GRE Vocab (G-K)

to dance or skip around playfully

From her office, Amy enviously watched the playful puppies gambol around Central Park.

Synonyms: caper; frisk; frolic; rollick; romp

to gather and store

The director managed to garner financial backing from several different sources for his next project.

Synonyms: amass; acquire; glean; harvest; reap

tending to talk a lot

The garrulous parakeet distracted its owner with it's continuous talking.

Synonyms: effusive; loquacious

growth process from conception to birth

The longer the gestation period of an organism, the more developed the baby is at birth.

Synonyms: development; gravidity; pregnancy

fluent in an insincere manner; offhand; casual

The slimy politician continued gaining supporters because he was a glib speaker.

Synonyms: easy; superficial

to glare or stare angrily and intensely

The cranky waiter glowered at the indecisive customer.

Synonyms: frown; lower; scowl

process occurring by regular degrees or stages; variation in color

The paint store offers so many different gradations of red that it's impossible the choose among them.

Synonyms: nuance; shade; step; subtlety

outgoing; sociable

She was so gregarious when she found herself alone she felt quite sad.

Synonyms: affable; communicative; congenial; sociable

causing grief or sorrow; serious and distressing

Maude and Bertha sobbed loudly throughout the grievous event.

Synonyms: dire; dolorous; grave; mournful

to humble oneself in a demeaning way

Thor groveled to his ex-girlfriend, hoping she would take him back.

Synonyms: bootlick; cringe; fawn; kowtow; toady

deceit; trickery

Since he was not fast enough to catch the roadrunner on foot, the coyote resorted to guile in an effort to trap his enemy.

Synonyms: artifice; chicanery; connivery: duplicity

easily deceived

The con man pretended to be a bank officer so as to fool the gullible bank customers into giving him their account information.

Synonyms: credulous; exploitable; naive

unfortunate; having bad luck

I wish someone would give that poor, hapless soul some food and shelter.

Synonyms: ill-fated; ill-starred; jinxed; luckless; unlucky

the domination of one state or group over its allies

When Germany claimed hegemony over Russia, Stalin was outraged.

Synonyms: authority; power

tightly sealed

The hermetic seal of the jar proved impossible to break.

Synonyms: airtight; impervious; watertight

composed of unlike parts; different; diverse

The United Nations is by nature a heterogeneous body.

Synonyms: assorted; miscellaneous;mixed; motley; varied

very old; whitish or gray from age

The old man's hoary beard contrasted starkly to the new stubble of his teenage grandson.

Synonyms: ancient; antediluvian; antique; venerable; vintage

of a similar kind

The class was fairly homogeneous since most of the students were journalism majors.

Synonyms: consistent; standardized; uniform; unvarying

to manage economically; to use sparingly

The cyclist paced herself at the start of the race, knowing that if she husbanded her resources she'd have the strength to break out of the pack later on.

Synonyms: conserve

purposeful exaggeration for effect

When the mayor claimed his town was one of the seven wonders of the world, outsiders classified his statement as a hyperbole.

Synonyms: embellishment; inflation; magnification

one who opposes established beliefs, customs, and institutions

His lack of regard for traditional beliefs soon established him as an iconoclast.

Synonyms: maverick; nonconformist; rebel; revolutionary

peculiarity of temperament; eccentricity

His numerous idiosyncrasies included a fondness for wearing bright green shoes with mauve socks.

Synonyms: humor; oddity; quirk

having low moral standards; not noble in character; mean

The photographer was paid a princely sum for the picture of the self-proclaimed ethicist in the ignoble act of pick-pocketing.

Synonyms: lowly; vulgar

to infuse, dye, wet, or moisten

Marcia struggled to imbue her children with decent values, a difficult task this day and age.

Synonyms: charge; freight; impregnate; permeate; pervade

blocked path; dilemma with no solution

The rock slide produced an impasse, so no one could proceed further on the road.

Synonyms: cul-de-sac; deadlock; stalemate

poor; having no money

After the stock market crashed, many former millionaires found themselves impecunious.

Synonyms: destitute; impoverished; indigent; needy; penniless

not capable of being disturbed

The counselor had so much experience dealing with distraught children that she was imperturbable, even when faced with the wildest tantrums.

Synonyms: composed; dispassionate; impassive; serene; stoical

impossible to penetrate; incapable of being affected

A good raincoat will be impervious to moisture.

Synonyms: impregnable; resistant

quick to act without thinking

It is not good for an investment banker to be impetuous since much thought should be given to all possible options.

Synonyms: impulsive; precipitate; rash; reckless; spontaneous

not devout in religion

The nun cut herself off from her impious family after she entered the convent.

Synonyms: immoral; irreverent; profane

unable to be calmed down or made peaceful

His rage at the betrayal was so great that he remained implacable for weeks.

Synonyms: inexorable; intransigent; irreconcilable; relentless; remorseless; unforgiving; unrelenting

a curse

Spouting violent imprecations, Hank searched for the person who had vandalized his truck.

Synonyms: damnation

to call into question; to attack verbally

"How dare you impugn my motives?" protested the lawyer, on being accused of ambulance chasing.

Synonyms: challenge; dispute

blood-red in color

At his mother's mention of his baby pictures, the shy boy's cheeks turned incarnadine with embarrassment.

Synonyms: reddened; ruby; ruddy

not fully formed; disorganized

The ideas expressed in Nietzsche's mature work also appear in an inchoate form in his earliest writing.

