120+ Essential GRE Vocabulary Words
Imagine yourself confidently solving the Sentence Equivalence questions, Text Completion passages, and Reading Comprehension with a deep understanding of the text. That’s the power a strong GRE vocabulary puts in your hands.
But the GRE verbal reasoning section might seem like a vocabulary challenge you’re about to face alone. This blog is here to help, providing you with 120+ essential GRE vocabulary words to make your test prep journey a little easier.
This list isn’t just a collection of random words. We’ve curated these over 120 words specifically to target the high-frequency GRE vocabulary you’ll encounter on test day. By familiarising yourself with these words and their meanings, you’ll be well on your way to acing the verbal reasoning section and achieving your target GRE score.
How Does the GRE Test Vocabulary Work?
The GRE’s verbal reasoning section puts your vocabulary to the test. This two-part section holds a significant weight on your overall verbal score. Be prepared to answer 27 questions divided into two sections: the first with 12 questions and the second with 15. You’ll be given 18 minutes to complete the first section and 23 minutes for the second.
The GRE tests your vocabulary in three main question formats: Sentence Equivalence, Text Completion, and Reading Comprehension.
- Sentence Equivalence gives you two answer choices, and your task is to pick the two that create sentences with a meaning similar to the original one.
- Text Completion presents you with a passage containing one or two blanks. Your job is to choose the answer choices that fit best and complete the overall meaning of the passage.
- Reading Comprehension passages often contain GRE vocabulary words you’ll need to understand to answer the related questions correctly. These questions assess your grasp of the passage’s content.
120+ Essential GRE Vocabulary Words
The GRE is known for testing a wide range of vocabulary. While there’s no set list of words you need to memorise, focusing on frequently tested areas can strengthen your preparation.
|
Word |
Meaning |
Example Sentence |
|---|---|---|
|
Abate |
To lessen in intensity or degree |
The storm abated, and the sun came out. |
|
Abjure |
To formally renounce or reject something |
The king abjured his claim to the throne. |
|
Abridge |
To shorten |
The publisher had to abridge the novel for the children's edition. |
|
Acumen |
Sharply insightful; keen judgement |
The detective’s sharp acumen helped crack the case. |
|
Alleviate |
To relieve |
Taking aspirin can alleviate a headache. |
|
Amalgamate |
To merge or combine into one; unite |
The company will amalgamate its two marketing departments for better efficiency. |
|
Amicable |
Friendly; peaceable |
The neighbours reached an amicable agreement regarding the property line. |
|
Apathy |
Lack of interest or emotion |
The student's apathy towards learning was evident in his grades. |
|
Appal |
Shock or horrify |
The brutality of the war appalled the entire world. |
|
Appease |
To calm or pacify someone by giving them what they want |
The king tried to appease the angry mob with promises of reform. |
|
Apprehensive |
Feeling anxious or fearful; worried |
John was apprehensive about his upcoming presentation. |
|
Belligerent |
Hostile and aggressive |
The belligerent customer argued with the store manager. |
|
Benevolent |
Kind-hearted |
The benevolent woman spent her weekends volunteering at the shelter. |
|
Bolster |
To support or strengthen |
The new evidence helped bolster their case in court. |
|
Bombastic |
Pompous; inflated language |
The politician’s bombastic speeches failed to impress the voters. |
|
Cacophony |
Harsh, discordant mixture of sounds |
The city streets were filled with the cacophony of traffic. |
|
Cadence |
The rhythm or flow of sound |
The poet used cadence to create a musical effect in his verses. |
|
Candour |
Frankness; openness in speech |
He appreciated her candour during their conversation. |
|
Capitulate |
To surrender |
The army had no choice but to capitulate to the enemy forces. |
|
Capricious |
Unpredictable; impulsive |
Her capricious nature made it difficult to anticipate her actions. |
|
Caustic |
Severely critical or sarcastic; harsh |
The comedian’s caustic remarks left the audience squirming. |
|
Cogent |
Convincing; reasonable |
She presented a cogent argument in favour of her proposal. |
|
Conspicuous |
Easy to see or notice; prominent |
Her bright red dress made her conspicuous in the crowd. |
|
Conundrum |
A difficult problem or question |
The conundrum of balancing work and family life is a common challenge. |
|
Debilitate |
To weaken |
The illness debilitated him, and he was unable to work. |
|
Deleterious |
Harmful; damaging |
Smoking has deleterious effects on one’s health. |
|
Delineate |
To describe or portray precisely |
