The GRE Verbal Reasoning Test: Warm-up Words: Warm-up, List 10

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. abdicate
    give up power, duties, or obligations
    “You should know that the king will soon abdicate his throne in favor of one of his children,” Madoc says, looking at all of us. The Cruel Prince
  2. antipathy
    a feeling of intense dislike
    The marriage lasted 22 years, declining into antipathy and finally ending in a bitter divorce, followed by Dickens’ rather spectacular late-life affair with a pretty actress 27 years his junior named Nelly Ternan. Time (Oct 19, 2011)
  3. apex
    the highest point of something
    Drogon hunted far afield, but when he was sated he liked to bask in the sun at the apex of the Great Pyramid, where once the harpy of Meereen had stood. A Dance with Dragons
  4. appellation
    identifying words by which someone or something is called
    All adults had to be addressed as Mister, Missus, Miss, Auntie, Cousin, Unk, Uncle, Buhbah, Sister, Brother and a thousand other appellations indicating familial relationship and the lowliness of the addressor. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
  5. banter
    light teasing repartee
    Mike tried to joke with him as he always had, but Billy Winchell didn’t have time for playful banter. Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream
  6. conscript
    enroll into service compulsorily
    “But the army is conscripting all our young men.” Finding Junie Kim
  7. disparage
    express a negative opinion of
    Other programs of self-promotion are negative: rather than saying nice things about ourselves, we disparage the people around us. Salon (Mar 10, 2013)
  8. engender
    call forth
    Voldemort’s expression remained impassive as he said, “Greatness inspires envy, envy engenders spite, spite spawns lies. You must know this, Dumbledore.” Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
  9. expiate
    make amends for
    Ridding oneself of guilt is often easier than overcoming shame, in part because our society offers many ways to expiate guilt-inducing offenses, including apologizing, paying fines, and serving jail time. Scientific American (Aug 9, 2019)
  10. fissure
    a long narrow depression in a surface
    The asphalt on one court was old and deteriorating, with multiple potholes and fissures. The Parker Inheritance
  11. forbearance
    good-natured tolerance of delay or incompetence
    The families were told to exercise forbearance with inexperienced help. The Underground Railroad: A Novel
  12. goad
    provoke as by constant criticism
    Louisa laughed and teased and goaded like a goblin; and what was worse, she told the other children, and incited them to "baa" quietly whenever Tristran walked past. Stardust
  13. implacable
    incapable of being appeased or pacified
    They pursued their new prey the way they had once hunted seals and bears in the frozen north, and they hunted with an implacable appetite. Ship Breaker
  14. occult
    hidden and difficult to see
    It either went underground, becoming esoteric or occult, or it was mislaid and would eventually turn up after centuries of lying neglected in some monastery library. The Invention of Science
  15. petulant
    easily irritated or annoyed
    Lola was immediately petulant, and Briony assumed that these rapid changes of mood were part of her recent upset. Atonement
  16. pique
    call forth, as an emotion, feeling, or response
    Perhaps, he added, she could fashion some of his schoolwork as a sort of game, which might pique his interest. Endgame
  17. salutary
    tending to promote physical well-being; beneficial to health
    Psychologists, too, long championed the importance of cultivating positive emotions as one path towards optimizing well being, resilience to stressors, and salutary physical health outcomes. Scientific American (Dec 12, 2017)
  18. sardonic
    disdainfully or ironically humorous
    Richard watched the smile that pulled her mouth up at one end, a sardonic smile that he imagined hid something else, perhaps dissatisfaction. Half of a Yellow Sun
  19. saturated
    unable to dissolve still more of a substance
    Drip, drip, drip, into the white gravel until, saturated, it could no longer receive and a second tiny pool appeared. Go Set a Watchman: A Novel
  20. supplant
    take the place or move into the position of
    Finally, he must have thought, after all these decades, his mother tongue, Afrikaans, was on its way to supplanting English as the language of the land. Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography
Created on Wed Nov 30 14:29:59 EST 2022 (updated Thu Jan 12 15:00:07 EST 2023)

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