- Malaise - A vague feeling of bodily discomfort, as at the beginning of an illness; general sense of depression or unease; general feeling of discomfort or uneasiness, often the first indication of an infection or other disease(CLICK HERE TO REMEMBER THIS WORD EASILY)
2. Penurious - Unwilling to spend money; stingy; yielding little; barren; poverty-stricken; destitute; mean; poor; ungenerously or pettily reluctant to spend money
3. Obstinate - Stubbornly adhering to an attitude, opinion, or course of action; obdurate; difficult to manage, control, or subdue; refractory; difficult to alleviate or cure; stubborn, determined (CLICK HERE TO REMEMBER THIS WORD EASILY)
4. Stagnant - Not moving or flowing; motionless; showing little or no sign of activity or advancement; not developing or progressing; inactive; lacking vitality or briskness; sluggish or dull; motionless
5. Prevarication - The act of prevaricating, shuffling, or quibbling, to evade the truth or the disclosure of truth; a deviation from the truth and fair dealing; secret abuse in the exercise of a public office; collusion of an informer with the defendant, for the purpose of making a sham prosecution; statement that deviates from or perverts the truth; intentionally vague or ambiguous; the deliberate act of deviating from the truth
6. Truss - A supportive device, usually a pad with a belt, worn to prevent enlargement of a hernia or the return of a reduced hernia; rigid framework, as of wooden beams or metal bars, designed to support a structure, such as a roof; something gathered into a bundle; a pack; iron fitting by which a lower yard is secured to a mast; compact cluster of flowers at the end of a stalk; tie up or bind tightly; bind or skewer the wings or legs of (a fowl) before cooking; support or brace with a truss; tie up (someone) with their arms at their sides
7. Cameo - To make into or like a gem or shell carved in relief; to portray in sharp, delicate relief, as in a literary composition
8. Implacable - Impossible to placate or appease; firmly, often unreasonably immovable in purpose or will; merciless, cruel; incapable of being pleased
9. Spartan - Resolute in the face of pain or danger or adversity; unsparing and uncompromising in discipline or judgment; practicing great self-denial; austere; laconic; simple
10. Intimidate - To make timid; fill with fear; to coerce or inhibit by or as if by threats; frighten, threaten
11. Laconic - Using or marked by the use of few words; terse or concise; short, to the point
12. Audit - An examination of records or financial accounts to check their accuracy; adjustment or correction of accounts; examined and verified account; examine financial accounts; a post-treatment record review or clinical examination to verify information reported on claims
13. Palpable - Capable of being handled, touched, or felt; tangible; obvious; concrete, real
14. Stygian - Gloomy and dark; infernal; hellish
15. Altruism - Unselfish concern for the welfare of others; selflessness; kindly, charitable interest in others; service to others without thinking of one's self.
16. Vehemence - Exceptionally great concentration, power, or force, especially in activity; intensity or forcefulness of expression; the property of being wild or turbulent; quality pr state of being vehement; impetuous force; impetuosity; violence; fury; violent ardor; great heat; animated fervor; passion
17. Propensity - An innate inclination; a tendency; inclination, weakness; ending towards or natural liking
18. Dust jacket - A removable paper cover used to protect the binding of a book; cardboard sleeve in which a phonograph record is packaged; a paper jacket for a book; a jacket on which promotional information is printed (CLICK HERE TO REMEMBER THIS WORD EASILY)
19. Tardy - Occurring, arriving, acting, or done after the scheduled, expected, or usual time; late; moving slowly; sluggish
20. Malleable - Capable of being shaped or formed, as by hammering or pressure; tractable; able to adjust to changing circumstances; adaptable; pliable; flexible
21. Inane - One that lacks sense or substance; stupid
22. Timorous - Full of apprehensiveness; timid; easily frightened (CLICK HERE TO REMEMBER THIS WORD EASILY)
