Advanced Vocabulary Practice: Lists 1-3

A complete set of flashcards defining GRE-level vocabulary words from the provided transcript, including their definitions and primary synonyms.

Abate

To become less intense or decrease in amount. Synonym: Wane.

Abdicate

To give up a position of power or a throne. Synonym: Relinquish.

Aberration

A departure from what is normal or expected. Synonym: Anomaly.

Abhor

To regard with extreme disgust or hatred. Synonym: Loathe.

Abject

Existing in a low state or condition; cast down in spirit. Synonym: Deplorable.

Abnegate

To renounce or reject material desires or possessions. Synonym: Forsake.

Abortive

Failing to produce the intended result; unsuccessful. Synonym: Ineffectual.

Abridge

To shorten a piece of writing without losing the sense. Synonym: Truncate.

Absolute

Total and unrestricted; not limited by any conditions. Synonym: Unmitigated.

Absolve

To set free from blame, guilt, or responsibility. Synonym: Vindicate.

Abstinent

Refraining from an activity or from the consumption of something. Synonym: Ascetic.

Abstract

Existing in thought or as an idea but not having a physical existence. Synonym: Conceptual.

Abstruse

Difficult to understand; obscure or complex. Synonym: Enigmatic.

Abysmal

Extremely bad; appalling. Synonym: Atrocious.

Accolade

An award or privilege granted as a special honor. Synonym: Encomium.

Accost

To approach and address someone boldly or aggressively. Synonym: Waylay.

Acerbic

Sharp and forthright, especially in speech or writing. Synonym: Mordant.

Acquiesce

To accept something reluctantly but without protest. Synonym: Capitulate.

Acrid

Having an irritatingly strong and unpleasant taste or smell. Synonym: Astringent.

Acrimonious

Angry and bitter, typically in speech or debate. Synonym: Rancorous.

Acumen

The ability to make good judgments and quick decisions. Synonym: Perspicacity.

Dearth

A scarcity or lack of something. Synonym: Paucity.

Debacle

A sudden and ignominious failure; a fiasco. Synonym: Fiasco.

Debauchery

Excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures. Synonym: Profligacy.

Debilitate

To make someone weak and infirm. Synonym: Enervate.

Decadent

Characterized by or reflecting a state of moral or cultural decline. Synonym: Effete.

Decimate

To kill, destroy, or remove a large percentage of. Synonym: Obliterate.

Decorous

In keeping with good taste and propriety; polite and restrained. Synonym: Seemly.

Deduce

To arrive at a fact or a conclusion by reasoning. Synonym: Extrapolate.

Defame

To damage the good reputation of someone; to slander. Synonym: Vilify.

Deference

Humble submission and respect. Synonym: Reverence.

Definitive

Done or reached decisively and with authority. Synonym: Authoritative.

Degenerate

To decline or deteriorate physically, mentally, or morally. Synonym: Retrogress.

Deleterious

Causing harm or damage. Synonym: Detrimental.

Delineate

To describe or portray something precisely. Synonym: Depict.

Delude

To impose a misleading belief upon someone; to deceive. Synonym: Beguile.

Innate

Inborn; natural. Synonym: Inherent.

Innocuous

Not harmful or offensive. Synonym: Benign.

Inordinate

Unusually or disproportionately large; excessive. Synonym: Exorbitant.

Insatiable

Impossible to satisfy. Synonym: Ravenous.

Insidious

Proceeding in a gradual, subtle way, but with harmful effects. Synonym: Surreptitious.

Lucid

Expressed clearly; easy to understand. Synonym: Pellucid.

Malleable

Able to be hammered or pressed permanently out of shape without breaking. Synonym: Pliant.

Mandate

An official order or commission to do something. Synonym: Fiat.

Manifest

Clear or obvious to the eye or mind. Synonym: Conspicuous.

Maudlin

Self-pityingly or tearfully sentimental. Synonym: Bathetic.

Maverick

An unorthodox or independent-minded person. Synonym: Iconoclast.

Mendacious

Not telling the truth; lying. Synonym: Deitful.

Nefarious

Wicked or criminal. Synonym: Iniquitous.

Neologism

A newly coined word or expression. Synonym: Coinage.

Obdurate

Stubbornly refusing to change one's opinion or course of action. Synonym: Intransigent.

Obfuscate

To render obscure, unclear, or unintelligible. Synonym: Confound.

Oblique

Not explicit or direct in addressing a point. Synonym: Circuitous.

Oblivion

The state of being unaware or forgotten by the public. Synonym: Obscurity.

Obscure

Not discovered or known about; uncertain. Synonym: Arcane.

Obsequious

Obedient or attentive to an excessive or servile degree. Synonym: Sycophantic.

Palliative

Relieving pain or alleviating a problem without dealing with the cause. Synonym: Mitigating.

Panacea

A solution or remedy for all difficulties or diseases. Synonym: Catholicon.

Paradigm

A typical example or pattern of something; a model. Synonym: Archetype.

Reticent

Not revealing one's thoughts or feelings readily. Synonym: Taciturn.

Sanguine

Optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad situation. Synonym: Buoyant.

Tenacious

Tending to keep a firm hold of something; clinging or adhering closely. Synonym: Pertinacious.

Zealous

Showing great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or objective. Synonym: Ardent.