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PrepScholar GRE Vocabulary | Best Vocab List

William Cohen
Published by William Cohen
Last Updated On: December 8, 2021

Before you start thinking about what is important about taking an online course, you have to get into that graduate school. And in order to do that, you need to do well on your GRE.

The GRE is a standardized test that's used to measure verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and analytical writing skills. Graduate schools use the GRE to evaluate applicants because it's a quick way to determine if applicants have the aptitude for admission to their program.

Summary of the Key Findings

  • GRE vocabulary has three subsections which you should be familiar with to do well on the test.
  • PrepSchoolar has one of the best GRE vocab lists out there.
  • The list comprises all of the main parts of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.
  • The list doesn’t have any definitions. You should look up the meaning of the word on your own.

The GRE and Vocabulary

Woman thinking about something

One of the three main sections of the GRE is the Verbal Reasoning measure. This part of the test has three subsections [1]:

  • Reading Comprehension
  • Text Completion
  • Sentence Equivalence

To perform successfully on each of these subsections, you need to have a solid vocabulary. And when you are preparing for the exam, there is no better way to get a great vocab than with a high-quality vocabulary list.

PrepScholar Vocabulary

A stack of paper works

Fortunately, PrepScholar has generated one of the highest-yield lists that you can study from.

In order to build their list, PrepScholar researched the official GRE practice material and material from the five biggest test prep sites and companies.

From all that data, they found more than 350 vocabulary words that were seen three or more times on the exam and compiled them into a single alphabetical list [2].

Now, we have taken this list and made it even better. Instead of listing the words alphabetically, we have grouped them into their respective parts of speech. This way, you are studying all the nouns together, the verbs, etc.

By studying in this manner, you are absorbing the words as related concepts instead of simply as a list.

With this method, you will be prepared to recognize when a word is used differently than it normally would be.

List of Nouns

A woman writing the list of nouns

As you no doubt remember, a noun is a word used to refer to a person, place, thing, or idea. When studying for the GRE, understanding the definitions of a wide variety of nouns is extremely important.

You will see that many of the nouns on this list tend to be more abstract than tangible, and more conceptual than literal.

Here is the entire list of nouns:

  • dissonance
  • partisan
  • sycophant
  • precursor
  • Intermediary
  • chauvinist
  • iconoclast
  • diatribe
  • prodigal
  • determinant
  • plethora
  • exposition
  • platitude
  • canon
  • tirade
  • anomaly
  • connoisseur
  • maverick
  • decorum
  • propriety
  • imprudence
  • impediment
  • credence
  • entitlement
  • monotony
  • analogous
  • guile
  • qualification
  • opprobrium
  • craft
  • harangue
  • efficacy
  • affectation
  • notoriety
  • dirge
  • magnanimity
  • avarice
  • discrepancy
  • probity
  • acumen
  • litigation
  • calumny
  • cacophony
  • sediment
  • eulogy
  • temperance
  • detachment
  • hyperbole
  • zeal
  • perseverance
  • misanthrope
  • alacrity
  • deference
  • elegy
  • paucity
  • dilettante
  • anachronism
  • catalyst
  • vexation
  • apathy
  • antipathy
  • nuance
  • rhetoric
  • capacity
  • pith
  • occult
  • dogma
  • opportunism
  • hedonism
  • omniscience
  • venality
  • phenomena
  • torpor
  • astonishment
  • perfidy
  • chicanery
  • veracity
  • mendacity
  • consumption

List of Verbs

A stack of documents and lists of verbs

Verbs are the action words of the language. They are the "doing" and "being" words of your vocabulary.

Since so many sentences on the GRE revolve around action, verbs are incredibly important to have in your mind when you take the test.

Without understanding the action occurring in a sentence, it can be very difficult to understand what the sentence is saying. Having a solid grasp of verbs will make it much easier for you to understand written passages correctly on the GRE.

Below is the verb list:

  • contend
  • eschew
  • gainsay
  • deflect
  • aggrandize
  • burgeon
  • belie
  • enhance
  • mollify
  • denigrate
  • admonish
  • neglect
  • condone
  • aver
  • rationalize
  • occlude
  • reconcile
  • placate
  • precipitate
  • polarize
  • engender
  • anoint
  • exonerate
  • synthesize
  • amalgamate
  • coalesce
  • satiate
  • infer
  • confound
  • adulterate
  • offset
  • dupe
  • delineate
  • covet
  • abate
  • disabuse
  • desiccate
  • expatiate
  • extrapolate
  • prevaricate
  • enervate
  • exculpate
  • explicate
  • Censure
  • substantiate

“A man with a scant vocabulary will almost certainly be a weak thinker.”― Henry Hazlitt, journalist

  • plummet
  • obviate
  • foment
  • venerate
  • sanction
  • impair
  • forestall
  • disregard
  • emulate
  • mitigate
  • ameliorate
  • construe
  • abscond
  • underscore
  • overshadow
  • facilitate
  • exacerbate
  • dissemble
  • deride
  • proliferate
  • demur
  • propitiate
  • outstrip
  • supplant
  • discern
  • permeate
  • appease
  • laud
  • galvanize
  • assuage
  • elicit
  • peruse
  • refute
  • advocate
  • abjure
  • alleviate
  • repudiate
  • castigate
  • reproach
  • vacillate
  • fluctuate
  • bolster
  • diverge
  • disseminate
  • prevail
  • oscillate
  • rescind
  • equivocate
  • abstain
  • Undermine
  • disparage

List of Adjectives

A woman writing a list of adjectives for her reviewer

Adjectives are words that come before nouns and modify nouns or describe them. They tell you how things are or what they are like.

