Magoosh GRE Vocabulary Practice Flashcards

A comprehensive vocabulary review based on the Magoosh GRE Word List eBook, covering general words, tricky words, money-related terms, and advanced vocabulary grouped by theme and difficulty.

Alacrity

An eager willingness to do something.

Prosaic

Dull and lacking imagination; used to describe plans, life, or language rather than people.

Veracity

Truthful or truthfulness.

Paucity

A lack of something.

Maintain

To assert or maintain a claim, such as one's innocence.

Contrite

To be remorseful.

Laconic

Using very few words; brief.

Pugnacious

Having an inclination to fight and be verbally combative or aggressive.

Disparate

Fundamentally different.

Egregious

Standing out in a bad way.

Innocuous

Harmless, inoffensive, and likely not to produce any ill effects.

Candid

A straightforward and honest look at something; being honest and straightforward.

Erratic

Unpredictable, often wildly so; can also mean strange and unconventional.

Bleak

Having a very depressing take on life; landscapes can also be described this way.

Profuse

Poured out in abundance, usually figuratively, such as apologizing ceaselessly.

Extant

Still in existence; the opposite of extinct.

Contentious

Inclined to argue or controversial.

Auspicious

Favorable; likely to lead to success.

Enervate

To sap the energy from something or someone.

Equivocate

To speak vaguely, usually with the intention to mislead or deceive.

Ambivalent

Having mixed or conflicting emotions about something.

Sedulous

Studying or working diligently and carefully.

Stem

To hold back or limit the flow or growth of something.

Blinkered

Having a limited outlook or understanding.

Unchecked

Undesirable and having grown out of control.

Checkered

Marked by disreputable happenings; often used in the phrase "checkered past."

Raft

A large number of something.

Involved

Complicated and difficult to comprehend.

Retiring

Shy and inclined to retract from company.

Expansive

Communicative and prone to talking in a sociable manner.

Moment

Significant and important.

Base

Without any moral principles; contemptible and ignoble.

Imbibe

To drink, or figuratively to intake knowledge or information.

Inundate

To be overwhelmed by too many people or things; to flood.

Scintillating

Brilliant and lively; giving off sparks.

Benighted

Existing in a state of ignorance.

Galvanize

To excite to action or spur on.

Hedge

To avoid making a direct statement; to play it safe; or to limit or qualify a statement.

Flush

To be in abundance; to turn red; or to send down the toilet.

Fell

Terribly evil.

Arch

Deliberately teasing.

Beg

To evade a question, invite an obvious question, or ask a question that makes unwarranted assumptions.

Tender

To offer something up, such as a resignation.

Intimate

To suggest something subtly.

Wanting

Lacking.

Becoming

Appropriate and matching nicely.

Start

To suddenly move or dart in a particular direction.

Fleece

To deceive, dupe, or swindle someone.

Telling

Significant and revealing of another factor.

Wax

To increase; the opposite of wane.

Check

To limit or modify the growth of something.

Qualify

To limit, usually in the context of a statement or opinion.

Miserly

Pinching every penny; characterized by spending money in a negative way.

Frugal

Spending money wisely; characterized by a positive connotation.

Prevaricate

To speak in an evasive way; to equivocate.

Histrionic

Overly theatrical.

Demur

To object or show reluctance.

Demure

Modest and shy; typically used to describe a woman.

Beatific

Radiating bliss; seeming blessed and holy.

Perfunctory

Done in a routine way or with carelessness.

Preemptive

Acting before someone else does.

Peremptory

Bossy and domineering.

Indigent

Poor; having very little means.

Indigenous

Relating to or originating in a certain area.

Indignant

Feeling anger over a perceived injustice.

Errant

Wandering or deviating from accepted behavior or standards.

Arrant

Complete and utter; usually modifies a noun with a negative connotation.

Artful

Cunning and wily.

Artless

Innocent and guileless.

Expurgate

To remove objectionable material.

Censure

To express strong disapproval of someone.

Ponderous

Moving slowly and in a labored fashion; weighed-down.

Imponderable

Impossible to estimate, fathom, or figure out.

Kowtow

Acting in a subservient or sycophantic manner.

Powwow

Any informal discussion or colloquy.

Junta

An aggressive takeover by a group, often a military group joining forces to usurp a regime.

Imbroglio

A confusing and potentially embarrassing situation.

Juggernaut

Any large force that cannot be stopped.

Schadenfreude

Taking joy in the suffering of others.

Amuck

Running about frenziedly; also spelled amok.

Pariah

An outcast.

Nabob

A wealthy, influential person.

Zeitgeist

Spirit of the times.

Sangfroid

Calmness and poise, especially in trying situations.

Parvenu

A person who has recently acquired wealth and risen in class but has a derogatory connotation.

Arriviste

A person who has recently acquired wealth, connoting more ruthless ambition than parvenu.

Melee

A wild, confusing fight or struggle.

Lagniappe

An unexpected gift.

Picayune

An amount that is trifling or meager; can also refer to a person who is petty.

Mesmerize

To hold spellbound; figuratively derived from Franz Mesmer's hypnotism.

Gerrymander

Manipulation of boundaries to favor a certain group; named after Elbridge Gerry.

Hector

To bully or intimidate.

Pollyannaish

Extremely and blindly optimistic.

Chauvinist

Anyone who thinks their group is better than anybody else's group.

Pyrrhic

A win that comes at so great a cost that it is not worth it.

Kafkaesque

The absurdity of living in a world of faceless bureaucracies.

Quixotic

Someone who is wildly idealistic.

Maudlin

Crying in public for no good reason; overly sentimental weeping.

Panglossian

Blind optimism; derived from Dr. Pangloss in Candide.

Malapropism

Mixing up similar-sounding words, usually to comic effect.