GRE Words 3 (Subsist)

solipsistic

believing that oneself is all that exists (self-centered)

lucubration (elucubrate is the verb)

laborious study or thought, especially at night; the result of such work

"beyond reproach"

perfect (not called for any criticism)

dispel

to eliminate (to make disappear)

dispense (with)

to do without or to get rid of

underlie

to be at the basis of (aka to form the foundation of) (“A theme of revenge underlies much of her writing.” or “Liberty underlies the US Constitution”) (~supports)

anhedonia

inability to experience pleasure in normally pleasurable acts

amortization

~payment

pertinacious

determined/persistent

remit

to cancel/stop (since unremitting is nonstop/relentless/incessant)

confounding is also a noun

the act of treating or viewing different things as if they were the same (think Trump = Bernie)

euphuism (euphuistic, euphuize) (bxld)

artificial elegance of language (pompousness)

divagation

diversion/digression/deviation (aka a tangent) (to diverge)

irrevocable

unalterable/irreversible (aka unable to revoke)

disportment / disport (ok) (9)

hobby (diversion) / to amuse&divert

cultivate (ok) (37)

to further/encourage, refine, court (to seek the society of), pursue, or to foster the growth or development of

portray

to depict, to describe, or to enact (aka to act out aka to play the role of)

(also associate with characterize [~express] and represent)

convey

to express/communicate/transfer

comity

courtesy and considerate behavior toward others

formative

serving to form something, especially having a profound and lasting influence on a person's development.

unflagging

persistent, tireless

needling (verb)

to provoke/annoy/torment (~bothering)

temperamental

liable to extreme changes of mood

vassal

more positive spin on servant (compared to minion or serf)

entropy

CHAOS, disorder, DISORGANIZATION, RANDOMNESS

cerebrate/cerebration (cerebral)

think/thinking(thought)

$ ecumenical v indispensable v dispensation (2 meanings) (bxld)

unifying/universal/catholic v essential/necessary v to dispense/deal out/administer or exception/exemption (permission)

recidivist

a habitual/repeated criminal

intuit

to know, sense, or understand by intuition (~to figure out)

codify

to systematize/classify/arrange (especially into law) (methodize)

officiate

to perform/carry out

claque

a group of sycophants (~cult)

habiliments

clothes

fortitude

mental strength and courage

vocation (2 meanings) vs avocation

occupation or calling vs hobby

freewheeling

free/loose/footloose

frisson

a thrill/rush (also think shudder/shiver)

mar

to spoil/ruin

maven

expert

fabulist

liar

culling (2 meanings)

to choose / pick/single out or technical term for killing people to avoid overpopulation

repartee (2 very similar meanings)

quick witty comeback (like retort) or general adroitness and cleverness in reply (aka the general skill)

kinship & rapport

similar to affinity

pleonasm (bxld)

redundancy in language

clangor

loud noise

vagrant

wanderer

proselyte vs proselytize (2 meanings)

recent convert (follower/disciple … is also a verb, can associate with proselytize) vs to convert/indoctrinate or to spread/promote/preach (“he is a Scottish lawyer who proselytized these ideas”

awl

hole-punching tool

associate crotchet with crotchety

eccentricity

traipse

to walk in a roundabout, directionless way

circumambulate

to walk around in circles

downtrodden (bxld)

suffering oppression (aka oppressed)

do not confuse with downcast or crestfallen!

effulgent

brilliant, dazzling, resplendent, refulgent

epaulet

something that ornaments or protects the shoulder

imperil/imperilment

to endanger/endangerment

heteromorphic

a plurality of forms

$ fungible (2 similar meanings)

replaceable/interchangeable or flexible (aka changeable)

animadversions (verb is animadvert)

strong criticisms

flagitious

flagrant, conspicuously bad, villiainous

costive (especially first definition)

related to constipation (similarly slow/reluctant/unforthcoming aka slow in action/expression aka not at ease to talk to others) … or stingy

georgic

dealing with agriculture or rural life

natty

stylish/sharp

pilfer/pilferer

to steal/one who steals

embezzle

to steal when something has been entrusted to you (for example, campaign funds)

knavish

dishonest

waggish

humorous/arch/teasing (mischievous; playful) … same root as “wag” (joker)

catharsis

purging of built-up emotions

emend

amending, in particular, a text

(amend means to improve/enhance/correct/rectify/remedy)

toothsome (2 meanings) (bxld)

delicious or agreeable/attractive

distant

faraway

proximate (2 similar meanings)

imminent/close (similar to coterminous)

remote (2 meanings)

divergent (“statements remote from the truth”) or out-of-the-way/secluded

prolepsis/proleptic

anticipation/anticipatory

protract

to prolong (in time OR space)

warrant can be used like license

okay

impose

to force/foist

obtrude (2 meanings)

to intrude (aka to thrust/force in) or to extrude (aka to thrust out)

apprehend (2 meanings)

to arrest or to comprehend

pertain

to concern/involve (pertaining = concerning)

deprecate (bxld)

to belittle, disparage, express disapproval

abet

like foment/instigate (to assist and encourage)

expunge

to destroy/eliminate

envisage

envision

accentuate

to emphasize/amplify

subsist

to survive/persist (~remain)

deplore (2 meanings) (5)

to lament/bewail/bemoan/mourn (these words, except for mourn, can be used to express grief/sorrow/regret OR to complain) aka to express grief/sorrow/regret or to deprecate/pan/condemn/denounce/criticize/complain about (to consider deserving of deprecation/complaint aka deplorable)

interlocutor

one who takes part in a dialogue/conversation

propulsive

having the quality of driving or pushing forward (aka propelling)

precipice (2 meanings) (bxld)

steep cliff or brink/verge/edge (of superstardom, of disaster, etc aka can be positive or negative, but there’s tension either way)

concatenation/catena/consecution vs to catenate

series/sequence vs to link (aka to connect in a series)

messianic

fervent/passionate/zealous

emblazon (2 meanings) (17)

to adorn/decorate/display or to celebrate/extol (praise)

upheaval

radical change

scapegoat (2 similar meanings)

one that bears the blame for others or one that is the object of irrational hostility

forsake/forsook

to renounce/abandon (just like forswear)

nihilism

extreme cynicism (life is meaningless)

wherewithal

means (especially money)

ominous

exhibiting an omen (portentous, foreboding)

boisterous

rambunctious

outlandish

bizarre, uncouth