GRE vocabulary list 02 (adulterate)

A strong vocabulary is essential for a high GRE score. Based on our analysis, the words below are among the most commonly tested on the exam.

Flashcards can help you memorize definitions, but they don’t always show whether you can recognize and use a word in context. Use our quizzes to check your understanding and make sure you’re ready for test day.

Definitions

adulterate

change

verb

corrupt, debase, or make impure by adding a foreign or inferior substance; often by replacing valuable ingredients with inferior ones

"Even small chemical leaks can adulterate the water supply."

"Some coffee connoisseurs believe sugar and cream adulterates the coffee."

antipathy

hate

noun

Contrariety or opposition in feeling; settled aversion or dislike; repugnance; distaste.

"The passionate sports fan felt deep antipathy to the referee that ruined the game."

"The longtime enemies had mutual antipathy to one another."

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

contend

contest

intransitive verb

To strive in opposition; to contest; to dispute; to vie; to quarrel; to fight.

"The pundit chose to contend against the opinion shared by the rest of the panel."

"The old couple would contend against each other on every topic."

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

desiccate

dehydrate

transitive verb

To dry up; to deprive or exhaust of moisture; to preserve by drying.

"The fruits desiccated after sitting in the sun for days."

"The cracked earth had desiccated from the long drought."

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

diffident

modest

adjective

Wanting confidence in one's self; distrustful of one's own powers; not self-reliant; timid; modest; bashful; characterized by modest reserve.

"She was the most diffident student in the class; even when she knew the answer, she still would not raise her hand to speak."

"The diffident employee found it difficult to ask his boss for a raise."

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

disparate

divergent

adjective

Any of a group of unequal or dissimilar things.

"Politicians have such disparate opinions on even mundane topics."

"The two weather channels had such disparate predictions that it was impossible to know what the weather was going to do today."

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

engender

induce

transitive verb

To cause to exist; to bring forth; to produce; to sow the seeds of.

"Having similar goals engendered a sense of competition among the acquaintances."

"The interviewer's smile engendered a sense of ease for the interviewee."

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

exigent

urgent

adjective

Urgent; needing immediate action.

"The city was in exigent need of natural disaster aid."

"Their financial problems became even more exigent when they had a surprise emergency expense."

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

garrulous

verbose

adjective

Talking much, especially about commonplace or trivial things; talkative; loquacious.

"The garrulous party attendees spoke for hours about every topic imaginable."

"The radio host's garrulous disposition prevented any dead air from occurring."

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

harangue

tirade

noun

A tirade or rant, whether spoken or written.

"He had to endure a harangue from his partner after forgetting their anniversary."

"The coach gave his team an angry harangue during his halftime speech."

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

irascible

testy

adjective

Easily provoked to outbursts of anger; irritable.

"The irascible child is impossible to calm when he is having his temper tantrums."

"The humidity and heat made his irascible temper even more short-fused."

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

magnanimity

generosity

noun

liberality in bestowing gifts; extremely liberal and generous of spirit

"The woman showed magnanimity when she offered to pay for a stranger's groceries."

"Magnanimity for others can pay back in dividends."

misanthrope

recluse

noun

One who hates all mankind; one who hates the human race.

"The misanthrope hid from everyone and read in his all day isolated cabin."

"Most misanthropes dread going to parties with lots of people."

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

mundane

dull

adjective

Commonplace; ordinary; banal.

"Some people prefer not to travel and enjoy the mundane aspects of life."

"Sitting through the long graduation ceremony and watching the hundreds of students get their diplomas was a mundane affair."

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

obviate

prevent

verb

prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening

"You should bring a lifejacket when you go to the ocean to obviate a drowning accident."

"To obviate getting kicked from a flight, it may be a good idea to reserve a specific seat in addition to buying a ticket."

opaque

enigmatic

adjective

Obscure; not clear; unintelligible.

"The thesis of the convoluted and confused paper was opaque at best."

"The window had become opaque from dirt and years of neglect."

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

paucity

scarcity

noun

an insufficient quantity or number

"The new student only knew a paucity of vocabulary words."

"There is only a paucity of information on the effects of the long-term use of vape pens."

perfunctory

hasty

adjective

hasty and without attention to detail; not thorough

"The patient could not be bothered with such minute details so he filled out the form in a perfunctory manner."

"The petulant child brushed his teeth in a perfunctory manner."

pernicious

harmful

adjective

exceedingly harmful

"Long-term alcoholism has pernicious effects on the body."

