GRE/CAT VOCABULARY LIST 71
lineage = descent; ancestry
pendant(pendent) = hanging down from something;
pending; N: ornament (hanging from a necklace etc.)
modish = fashionable; conforming to the current fashion
circumvent = outwit; defeat by behaving more cleverly;
outsmart; baffle; avoid; get around
livid = lead-colored; black and blue (as from a bruise);
ashen; enraged; extremely angry
leery = (of someone) suspicious; wary; cautious
veracious = (of a person) truthful
vigil = keeping watch (during normal sleeping hours);
Ex. all-night vigil
parlance = language; manner of speaking; idiom; Ex. in
legal/common parlance
litany = supplicatory prayer; prayer in which the priest
calls out and the people replies in the same words
offensive = attacking; insulting; distasteful; V. offend: violate;
hurt the feelings of; N. offense: offending; violating
of a moral or social code; crime; attack; Ex. first
offense
stench = strong foul odor; reek; stink
incapacitate = disable; N. incapacity: lack of capacity
tramp = walk with a heavy step; travel on foot; N: vagrant;
one who travels aimlessly about; long walk;
sound of heavy walking
functionary = official (who performs a particular function)
rapacious = voracious; ravenous; taking everything one
can; excessively grasping; plundering; subsisting on
live prey; Ex. rapacious birds
simulate = feign; imitate
depose = dethrone; remove from office; give a deposition;
testify
conduit = aqueduct; passageway for fluids
flighty = (esp. of a woman.s behavior) capricious; often
changing, esp. from one lover to another; impulsive
referendum = direct vote by all the people
worldly = engrossed in matters of this earth; not spiritual;
of the material world
contrived = unnatural and forced; artificial; not spontaneous;
Ex. The ending was rather contrived.
ethos = underlying character of a culture, group, etc.;
character or ideas peculiar to a specific person, group,
or culture; Ex. the company ethos
disjointed = disconnected; lacking coherence; V. disjoint:
disconnect; disjoin
hallowed = blessed; consecrated; Ex. hallowed ground;
V. hallow: set apart as holy
ecologist = person concerned with the interrelationship
between living organisms and their environment; person
concerned with the detrimental effects of human
civilization on the environment; CF. ecology
disclose = reveal; N. disclosure
weary = tired after long work; V.
encroachment = gradual intrusion; Ex. I resent all these
encroachments on my valuable time; V. encroach: take
another.s possessions or right gradually or stealthily;
intrude; Ex. encroach on/upon
spoof = parody
noxious = harmful; CF. obnoxious
puzzle = baffle or confuse by a difficult problem; ponder
over a problem in an effort to solve; clarify or solve by
reasoning; Ex. puzzle out the answer; N.
reprove = censure; rebuke; N. reproof
paleontology = study of prehistoric life or fossils; CF.
paleo-: ancient or prehistoric; Ex. paleography: study
of ancient written documents
stout = rather fat; strong in body; sturdy; resolute;
determined; strong in determination; Ex. stout
stick/supporter
plebiscite = direct vote by the entire electorate (on an important
issue)
circumlocution = indirect or roundabout expression (by
using an uncecessarily large number of words esp.
when trying to avoid answering a difficult question directly)
swarm = large group of insects moving in a mass; crowd
of people or animals; V: move in a crowd or mass
culprit = one guilty of a crime
generality = vague statement; general statement which is
not detailed; quality of being general; greater part; most;
Ex. generality of people
veritable = being truly so; real or genuine; actual; not
false or imaginary
respite = time for rest; interval of relief; delay in punishment;
reprieve
pragmatic = practical (as opposed to idealistic); concerned
with practical worth or impact of something; Ex.
pragmatic test of the skill
sledge = large sled drawn by work animals
seasonal = of a particular season; Ex. seasonal rise in employment
lag = move or develop more slowly; straggle; Ex. lag behind
the rest; N.
tactful = careful no to cause offence; OP. tactless
unprecedented = having no previous example; novel; unparalleled
opiate = medicine to induce sleep or deaden pain; something
that relieves emotions or causes inaction; sleepproducing
drug containing opium
musky = having the odor of musk; N. musk: odorous
substance secreted by an Asian deer
malediction = curse
fritter = waste (time or money on unimportant things)
brandish = wave around (a weapon); flourish
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