The GRE Verbal Reasoning Test: Warm-up Words: Warm-up, List 2

This list of warm-up words features common words on the test that you're probably familiar with. Brush up on these words first to make sure that you start off strong while taking the GRE.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. analogy
    drawing a comparison in order to show a similarity
    Some grammarians use the analogy of stitching: punctuation as the basting that holds the fabric of language in shape.Eats, Shoots & Leaves
  2. canon
    a body of rules established as valid and fundamental
    The American Bar Association’s judicial canon holds that a judge should disqualify himself when “the judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned.”Washington Post (Dec 9, 2019)
  3. discretion
    power of making choices unconstrained by external agencies
    Even then, however, they assured Lawrence that the funds could be disbursed “subject to your discretion without the usual University restrictions.”Big Science
  4. fidelity
    the quality of being faithful
    “There is something about fidelity, and that kind of long service and relationship, that speaks to strength, and not frailty,” she said.New York Times (Sep 19, 2022)
  5. flora
    all the plant life in a particular region or period
    Those were some of the advantages that the Fertile Crescent’s flora afforded the first farmers: it included an unusually high percentage of wild plants suitable for domestication.Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
  6. flourish
    grow vigorously
    If a species boasts many DNA copies, it is a success, and the species flourishes.Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
  7. formidable
    extremely impressive in strength or excellence
    She stopped being a person and became something like weather, lifting her body to all its formidable height and, with one blow, knocking the man to the ground.Endangered
  8. founder
    break down, literally or metaphorically
    The Invisible Empire eventually foundered, however, after an outraged public demanded that Congress crush the group.The Best of Enemies
  9. negate
    make ineffective by counterbalancing the effect of
    It is as if vibrant prints in vivid colors negate sad spirits and a rocky economic climate.New York Times (Sep 12, 2011)
  10. partisan
    a fervent and even militant proponent of something
    A few of the Gaelic ones revolted, who were quelled later, but in the main the people of England and the partisans like Robin were glad to settle down.The Once and Future King
  11. precipitate
    bring about abruptly
    In Jane Austen novels, a death often precipitates the loss of a fortune, which propels the heroine to seek a husband.Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith
  12. propriety
    correct behavior
    “Even during time of war, we must follow the rules of propriety and civilization.”Chains
  13. qualified
    limited or restricted; not absolute
    By contrast, the public view of the progress of medicine during the same period is restrained, qualified, a mixture of hope and worry.The Lives of a Cell
  14. query
    an instance of questioning
    So my characteristic stance is one of rotating slowly on one foot, eyes wide, garment in hand, asking myself, “Where have I seen the $9.96 Athletic Works knit overalls?” or similar query.Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America
  15. rue
    feel sorry for; be contrite about
    "If the queen has any sense, she'll accept my terms. If not, I'll make her rue the day she refused me."A Clash of Kings
  16. sage
    a mentor in spiritual and philosophical topics
    There was wonderful wisdom in these verses; all the knowledge of the sages was told here in enchanting language, pure as honey collected by the bees.Siddhartha
  17. sanction
    official permission or approval
    The federal Bureau of Indian Affairs had given its sanction for Navajos to join up.Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two
  18. suffrage
    a legal right to vote
    Not a man in town thought it mattered a hoot about women voting, and only two ladies went to the first women’s suffrage meeting Miss Love set up.Cold Sassy Tree
  19. treatise
    a formal text that treats a particular topic systematically
    The result, a compact treatise titled Generation of Animals, would serve as a foundational text for human genetics just as Plato’s Republic was a founding text for political philosophy.The Gene
  20. venerate
    regard with feelings of respect and reverence
    The Romans venerated the life-giving properties of cabbage such that a whole branch of medicine grew up around it.The Guardian (Dec 1, 2010)
Created on November 30, 2022 (updated January 12, 2023)

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