The artist delineated the features of the landscape. |
|
Dilemma |
A situation where a difficult choice must be made between two equally undesirable options |
He faced a dilemma: accept the promotion and move away or stay in his current city and miss out on the opportunity. |
|
Disdain |
Contempt; scorn |
She looked at him with disdain after his rude comment. |
|
Disingenuous |
Insincere or misleading; lacking in candour |
Her disingenuous apology only made things worse. |
|
Disparate |
Fundamentally different; unrelated |
The two sisters had disparate interests and hobbies. |
|
Dogmatic |
Asserting opinions as if they were facts |
His dogmatic attitude made it difficult to have a constructive discussion. |
|
Effusive |
Warmly enthusiastic and expressive |
She gave her best friend an effusive hug. |
|
Egregious |
Outstandingly bad; shocking |
The team’s performance was egregious, resulting in a humiliating defeat. |
|
Elicit |
To draw out or evoke a response |
The teacher used open-ended questions to elicit thoughtful answers from her students. |
|
Eloquent |
Fluent or persuasive in speaking or writing |
The speaker delivered an eloquent speech that moved the audience to tears. |
|
Enervate |
To weaken or sap the energy of something; make powerless |
The long commute enervated her, leaving her too tired to cook dinner. |
|
Enigmatic |
Mysterious; puzzling |
The enigmatic smile on her face left everyone curious. |
|
Ephemeral |
Lasting for a very short time |
The beauty of the cherry blossoms is ephemeral. |
|
Exacerbate |
To make something worse; intensify |
The argument only exacerbated the already tense situation. |
|
Facetious |
Treating serious issues with inappropriate humour |
His facetious remarks during the meeting were not appreciated. |
|
Fastidious |
Very attentive to detail; meticulous |
She was fastidious about keeping her house clean. |
|
Fervent |
Intensely passionate or earnest |
He was a fervent supporter of human rights. |
|
Fortuitous |
Happening by chance or luck |
It was fortuitous that she found the lost keys. |
|
Furtive |
Secretive; sly |
The thief cast a furtive glance around before stealing the jewels. |
|
Garrulous |
Excessively talkative |
The garrulous old man told stories for hours. |
|
Gregarious |
Sociable |
Mark was gregarious and made friends easily at the party. |
|
Hapless |
Unfortunate; unlucky |
The hapless traveller lost his wallet on the trip. |
|
Haughty |
Arrogant |
The haughty aristocrat looked down on those she considered beneath her. |
|
Histrionic |
Overly dramatic; theatrical |
Her histrionic reaction to the news startled everyone. |
|
Hubris |
Excessive pride or self-confidence |
His hubris led to his downfall in the end. |
|
Imbibe |
To drink or absorb |
He imbibed too much wine at the party and ended up having a headache the next day. |
|
Impasse |
A situation in which progress is impossible; a deadlock |
The negotiations reached an impasse. |
|
Impassive |
Showing no emotion or feeling; indifferent |
The actor remained impassive despite the chaos unfolding around him. |
|
Impetuous |
Acting without thinking |
His impetuous decision led to regret later on. |
|
Imprudent |
Lacking good judgement; unwise |
It was imprudent of her to go swimming alone in the dark. |
|
Incandescent |
Emitting light as a result of being heated |
The incandescent bulb illuminated the room. |
|
Incessant |
Continuing without interruption |
The incessant noise from the construction site was annoying. |
|
Ineffable |
Too great or extreme to be expressed in words |
The beauty of the sunset was ineffable. |
|
Ingenious |
Clever, original, and inventive |
The engineer’s design for the bridge was ingenious and solved a major obstacle. |
|
Innuendo |
An indirect or suggestive remark |
His innuendo implied that she was responsible for the mistake. |
|
Insidious |
Proceeding in a gradual, subtle way |
The insidious disease went undetected until it was too late. |
|
Interminable |
Seemingly endless; very long and tiring |
The meeting seemed interminable, dragging on for hours. |
|
Intransigent |
Unwilling to compromise or change one’s mind; stubborn |
The intransigent leader refused to listen to any alternative solutions. |
|
Jubilant |
Extremely joyful |
The team was jubilant after winning the championship. |
|
Juxtapose |
To place side by side for comparison |
The artist juxtaposed light and dark in her paintings. |
|
Kindle |
To ignite |
The teacher hoped to kindle an interest in science among her students. |
|
Knell |
The sound of a bell, especially when rung solemnly for a death or funeral |
The knell of the church bell signalled the end of the service. |
|
Laconic |
Using few words; concise |
The detective gave a laconic response to the question. |
|
Lament |
To mourn; express sorrow or regret |
The villagers lamented the loss of their crops to the drought. |
|
Languid |