23. Skirt - The periphery of a city or town; border, edge; avoid; get around; be on the edge; avoid fulfilling or answering completely; garment hanging from the waist and worn by women and girls; lower outer section of a rocket vehicle; flexible strip hanging from the base of an air-cushion vehicle; piece of fabric that extends over or beyond something to afford protection
24. Miff - A petulant, bad-tempered mood; a huff; petty quarrel or argument; a tiff; cause to become offended or annoyed; annoy, bewilder; a state of irritation or annoyance; extreme displeasure caused by an insult or slight
25. Evoke - To summon or call forth; call to mind by naming, citing, or suggesting; create anew, especially by means of the imagination; induce, stimulate
26. Apulia - A region of southeast Italy bordering on the Adriatic Sea, Strait of Otranto, and Gulf of Taranto; a region in southeastern Italy on the Adriatic
27. Skimp - To deal with hastily, carelessly, or with poor material; be stingy or very thrifty; scanty; be cheap or frugal about; give barely enough or not enough attention, funds or effort
28. Coy - Tending to avoid people and social situations; reserved; affectedly and usually flirtatiously shy or modest; annoyingly unwilling to make a commitment; very modest; not forward but reticent or reserved in manner; given to flirting; shy
29. Gullibility - The state of being easily deceived
30. Surly - Bad tempered; unfriendly
31. Latent - Hidden; beneath the surface; not obvious or active; dormant; capable of being but not yet in existence; existing in a temporarily inactive form or state; fingerprint that is not apparent to the eye but can be made sufficiently visible, as by dusting or fuming, for use in identification; present or potential but not evident or active; undeveloped but capable of normal growth under the proper conditions
32. Gossamer - So light and insubstantial as to resemble air or a thin film; gauzy, thin; soft light delicate material (CLICK HERE TO REMEMBER THIS WORD EASILY)
33. Pusillanimous - Lacking courage; cowardly; without spirit or bravery
34. Incendiary - Causing or capable of causing fire; of or containing chemicals that produce intensely hot fire when exploded; inflammatory; an arsonist; who creates or stirs up factionalism or sedition; an agitator; causing trouble, damage; one who maliciously and willfully sets property on fire; also, an object or thing capable of starting and sustaining a fire
35. Havoc - Widespread destruction; devastation; disorder or chaos; chaotic situation; great damage or destruction; rob of goods by force, especially in time of war
36. Proscribe - To denounce or condemn; to prohibit; forbid; banish or outlaw (a person); exclude
37. Chicanery - Deception by trickery or sophistry; lack of straightforwardness and honesty in action; legal trickery or false argument; deception, trickery
38. Euphemism - The act or an example of substituting a mild, indirect, or vague term for one considered harsh, blunt, or offensive; use or an instance of equivocal language; polite term
39. Solitude - The state or quality of being alone or remote from others; lonely or secluded place; aloneness
40. Accolade - An expression of approval; praise; special acknowledgment; an award; ceremonial embrace, as of greeting or salutation; ceremonial bestowal of knighthood; recognition; ornamental treatment, used over an arch, a door, or a window, composed of two curves meeting in the middle; often a richly decorated molding; approval (CLICK HERE TO REMEMBER THIS WORD EASILY)
41. Trespass - Unlawful entry or possession of property; invasion, offense; infringe, offend; enter forcibly or illegally: break in; violate a moral or divine law
42. Loquacious - Talkative; garrulous
43. Vivid - Perceived as bright and distinct; brilliant; having intensely bright colors; having a very high degree of saturation; presented in clear and striking manner; felt with the freshness of immediate experience; active in forming lifelike images
44. Haphazard - Dependent upon or characterized by mere chance; fortuity; ; without plan or organization; having no particular pattern, purpose, organization, or structure
45. Camouflage - To use protective coloring or garments for concealment; disguise, cover; conceal by the use of disguise or by protective coloring or garments that blend in with the surrounding environment (CLICK HERE TO REMEMBER THIS WORD EASILY)
46. Doggerel - Crudely or irregularly fashioned verse, often of a humorous or burlesque nature; crude and comic verse
