140 I Cracking the GRE

THE HIT PARADE

You should start your vocabulary work by studying the Hit Parade, which is a list
we've compiled of some of the most frequently tested words on the GRE. We put
together this list by analyzing released GREs and keeping tabs on the test to make
sure that these words are still popular with ETS. At the very least, answer choices
that contain Hit Parade words make very good guesses on questions for which you
don't know the answer. Each word on the Hit Parade is followed by the part of
speech and a brief definition for the word. Some of the words on this list may have
other definitions as well, but the definitions we have given are the ones most likely
to appear on the GRE.

We've broken the Hit Parade down into four groups of about 75 words each. Don't
try to learn all four groups of words at once-work with one list at a time. Write
the words and their defi.nitions down in a notebook or on flash cards. It is very
important to write them down yourself, because this will help you remember
them. Just glancing through the lists printed in this book won't be nearly as
effective: Before doing the exercises for each group, spend some time studying and
learning the words first.1hen use the exercises as a way to test yourself. Answers
for the matching exercises appear in Part V of this book.



Hit Parade Group 1
Abscond (verb) to depart clandestinely; to steal off and hide
deviating from the norm (noun form:
Aberrant (adj.)

Alacrity (noun)
Anomaly (noun)
Approbation (noun)
Arduous (adj.)

Assuage (verb)
Audacious (adj.)

Austere (adj.)
Axiomatic (adj.)
Canonical (adj.)
Capricious (adj.)
Aberration)

eager and enthusiastic willingness

deviation from the normal order, form, or
rule; abnormality (adj. form: anomalous)
an expression of approval or praise
strenuous, taxing; requiring significant
effort
to ease or lessen; to appease or pacify
daring and fearless; recklessly bold (noun
form:audacity)
without adornment; bare; severely simple;
ascetic (noun form: aust"ity)

taken as a given; possessing self-evident
truth (noun form:axiom)
following or in agreement with accepted,
traditional standards (noun form: canon)

inclined to change one's mind impulsively;
erratic, unpredictable

Censure (verb)
Chicanery (noun)

Connoisseur (noun)

Convoluted (adj.)
Disabuse (verb)
Discordant (adj.)
Disparate (adj.)
Effrontery (noun)

Eloquent (adj.)
Enervate (verb)
Ennui (noun)

Equivocate (verb)


Erudite (adj.)
Exculpate (verb)
Exigent (adj.)
Extemporaneous (adj.)

Filibuster (noun)
Fulminate (verb)
Ingenuous (adj.)
to criticize severely; to officially rebuke
trickery or subterfuge
an informed and astute judge in matters of
taste; expert

complex or complicated
to undeceive; to set right
conflicting; dissonant or harsh in sound
fundamentally distinct or dissimilar
extreme boldness; presumptuousness
well-spoken, expressive, articulate (noun
form: eloquence)
to weaken; to reduce in vitality
dissatisfaction and restlessness resulting
from boredom or apathy

to use ambiguous language with a deceptive
intent (adj. form: equivocal)
very learned; scholarly (noun form:
erudition)

exonerate; to clear of blame

urgent, pressing; requiring immediate action
or attention
improvised; done without preparation

intentional obstruction, esp. using pro-
longed speechmaking to delay legislative
action
to loudly attack or denounce

artless; frank and candid; lacking in
sophistication


Inured (adj.)

Irascible (adj.)
Laud (verb)

Lucid (adj.)
Magnanimity (noun)
Martial (adj.)
Mundane (adj.)
accustomed to accepting something
undesirable
easily angered; prone to temperamental
outbursts
to praise highly (adj. form: laudatory)

clear; easily understood

the quality of being generously noble in
mind and heart, esp. in forgiving (adj. form:
magnanimous)
associated with war and the armed forces

of the world; typical of or concerned with
the ordinary




















Vocabulary for the GRE I 141
142 I Cracking the GRE

Nascent (adj.)
coming into being; in early developmental
stages

Nebulous (adj.)
Neologism (noun)
Noxious (adj.)
Obtuse (adj.)
Obviate (verb)
Onerous (adj.)
Paean (noun)
Parody (noun)
Perennial (adj.)


Perfidy (noun)
Perfunctory (adj.)
Perspicacious (adj.)