Lacking energy; slow and relaxed |
The hot weather made him feel languid and sleepy. |
|
Languish |
To become weak or feeble |
The plants began to languish during the drought. |
|
Lethargic |
Sluggish |
After a heavy meal, he felt lethargic and sleepy. |
|
Malaise |
A general feeling of discomfort, illness, or uneasiness |
A sense of malaise hung over the city after the natural disaster. |
|
Meticulous |
Paying great attention to detail; careful and precise |
The scientist was meticulous in her lab work, ensuring accurate results. |
|
Nebulous |
Unclear; vague |
The instructions were nebulous, leaving us confused. |
|
Nonchalant |
Appearing casually unconcerned or indifferent |
He acted nonchalant about the news, but deep down, he was worried. |
|
Oblivious |
Unaware |
She was so deep in thought that she was oblivious to her surroundings. |
|
Obfuscate |
To make something unclear or difficult to understand |
The politician’s answer obfuscated the real issue rather than addressing it directly. |
|
Obsequious |
Obedient or attentive to an excessive or servile degree |
The obsequious assistant always agreed with his boss. |
|
Opaque |
Not transparent; not allowing light to pass through |
The windows were opaque, preventing anyone from seeing inside. |
|
Ostensible |
Apparent or seeming, but not necessarily true |
His ostensible reason for being late was car trouble, but it was probably something else. |
|
Ostentatious |
Showy; intended to impress others |
Her ostentatious display of wealth made others uncomfortable. |
|
Paradigm |
A typical example or pattern |
The discovery was a paradigm shift in the field of medicine. |
|
Pedantic |
Overly concerned with minor details and rules; fussy |
The professor’s pedantic lectures often bored his students. |
|
Pernicious |
Harmful |
The pernicious effects of smoking are well-documented. |
|
Plausible |
Believable; credible |
His explanation seemed plausible, given the circumstances. |
|
Portentous |
Suggesting the occurrence of something important or ominous |
The dark clouds were a portentous sign of an approaching storm. |
|
Precipitous |
Sudden and steep; abrupt |
The stock market took a precipitous drop after the bad news. |
|
Precipitate |
Sudden and steep; abrupt |
The stock market took a precipitous drop after the bad news. |
|
Quell |
To suppress; put an end to |
The police were called to quell the riot. |
|
Querulous |
Complaining |
His querulous nature made him difficult to work with. |
|
Rebuke |
To criticise or express disapproval of someone or something |
The teacher gently rebuked the student for talking in class. |
|
Recondite |
Difficult to understand; obscure |
The book was filled with recondite philosophical concepts. |
|
Reprehensible |
Deserving criticism or condemnation |
His actions were deemed reprehensible by society. |
|
Resilient |
Able to recover quickly from difficulties |
Despite facing many setbacks, she remained resilient and optimistic. |
|
Reticent |
Reserved; reluctant to speak |
She was reticent about discussing her personal life. |
|
Sagacious |
Wise |
The sagacious old man gave valuable advice to the young prince. |
|
Salient |
Most noticeable or important |
The salient features of the proposal were highlighted. |
|
Sedulous |
Showing great care and persistent effort |
He was a sedulous student who always went above and beyond. |
|
Solicitous |
Showing care and concern for the welfare of others; attentive |
The nurse was solicitous of the patient’s needs. |
|
Soliloquy |
A speech delivered by a character alone on stage |
The actor delivered a powerful soliloquy that revealed his character's inner turmoil. |
|
Stoic |
Not showing feeling or emotion; unemotional |
He remained stoic even when faced with great adversity. |
|
Sumptuous |
Rich, splendid, and luxurious |
The king lived a sumptuous life in his palace. |
|
Supercilious |
Behaving as if one thinks one is superior to others; arrogant |
The professor’s supercilious attitude alienated his students. |
|
Superfluous |
Unnecessary; more than enough |
The extra decorations were superfluous and cluttered the room. |
|
Surreptitious |
Secretive; stealthy |
She made a surreptitious exit from the party. |
|
Taciturn |
Reserved; uncommunicative |
The taciturn man preferred listening to speaking. |
|
Tenacious |
Persistent |
She was tenacious in her pursuit of a career in medicine. |
|
Tenuous |
Weak or unreliable; flimsy |
The evidence supporting their claim was very tenuous. |
|
Transient |
Lasting for only a short time |
The transient feeling of happiness soon faded away. |
|
Ubiquitous |
Being everywhere at the same time |
In today’s world, smartphones are ubiquitous. |
|
Unanimous |
In complete agreement |
The committee reached a unanimous decision. |
|
Vacillate |
To waver between different opinions or actions |
He vacillated between accepting the job offer and staying in his current position. |
