GRE Word List: 344 Essential Words
Memorizing a 3,000-word dump rarely moves a GRE Verbal score. The test leans on a recognizable band of high-frequency, mid-to-high difficulty words, and the points come from knowing what each word means in context, not from a one-line definition. This is a curated list of the highest-value GRE words. Each entry links to its full page with synonyms, antonyms, a sound-alike mnemonic, and example sentences, so you learn the word the way the GRE actually tests it.
Want to learn these in context instead of by rote? Grezi teaches GRE words through short stories and mnemonics, then drills the ones you keep missing. You can also test your current vocabulary level or read the guide to memorizing GRE words.
| Word | Definition |
|---|---|
| aberrant | Deviating from what is normal or expected |
| aberration | A departure from what is normal, usual, or expected |
| abeyance | a state of temporary suspension or inactivity |
| abscond | To leave secretly and hide, especially to avoid arrest or prosecution |
| abstemious | Moderate in eating and drinking; self-restrained |
| abstruse | Difficult to understand; obscure |
| acrimonious | Bitter and sharp in language or tone; caustic |
| adulation | Excessive admiration or praise |
| adulatory | Excessively praising or admiring; fawning |
| aggrandize | To increase the power, status, or wealth of; to make appear greater |
| alacrity | Brisk and cheerful readiness |
| ameliorate | To make something bad or unsatisfactory better |
| anachronism | Something that is out of place in terms of historical or chronological context |
| anachronistic | Belonging to a period other than that being portrayed; out of place in time |
| antediluvian | Of or belonging to the time before the biblical Flood; ridiculously old-fashioned |
| aphorism | A pithy observation that contains a general truth |
| aphoristic | Containing or characterized by aphorisms; concise and memorable |
| apocryphal | Of doubtful authenticity; widely circulated but probably untrue |
| approbation | official or warm approval and praise |
| arcane | Understood by few; mysterious or secret |
| archetypal | Very typical of a certain kind of person or thing |
| artifice | Clever or cunning devices or expedients, especially to deceive; trickery |
| artless | free of guile or pretense; naturally simple and sincere |
| ascetic | Characterized by severe self-discipline and abstention from indulgence |
| assiduous | Showing great care and perseverance |
| assuage | To make an unpleasant feeling less intense; to satisfy an appetite or desire |
| astute | Having or showing an ability to accurately assess situations or people and turn this to one's advantage |
| atrophy | To waste away or deteriorate, especially from lack of use |
| attenuate | To reduce the force, effect, or value of; to weaken |
| augur | To foretell or predict, especially from signs or omens; a prophet or soothsayer |
| auspicious | Conducive to success; favorable |
| aver | to state or assert to be true confidently |
| baleful | Threatening harm; menacing; having a harmful or destructive effect |
| banal | So lacking in originality as to be obvious and boring |
| baneful | Causing harm or ruin; pernicious; destructive |
| bellicose | Demonstrating aggression and willingness to fight |
| bombastic | High-sounding but with little meaning; inflated or pretentious language |
| brook | (verb) To tolerate or allow; (noun) a small stream |
| burgeon | To begin to grow or increase rapidly; flourish |
| burnish | to polish; to enhance or make more impressive |
| buttress | To provide support or reinforcement for something |
| calamitous | Involving or causing a calamity; disastrous |
| capitulate | To surrender or give in, often after resisting |
| capricious | Given to sudden and unaccountable changes of mood or behavior |
| castigate | To criticize or reprimand severely |
| catholic | Including a wide variety of things; all-embracing; universal in extent |
| chicanery | The use of trickery to achieve a political, financial, or legal purpose |
| circumlocutory | Using many words where fewer would do; roundabout in expression |
| circumscribe | to restrict or limit the bounds of |
| circumspect | Wary and unwilling to take risks; cautious |
| clandestine | Kept secret or done secretively, especially because illicit |
| cleave | To split or sever; OR to cling firmly to (has opposite meanings) |
| coalesce | to come together to form one unified whole |
| coda | a concluding section that rounds off a work or event |
| cogent | Clear, logical, and convincing |
| cognizant | Having knowledge or being aware of |
| commensurate | corresponding in size, degree, or extent; proportionate |
| compendious | Containing a lot of information in a concise form; comprehensive yet brief |