Pratde (verb)
Precipitate (adj.)
Precipitate (verb)

Predilection (noun)

Prescience (noun)
Prevaricate (verb)

Qualms (noun)
Recant (verb)
Refute (verb)

Relegate (verb)


Reticent (adj.)
Solicitous (adj.)
Sordid (adj.)
vague; cloudy; lacking clearly defined form
a new word, expression, or usage; the
creation or use of new words or senses
harmful, injurious
lacking sharpness of intellect; not clear or
precise in thought or expression
to anticipate and make unnecessary
troubling; burdensome
a song or hymn of praise and thanksgiving

a humorous imitation intended for ridicule
or comic effect, esp. in literature and art
recurrent through the year or many years;
happening repeatedly

intentional breach of faith; treachery (adj.
form: p rfidious)
cursory; done without care or interest
acutely perceptive; having keen discernment
(noun form: pmpicadty)
to babble meaninglessly; to talk in an empty
and idle manner
acting with excessive haste or impulse

to cause or happen before anticipated or
required
a disposition in favor of something;
preference

foreknowledge of events; knowing of events
prior to their occurring (adj. form: pr scient)
to deliberately avoid the truth; to mislead
misgivings; reservations; causes for hesitancy
to retract, esp. a previously held belief
to disprove; to successfully argue against

to forcibly assign, esp. to a lower place or
position
quiet; reserved; reluctant to express
thoughts and feelings
concerned and attentive; eager
characterized by filth, grime, or squalor;
foul

Sporadic (adj.)
Squander (verb)
Static (adj.)
Stupefy (w:rb)
Stymie (w:rb)

Synthesis (noun)

Torque (noun)
Tortuous (adj.)
Truculent (adj.)
Veracity (noun)

Virulent (adj.)
Voracious (adj.)
Waver (verb)
occurring only occasionally, or in scattered
instances
to waste by spending or using irresponsibly
not moving, active, or in motion; at rest
to stun, baffle, or amaze
to block; to thwart
the combination of parts to make a whole
(verb form:synt siu)

a force that causes rotation

winding, twisting; excessively complicated
fierce and crud; eager to fight
truthfulness, honesty
extremely harmful or poisonous; bitterly
hostile or antagonistic

having an insatiable appetite for an activity
or pursuit; ravenous
to move to and fro; to sway; to be unsettled
in opinion




Group 1 Exercises
Match the following words to their definitions. Answers can be found in Part V.

1. Improvised; without preparation A. Veracity
2. A newly coined word or expression B. Recant
3. A song of joy and praise c. Extemporaneous
4. To praise highly D. Stymie
5. Truthfulness; honesty E. Paean
6. Frank and candid F. Lucid
7. Associated with war and the military G. Laud
8. To retract a belief or statement H. Onerous
9. Cursory; done without care or interest I. Tortuous
10. Troubling; burdensome j. Neologism
11. To criticize; to officially rebuke K. Martial

12. Winding; twisting; complicated L. Ingenuous
13. To block; to thwart M. Censure
14. Clear; easily understood N. Perfunctory










Vocabulary for the GAE I 143
144 I Cracking the GRE
Hit Parade Group 2

Abate (verb)
Accolade (noun)
Adulation (noun)

Aesthetic (adj.)
Ameliorate (verb)
Ascetic (noun)
Avarice (noun)
Axiom (noun)
Burgeon (verb)
Bucolic (adj.)

Cacophony (noun)


Canon (noun)
Castigation (noun)

Catalyst (noun)


Caustic (adj.)
Chary (adj.)
Cogent (adj.)

Complaisance (noun)
Contentious (adj.)
Contrite (adj.)

Culpable (adj.)
Dearth (noun)
Demur (verb)
Didactic (adj.)

Discretion (noun)
Disinterested (adj.)

to lessen in intensity or degree
an expression of praise
excessive praise; intense adoration

dealing with, appreciative of, or responsive to art or
the beautiful
to make better or more tolerable

one who practices rigid self-denial, esp. as an act of
religious devotion
greed, esp. for wealth (adj.form: avaricious)

a universally recognized principle (adj. form:
axiomatic)

to grow rapidly or flourish
rustic and pastoral; characteristic of rural areas and
their inhabitants
harsh, jarring, discordant sound; dissonance (adj.
form: cacophonous)
an established set d principles <r code ri laws, often
religious in nature (adj. form: canonical)
severe criticism or punishment (verb form: castigat )
a substance that accelerates the rate d a chemical
reaction without itself changing; a person or thing
that causes change

burning or stinging; causing corrosion
wary; cautious; sparing
appealing forcibly to the mind or reason; convincing

the willingness to comply with the wishes of others
(adj. form: complaisant)

argumentative; quarrelsome; causing controversy or
disagreement
regretful; penitent; seeking forgiveness (noun form:
contrition)
deserving blame (noun form:culpability)
smallness ri quantity or number; scarcity; a lack
to question or oppose
intended to teach or instruct

cautious reserve in speech; ability to make responsible
decisions (adform: discr t )
free of bias or self-interest; impartial


Dogmatic (adj.)


