GRE Vocab

List of terms with corresponding definitions

Efflorescence

The action or process of developing and unfolding as if coming into flower

Precocious

Showing mental growth, skills, or maturity much earlier than normal

Assiduous

Showing great care, hard work, and unremitting attention to detail

Dissemble

To hide your real feelings, opinions, or true intentions behind a false appearance

Hortatory

Giving strong encouragement, advice, or urging someone to take action

Extant

Still in existence and not destroyed, lost, or extinct

Malign

To speak evil of or spread harmful, unfair untruths to damage someone's reputation

Insipid

Lacking flavor, taste, or interesting and exciting quanities

Fortuitous

Happening by a lucky chance or accidental way, usually bringing a good result or benefit

Commensurate

Matching or corresponding in size, amount, degree, or proportion (Equal)

Incensed

Feeling or showing anger

Integrative

Tending to combine, coordinate, or unite separate and diverse parts into a single, choesive whole

Doctrinaire

Stubbornly or excessively devoted to a doctrine or theory without regard to practical considerations

Scanty

Small, bare, or not enough in size, amount, or quantity

Prolix

Using too many words such as writing or speeches that go on far too long and become boring

Outmodded

Something is no longer modern, stylish, useful, or accepted by current standards

Quotidian

Ordinary, routine, or happening every day

Cursory

Quick, hasty, and lacking attention to detail

Perfunctory

An action done quickly, routinely, or superficially, without real care, interest, or enthusiasm

Industrious

Someone who is hard-working, diligent, and steady in their efforts

Magnanimity

A great and generous heart. The quality of being noble, unselfish, and kind, especially toward a rival, an enemy, or someone you have beaten

Egotism

An inflated, over-the-top sense of self-importance

Profligacy

Wild waste or bad, shameless behavior used to describe someone who spends too much money, wastes resources, or acts without and moral rules

Vituperation

Harsh, bitter, or angry verbal abuse

Voyeuristic

Getting pleasure from secretly watching other people

Sanguine

Optimistic or positive, especially in a bad or difficult situation

Spurious

False, fake, or not genuine describing things that look real or true on the outside, but are based on wrong facts or bad logic

Bucolic

Relating to the pleasant, peaceful aspects of the countryside, farms, and rural life

Capriciousness

The quality of acting on sudden, unpredictable impulses, whims, or sudden changes in mood rather than logic or steady planning

Mercurial

Having a mood or behavior that changes fast and in ways you cannot predict

Aria

A self-contained, elaborate piece of music written for a solo voice, typically with orchestral accompaniment

Prescience

The ability to know or predict what will happen in the future

Obduracy

Stubborn persistence, inflexibility, or refusing to change your mind despite advice, reason, or pleading from others

Obstinate

Refusing to change your ideas, plans, or behavior, even when other people try to persuade you or give good reasons to do so

Loquacious

Very talkative, chatty, or given to fluent and continuous speech

Diffident

Shy, timid, or lacking self-confidence

Stanch

To stop or check the flowing of a liquid, typically blood from a wound

Tacit

Understood or implied without being said out loud

Taciturnity

The habit of being very quiet, reserved, or uncommunicative in speech

Alarcity

A cheerful, brisk, and eager readiness to do something

Rhapsody

An expression of intense enthusiasm, a free-flowing musical piece with shifting moods, or an ancient epic poem segment

Lucidity

Clear thinking, clear writing, or a state of mind that is not confused

Didacticism

A quality or philosophy in art, literature, or speech that aims to teach or provide a specific moral, political, or religious lesson

Mawkish

Showing too much emotion in a way that is silly, false, or so sappy it makes you feel sick

Hackneyed

Lacking freshness, meaning, or original thought because it has been used too many times

Facility

The quality of being easily performed

Ambulatory

1. Able to walk about and not bedridden

2. of, relating to, or adapted to walking

3. (Law): Capable of being changed

Itinerant

Traveling from place to place

Superlative

of, relating to, or constituting the degree of grammatical comparison that denotes an extreme or unsurpassed level or extent