"Inflammation has many pernicious effects on the body."

placate

pacify

transitive verb

To appease; to pacify; to concilate.

"The king agreed to the demands to placate the angry mob outside his palace."

"Many ancient people would make sacrifices to placate the gods during times of trouble."

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

propriety

decorum

noun

Suitableness to an acknowledged or correct standard or rule; consonance with established principles, rules, or customs; fitness; appropriateness

"They debated the propriety of discussing salaries among coworkers."

"His sense of propriety prevented him from asking such a gauche question."

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

specious

misleading

adjective

Seemingly well-reasoned or factual, but actually fallacious or insincere; strongly held but false.

"The specious reasoning fell apart under even a small amount of inspection."

"The specious information written on his resume was certainly an exaggeration of his career."

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

sporadic

irregular

adjective

recurring in scattered and irregular or unpredictable instances

"Even some of the best chess players can have sporadic match results."

"His wallet could only handle the sporadic night out."

vacillate

fluctuate

verb

To swing indecisively from one course of action or opinion to another.

"The moviegoer vacillated between the many choices when buying tickets at the booth, always waiting until the last second to decide."

"The frontlines had vacillated unpredictably as the tides of war were constantly changing."

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

venerate

honor

transitive verb

To regard with reverential respect; to honor with mingled respect and awe; to reverence; to revere.

"The wonderful biographical film venerated the life of the well respected artist."

"His induction into the hall of fame venerated his long and storied career."

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

adulterate

To corrupt or make impure by adding inferior substances
Often involves replacing valuable ingredients with inferior ones

antipathy

Strong aversion or dislike
Deep-seated opposition in feeling

contend

To strive or fight in opposition
To dispute, contest, or quarrel

desiccate

To dry up or remove moisture
To preserve by drying

diffident

Lacking self-confidence; timid or modest
Characterized by reserve or bashfulness

disparate

Fundamentally different or dissimilar
Unequal or divergent things

engender

To cause or produce; bring into existence
To sow the seeds of something

exigent

Urgent; requiring immediate action
Pressing need or demand

garrulous

Excessively talkative, especially about trivial matters
Loquacious or verbose

harangue

A lengthy and aggressive speech or tirade
Rant, spoken or written

irascible

Easily provoked to anger; irritable
Quick-tempered or testy

magnanimity

Generosity or liberality in spirit
Willingness to bestow gifts or kindness

misanthrope

One who hates or distrusts humankind
A person who avoids human society

mundane

Ordinary, commonplace, or banal
Lacking excitement or interest

obviate

To prevent or eliminate (especially difficulties or risks)
To make unnecessary

opaque

Not clear or difficult to understand; obscure
Not allowing light to pass through

paucity

Scarcity or insufficiency in quantity or number
Lack or dearth

perfunctory

Done with minimal effort or reflection; hasty
Lacking thoroughness or attention to detail

pernicious

Extremely harmful or destructive
Highly injurious

placate

To appease or pacify; calm anger or hostility
To conciliate

propriety

Conformity to accepted standards or rules
Appropriateness or decorum

specious

Seemingly plausible but actually false or misleading
Superficially convincing but fallacious

sporadic

Occurring at irregular or unpredictable intervals
Scattered or infrequent

vacillate

To waver between different opinions or actions
To be indecisive or fluctuate

venerate

To regard with deep respect or reverence
To honor or revere

GRE vocabulary list 02 (adulterate)

A strong vocabulary is essential for a high GRE score. Based on our analysis, the words below are among the most commonly tested on the exam.

Definitions

GRE vocabulary list 02 (adulterate)

A strong vocabulary is essential for a high GRE score. Based on our analysis, the words below are among the most commonly tested on the exam.

Definitions

adulterate

change

verb

corrupt, debase, or make impure by adding a foreign or inferior substance; often by replacing valuable ingredients with inferior ones

"Even small chemical leaks can adulterate the water supply."

"Some coffee connoisseurs believe sugar and cream adulterates the coffee."

antipathy

hate

noun

Contrariety or opposition in feeling; settled aversion or dislike; repugnance; distaste.

"The passionate sports fan felt deep antipathy to the referee that ruined the game."

"The longtime enemies had mutual antipathy to one another."

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

contend

contest

intransitive verb

To strive in opposition; to contest; to dispute; to vie; to quarrel; to fight.

"The pundit chose to contend against the opinion shared by the rest of the panel."