Ebullience (noun)
Eclectic (adj.)
Elegy (noun)
Emollient (adj.)/
(noun)
Empirical (adj.)

Enigmatic (adj.)

Ephemeral (adj.)
Esoteric (adj.)
Eulogy (noun)
Exonerate (verb)
Facetious (adj.)

Fallacy (noun)
Furtive (adj.)
Gregarious (adj.)
Harangue (verb)/
(noun)

Heretical (adj.)

Hyperbole (noun)
Impecunious (adj.)

Incipient (adj.)
Inert (adj.)
Innocuous (adj.)
Intransigent (adj.)
Inveigle (verb)
Morose (adj.)
Odious (adj.)
Opaque (adj.)

Oscillation (noun)
Penurious (adj.)
expressing a rigid opinion based on unproved or
improvable principles (noun form: dogma)
the quality of lively or enthusiastic expression of
thoughts and feelings (adj. form: ebullimt)

composed of elements drawn from various sources

a mournful poem, esp.one lamenting the dead (adj.
form: ekgiac)
soothing, esp. to the skin; making less harsh; mollify
ing; an agent that softens or smooches the skin
based on observation or experiment

mysterious; obscure; difficult co understand (noun
form: enigma)
brief; fleeting

intended for or understood by a small, specific group
a speech honoring the dead (verb form: eulogiu)
to remove blame
playful; humorous
an invalid or incorrect notion; a mistaken belief (adj.
form: fallacious)
marked by stealth; covert; surreptitious
sociable; outgoing; enjoying the company of other
people
to deliver a pompous speech or tirade; a long, pomp-
ous speech

violating accepted dogma or convention (noun form:
heresy)

an exaggerated statement, often used as a figure of
speech (adj. form: hyperbolic)

lacking funds; without money

beginning to come into being or co become apparent
unmoving; lethargic; sluggish
harmless; causing no damage
refusing to compromise (noun form:intransigence)

to obtain by deception or fl.attery
sad; sullen; melancholy
evoking intense aversion or dislike
impenetrable by light; not refl.ecting light
the act or state of swinging back and forth with a
steady, uninterrupted rhythm (verb form: oscillate)

penny-pinching; excessively thrifty; ungenerous

































































Vocabulary fa the GRE I 145
146 I Cracking the GRE
Pernicious (adj.)
Peruse (verb)

Pious (adj.)
Precursor (noun)
Preen (verb)
Prodigious (adj.)
Prolific (adj.)

Putrefy (verb)
Quaff (verb)
Quiescence (noun)
Redoubtable (adj.)

Sanction (noun)/(verb)


Satire (noun)
Squalid (adj.)
Stoic (adj.)

Supplant (verb)
Torpid (adj.)

Ubiquitous (adj.)

Urbane (adj.)
Vilify (verb)
Viscous (adj.)
extremely harmful; potentially causing death
to examine with great care (noun form:ptrusa/)

extremely reverent or devout; showing strong
religious devotion (noun form: pitty)
one that precedes and indicates or announces another

to dress up; to primp; to groom oneself with elaborate
care
abundant in size, force, or extent; extraordinary
producing large volumes or amounts; productive
to rot; to decay and give off a foul odor (adform:
putrid)

to drink deeply

stillness; motionlessness; quality of being at rest
(adj.form: quitsctnt)
awe-inspiring; worthy of honor

authoritative permission or approval; a penalty in-
tended to enforce compliance; to give permission or
authority to
a literary work that ridicules or criticizes a human
vice through humor or derision (adj. form: satirical)

sordid; wretched and dirty as from neglect (noun
form:squalor)
indifferent to or unaffected by pleasure or pain; stead-
fast (noun form:stoicism)
to take the place of; to supersede
lethargic; sluggish; dormant (noun form: torpor)

existing everywhere at the same time; constantly
encountered; widespread
sophisticated; refined; elegant (noun form: urbanity)

to defame; to characterize harshly
thick; sticky (noun form: viscosity)


Group 2 Exercises
March the following words to their definitions. Answers can be found in Pan V.