| complaisant | Willing to please others; obliging; agreeable |
| conciliatory | intended to placate or win goodwill; appeasing |
| consternation | A feeling of anxiety or dismay, typically at something unexpected |
| contentious | Causing or likely to cause an argument; controversial |
| craven | contemptibly cowardly; lacking courage |
| credulous | Having or showing too great a readiness to believe things |
| cryptic | Having a meaning that is mysterious or obscure |
| dearth | A scarcity or lack of something |
| debilitate | To make weak or feeble; to impair the strength of |
| decorous | marked by propriety and good taste in behavior |
| decry | To publicly denounce or criticize |
| deleterious | Causing harm or damage; injurious |
| delineate | to describe or portray precisely; to outline in detail |
| denigrate | To criticize unfairly; to disparage or belittle |
| deprecate | to express strong disapproval of; to belittle |
| desiccate | to dry out completely; to drain of vitality |
| desultory | Lacking a plan, purpose, or enthusiasm |
| devitalize | To deprive of strength, vitality, or energy |
| diatribe | A forceful and bitter verbal attack against someone or something |
| dichotomy | A division or contrast between two things that are represented as being opposed or entirely different |
| diffident | Modest or shy because of a lack of self-confidence |
| digressive | Departing from the main subject; rambling |
| dilatory | Slow to act; intended to cause delay |
| disabuse | to free someone from a mistaken belief or illusion |
| discursive | Digressing from subject to subject; rambling |
| disingenuous | Not candid or sincere; pretending to know less than one does |
| disinterested | free from bias or self-interest; impartial |
| disparage | To regard or represent as being of little worth; to belittle |
| dissemble | To conceal one's true motives, feelings, or beliefs; to feign |
| dissolution | the breaking up or dissolving of an assembly, bond, or organization |
| distend | to swell or expand by internal pressure |
| divest | to strip or deprive of possessions, rights, or assets |
| dogmatic | Inclined to lay down principles as incontrovertibly true |
| doyen | The most respected or prominent person in a particular field |
| duplicity | Deceitfulness; double-dealing |
| ebullient | overflowing with enthusiasm and high spirits |
| effrontery | shameless or insolent boldness |
| effusive | Expressing feelings of gratitude or pleasure in an unrestrained way |
| egregious | conspicuously and outrageously bad |
| elucidate | To make something clear; explain |
| emaciate | To make abnormally thin or weak, especially through illness or starvation |
| encomium | A speech or piece of writing that praises someone or something highly |
| endemic | Regularly found among particular people or in a certain area |
| enervate | To cause someone to feel drained of energy; to weaken |
| enigmatic | Difficult to interpret or understand; mysterious |
| ennui | A feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement |
| enormity | The great or extreme scale of something bad; a grave crime or sin |
| epigrammatic | Concise, clever, and memorable in expression |
| epitome | A person or thing that is a perfect example of a particular quality or type |
| equanimity | mental calmness and composure, especially under stress |
| equivocal | Open to more than one interpretation; ambiguous |
| equivocate | To use ambiguous language to avoid committing to a position; to be deliberately vague |
| ersatz | Made or used as an inferior substitute for something genuine |
| erudite | Having or showing great knowledge; scholarly and intellectual |
| esoteric | Intended for or likely to be understood by only a small number of people with specialized knowledge |
| evanescent | Soon passing out of sight, memory, or existence; quickly fading or disappearing |
| excoriate | To criticize severely; to strip off the skin |
| exculpate | to clear from blame or guilt |
| exhort | to strongly urge or encourage someone to act |
| exigent | requiring immediate action; pressing or demanding |
| exonerate | to free from blame or an obligation |
| expedient | advantageous or convenient, though sometimes improper |
| explicate | To explain or analyze something in detail |
| extol | To praise enthusiastically |
| extrinsic | Not part of the essential nature of someone or something; coming from outside |
| facetious | treating serious matters with inappropriate or flippant humor |
| fallacious | Based on a mistaken belief or unsound argument |
| fastidious | Very attentive to and concerned about accuracy and detail |
| fatuous | smugly foolish; silly and complacent |
| felicitous | well-chosen and apt; pleasingly suitable |
| florid | excessively ornate or elaborate in style |