"The old couple would contend against each other on every topic."

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

desiccate

dehydrate

transitive verb

To dry up; to deprive or exhaust of moisture; to preserve by drying.

"The fruits desiccated after sitting in the sun for days."

"The cracked earth had desiccated from the long drought."

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

diffident

modest

adjective

Wanting confidence in one's self; distrustful of one's own powers; not self-reliant; timid; modest; bashful; characterized by modest reserve.

"She was the most diffident student in the class; even when she knew the answer, she still would not raise her hand to speak."

"The diffident employee found it difficult to ask his boss for a raise."

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

disparate

divergent

adjective

Any of a group of unequal or dissimilar things.

"Politicians have such disparate opinions on even mundane topics."

"The two weather channels had such disparate predictions that it was impossible to know what the weather was going to do today."

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

engender

induce

transitive verb

To cause to exist; to bring forth; to produce; to sow the seeds of.

"Having similar goals engendered a sense of competition among the acquaintances."

"The interviewer's smile engendered a sense of ease for the interviewee."

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

exigent

urgent

adjective

Urgent; needing immediate action.

"The city was in exigent need of natural disaster aid."

"Their financial problems became even more exigent when they had a surprise emergency expense."

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

garrulous

verbose

adjective

Talking much, especially about commonplace or trivial things; talkative; loquacious.

"The garrulous party attendees spoke for hours about every topic imaginable."

"The radio host's garrulous disposition prevented any dead air from occurring."

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

harangue

tirade

noun

A tirade or rant, whether spoken or written.

"He had to endure a harangue from his partner after forgetting their anniversary."

"The coach gave his team an angry harangue during his halftime speech."

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

irascible

testy

adjective

Easily provoked to outbursts of anger; irritable.

"The irascible child is impossible to calm when he is having his temper tantrums."

"The humidity and heat made his irascible temper even more short-fused."

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

magnanimity

generosity

noun

liberality in bestowing gifts; extremely liberal and generous of spirit

"The woman showed magnanimity when she offered to pay for a stranger's groceries."

"Magnanimity for others can pay back in dividends."

misanthrope

recluse

noun

One who hates all mankind; one who hates the human race.

"The misanthrope hid from everyone and read in his all day isolated cabin."

"Most misanthropes dread going to parties with lots of people."

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

mundane

dull

adjective

Commonplace; ordinary; banal.

"Some people prefer not to travel and enjoy the mundane aspects of life."

"Sitting through the long graduation ceremony and watching the hundreds of students get their diplomas was a mundane affair."

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

obviate

prevent

verb

prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening

"You should bring a lifejacket when you go to the ocean to obviate a drowning accident."

"To obviate getting kicked from a flight, it may be a good idea to reserve a specific seat in addition to buying a ticket."

opaque

enigmatic

adjective

Obscure; not clear; unintelligible.

"The thesis of the convoluted and confused paper was opaque at best."

"The window had become opaque from dirt and years of neglect."

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

paucity

scarcity

noun

an insufficient quantity or number

"The new student only knew a paucity of vocabulary words."

"There is only a paucity of information on the effects of the long-term use of vape pens."

perfunctory

hasty

adjective

hasty and without attention to detail; not thorough

"The patient could not be bothered with such minute details so he filled out the form in a perfunctory manner."

"The petulant child brushed his teeth in a perfunctory manner."

pernicious

harmful

adjective

exceedingly harmful

"Long-term alcoholism has pernicious effects on the body."

"Inflammation has many pernicious effects on the body."

placate

pacify

transitive verb

To appease; to pacify; to concilate.

"The king agreed to the demands to placate the angry mob outside his palace."

"Many ancient people would make sacrifices to placate the gods during times of trouble."

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

propriety

decorum

noun

Suitableness to an acknowledged or correct standard or rule; consonance with established principles, rules, or customs; fitness; appropriateness

"They debated the propriety of discussing salaries among coworkers."

"His sense of propriety prevented him from asking such a gauche question."

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

specious

misleading

adjective

Seemingly well-reasoned or factual, but actually fallacious or insincere; strongly held but false.

"The specious reasoning fell apart under even a small amount of inspection."

"The specious information written on his resume was certainly an exaggeration of his career."

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

sporadic

irregular

adjective

recurring in scattered and irregular or unpredictable instances

"Even some of the best chess players can have sporadic match results."

"His wallet could only handle the sporadic night out."

vacillate

fluctuate

verb

To swing indecisively from one course of action or opinion to another.

"The moviegoer vacillated between the many choices when buying tickets at the booth, always waiting until the last second to decide."

"The frontlines had vacillated unpredictably as the tides of war were constantly changing."

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

venerate

honor

transitive verb

To regard with reverential respect; to honor with mingled respect and awe; to reverence; to revere.

"The wonderful biographical film venerated the life of the well respected artist."

"His induction into the hall of fame venerated his long and storied career."

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

adulterate

To corrupt or make impure by adding inferior substances
Often involves replacing valuable ingredients with inferior ones

antipathy

Strong aversion or dislike
Deep-seated opposition in feeling

contend

To strive or fight in opposition
To dispute, contest, or quarrel

desiccate

To dry up or remove moisture
To preserve by drying

diffident

Lacking self-confidence; timid or modest
Characterized by reserve or bashfulness

disparate

Fundamentally different or dissimilar
Unequal or divergent things

engender

To cause or produce; bring into existence
To sow the seeds of something

exigent

Urgent; requiring immediate action
Pressing need or demand

garrulous

Excessively talkative, especially about trivial matters
Loquacious or verbose

harangue

A lengthy and aggressive speech or tirade
Rant, spoken or written

irascible

Easily provoked to anger; irritable
Quick-tempered or testy

magnanimity

Generosity or liberality in spirit
Willingness to bestow gifts or kindness

misanthrope

One who hates or distrusts humankind
A person who avoids human society

mundane

Ordinary, commonplace, or banal
Lacking excitement or interest

obviate

To prevent or eliminate (especially difficulties or risks)
To make unnecessary

opaque

Not clear or difficult to understand; obscure
Not allowing light to pass through

paucity

Scarcity or insufficiency in quantity or number
Lack or dearth

perfunctory

Done with minimal effort or reflection; hasty
Lacking thoroughness or attention to detail

pernicious

Extremely harmful or destructive
Highly injurious

placate

To appease or pacify; calm anger or hostility
To conciliate

propriety

Conformity to accepted standards or rules
Appropriateness or decorum

specious

Seemingly plausible but actually false or misleading
Superficially convincing but fallacious

sporadic

Occurring at irregular or unpredictable intervals
Scattered or infrequent

vacillate

To waver between different opinions or actions
To be indecisive or fluctuate

venerate

To regard with deep respect or reverence
To honor or revere

GRE vocabulary list 02 (adulterate)

A strong vocabulary is essential for a high GRE score. Based on our analysis, the words below are among the most commonly tested on the exam.

Definitions

adulterate

To corrupt or make impure by adding inferior substances
Often involves replacing valuable ingredients with inferior ones

antipathy

Strong aversion or dislike
Deep-seated opposition in feeling

contend

To strive or fight in opposition
To dispute, contest, or quarrel

desiccate

To dry up or remove moisture
To preserve by drying

diffident

Lacking self-confidence; timid or modest
Characterized by reserve or bashfulness

disparate

Fundamentally different or dissimilar
Unequal or divergent things

engender

To cause or produce; bring into existence
To sow the seeds of something

exigent

Urgent; requiring immediate action
Pressing need or demand

garrulous

Excessively talkative, especially about trivial matters
Loquacious or verbose

harangue

A lengthy and aggressive speech or tirade
Rant, spoken or written

irascible

Easily provoked to anger; irritable
Quick-tempered or testy

magnanimity

Generosity or liberality in spirit
Willingness to bestow gifts or kindness

misanthrope

One who hates or distrusts humankind
A person who avoids human society

mundane

Ordinary, commonplace, or banal
Lacking excitement or interest

obviate

To prevent or eliminate (especially difficulties or risks)
To make unnecessary

opaque

Not clear or difficult to understand; obscure
Not allowing light to pass through

paucity

Scarcity or insufficiency in quantity or number
Lack or dearth

perfunctory

Done with minimal effort or reflection; hasty
Lacking thoroughness or attention to detail

pernicious

Extremely harmful or destructive
Highly injurious

placate

To appease or pacify; calm anger or hostility
To conciliate

propriety

Conformity to accepted standards or rules
Appropriateness or decorum

specious

Seemingly plausible but actually false or misleading
Superficially convincing but fallacious

sporadic

Occurring at irregular or unpredictable intervals
Scattered or infrequent

vacillate

To waver between different opinions or actions
To be indecisive or fluctuate

venerate

To regard with deep respect or reverence
To honor or revere