I. Brief; fleeting A. Pernicious
2. A long, pompous speech B. Ephemeral
3. Arousing strong dislike or aversion c. Avarice
4. To free from blame or responsibility D. Quaff
s. Arousing fear or awe; worthy of E. Caustic
honor; formidable
6. Very harmful; deadly F. Odious
7. To drink deeply G. Dearth
8. Stinging; corrosive; sarcastic; biting H. Inert
9. Impressively great in size, force, I. Disinterested
or extent; enormous
10. Greed; hunger for money J. Exonerate
11. Unmoving; lethargic K. Inveigle
12. Impartial; unbiased L. Prodigious
13. Lack; scarcity M. Harangue
14. To win over by deception, coaxing N. Redoubtable
or Hattery



Hit Parade Group 3
Acumen (noun) keen, accurate judgment or insight
to reduce purity by combining with inferior ingredi-

Adulterate (verb)
Amalgamate (verb)
Archaic (adj.)

Aver (verb)
Bolster (verb)
Bombastic (adj.)
Diatribe (noun)
Dissemble (verb)
Eccentric (adj.)

Endemic (adj.)

Evanescent (adj.)
Exacerbate (verb)
Fervent (adj.)
Fortuitous (adj.)

ents

to combine several elements into a whole (noun form:
amalgamation)

outdated; associated with an earlier, perhaps more
primitive, time
to state as a fact; to declare or assert
to provide support or reinforcement
pompous; grandiloquent (noun form: bombast)

a harsh denunciation

to disguise or conceal; to mislead
departing from norms or conventions
characteristic of or often found in a particular locality,
region, or people
tending to disappear like vapor; vanishing
to make worse or more severe
greatly emotional or zealous (noun form: forvor)

happening by accident or chance





























Vocabulary for the GRE I 141
141 I Cracking the GRE
Germane (adj.)
Grandiloquence
(noun)

Hackneyed (adj.)
Halcyon (adj.)

Hedonism (noun)



Hegemony (noun)
Iconoclast (noun)
Idolatrous (adj.)

Impassive (adj.)
Imperturbable (adj.)
Implacable (adj.)
Impunity (noun)
Inchoate (adj.)
Infelicitous (adj.)
Insipid (adj.)
Loquacious (adj.)
Luminous (adj.)

Malevolent (adj.)
Malleable (adj.)
Mendacity (noun)

Meticulous (adj.)

Misanthrope (noun)
Mitigate (verb)

Obdurate (adj.)
Obsequious (adj.)
Occlude (verb)
Opprobrium (noun)
Pedagogy (noun)
relevant to the subject at hand; appropriate in subject
matter
pompous speech or expression (adj. form:
grandiloqu nt)

rendered trite or commonplace by frequent usage
calm and peaceful
devotion to pleasurable pursuits, esp. to the pleasures
of the senses (a hedonist is someone who pursues
pleasure)
the consistent dominance of one state or ideology over
others
one who attacks or undermines traditional conven-
tions or institutions

given to intense or excessive devotion to something
(noun form:idolatry)

revealing no emotion

marked by extreme calm, impassivity, and steadiness
not capable of being appeased or significantly changed
immunity from punishment or penalty
in an initial stage; not fully formed
unfortunate; inappropriate
without taste or flavor; lacking in spirit; bland
extremely talkative (noun form: loquacity)
characterized by brightness and the emission of light
having or showing often vicious ill will, spite, or ha-
tred (noun form: maJroolmce)
capable tt being shaped or formed; tractable; pliable
the condition of being untruthful; dishonesty
(adj. form: mendacious)

characterized by extreme care and precision; attentive
to detail
one who hates all other humans (adj. form: misan-
thropic)

to make or become less severe or intense; to moderate
unyielding; hardhearted; intractable
exhibiting a fawning attentiveness

to obstruct or block
disgrace; contempt; scorn
the profession or principles of teaching, or instructing
Vocabulary for the GAE I 1U
Pedantic (adj.)
Penury (noun)
Pervasive (adj.)
Pine (verb)
Pirate (verb)
Pith (noun)
Pithy (adj.)
Placate (verb)
Platitude (noun)
Plummet (verb)
Polemical {adj.)
Prodigal (adj.)
Profuse (adj.)
Proliferate (verb)
Queries (noun)
Querulous (adj.)

Rancorous (adj.)

Recalcitrant (adj.)
Repudiate (verb)
Rescind (verb)

Reverent (adj.)


Rhetoric (noun)
Salubrious (adj.)
Solvent (adj.)

Specious (adj.)

Spurious (adj.)
Subpoena (noun)
Succinct (adj.)
Superfiuous (adj.)