| foment | to stir up or instigate (trouble, unrest) |
| forestall | to prevent or hinder by acting in advance |
| foretoken | A sign of something to come; an omen |
| furtive | Attempting to avoid notice or attention, typically because of guilt or a belief that discovery would lead to trouble |
| garrulous | Excessively talkative, especially on trivial matters |
| germane | relevant and appropriate to the topic |
| grandiloquent | pompous or inflated in language; using lofty, bombastic speech |
| gratuitous | uncalled-for; given or done without good reason |
| hackneyed | Lacking significance through having been overused; unoriginal and trite |
| harangue | A lengthy, aggressive speech; to lecture aggressively |
| harbinger | A person or thing that announces or signals the approach of another |
| hegemony | dominance of one group or state over others |
| heretic | A person holding an opinion at odds with what is generally accepted |
| heterodox | Not conforming with accepted or orthodox standards or beliefs |
| hoary | Gray or white with age; old and trite |
| iconoclast | A person who attacks or criticizes cherished beliefs or institutions |
| idolatry | excessive or blind devotion to someone or something |
| immutable | Unchanging over time or unable to be changed |
| impassive | showing no emotion or expression |
| impecunious | having little or no money; penniless |
| imperious | Assuming power or authority without justification; domineering |
| imperturbable | unable to be upset or agitated; calm |
| impervious | incapable of being affected or penetrated |
| impetus | The force or energy with which a body moves; a driving force |
| implacable | unable to be appeased or pacified; relentless |
| incipient | In an initial stage; beginning to happen or develop |
| incorrigible | incapable of being corrected or reformed |
| indefatigable | Persisting tirelessly; unable to be fatigued |
| indigence | extreme poverty |
| indolent | Wanting to avoid activity or exertion; lazy |
| ineffable | too great or extreme to be expressed in words |
| ingenuous | Innocent and unsuspecting; candid and sincere |
| inimical | Tending to obstruct or harm; unfriendly; hostile |
| injudicious | Showing very poor judgment; unwise |
| insensible | unaware, unconscious, or incapable of feeling |
| insidious | Proceeding in a gradual, subtle way with harmful effects |
| insinuate | to hint or suggest indirectly, usually something unpleasant |
| insularity | narrow-mindedness resulting from isolation |
| intractable | difficult to manage, control, or solve |
| intransigent | Unwilling or refusing to change one's views or agree; uncompromising |
| intrinsic | Belonging naturally; essential; inherent |
| inundate | To overwhelm with things or people to be dealt with |
| invective | Insulting, abusive, or highly critical language |
| inveterate | firmly established by long habit and unlikely to change |
| irascible | easily angered; quick-tempered |
| irrefutable | Impossible to deny or disprove |
| judicious | Having, showing, or done with good judgment or sense |
| lackadaisical | Lacking enthusiasm and determination; carelessly lazy |
| laconic | Using very few words; concise to the point of seeming rude or mysterious |
| languish | To lose or lack vitality; to suffer from being forced to remain in an unpleasant place or situation |
| languorous | Characterized by tiredness or inactivity; pleasantly lazy |
| lassitude | weariness or lack of energy |
| limpid | Clear and transparent; easily understood |
| loquacious | Tending to talk a great deal; talkative |
| magnanimity | generosity, especially toward a rival or inferior |
| magnanimous | Very generous or forgiving; noble in spirit |
| malaise | A general feeling of discomfort, illness, or unease |
| malingerer | one who feigns illness to avoid work or duty |
| mendacious | given to lying; dishonest |
| mendacity | Untruthfulness; the tendency to lie |
| metamorphose | To change or cause to change completely in form or nature |
| misanthrope | A person who dislikes humankind and avoids human society |
| mollify | To appease the anger or anxiety of someone |
| munificent | Very generous; lavish in giving |
| mutable | Liable or subject to change or alteration |
| nadir | the lowest or most unsuccessful point |
| nascent | Just beginning to develop; emerging |
| nebulous | In the form of a cloud; vague or ill-defined |
| nefarious | extremely wicked or villainous |
| neophyte | A person who is new to a subject or activity; a beginner |
| niggardly | Not generous; stingy (note: no racial connection despite sound) |
| obdurate | Stubbornly refusing to change one's opinion or course of action |
| obfuscate | To render obscure, unclear, or unintelligible |
| objurgate | To rebuke severely; to scold harshly |
