GRE Vocabulary

A new word [almost] each day. | Disclaimer: Vocab words taken from non-ETS sources such as Magoosh flashcards and vocabulary.com, NOT from an official ETS vocabulary list. I am not a teacher, tutor, or anyone else with any authority re: the GRE. See About for more...

[imstudyingvocab]

Pertinacious

vocabulary.com definition: stubbornly unyielding. persistent.

Much like the inexorable Peggy Carter, the pertinacious Steve Rogers never backed down from a challenge. Whether he was falsifying documents to join the army (again), defying the UN Accords to stick to what he thought was right, or trying to keep Bucky from escaping again, he was extremely persistent.

[imstudyingvocab]

Torpor

vocabulary.com definition: a state of mental and physical inactivity.

I always try to finish my homework on Saturday so that I can spend all of Sunday lazily lying by the pool or watching TV in my room; however, it’s always difficult to shake off that day-long torpor and get back to work on Monday morning.

The biggest struggle of my office job is the post-lunch torpor. Whenever I return to my desk after lunch break, my eyes won’t stay open, my head droops, and data that made sense a few hours ago is suddenly too recondite for my sleepy brain. By 1:30 pm I am the less-cute version of that popular gif of a bunny falling asleep at his or her desk.

[imstudyingvocab]

Caterwaul

magoosh definition: shrill howling, such as that which a cat makes.

Will you go and bring the cat in from the rain? I think all that caterwauling outside means she’s not happy.

In The Music Man, when the charlatan bandleader Harold Hill is forced to present his band of untrained musicians to the townspeople, the resulting noise sounds like a caterwaul.

Jake Peralta thought he’d finally get the suspect to talk by performing some caterwauling and thus irritating him so much that he’d want to leave.

[imstudyingvocab]

Evanescent

vocabulary.com definition: fleeting, temporary, impermanent. tending to vanish.

Known amongst her friends as a serial dater, Harriet found that with every new fling, her initial feelings of affection and attraction would within a few weeks vanish. No matter who she dated, her initial attraction would without fail prove to be evanescent.

Once I opened the bathroom window, the fog on the glass proved evanescent and faded away.

During these scorching summer weeks, I would wake early to enjoy a brief period of coolness and admire the evanescent morning dew before both left for the day.

[imstudyingvocab]

Attenuate

vocabulary.com definition: become weaker, in strength, value, or magnitude.

Dr. McCoy used a tranqulizer to attenuate the restive crewman’s panic after meeting a scary alien on the surface of the planet.

An onslaught of force lightning attenuated Luke Skywalker’s strength.

[imstudyingvocab]

Avarice

vocabulary.com definition: a despicable and evil extreme greed

While she may have become slightly more sympathetic in other movies, High School Musical 2′s Sharpay Evans is a clear villain, driven by avarice and covetousness. Dissatisfied by a wealthy lifestyle, pandering friends, and many talent show trophies, she embarks on a quest to come into possession of a classmate’s boyfriend and yet more talent show trophies. Her acquisitiveness leads her to exploit her classmates’ summer employment arrangements in order to get what she wants. Way uncool, Sharpay.

[imstudyingvocab]

Culpability

vocabulary.com definition: a state of guilt or responsibility.

I grew upset with my brother when he kept denying culpability for eating the last slice of pie.

Yes, the dog ate the cat’s dinner, but the cat was the one who spilled it all over the floor in the first place, so I’d say she has some culpability.

Han Solo, whose catchphrase was “It’s not my fault!,” couldn’t bear to accept culpability for the Millennium Falcon’s mishaps.

[imstudyingvocab]

Mendacity

vocabulary.com definition: the tendency to be untruthful.

Unlike his artful friends, the child possessed no mendacious instincts and thus often got in trouble for things that his equally mischievous peers could talk their way out of.

In Confessions of a Shopaholic, Rebecca’s mendacity gets her into many a bind – while she relies on it to get out of things like debt collection phone calls, it eventually causes problems in her relationship with Luke, who highly values honesty.

[imstudyingvocab]

Abnegate

vocabulary.com definition: to deny or renounce something

Another meaning: to surrender a position of power

After fifteen years of being Master Dessert Chef at our annual extended family reunion, I have decided to abnegate my sugary duties and pass it on to a younger cousin.

I wish to abnegate the responsibilities of the throne; thus, I am abadicating.

In a moving song near the finale of the musical Catch Me If You Can, lead character Frank Abagnale Jr. gives in to the FBI agent who has been chasing him. He sings “Goodbye” and abnegates his life as a con man.

[imstudyingvocab]

Vituperate

vocabulary.com definition: speak or write in an extremely negative way about someone.

Presidential debates often show candidates vituperating each other in attempts to turn voters away from each other.

[imstudyingvocab]

Sinecure

vocabulary.com definition: a job that pays but requires minimal effort.

“I know the Hutts technically oversee quite a few business transactions, but I’m not convinced that Jabba’s job isn’t just a sinecure -- he has a luxurious income, yet most days he’s just sitting around socializing.”

[imstudyingvocab]

Putrefaction

vocabulary.com definition: the process of decay. a state of decay. decomposition, rotting.

additional meaning: moral perversion (the decay of morals).

The putrefaction of the pizza that had been lying in the backyard for a few weeks had started to infuse the yard with an insufferable odor.

I was appalled to see the mendacious and profligate lifestyle that arose from the putrefaction of my sister’s formerly pure-hearted nature.

Although Darth Vader is made up of much less organic matter now, there no doubt is some putrefaction going on in his soul.

The transformation of Smeagol to Gollum seems to have involved putrefaction both of a moral and a physical kind.

[imstudyingvocab]

Concomitant

vocabulary.com definition: 

adjective: following or accompanying as a consequence.

noun: an event or situation that happens at the same time as or in connection with another

During his big wedding date with Rebecca, Greg used unhealthy coping mechanisms to deal with his concomitant stress.

[imstudyingvocab]

Recondite

vocabulary.com definition: really hard for the average mind to understand. incomprehensible, difficult to penetrate.

Wow, these GRE vocabulary words are so recondite; it takes so much effort to understand them.

Yeah, academics are cool but they sure write recondite stuff – I wish they would aspire to be more like Sparknotes, not Aristotle.

Spock’s thought process could at times be too recondite for his less cerebral crewmates.

The agents of SHIELD loved their feisty scientists Fitz and Simmons, even if the double-PhD twenty-somethings tended to give rapid and highly intellectual explanations that were too recondite to be convenient on the field.

[imstudyingvocab]

Inexorable

oxford dictionaries definition: impossible to stop or prevent

additional definition: when this word is applied to a person: impossible to persuade. unrelenting.

tl;dr

inexorable thing: you can’t stop it

inexorable person: you can’t change their mind.

Indiana Jones couldn’t charm his way out of being crushed by the inexorable boulder rolling towards him; this time he would just have to run.

Although historical systems of institutional and cultural sexism fought against her rise to the top, the inexorable Peggy Carter’s will never wavered.

[imstudyingvocab]

Obsequious

vocabulary.com definition: attentive in an ingratiating or servile manner. attemping to win favor from influential people via flattery. overly submissive.

We all have that one obsequious person in our aquaintance – you know, the one whose “Mr. Collins having dinner at Lady Catherine de Bourgh’s” impression never turns off.

[imstudyingvocab]

Preclude

vocabulary.com definition: to prevent something from happening

This is a preventative PSA. It is recommended not to wear a cloak into action, as profuse fabric can get caught on something. A smart cloak-wearer will choose to preclude unnecessary accident by removing the cloak beforehand.

You want to preclude this kind of embarassment:

by removing the cloak first.