GRE Vocabulary: Advanced

• perfidious

  (adj.) deceitful and untrustworthy Syn: treacherous

  The perfidious advisor betrayed the king's trust.

• obfuscate

  (v.) to make obscure or unclear, often deliberately Syn: confuse

  The report seemed designed to obfuscate the real losses.

• toady

  (n.) a person who flatters others to win favor Syn: flatterer

  The minister kept a circle of toadies around him.

• obstreperous

  (adj.) noisy and difficult to control Syn: unruly

  The obstreperous crowd ignored every plea for quiet.

• pulchritude

  (n.) physical beauty Syn: beauty

  Poets have long praised the pulchritude of the rose.

• truculent

  (adj.) eager to argue or fight; aggressively defiant Syn: belligerent

  His truculent tone turned the meeting into a quarrel.

• abstruse

  (adj.) difficult to understand; obscure Syn: arcane

  The lecture on quantum fields was hopelessly abstruse.

• calumny

  (n.) a false statement made to damage a reputation Syn: slander

  The campaign sank into calumny and personal attacks.

• gossamer

  (adj.) extremely light, thin, and delicate Syn: filmy

  The spider's web hung like a gossamer thread.

• ennui

  (n.) a feeling of weariness and dissatisfaction Syn: boredom

  A deep ennui settled over the idle summer afternoons.

• fatuous

  (adj.) silly and pointless; foolish Syn: inane

  His fatuous remarks added nothing to the debate.

• garrulity

  (n.) the quality of being excessively talkative Syn: talkativeness

  The witness's garrulity tried the judge's patience.

• hegemony

  (n.) leadership or dominance, especially by one state Syn: dominance

  The empire maintained hegemony over the region for centuries.

• inchoate

  (adj.) just begun and so not fully formed Syn: undeveloped

  She had only an inchoate plan for the new venture.

• jejune

  (adj.) naive, simplistic, or dull Syn: insipid

  The critic dismissed the essay as jejune and shallow.

• kowtow

  (v.) to act in an excessively subservient manner Syn: grovel

  He refused to kowtow to the demands of the board.

• lugubrious

  (adj.) looking or sounding sad and dismal Syn: mournful

  The lugubrious music suited the rainy funeral.

• mendacious

  (adj.) not telling the truth; lying Syn: dishonest

  The mendacious witness contradicted himself repeatedly.

• nadir

  (n.) the lowest point Syn: low point

  The defeat marked the nadir of the team's season.

• obdurate

  (adj.) stubbornly refusing to change one's opinion Syn: unyielding

  The obdurate landlord would not lower the rent.

• parsimonious

  (adj.) unwilling to spend money or resources; stingy Syn: miserly

  The parsimonious manager rejected every budget request.

• quagmire

  (n.) a difficult, complicated situation Syn: predicament

  The merger became a legal quagmire that lasted years.

• recondite

  (adj.) dealing with very obscure or specialized subjects Syn: esoteric

  The professor's recondite research interested few outsiders.

• sanguine

  (adj.) optimistic, especially in a difficult situation Syn: hopeful

  Despite the losses, she stayed sanguine about the future.

• tractable

  (adj.) easy to control or influence Syn: manageable

  The new puppy proved surprisingly tractable.

• untenable

  (adj.) not able to be defended or maintained Syn: indefensible

  The theory became untenable once the data appeared.

• vituperate

  (v.) to blame or insult in strong language Syn: berate

  The columnist vituperated the council for its inaction.

• winnow

  (v.) to remove unwanted parts; to narrow down Syn: sift

  The judges winnowed the entries to ten finalists.

• xenophobia

  (n.) fear or dislike of people from other countries Syn: prejudice

  The new law was condemned as a product of xenophobia.

• approbation

  (n.) approval or praise Syn: approval

  The design won the unanimous approbation of the panel.

• bellicose

  (adj.) eager to fight; warlike Syn: aggressive

  The bellicose speech alarmed neighboring nations.

• cupidity

  (n.) greed for money or possessions Syn: greed

  The scandal exposed the executive's cupidity.

• denouement

  (n.) the final resolution of a plot Syn: resolution

  The novel's denouement tied every thread together.

• esoteric

  (adj.) understood by only a small, specialized group Syn: obscure

  The journal published esoteric papers on ancient grammar.

• fecund

  (adj.) highly productive or fertile Syn: prolific

  The artist enjoyed a fecund period of new work.

• grandiloquent

  (adj.) pompous or extravagant in language Syn: bombastic

  His grandiloquent toast went on far too long.

• iconoclastic

  (adj.) attacking cherished beliefs or institutions Syn: rebellious

  Her iconoclastic theories upended the entire field.

• succinct

  (adj.) expressed clearly in few words; concise Syn: terse

  Her succinct reply settled the matter at once.

• maudlin

  (adj.) self-pityingly or tearfully sentimental Syn: mawkish

  After a few drinks he grew maudlin about the past.

• nascent

  (adj.) just coming into existence; beginning to develop Syn: emerging

  The nascent industry attracted bold investors.

• obsequious

  (adj.) obedient or attentive to an excessive degree Syn: fawning

  The obsequious waiter hovered over every table.

• pellucid

  (adj.) transparently clear in style or meaning Syn: lucid

  Her pellucid prose made complex ideas accessible.

• quotidian

  (adj.) ordinary or everyday; commonplace Syn: mundane

  The diary recorded the quotidian details of farm life.

• intransigent

  (adj.) unwilling to change one's views or agree Syn: uncompromising

  The intransigent delegate blocked every compromise.

• propitiate

  (v.) to win or regain the favor of by doing something pleasing Syn: appease

  He sent gifts to propitiate his offended partners.

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