|
Vehement |
Showing strong feeling; passionate |
He was vehement in his opposition to the proposal. |
|
Venerable |
Worthy of respect due to age, wisdom, or character |
The venerable professor had taught at the university for over 50 years. |
|
Wane |
To decrease gradually in size or intensity |
The moon’s brightness began to wane as it entered its last phase. |
|
Wary |
Cautious |
She was wary of strangers offering her help. |
|
Wistful |
Yearning; longing with sadness |
As she looked at the old photographs, she felt wistful. |
|
Xenophile |
A person who is attracted to foreign cultures or people |
As a xenophile, she loved travelling and experiencing new cultures. |
|
Xenophobia |
Fear or hatred of foreigners or strangers |
The rise of xenophobia in the country was concerning. |
|
Yearn |
To have a strong desire or longing |
He yearned for adventure and travel. |
|
Zeal |
Enthusiasm |
She tackled her new project with great zeal. |
|
Zealous |
Filled with zeal; fervent |
The volunteers were zealous in their efforts to help. |
Note: This list is a valuable tool to help you learn new vocabulary, but it’s not a mandatory checklist. Focus on the words that you find interesting, and gradually build your vocabulary at your own pace.
6 Tips to Improve Your GRE Vocabulary
The verbal section of the GRE assesses a wide range of vocabulary words on test day. To ace it, building a strong foundation in GRE-level vocabulary is essential. Here are some proven strategies to improve your GRE vocabulary:
1. Read daily
Make reading a daily habit. Target sources that are known for using a rich vocabulary, such as reputable newspapers, academic journals, or classic literature. As you come across unfamiliar words, don’t just skip over them. Pause, jot them down, and look them up in a dictionary. Pay attention not just to the definition but also to the word’s part of speech and the different meanings it might have.
2. Befriend the dictionary
Don’t shy away from consulting a dictionary. Look up words you encounter in your reading or daily life. But go beyond just the basic definition. Explore synonyms, antonyms, and different contexts in which the word can be used. This will deepen your understanding and retention.
3. Leverage mnemonics
Mnemonics are memory aids that associate a new word with something familiar. Create silly sentences, rhymes, or visual imagery to connect the new word to something you already know. The wackier the connection, the easier it is to remember!
4. Utilise flashcards
Flashcards are a classic and effective tool for vocabulary building. Create your own flashcards with the GRE word on one side and its definition, part of speech, and a sample sentence on the other. Use spaced repetition techniques to review your flashcards regularly, focusing on words you tend to forget. Actively test yourself by covering the definition and trying to recall the word. This retrieval practice strengthens the memory pathways and improves your long-term retention.
5. Explore online resources
There are many online resources available to help you build your GRE vocabulary. Look for websites or apps that offer vocabulary lists, quizzes, and practice tests specifically designed for the GRE exam.
6. Practice makes perfect
Take practice tests under timed conditions to simulate the actual GRE experience. This will help you identify your vocabulary strengths and weaknesses. It will further allow you to focus your studies on areas that need improvement.
Suggested: GRE Vocabulary Flashcards
From the Desk of Yocket
The GRE vocabulary section demands a significant investment of time and memorization. Though it doesn’t require an encyclopaedic knowledge of obscure words, you might come across words that seem irrelevant to everyday conversation. However, there’s value in this challenge. The GRE isn’t just testing your vocabulary recall; it’s assessing your ability to grasp dense academic writing. A strong vocabulary reflects clear and precise communication. It’s a quality that’s appreciated in academic settings and beyond.
While memorization plays a role, a more effective approach involves actively engaging with the words. This could involve using them in practice writing, discussing them with fellow test-takers, understanding the root words and how they combine to form meaning, or even creating mind maps to connect them to related concepts. The focus is on understanding words in academic contexts, particularly those that can distinguish subtle shades of meaning. Additionally, Yocket GRE prep can significantly aid in your preparation by providing comprehensive study materials and practice resources tailored to the GRE exam.
Frequently Asked Questions about GRE Vocabulary Words
What kind of vocabulary is tested on the GRE?
How important is vocabulary for the GRE?
How many words should I learn for the GRE?