| obloquy | Strong public criticism or verbal abuse; disgrace |
| obsequious | Obedient or attentive to an excessive or servile degree |
| obtuse | Annoyingly insensitive or slow to understand |
| obviate | to prevent or make unnecessary |
| occlude | to block, obstruct, or close off |
| officious | intrusively eager to offer unwanted help or advice; meddlesome |
| onerous | burdensome; involving a great deal of effort or difficulty |
| opprobrium | Harsh criticism or censure; public disgrace |
| ossify | To become rigid or fixed in attitude, opinion, or habit |
| ostensible | stated or appearing to be true, but not necessarily so |
| palliate | to make less severe without removing the cause; to ease or mitigate |
| palpable | so intense as to seem almost touchable; readily perceived |
| panegyric | A public speech or writing in praise of someone or something |
| paradigm | A typical example or pattern of something; a model |
| paragon | a model of excellence or perfection |
| paramount | More important than anything else; supreme |
| parity | The state or condition of being equal, especially in status or pay |
| parsimonious | Unwilling to spend money or use resources; stingy |
| parsimony | extreme unwillingness to spend money or use resources; stinginess |
| paucity | The presence of something in only small or insufficient quantities |
| pellucid | Translucently clear; easily understood |
| penurious | Extremely poor; poverty-stricken; also stingy |
| penury | extreme poverty; destitution |
| perfidious | deceitful and treacherous; disloyal |
| perfidy | Deliberate breach of faith or trust; treachery |
| perfunctory | Carried out with a minimum of effort or reflection |
| peripatetic | Traveling from place to place; itinerant |
| periphrastic | Using many words where fewer would suffice; roundabout |
| pernicious | Having a harmful effect, especially in a gradual or subtle way |
| perspicuous | Clearly expressed and easily understood; lucid |
| pertinacious | Holding firmly to an opinion or course of action; persistent |
| petulant | childishly sulky or bad-tempered; peevish |
| phlegmatic | having an unemotional, stolidly calm disposition |
| plaintive | expressing sorrow or melancholy; mournful |
| platitude | A remark or statement that has been used too often and is therefore uninteresting |
| plaudits | Praise; enthusiastic approval |
| pleonastic | Using more words than necessary; redundant |
| pliant | Easily bent; flexible; or easily influenced |
| polemic | a strong verbal or written attack on a belief or opinion |
| ponderous | slow and labored due to great weight or dullness; clumsy and heavy |
| portend | To be a sign or warning that something is likely to happen |
| portent | A sign or warning that something, especially something momentous or calamitous, is likely to happen |
| precept | A general rule intended to regulate behavior or thought |
| precipitate | (verb/adjective) To cause to happen suddenly; done hastily without thought |
| precipitous | Dangerously high or steep; done suddenly without careful consideration |
| predilection | a strong preference or liking for something |
| preeminent | Surpassing all others; very distinguished in some way |
| presage | To be a sign or warning of; an omen or portent |
| prescient | Having knowledge of events before they take place; prophetic |
| prevaricate | To speak or act evasively; to avoid telling the truth |
| primordial | Existing at or from the beginning of time; primeval |
| probity | complete honesty and integrity; uprightness |
| proclivity | a natural tendency or inclination, often toward something undesirable |
| prodigal | Spending money or resources freely and recklessly; wastefully extravagant |
| prodigious | remarkably or impressively great in extent, size, or degree |
| profligate | Recklessly extravagant or wasteful in the use of resources |
| prognosticate | To foretell or prophesy future events |
| prolix | Using or containing too many words; tediously lengthy |
| propitiate | to appease or win the goodwill of |
| propitious | Giving or indicating a good chance of success; favorable |
| propriety | conformity to accepted standards of conduct |
| prosaic | Lacking poetic beauty; commonplace or dull |
| proscribe | To forbid or prohibit; to condemn or denounce |
| protean | readily able to change form or character; versatile |
| pugnacious | Eager or quick to argue, quarrel, or fight |
| pusillanimous | Lacking courage or resolution; cowardly |
| querulous | habitually complaining in a peevish, whining manner |
| quiescent | In a state of inactivity or dormancy |
| quintessential | Representing the most perfect or typical example of a quality or class |
| quixotic | extremely idealistic and impractical; chasing unreachable ideals |
| quotidian | Of or occurring every day; ordinary or everyday |
| rancor | bitter, long-lasting resentment or ill will |
| rancorous | Characterized by bitterness or resentment |
| rarefy | to make less dense or thinner; to refine or make more esoteric |
| recalcitrant | Having an obstinately uncooperative attitude |
| recant | to formally retract or disavow a previously held belief or statement |
| recondite | Little known; abstruse; dealing with very profound, difficult, or specialized subject matter |
| redoubtable | formidable, especially as an opponent; commanding respect or fear |
| refractory | Stubborn or unmanageable; resistant to treatment |
| remiss | Lacking care or attention to duty; negligent |
| reprobate | an unprincipled, morally depraved person |
| reticent | Not revealing one's thoughts or feelings readily; reserved |
| revile | To criticize in an abusive or angrily insulting manner |
| sagacious | Having or showing keen mental discernment and good judgment; wise |
| salubrious | Health-giving; healthy; conducive to well-being |
| salutary | Producing good effects; beneficial; promoting health |
| sanguine | Optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad or difficult situation |
| saturnine | gloomy, sullen, or grimly serious in temperament |
| scrupulous | Diligent, thorough, and extremely attentive to details |
| sedulous | Showing dedication and diligence |
| solicitous | showing attentive care or concern for someone |
| specious | Superficially plausible but actually wrong; misleading |
| spurious | Not genuine; false or fake |
| stilted | Stiff and self-conscious or unnatural in manner |
| stolid | showing little or no emotion; impassive |
| striated | marked with parallel grooves, ridges, or stripes |
| subterfuge | Deceit used to achieve one's goal; a trick |
| subvert | To undermine the power and authority of an established system or institution |
| supercilious | Behaving as though one is superior to others |
| supplant | to displace and take the place of, often by force or scheming |
| surfeit | An excessive amount of something; overindulgence |
| surreptitious | Kept secret, especially because it would not be approved of |
| sycophant | A person who acts obsequiously to gain advantage; a flatterer |
| tacit | Understood or implied without being stated |
| taciturn | Reserved or uncommunicative in speech; saying little |
| tangential | only slightly relevant; diverging from the main point |
| tantamount | equivalent in effect or value to something else |
| tenet | A principle or belief, especially one of the main principles of a religion or philosophy |
| tenuous | Very weak or slight; insubstantial |
| timorous | fearful, timid, or lacking in confidence |
| torpid | Mentally or physically inactive; lethargic |
| torpor | A state of physical or mental inactivity; lethargy |
| tortuous | Full of twists and turns; excessively complex |
| tractable | easily managed, controlled, or shaped |
| transmute | To change in form, nature, or substance |
| trenchant | incisive, sharply perceptive, and forceful in expression |
| trepidation | A feeling of fear or agitation about something that may happen |
| truculent | Eager to argue or fight; aggressively defiant |
| turpitude | depravity or baseness of moral character |
| tyro | A beginner or novice |
| ubiquitous | Present, appearing, or found everywhere |
| unconscionable | Not right or reasonable; excessive; unscrupulous |
| unctuous | Excessively flattering or ingratiating; oily |
| undergird | To support or strengthen from below |
| untenable | impossible to defend or maintain against objection |
| upbraid | To scold or criticize severely |
| usurp | to seize power, position, or rights without legitimate authority |
| utopian | Modeled on or aiming for a state in which everything is perfect; idealistic |
| vacillate | To waver between different opinions or actions; be indecisive |
| vacuous | empty of meaning, intelligence, or substance |
| vainglorious | Excessively proud of oneself or one's achievements; boastful |
| vapid | dull, flat, and lacking liveliness or interest |
| veneration | Great respect or reverence |
| veracious | Speaking or representing the truth; truthful |
| veracity | conformity to truth; truthfulness or accuracy |
| virulent | extremely harmful, bitterly hostile, or severely infectious |
| vitiate | To spoil or impair the quality or efficiency of; to corrupt |
| vitriolic | Filled with bitter criticism or malice |
| vituperate | To blame or insult someone in strong or violent language |
| voluble | Speaking or spoken incessantly and fluently |
| welter | a confused, turbulent mass or jumble |
This is the high-difficulty core. Browse the full set of 1,000+ GRE words in the vocabulary explorer, or follow a structured GRE Verbal study plan.