The GRE Verbal Reasoning Test: Intermediate Words: Intermediate, List 11

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. banal
    repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse
    Though a bit uninspired, one of the book’s primary messages is that magic can be found in the everyday, the seemingly banal or benign, the here and now. New York Times (Sep 9, 2022)
  2. cataclysm
    an event resulting in great loss and misfortune
    That cataclysm might kill millions of people, but it would not be large enough to cause widespread mass extinctions. New York Times (May 10, 2021)
  3. compendium
    a publication containing a variety of works
    A full compendium of those laws would run more than three thousand pages and weigh approximately ten pounds, but the general thrust of it should be easy enough for any American to understand. Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood
  4. equable
    not varying
    "What happens is, I'm pretty equable and pretty much the same most of the time," he says with a shrug. The Guardian (May 30, 2014)
  5. esoteric
    understandable only by an enlightened inner circle
    One argument mathematicians cite for not writing for a larger audience is the esoteric nature of their work. Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences
  6. extraneous
    not pertinent to the matter under consideration
    He knew he couldn't tell stories, that he always included extraneous details and tangents that interested only him. An Abundance of Katherines
  7. fallacious
    containing or based on incorrect reasoning
    Not only is this data point inaccurate, but it also reflects a deeply disturbing, racist worldview that harms minority men and is based on fallacious logic and inaccurate data. The Guardian (Feb 12, 2020)
  8. finesse
    plan, manage, or direct with subtle and skillful maneuvering
    Kaz had done his best to teach her, but she didn’t quite have his way with breaking and entering, and it took her a few tries to finesse the lock. