The GRE Verbal Reasoning Test: Intermediate Words: Intermediate, List 5

This list of intermediate words features a mixture of easier and more difficult words that you may be less familiar with. Study these words and watch your GRE score grow.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. abjure
    formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief
    In the United States, the oath administered to naturalized citizens requires that they “entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty.” New York Times (Nov 28, 2017)
  2. adjunct
    something added to another thing but not essential to it
    His most famous work, the glass pyramid outside the Louvre, is still an adjunct—albeit an iconic one—to the world’s most famous museum of art. The New Yorker (May 27, 2019)
  3. conjugal
    relating to the relationship between a wife and husband
    Rather, its aim was to encourage conjugal felicity: the show's theme song went "Mr and Mrs, be nice to each other / Mr and Mrs, we've got to love one another". The Guardian (Feb 20, 2013)
  4. dearth
    an insufficient quantity or number
    If there was a dearth of tailored jackets, regular tailored trousers had also all but disappeared, shrunk into ultra-skinny pants. New York Times (Jan 19, 2014)
  5. diffidence
    lack of self-assurance
    At any rate I have lost my diffidence, my timidity, my shyness with strangers. Rebecca
  6. fallow
    undeveloped but potentially useful
    When he saw machinery lying fallow, he cited it as proof that Haiti has equipment but needs more skills, and he made a mental note to work on vocational schools. New York Times (Jul 17, 2011)
  7. frieze
    an ornament consisting of a horizontal sculptured band
    On one wall, long bands of black-and-white stylized friezes of battles, with lines of refugees and marching troops, recall Assyrian and Greek art but also depict the present. New York Times (Dec 8, 2016)
  8. machination
    a crafty and involved plot to achieve your ends
    It’s the stuff of tragedy, yet it would be a mistake to take any of the plot machinations—who is backstabbing whom, which corporate power play will win out—too seriously. The New Yorker (Aug 6, 2018)
  9. menagerie
    a collection of live animals for study or display
    For her part, Rosie is carted out through each town in the hippopotamus wagon and then displayed in the menagerie. Water for Elephants
  10. mendicant
    a pauper who lives by begging
    Friday is a special day of charity for Muslims, and crippled mendicants are much in evidence. New York Times (Jul 18, 2014)
  11. officious
    intrusive in a meddling or offensive manner
    The help tended to be officious, the rules, if heeded, restrictive, and the management meddlesome. Catch-22
  12. oligarchy
    a political system governed by a few people
    According to Fifi, the alta sociedad, the high-class ladies of the oligarchy who form a kind of club, not unlike a country club, are delighted by this juicy bit of gossip. How the García Girls Lost Their Accents
  13. perfunctory
    hasty and without attention to detail; not thorough
    In their autobiographies, they recounted great races in intimate detail, but falls and injuries were glossed over with the most perfunctory language. Seabiscuit: An American Legend
  14. plummet
    drop sharply
    Charlotte's body plummets toward the ground like a star falling from the heavens. The Belles
  15. prate
    speak about unimportant matters rapidly and incessantly
    But while they prate of economic laws, men and women are starving. Salon (Apr 10, 2011)
  16. preamble
    a preliminary introduction, as to a statute or constitution
    I referred them to the preamble of the Freedom Charter: “South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white.” Long Walk to Freedom
  17. qualm
    uneasiness about the fitness of an action
    In addition to a fear of getting caught, Roy had serious qualms about trying anything illegal—and there was no dodging the fact that vandalism was a crime, however noble the cause. Hoot
  18. sodden
    wet through and through; thoroughly wet
    Everything was wet and half-frozen, and while she could bear sodden hair, she couldn’t withstand the agony of wet shoes. Throne of Glass
  19. usury
    the act of lending money at an exorbitant rate of interest
    The 12% annual interest rate may sound excessive, but it is actually allowed as an exception to the normal maximum rate of interest permitted in most transactions in California under the state’s usury laws. Los Angeles Times (Sep 9, 2017)
  20. viable
    capable of being done with means at hand
    While most scientists at the conference agree that the global cooldown is being caused by the dimming of the sun, none can offer a viable solution to halt or reverse it. We Are the Ants
Created on Wed Nov 30 16:49:48 EST 2022 (updated Thu Jan 12 15:04:33 EST 2023)

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