Synonyms: amorphous; incoherent; incomplete; unorganized

to teach; impress in the mind

Most parents inculcate their children with their beliefs and ideas instead of allowing their children to decelop their own values.

Synonyms: implant; indoctrinate; instill; preach

habitually lazy or idle

Her indolent ways got her fired from many jobs.

Synonyms: faineant; languid; lethargic; slothful; sluggish

inflexible; unyielding

The inexorable force of the twister swept away their house.

Synonyms: adamant; relentless; obdurate

showing innocence or childlike simplicity

She was so ingenuous that her friends feared that her innocence and trustfulness would be exploited when she visited the big city.

Synonyms: artless; guileless; innocent; naive; simple; unaffected

ungrateful person

When none of her relatives thanked her for the fruitcakes she had sent them, Audrey condemned them all as ingrates.

Synonyms: cad; churl

to gain favor with another by deliberate effort; to seek to please somebody so as to gain an advantage

The new intern tried to ingratiate herself with the managers so that they might consider her for a future job.

Synonyms: curry; favor; flatter

hostile: unfriendly

Even though a cease-fire had been in place for months, the two sides were still inimical to each other.

Synonyms: adverse; antagonistic; dissident; recalcitrant

sin; evil act

"I promise to close every den of iniquity in this town!" thundered the conservative new mayor.

Synonyms: enormity; immorality; injustice; vice; wickedness

harmless

• Some snakes are poisonous, but most species are innocuous and pose no danger to humans.
• Synonyms: benign; harmless; inoffensive; insipid

an investigation; an inquiry

The police chief ordered an inquest to determine what went wrong.

Synonyms: probe; quest; research

lacking interest or flavor

The critic claimed that the painting was insipid, containing no interest qualities at all.

Synonyms: banal; bland; dull; stale; vapid

rebellion

After the emperor's troops crushed the insurrection, its leaders fled the country.

Synonyms: mutiny; revolt; revolution; uprising

to bury

After giving the masses one last chance to pay their respects, the leader's body was interred.

Synonyms: entomb; inhume; sepulcher; sepulture; tomb

period between reigns

When JFK was shot, there was a brief interregnum before LBJ became president.

Synonyms: interval

not easily managed or manipulated

Intractable for hours, the wild horse eventually allowed the rider to mount.

Synonyms: stubborn; unruly

uncompromising; refusing to be reconciled

The professor was intransigent on the deadline, insisting that everyone turn the assignment in at the same time.

Synonyms: implacable; inexorable; irreconcilable; obdurate; obstinate; remorseless; rigid; unbending; unrelenting; unyielding

fearless; resolutely courageous

Despite freezing winds, the intrepid hiker completed his ascent.

Synonym: brave

to overwhelm; to cover with water

The tidal wave inundated Atlantis, which was lost beneath the water.

Synonyms: deluge; drown; engulf; flood; submerge

to harden; accustom; become used to

Eventually, Hassad became inured to the sirens that went off every night and could sleep through them.

Synonyms: condition; familiarize; habituate

abusive language

A stream of invectives poured from Mrs. Pratt's mouth as she watched the vandals smash her ceramic frog.

Synonyms: denunciation; revilement; vituperation

ceremony conferring authority

At Napoleon's investiture, he grabbed the crown from the Pope's hands and placed it on his head himself.

Synonyms: inaugural; inauguration; induction; initiation; installation

envious, obnoxious, or offensive; likely to promote ill-will

It is cruel and invidious for parents to play favorites with their children.

Synonyms: discriminatory; insulting; jaundiced; resentful

easily made angry

Attila the Hun's irascible and violent nature made all who dealt with him fear for their lives.

Synonyms: cantankerous; irritable; ornery; testy

wandering from place to place; unsettled

The itinerant tomcat came back to the Johansson homestead every two months.

Synonyms: nomadic; vagrant

nonsensical talk; specialized language

You need to master technical jargon in order to communicate successfully with engineers.

Synonyms: argot; cant; dialect; idiom; slang

to discard; to get rid of as unnecessary or encumbering

The sinking ship jettisoned its cargo in a desperate attempt to reduce its weight.

Synonyms: dump; eject

belligerent support of one's country

The professor's jingoism made it difficult for the students to participate in an open political discussion.

Synonyms: chauvinism; nationalism

playful; humorous

The jocular old man entertained his grandchildren for hours.

Synonyms: amusing; comical

sensible; showing good judgment

The wise and distinguished judge was well known for having a judicious temperament.

Synonyms: circumspect; prudent; sagacious; sapient

point of time, especially where two things are joined

At this juncture, I think it would be a good idea for us to take a coffee break.

Synonyms: confluence; convergence; crisis; crossroads; moment

having a sharp edge; intellectually sharp; perceptive

With her keen intelligence, she figured out the puzzle in seconds flat.

Synonyms: acute; canny; quick

to set fire or to ignite; excite or inspire

With only damp wood to work with, Tilda had great difficulty trying to kindle the camp fire.

Synonyms: arouse;awaken; light; spark

relating to motion; characterized by movement

The kinetic sculpture moved back and forth, startling the museum visitors.

Synonyms: active; dynamic; mobile

sound of a funeral bell; omen of death or failure

When the townspeople heard the knell from the church belfry, they knew that their mayor had died.

Synonyms: chime; peal; toll

fame, glory, or honor

The actress happily accepted kudos from the press for her stunning performance in the film.

Synonyms: acclaim; accolade; encomium; homage; praise