Affability

The quality of being friendly, warm, and easy to talk to

Preternatural

Being outside, beside, or beyond what is normal or natural

Milieu

A person's social, cultural, and physical environment or surroundings

Lieu

Meant to take its place or stead

Iconoclasm

The deliberate destruction of religious icons, sacred images, or historic monuments, usually driven by religious, political, or ideological motives

Iconoclast

A person who attacks or challenges traditional beliefs, customs, or established institutions

Fastidious

Very careful and precise about small details

Dissimilar

Not the same, unlike, or different

Polemical

A speech or writing which strongly attacks or aggressively defends a particular opinion, idea, or belief

Virulent

A disease or poison that is very dangerous and spreads fast

Impetus

A force, motivation, or stimulus that helps an activity or process start or grow faster

Luminary

A famous, successful, or brilliant person who inspires others and stands out in a specific field

Exacting

Making heavy demands on your time, patience, or skill

Acerbic

Sharply or bitingly critical, sarcastic, or harsh in tone, mood, or manner

Thrift

The careful and wise use of money and resources to avoid waste

Illiberality

Lack of broad-mindedness, intolerance of different beliefs, or a refusal to respect personal freedoms

Illiberal

Limiting freedom, being narrow-minded, or showing intolerance toward other people's views, beliefs, or choices

Miserliness

An extreme, ungenerous unwillingness to spend money or share resources

Tenuous

Very weak, slight, or lacking a solid base

Strenuous

Needing or using a lot of physical or mental effort, energy, or strength

Florid

Having a red or flushed face, or being very fancy and overly decorated

Avid

Extremely eager, dedicated, or enthusiastic about something

Egalitarian

Believing that all people are equal

Ephermeal

Lasting for a very short time, fleeting, or temporary

Plutocracy

A society or system of government ruled and controlled by people of great wealth

Disinterestedness

The quality or state of being completely impartial, unbiased, and free from personal or financial self-interest

Belies

To give a false impression of something, or to show that something is false and contradicts it

Volubility

The quality of talking a lot, easily, smoothly, and without stopping

Pellucidity

The quality of being perfectly clear, transparent, or easy to understand

Gaudy

Something is too bright, flashy, or heavily decorated in a way that lacks good taste

Frivolous

Not having any serious purpose value, or importance

Penitential

Showing, expressing, or feeling regret and sadness for doing something wrong, or relating to a religious act of making up for ones sins

Prodigality

Reckless, wasteful spending or a lavish, overly generous excess of resources like money, time, or energy

Prosaic

Dull, ordinary, or lacking imagination

Vociferous

Expressing opinions, feelings, or complaints in a very loud, forceful, and insistent way

Restive

Feeling restless, impatient, or hard to control because you are bored, tried of waiting, or unhappy with rules

Circumscribed

Restricted, confined, or enclosed within exact boundaries

Indecorous

Lacking good manners, taste, or propriety

Fallow

Plowed farmland left unplanted for a season or more to let soil recover its nutrients

Foibles

A small, minor weakness, flaw, or peculiar habit in a person's character

Incorrigible

Bad, unruly, or set in certain habits to the point that a person or their behavior cannot be corrected, reformed, or changed

Anathema

Something or someone that you hate, loathe, or strongly dislike

Eschew

To deliberately and intentionally avoid, shun, or abstain from something because you think it is wrong, unwise, distasteful

Epistemology

The branch of philosophy that studies knowledge

Minutiae

Small, minor, or trivial details

Morose

Gloomy, sullen, bad-tempered, or very unhappy and quiet

Supercilious

Someone who acts like they are better than other people

Prognostication

The act of making a prediction about what will happen in the future, or the statement/prediction itself

Exogenous

Coming from or produced outside a system, body, or organism