47. Sonnet - A 14-line verse form usually having one of several conventional rhyme schemes
48. Entice - To attract by arousing hope or desire; lure; tempt or persuade
49. Stolid - Having or revealing little emotion or sensibility; impassive; apathetic, stupid; without emotion or interest
50. Lax - Lacking in rigor, strictness, or firmness; not taut, firm, or compact; slack; not strict
Saturday, May 23, 2009
MAY VERBAL THREAD-HIGH FREQUENCY WORDS
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
MOST COMMON GRE WORDS
Word | Part of Speech | Definitions, Other Forms, and Examples |
aberrant | adj. | deviating from normal or correct. |
abscond | v. | to leave secretly and hide, often to avoid the law. |
advocate | v., n. | to speak, plead, or argue for a cause, or in another's behalf. (n) -- one who advocates. |
aggrandize | v. | to make greater, to increase, thus, to exaggerate. |
amalgamate | v. | to unite or mix. (n) -- amalgamation. |
ambiguous | adj. | vague; subject to more than one interpretation |
ambrosial | adj. | extremely pleasing to the senses, divine (as related to the gods) or delicious (n: ambrosia) |
anachronism | n. | a person or artifact appearing after its own time or out of chronological order (adj: anachronistic) |
anomalous | adj. | peculiar; unique, contrary to the norm (n: anomaly) |
antediluvian | adj. | ancient; outmoded; (literally,before the flood) |
antipathy | n. | hostility toward, objection, or aversion to |
arbitrate | v. | to settle a dispute by impulse (n: arbitration) |
assuage | v. | to make less severe; to appease or satisfy |
attenuate | v. | weaken (adj: attenuated) |
audacious | adj. | extremely bold; fearless, especially said of human behavior (n: audacity) |
aver | v. | to declare |
banal | adj. | commonplace or trite (n: banality) |
barefaced | adj. | unconcealed, shameless, or brazen |
blandishment | n. | speech or action intended to coax someone into doing something |
bombast | n. | pompous speech (adj: bombastic) |
breach | n., v. | a lapse, gap or break, as in a fortress wall. To break or break through.ex: Unfortunately, the club members never forgot his breach of ettiquette. |
burgeon | v., n. | to grow or flourish; a bud or new growth (adj: burgeoning ) |
buttress | v., n. | to support. a support |
cadge | v. | to get something by taking advantage of someone |
caprice | n. | impulse (adj: capricious) |
castigate | v. | to chastise or criticize severely |
catalyst | n. | an agent of change (adj: catalytic; v. catalyze) |
caustic | adj. | capable of dissolving by chemical action; highly critical: "His caustic remarks spoiled the mood of the party." |
chicanery | n. | deception by trickery |
complaisant | adj. | willingly compliant or accepting of the status quo (n: complaisance) |
conflagration | n. | a great fire |
corporeal | adj. | of or having to do with material, as opposed to spiritual; tangible. (In older writings, coeporeal could be a synonym for corporal. This usage is no longer common) |
corporal | adj. | of the body: "corporal punishment." a non-commissioned officer ranked between a sergeant and a private. |
corroborate | v. | to strengthen or support: "The witness corroborted his story." (n: corroboration) |
craven | adj., n. | cowardly; a coward |
culpable | adj. | deserving of blame (n: culpability) |
dearth | n. | lack, scarcity: "The prosecutor complained about the dearth of concrete evidence against the suspect." |
deference | n. | submission or courteous yielding: "He held his tongue in deference to his father." (n: deferential. v. defer) |
depict | v. | to show, create a picture of. |
deprecation | n. | belittlement. (v. deprecate) |
depredation | n. | the act of preying upon or plundering: "The depredations of the invaders demoralized the population." |
descry | v. | to make clear, to say |
desiccate | v. | to dry out thoroughly (adj: desiccated) |
diatribe | n. | a bitter abusive denunciation. |
diffident | adj. | lacking self-confidence, modest (n: diffidence) |
disabuse | adj. | to free a person from falsehood or error: "We had to disabuse her of the notion that she was invited." |
disparaging | adj. | belittling (n: disparagement. v. disparage) |
dispassionate | adj. | calm; objective; unbiased |
dissemble | v. | to conceal one's real motive, to feign |
dogged | adj. | stubborn or determined: "Her dogged pursuit of the degree eventually paid off." |
