Common GRE Words: Q and R

Quiescent

motionless

• Many animals are ____ over the winter months, minimizing activity in order to conserve energy

rarefy

to make thinner or sparser

• Since the atmosphere ____ as altitudes increase, the air at the top of very tall mountains is too thin to breathe

repudiate

to reject the validity of

• The old woman’s claim that she was Russian royalty was ____ when DNA tests showed she was of no relation to them

reticent

silent, reserved

• Physically small and ____ in her speech, Joan Didion often went unnoticed by those upon whom she was reporting

rhetoric

effective writing or speaking

• Lincoln’s talent for ____ was evident in his beautifully expressed Gettysburg Address