

(adj.) Brave, noble, courageous

gambit

a maneuver or action used to gain an advantage

(noun) a move made to try to gain an advantage

gamboled

to skip about, as in dancing or playing; frolic

(verb) dance around happily

garble

to distort in such a way as to make unintelligible

(verb) to make hard to understand

gargantuan

of huge or extraordinary size and power

(adj.) enormous

garrulous

given to much talking, tediously chatty

(adj.) talkative

gauche

(adj.) awkward, lacking in social graces, tactless, clumsy

(adj.) awkward

gaudy

(adj.) flashy, showy; not in good taste

(adj.) flashy in a tasteless way

genial

(adj.) friendly and cheerful

germane

(adj.) relevant, appropriate, apropos, fitting

(adj.) relevant; fitting

germinate

to begin to grow, come into being

(verb) to begin to grow

ghastly

(adj.) horrible

gild

cover with a thin layer of gold

(verb) to make attractive, often deceptively

glacial

hostile; unfriendly; cold; icy

(adj.) slow and/or cold

glancing

taking a quick look at something

(adj.) indirect

glaring

extremely obvious or conspicuous

(adj.) obvious

glowered

Looked at or stared angrily or sullenly

(verb) looked at with anger

glut

(v.) to provide more than is needed or wanted; to feed or fill to the point of overstuffing; (n.) an oversupply

(noun) too much of something

Goosebumps

(n) the bumps created by hairs standing up on the skin in response to cold, fear, etc.

(noun) small bumps on the skin caused by fear or excitement

gossamer

(adj.) thin, light, delicate, insubstantial; (n.) a very thin, light cloth

(adj.) delicate; flimsy

grandiloquent

pompous or high-flown in speech

(adj.) pompous; loud; colorful

grandiose

impressive; showy; magnificent

(adj.) impressive but often in exaggerated way

grandstand

Perform showily in an attempt to impress onlookers

(verb) to show off

grasping

covetous, greedy

(adj.) greedy

grating

(adj.) irritating

gravitas

great or very dignified seriousness

(noun) powerful seriousness

gregarious

(adj.) sociable

grisly

causing horror or disgust

(adj.) horrific

grouse

(verb) to complain

grovel

(v) to humble oneself, act in a fearful and servile way; to lie face downward; to indulge in something base or unworthy

(verb) to act like an unworthy servant by crawling or lowering oneself

gumption

1. (noun) courage and initiative

2. (noun) common sense

guttural

produced in the throat; harsh; rasping; throaty

(adj.) harsh-sounding