dogmatic | adj. | relying upon doctrine or dogma, as opposed to evidence |
eclectic | adj. | selecting or employing individual elements from a variety of sources: "Many modern decorators prefer an eclectic style." (n: eclecticism) |
efficacy | n. | effectiveness; capability to produce a desired effect |
effluent | adj., n | the quality of flowing out. something that flows out, such as a stream from a river (n: effluence) |
emollient | adj., n. | softening; something that softens |
emulate | v. | to strive to equal or excel (n: emulation) |
encomium | n. | a formal eulogy or speech of praise |
endemic | adj. | prevalent in or native to a certain region, locality, or people: "The disease was endemic to the region." Don't confuse this word with epidemic. |
enervate | v. | to weaken or destroy the strength or vitality of: "The heatenervated everyone." (adj: enervating) |
engender | v. | to give rise to, to propagate, to cause: "His slip of the toungue engendered much laughter." |
enigma | n. | puzzle; mystery: "Math is an enigma to me." (adj: enigmatic) |
ephemeral | adj. | lasting for only a brief time, fleeting (n: ephemera) |
equivocal | adj. | ambiguous; unclear; subject to more than one interpretation -- often intentionally so: "Republicans complained that Bill Clinton's answers were equivocal." (v. equivocate) |
erudite | adj. | scholarly; displaying deep intensive learning. (n: erudition) |
esoteric | adj. | intended for or understood by only a few: "The esoteric discussion confused some people." (n: esoterica) |
eulogy | n. | a spoken or written tribute to the deceased (v. eulogize) |
exacerbate | v. | to increase the bitterness or violence of; to aggravate: "The decision to fortify the border exacerbated tensions." |
exculpate | v. | to demonstrate or prove to be blameless: "The evidence tended to exculpate the defendant."(adj: exculpatory) |
exorbitant | adj. | exceeding customary or normal limits, esp. in quantity or price: "The cab fare was exorbitant." |
explicit | adj. | fully and clearly expressed |
extant | adj. | in existence, still existing: The only extant representative of that species." |
fathom | n., v. | a measure of length (six feet) used in nautical settings. to penetrate to the depths of something in order to understand it: "I couldn't fathom her reasoning on that issue." |
fawn | v. | to seek favor or attention; to act subserviantly (n, adj: fawning) |
feign | v. | to give false appearance or impression: "He feigned illness to avoid going to school." (adj: feigned) |
fervid, fervent | adj. | highly emotional; hot: "The partisans displayed a fervent patriotism." (n: fervor) |
fledgling | n., adj. | a baby bird; an inexperienced person; inexperienced. |
florid | adj. | flushed with a rosy color, as in complexion; very ornate and flowery: "florid prose." |
floundering | adj. | struggling: "We tried to save the floundering business." |
garrulous | adj. | verbose; talkative; rambling: "We tried to avoid our garrulous neighbor." |
gossamer | n., adj. | fine cobweb on foliage; fine gauzy fabric; very fine: "She wore a gossamer robe." |
guile | n. | skillful deceit: "He was well known for his guile." (v. bequile; adj: beguiling. Note, however, that these two words have an additional meaning: to charm (v.) or charming (adj:), while the word guile does not generally have any such positive connotations) |
guileless | adj. | honest; straightforward (n: guilelessness) |
hapless | adj. | unfortunate |
headlong | adj., adv. | headfirst; impulsive; hasty. impulsively; hastily; without forethought: "They rushed headlong into marriage." |
homogenous | adj. | similar in nature or kind; uniform: "a homogeneous society." |
iconoclast | n. | one who attacks traditional ideas or institutions or one who destroys sacred images (adj: iconoclastic) |
impecunious | adj. | penniless; poor |
imperious | adj. | commanding |
implication | n. | insinuation or connotation (v. implicate) |
imply | v. | to suggest indirectly; to entail: "She implied she didn't believe his story." (n: implication) |
improvidence | n. | an absence of foresight; a failure to provide for future needs or events: "Their improvidence resulted in the loss of their home." |
inchoate | adj. | in an initial or early stage; incomplete; disorganized: "The act of writing forces one to clarify incohate thoughts." |