Surfeit (verb)
Tenacity (noun)
overly concerned with the trivial details of learning or
education; show offish about one's knowledge
poverty; destitution

having the tendency to permeate or spread throughout
to yearn intensely; to languish; to lose vigor
to illegally use or reproduce

the essential or central part
precise and brief
to appease; to calm by making concessions

a superfi.cial remark, esp. one offered as meaningful
to plunge or drop straight down
controversial; argumentative

recklessly wasteful; extravagant; profuse; lavish
given or coming forth abundantly; extravagant
to grow or increase swiftly and abundantly
questions; inquiries; doubts in the mind; reservations
prone to complaining or grumbling; peevish
characterized by bitter, long lasting resentment (noun
form: rancor)

obstinately defiant of authority; difficult to manage
to refuse to have anything to do with; to disown
to invalidate; to repeal; to retract

marked by, feeling, or expressing a feeling of profound
awe and respect (noun form: reverence)
the art or study ci effective use ci language for
communication and persuasion
promoting health or well-being

able to meet financial obligations; able to dissolve
another substance
seeming true, but actually being fallacious; mislead-
ingly attractive; plausible but false

lacking authenticity or validity; false; counterfeit

a court order requiring appearance and/or testimony
brief; concise
exceeding what is sufficient or necessary

an overabundant supply; excess; to feed or supply to
excess
the quality of adherence or persistence to something
valued; persistent determination (adj. form: tenacious)
150 I Cracking the GRE
Tenuous (adj.) having little substance or strength; flimsy; weak
a long and extremely critical speech; a harsh
Tirade (noun)
Transient (adj.)
Zealous (adj.)
denunciation

fleeting; passing quickly; brief

fervent; ardent; impassioned, devoted to a cause
(a z(alot is a zealous person)



Group 3 Exercises
Match the following words to their definitions. Answers can be found in Part V.


1. Brief; concise; tersely cogent A. Hegemony
2. Prone to complaining; whining B. Aver
3. Fawning; ingratiating c. Insipid
4. Marked by bitter, deep seated resentment D. Pithy

5. Controversial; argumentative E. Placate

6. Dominance of one state or ideology F. Prodigal
over others
7. Uninteresting; tasteless; flat; dull G. Querulous
8. 1hin; flimsy; oflittle substance H. Surfeit
9. Excess; overindulgence I. Rancorous
10. Wasteful; recklessly extravagant J. Bombastic
11. To appease; to pacify with concessions K. Obsequious

12. To assert; to declare; to allege; L. Evanescent
to state as fact
13. Pompous; grandiloquent M. Polemical
14. Tending to vanish like vapor N. Tenuous



Hit Parade Group 4
Acerbic (adj.)
Aggrandize (verb)

Alchemy (noun)


Amenable (adj.)
Anachronism (noun)

Astringent (adj.)

Contiguous (adj.)
Convention (noun)

Credulous (adj.)
having a sour or bitter taste or character; sharp; biting
to increase in intensity, power, influence, or prestige
a medieval science aimed at the transmutation of met-
als, esp. base metals into gold (an alchemist is one who
practices alchemy)
agreeable; responsive to suggestion

something or someone out of place in terms of histori-
cal or chronological context

having a tightening effect on living tissue; harsh;
severe; something with a tightening effect on tissue
sharing a border; touching; adjacent
a generally agreed-upon practice or attitude

tending to believe too readily; gullible (noun form:
credulity)
Vocabulary for the GRE I 12

Cynicism (noun)
Decorum (noun)
Derision (noun)
Desiccate (verb)
Dilettante (noun)
Disparage (verb)
Divulge (verb)
Fawn (verb)
Flout (verb)
Garrulous (adj.)

Glib (adj.)

Hubris (noun)
Imminent (adj.)
Immutable (adj.)
Impetuous (adj.)

Indifferent (adj.)

Inimical (adj.)
Intractable (adj.)
Intrepid (adj.)
Laconic (adj.)

Maverick (noun)

Mercurial (adj.)
Mollify (verb)

Neophyte (noun)
Obfuscate (verb)
Obstinate (adj.)
Ostentatious (adj.)
Pervade(verb)
Phlegmatic (adj.)
Plethora (noun)
Pragmatic (adj.)
an attitude or quality of belief that all people are
motivated by selfishness (adj. form: cynical)
polite or appropriate conduct or behavior (adj. form:
decorous)

scorn, ridicule, contemptuous treatment (adj. form:
dtrisivverb form:derUi )
ro dry out or dehydrate: to make dry or dull
one with an amateurish or superficial interest in the
arts or a branch of knowledge
to slight or belittle

to disclose something secret

to flatter or praise excessively

to show contempt for, as in a rule or convention
pointlessly talkative: talking too much
marked by ease or informality; nonchalant; lacking in
depth; superficial