When studying for the GRE, it's important to have a wide variety of adjectives in your mental library so that you can correctly understand what things are like.

In the practice material, you will see many of these words used as sentence completers.

You won't always be able to identify exactly which word is modifying another from just the context clues given, so it's helpful to have a large pool of examples stored away in your brain.

Here's the adjective list:

  • imminent
  • polemical
  • recondite
  • hierarchical
  • consequential
  • painstaking
  • ascetic
  • empirical
  • plausible
  • insipid
  • patent
  • intrepid
  • brazen
  • banal
  • pedestrian
  • inadvertent
  • stolid
  • tractable
  • indefatigable
  • compelling
  • exacting
  • ebullient
  • lucid
  • cogent
  • hackneyed
  • intimate
  • maladroit
  • comprehensive
  • eclectic
  • intensive
  • aesthetic
  • nonplussed
  • solicitous
  • antithetical
  • contentious
  • phlegmatic
  • caustic
  • craven
  • sedulous
  • estimable
  • onerous
  • arduous
  • impudent
  • disparate
  • aberrant
  • perfunctory
  • volatile
  • mercurial
  • amenable
  • plastic
  • frugal
  • didactic
  • inscrutable
  • prodigious
  • sufficient
  • equable
  • ubiquitous
  • mundane
  • malign
  • articulate
  • profligate
  • spurious
  • whimsical
  • fortuitous
  • pervasive
  • luminous
  • benign
  • facetious
  • credulous
  • desultory
  • inimical
  • Innocuous
  • ambivalent
  • salubrious
  • reticent
  • candid
  • derivative
  • dispassionate
  • implicit
  • commensurate
  • partial
  • erroneous
  • invulnerable
  • inconclusive
  • naïve
  • inveterate
  • extraneous
  • irascible
  • nascent
  • prescient
  • supine
  • indolent
  • erudite
  • verbose
  • soporific
  • subversive
  • timorous
  • fastidious
  • obscure
  • ingenuous
  • relentless
  • modest
  • opaque
  • disinterested
  • esoteric
  • sporadic
  • simultaneous
  • cosmopolitan

“Few activities are as delightful as learning new vocabulary.”― Tim Gunn, author and actor

  • secular
  • archaic
  • peripheral
  • subjective
  • chronological
  • bombastic
  • pedantic
  • presumptuous
  • obsequious
  • ostentatious
  • indebted
  • transient
  • bucolic
  • meticulous
  • eloquence
  • unadorned
  • copious
  • malleable
  • prospective
  • pragmatic
  • laudable
  • biased
  • eccentric
  • ideological
  • olfactory
  • quotidian
  • relevant
  • germane
  • fallacious
  • imperturbable
  • contrite
  • taciturn
  • convoluted
  • Inchoate
  • sparse
  • arcane
  • arbitrary
  • austere
  • ephemeral
  • diffident
  • deftness
  • gregarious
  • gauche
  • reverent
  • specious
  • obdurate
  • obstinate
  • laconic
  • garrulous
  • loquacious
  • glib
  • insular
  • precarious
  • immutable
  • ambiguous
  • intransigent
  • implacable
  • homogenous
  • intractable
  • tacit
  • pristine
  • exigent
  • audacious
  • munificent
  • untenable
  • tenuous
  • eminent
  • preceded
  • tortuous
  • irresolute
  • artless
  • capricious

List of Adverbs

Adverbs are words that modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. They tell you how something is done or what it is like.

For example, the word "fast" would be an adverb when modifying the verb to run. The description "extremely" would be an adverb modifying the adjective crazy.

Here are the two adverbs that made the list:

  • superbly
  • respectively

Recommended Articles:

How to Prepare for the Verbal Reasoning

You will see that these lists did not include definitions of the words, and that is done on purpose.

The best way to learn a new word is to look up the definition on your own so that you can fully understand the meaning.

Better yet, rephrase the definition in your own words and then use the word in a sentence. This will ensure you are actually learning the definition instead of just copying from the dictionary.

Why put a limit on an online course? Study this vocabulary list, maximize your chances of doing well on the GRE, and then you will be able to take any online course you want.


References:

  1. https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/about/structure/
  2. https://www.prepscholar.com/gre/blog/gre-vocabulary-list-words/

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