incorrigible | adj. | not capable of being corrected: "The school board finally decided the James was incorrigible and expelled him from school." |
indelible | adj. | permanent; unerasable; strong: "The Queen made an indelible impression on her subjects." |
ineffable | adj. | undescribable; inexpressible in words; unspeakable |
infer | v. | to deduce: "New genetic evidence led some zoologists to infer that the red wolf is actually a hybrid of the coyote and the gray wolf." |
ingenious | adj. | clever: "She developed an ingenious method for testing her hypothesis."(n: ingenuity) |
ingenuous | adj. | unsophisticated; artless; straightforward; candid: "Wilson's ingenuous response to the controversial calmed the suspicious listeners." |
inhibit | v. | to hold back, prohibit, forbid, or restrain (n: inhibition, adj: inhibited) |
innocuous | adj. | harmless; having no adverse affect; not likely to provoke strong emotion |
insensible | adj. | numb; unconscious: "Wayne was rendered insensible by a blow to the head." unfeeling; insensitive: "They were insensibile to the suffering of others.: |
insipid | adj. | lacking zest or excitement; dull |
insular | adj. | of or pertaining to an island, thus, excessively exclusive: "Newcomers found it difficult to make friends in the insular community." |
intransigent | adj. | stubborn; immovable; unwilling to change: "She was so intransigent we finally gave up trying to convince her." (n: intransigence) |
irascible | adj. | prone to outbursts of temper, easily angered |
laconic | adj. | using few words; terse: "a laconic reply." |
latent | adj. | present or potential but not evident or active (n: latency) |
laudable | adj. | praiseworthy; commendable (v. laud) |
leviathan | n. | giant whale, therefore, something very large |
loquacious | adj. | talkative |
lucid | adj. | clear; translucent: "He made a lucid argument to support his theory." |
lugubrious | adj. | weighty, mournful, or gloomy, especially to an excessive degree: "Jake's lugubrious monologues depressed his friends." |
magnanimity | n. | generosity and nobility. (adj: magnanimous) |
malevolent | adj. | malicious; evil; having or showing ill will: "Some early American colonists saw the wilderness as malevolent and sought to control it." |
misanthrope | n. | one who hates people: "He was a true misanthrope and hated even himself." |
misnomer | n. | incorrect name or word for something |
misogynist | n. | one who hates women |
mitigate | v. | to make less forceful; to become more moderate; to make less harsh or undesirable: "He was trying to mitigate the damage he had done." (n: mitigation) |
nefarious | adj. | wicked, evil: "a nefarious plot." |
noisome | adj. | harmful, offensive, destructive: "The noisome odor of the dump carried for miles." |
obdurate | adj. | hardened against influence or feeling; intractable. |
obviate | v. | to prevent by anticipatory measures; to make unnecessary: |
occlude | v. | to close or shut off; to obstruct (n: occlusion) |
opaque | adj. | not transparent or transluscent; dense; difficult to comprehend, as inopaque reasoning |
ossified | adj. | turned to bone; hardened like bone; Inflexible: "The ossified culture failed to adapt to new economic conditions and died out." |
panegyric | n. | a writing or speech in praise of a person or thing |
peccadillo | n. | a small sin or fault |
pedantic | adj. | showing a narrow concern for rules or formal book learning; making an excessive display of one's own learning: "We quickly tired of his pedantic conversation." (n: pedant, pedantry). |
perfidious | adj. | deliberately treacherous; dishonest (n: perfidy) |
petulant | adj. | easily or frequently annoyed, especially over trivial matters; childishly irritable |
philanthropy | n. | tendency or action for the benefit of others, as in donating money or property to a charitible organization |
phlegmatic | adj. | not easily excited; cool; sluggish |
placate | v. | to calm or reduce anger by making concessions: "The professor tried to placate his students by postponing the exam." |
plastic | adj. | related to being shaped or molded; capable of being molded. (n: plasticity n: plastic) |
plethora | n. | excessively large quantity; overabundance: "We received a p lethora of applications for the position." |
ponderous | adj. | heavy; massive; awkward; dull: "A ponderous book is better than a sleeping pill." |