overbearing presumption or pride; arrogance
about to happen; impending
not capable of change
hastily or rashly energetic; impulsive and vehement
having no interest or concern; showing no bias or
prejudice

damaging; harmful; injurious

not easily managed or directed; stubborn; obstinate
steadfast and courageous
using few words; terse
an independent individual who does not go along with
a group or party
characterized by rapid and unpredictable change in
mood
to calm or soothe; to reduce in emotional intensity
a recent convert; a beginner; novice
to deliberately obscure; to make confusing

stubborn; hard-headed; uncompromising

characterized by or given to pretentious display; showy
to permeate throughout (adj. form: 17Jasw )
calm; sluggish; unemotional
an overabundance; a surplus
practical rather than idealistic



































































15Z I Cracking the GRE

Presumptuous (adj.)
Pristine (adj.)
Probity (noun)
Proclivity (noun)
Profligate (adj.)
Propensity (noun)
Prosaic (adj.)
Pungent (adj.)
Quixotic (adj.)
Quotidian (adj.)
Rarefy (verb)
Recondite (adj.)

Refulgent (adj.)
Renege (verb)
Sedulous (adj.)
Shard (noun)
Soporific (adj.)
Sparse (adj.)
Spendthrift (noun)
Subtle (adj.)
Tacit (adj.)
Terse (adj.)
Tout (verb)
Trenchant (adj.)

Unfeigned (adj.)
Untenable (adj.)

Vacillate (verb)

Variegated (adj.)
Vexation (noun)

Vigilant (adj.)
Vituperate (verb)

Volatile (adj.)
overstepping due bounds (as of propriety or courtesy);
taking liberties

pure; uncorrupted; dean

adherence to highest principles; complete and
confirmed integrity; uprightness
a natural predisposition or inclination
excessively wasteful; recklessly extravagant (noun form:
profligacy)

a natural inclination or tendency; penchant
dull; lacking in spirit or imagination
characterized by a strong, sharp smell or taste
foolishly impractical; marked by lofty romantic ideals
occurring or recurring daily; commonplace
to make or become thin, less dense; to refine

hidden; concealed; difficult to understand; obscure
radiant; shiny; brilliant
to fail to honor a commitment; to go back on a
promise
diligent; persistent; hard-working
a piece of broken pottery or glass
causing drowsiness; tending to induce sleep

thin; not dense; arranged at widely spaced intervals
one who spends money wastefully
not obvious; elusive; difficult to discern

implied; not explicitly stated
brief and concise in wording
to publicly praise or promote
sharply perceptive; keen; penetrating

genuine; not false or hypocritical
indefensible; not viable; uninhabitable
to waver indecisively between one course of action or
opinion and another

multicolored; characterized by a variety of patches of
different color
annoyance; irritation (noun form: x)
alertly watchful (noun form: vigilance)
co use harsh condemnatory language; to abuse or
censure severely or abusively; to berate
readily changing to a vapor; changeable;fickle;
explosive (noun form: volatility)
Vocabulary for the GRE I 153

Group 4 Exercises
Match the following words to their definitions. Answers can be found in Part V.

I. Acid or biting; bitter in taste or tone A Anachronism
2. Sleep-inducing; causing drowsiness B. Contiguous
3. A surplus; an overabundance c. Dilettante
4. One with superficial interest in a subject D. Intractable
5. Arrogance; overbearing pride E. Prosaic
6. Sharing a border; touching; adjacent F. Quixotic
7. Talking too much; rambling G. Recondite
8. Something out of place in history H. Vituperate
or chronology
9. Difficult to understand; obscure; hidden I. Acerbic
10. Dull; unimaginative; ordinary
J. Garrulous
11. Unemotional; calm K. Hubris
12. Stubborn; obstinate; difficult to manage L. Soporific
or govern
13. Condemn with harsh, abusive words; M. Phlegmatic
berate
14. Foolishly impractical; marked by lofty N. Plethora
ideals





BEYOND THE HIT PARADE
So you've finished the Hit Parade and you're now the master of many more words
than you were before. What to do next? Why, go beyond the Hit Parade of course!
The Hit Parade was just the beginning. To maximize your score on the GRE you
must be relentless in increasing your vocabulary. Don't let up. Keep learning
words until the day you sit down for the exam. The three following lists of extra
words don't have exercises, so just keep working with your notebook or flash cards
and get your friends to quiz you. You are a vocabulary machine!



Beyond the Hit Parade Group 1
1he following list contains some of those simple-sounding words with less com-
mon secondary meanings that ETS likes to test on the GRE.