pragmatic | adj. | concerned with facts; practical, as opposed to highly principled or traditional: "His pragmatic approach often offended idealists." (n: pragmatism) |
precipice | n. | cliff with a vertical or nearly vertical face; a dangerous place from which one is likely to fall; metaphorically, a very risky circumstance |
precipitate | v., n. | to fall; to fall downward suddenly and dramatically; to bring about or hasten the occurrence of something: "Old World diseases precipitated a massive decline in the American Indian population." |
precursor | n. | something (or someone) that precedes another: "The assasination of the Archduke was a precursor to the war." |
prevaricate | v. | to stray away from or evade the truth: "When we asked him what his intentions were, he prevaricated."(n: prevarication; prevaricator) |
prodigal | adj. | rashly wasteful: "Americans' prodigal devotion to the automobile is unique." |
propitiate | v. | to conciliate; to appease: "They made sacrifices to propitiate angry gods." |
Pulchritudinous | adj. | beautiful (n: pulchritude) |
pusillanimous | adj. | cowardly, timid, or irreselute; petty: "The pusillanimous leader soon lost the respect of his people." |
quiescence | n. | inactivity; stillness; dormancy (adj: quiescent) |
rarefy | v. | to make or become thin; to purify or refine (n: rarefaction, adj: rarefied) |
reproof | n. | the act of censuring, scolding, or rebuking. (v. reprove). |
rescind | v. | to repeal or annul |
sagacious | adj. | having a sharp or powerful intellect or discernment. (n: sagacity). |
sanguine | adj. | cheerful; confident: "Her sanguine attitude put everyone at ease."(Sangfroid (noun) is a related French word meaning unflappibility. Literally, it means cold blood) |
sate | v. | to satisfy fully or to excess |
saturnine | adj. | having a gloomy or morose temperament |
savant | n. | a very knowledgable person; a genious |
sedulous | adj. | diligent; persevering; persistent: "Her sedulous devotion to overcoming her background impressed many." (n: sedulity; sedulousness; adv. sedulously) |
specious | adj. | seemingly true but really false; deceptively convincing or attractive: "Her argument, though specious, was readily accepted by many." |
superficial | adj. | only covering the surface: "A superficial treatment of the topic was all they wanted." |
tacit | adj. | unspoken: "Katie and carmella had a tacit agreement that they would not mention the dented fender to their parents." |
taciturn | adj. | habitually untalkative or silent (n: taciturnity) |
temperate | adj. | exercising moderation and self-denial; calm or mild (n: temperance) |
tirade (diatribe) | n. | an angry speech: "His tirade had gone on long enough." |
tortuous | adj. | twisted; excessively complicated: "Despite public complaints, tax laws and forms have become increasingly tortuous." Note: Don't confuse this with torturous. |
tractable | adj. | ability to be easily managed or controlled: "Her mother wished she were more tractable." (n: tractibility) |
turpitude | n. | depravity; baseness: "Mr. Castor was fired for moral turpitude." |
tyro | n. | beginner; person lacking experience in a specific endeavor: "They easily took advantage of the tyro." |
vacuous | adj. | empty; without contents; without ideas or intelligence:: "She flashed a vacuous smile." |
venerate | v. | great respect or reverence: "The Chinese traditionally venerated their ancestors; ancestor worship is merely a popular misnomer for this tradition." (n: veneration, adj: venerable) |
verbose | adj. | wordy: "The instructor asked her verbose student make her paper more concise." (n: verbosity) |
vex | v. | to annoy; to bother; to perplex; to puzzle; to debate at length: "Franklin vexed his brother with his controversial writings." |
viscous | adj. | slow moving; highly resistant to flow: "Heintz commercials imply that their catsup is more viscous than others'." (n: viscosity) |
volatile | adj. | explosive; fickle (n: volatility). |
voracious | adj. | craving or devouring large quantities of food, drink, or other things. She is a voracious reader. |
waver | v. | to hesitate or to tremble |
wretched | adj. | extremely pitiful or unfortunate (n: wretch) |
zeal | n. | enthusiastic devotion to a cause, ideal, or goal (n: zealot; zealoutry. adj: zealous) |
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