Need more practice?
Boost your score with
The Princeton Review's
Essential GRE Vocabulary
(flash cards).


Alloy (verb)

Appropriate (verb)
Arrest, arresting
(verb)/(adj.)
August (adj.)
Bent (noun)
to commingle; to debase by mixing with something
inferior; una/Joyed means pure
to take for one's own use; to confiscate

to suspend; to engage; holding one's attention: as in
arrested adolescence, an arresting portrait
majestic, venerable

leaning, inclination, proclivity, tendency
Vocabulary for the GRE I 154



































































154 I Cracking the GRE
Broach (verb)
Brook (verb)
Cardinal (adj.)
Chauvinist (noun)

Color (verb)
Consequential (adj.)
Damp (verb)

Die (noun)
Essay (verb)
Exact (verb)
Fell (verb)
Fell (adj.)
Flag (verb)
Flip (adj.)
Ford (verb)
Grouse (verb)
Guy (noun)
Intimate (verb)
List (verb)
Lumber (verb)
Meet (adj.)
Milk (verb)

Mince (verb)

Nice (adj.)
Obtain (adj.)
Occult (adj.)
Pedestrian (adj.)
Pied (adj.)
Pine (verb)

Plastic (adj.)
Pluck (noun)

Prize (verb)
Rail (verb)
to bring up; to announce; to begin to talk about
to tolerate; to endure; to countenance
major, as in cardinal sin

a blindly devoted patriot

to change as if by dyeing, i.e., to distort, gloss, or
affect (usually the first)
pompous, self-important (primary definitions arc:
logically following; important)

to diminish the intensity or check the vibration of a
sound
a tool used for shaping, as in a tool-and-die shop
to test or try; to attempt; to experiment
to demand; to call for; to require; to take
to cause to fall by striking
inhumanly crud

to sag or droop; to become spiritless; to decline
sarcastic, impertinent, as in fl.ippant: a flip remark
to wade across the shallow part of a river or stream
to complain or grumble
a rope, cord, or cable attached to something as a
brace or guide; to steady or reinforce using a guy:
Think guid .
to imply, suggest, or insinuate
to tilt or lean to one side
to move heavily and clumsily

fi.tting, proper

to exploit; to squeeze every last ounce of

to pronounce or speak affectedly; to euphemize to
speak too carefully. Also, to take tiny steps; to tiptoe
exacting, fastidious, extremely precise

to be established, accepted, or customary
hidden, concealed, beyond comprehension
commonplace, trite, unremarkable, quotidian
multicolored, usually in blotches
to lose vigor (as through grief); to yearn

moldable, pliable, not rigid
courage, spunk, fortitude
to pry, to press or force with a lever; something taken
by force, spoils
to complain about bitterly

Rent (verb)
Quail (verb)
Qualify (verb)
Sap (verb)
Sap (noun)
Scurvy (adj.)
Singular (adj.)
Stand (noun)

Steep (verb)
Strut (noun)
Table (verb)
Tender (verb)
wame (verb)
Wag(noun)
torn (past tense of rend); an opening or tear caused by
such
to lose courage; to turn frightened

to limit

to enervate or weaken the vitality of
a fool or nitwit
contemptible, despicable

exceptional, unusual, odd
a group of trees
to saturate or completely soak, as in to let a tea bag
steep
the supporting structural cross-part of a wing
to remove (as a parliamentary motion) from
consideration

to proffer or offer
to equivocate; to change one's position
wit, joker



Beyond the Hit Parade Group 2

Abjure (verb)
Adumbrate (verb)
Anathema (noun)
Anodyne (adj.)/(noun)
Apogee (noun)
Apostate (noun)

Apotheosis (noun)

Asperity (noun)
Asseverate (verb)

Assiduous (adj.)
Augury (noun)
Bellicose (adj.)
to renounce or reject solemnly; to recant; to
avoid
to foreshadow vaguely or intimate; to suggest
or outline sketchily; to obscure or overshadow
a solemn or ecclesiastical (religious) curse; ac-
cursed or thoroughly loathed person or thing

soothing;something that assuages or allays
pain or comforts
farthest or highest point; culmination; zenith

one who abandons long-held religious or
political convictions
deification; glorification to godliness; an
exalted example; a model of excellence or
perfection
severity, rigor; roughness, harshness; acrimony,
irritability
to aver, allege, or assert

diligent, hard-working, sedulous
omen, portent
belligerent, pugnacious, warlike
































Vocabulary for the GAE I 155


Calumniate (verb)

Captious (adj.)
Cavil (verb)

Celerity (noun)
Chimera (noun)

Contumacious (adj.)
Debacle (noun)
Denouement (noun)
Descry (verb)
Desuetude (noun)

Desultory (adj.)
Diaphanous (adj.)
Diffident (adj.)
Dirge (noun)
Encomium (noun)
Eschew (verb)
Excoriate (verb)

Execrate (verb)

Exegesis (noun)
Expiate (verb)

Extirpate (verb)
Fatuous (adj.)
Fractious (adj.)
Gainsay (verb)

Heterodox (adj.)
Imbroglio (noun)
Indefatigable (adj.)
Ineluctable (adj.)
Inimitable (adj.)
to slander, to make a false accusation; calumny
means slander, aspersion

disposed to point out trivial faults; calculated
to confuse or entrap in argument
to find fault without good reason
speed, alacrity; think acceleratt
an illusion; originally, an imaginary 6re
breathing she-monster
insubordinate, rebellious; contumely means
insult, scorn, aspersion
rout, fiasco, complete failure

an outcome or solution; the unraveling of a
plot
to discriminate or discern
disuse
random; aimless; marked by a lack of plan or
purpose
transparent, gauzy
reserved, shy, unassuming; lacking in self-
confidence

a song of grief or lamentation
glowing and enthusiastic praise; panegyric,
tribute, eulogy
to shun or avoid

to censure scathingly, to upbraid
to denounce, to fed loathing for, to curse, to
declare to be evil
critical examination, explication
to atone or make amends for
to destroy, to exterminate, ro cut out, co
exscind

silly, inanely foolish

quarrelsome, rebellious, unruly, refractory,
irritable
to deny, to dispute, to contradict, to oppose
unorthodox, heretical, iconoclastic
difficult or embarrassing situation

not easily exhaustible; tireless, dogged
certain, inevitable
one of a kind, peerless


156 I Cracking the GRE


Insouciant (adp

Inveterate (adj.)
Jejune (adj.)
Lubricious (adj.)
Mendicant (noun)
Meretricious (adj.)

Minatory (adj.)
Nadir (noun)
Nonplussed (adj.)

Obstreperous (adj.)
Ossified (adj.)
Palliate (verb)

Panegyric (noun)
Parsimonious (adj.)

Pellucid (adj.)
Peroration (noun)
Plangent (adj.)
Prolix (adj.)

Propitiate (verb)
Puerile (adj.)
Puissance (noun)
Pusillanimous (adj.)
Remonstrate (verb)

Sagacious (adj.)

Salacious (adj.)
Salutary (adj.)
Sanguine (adj.)
Saturnine (adj.)

unconcerned, carefree, heedless
deep rooted, ingrained, habitual
vapid, uninteresting, nugatory; childish,
immature, puerile
lewd, wanton, greasy, slippery
a beggar, supplicant
cheap, gaudy, tawdry, flashy, showy; attracting
by false show

menacing, threatening (reminds you of the
Minotaur, a threatening creature indeed)
low point, perigee
baffied, bewildered, at a loss for what to do or
think
noisily and stubbornly defiant, aggressively
boisterous
tending to become more rigid, conventional,
sterile, and reactionary with age; literally,
turned into bone
to make something seem less serious, to gloss
over, to make less severe or intense
formal praise, eulogy, encomium; pan gyrical
means expressing elaborate praise
cheap, miserly
transparent, easy to understand, limpid

the concluding pan of a speech; Howery,
rhetorical speech
pounding, thundering, resounding
long-winded, verbose; prolixity means verbosity
to appease; to conciliate; propitious means
auspicious, favorable
childish, immature, jejune, nugatory
power, strength; puissant means powerful,
strong

cowardly, craven

to protest, to object

having sound judgment; perceptive, wise; like
a sage
lustful, lascivious, bawdy

remedial, wholesome, causing improvement
cheerful, confi.dent, optimistic
gloomy, dark, sullen, morose

































































Vocabulary for the GRE I 15 J

Sententious (adj.)
Stentorian (adj.)
Stygian (adj.)
Sycophant (noun)
Tendentious (ad )
Timorous (adj.)
Tyro (noun)

Vitiate (verb)


Voluble (adj.)

aphoristic or moralistic; epigrammatic;
tending to moralize excessively
extremely loud and powerful
gloomy, dark
toady, servile, self-seeking flatterer; parasite
biased; showing marked tendencies
timid, fearful, diffident

novice, greenhorn, rank amateur

to corrupt, to debase, to spoil, to make
ineffective
fluent, verbal, having easy use of spoken
language















































158 I Cracking the GRE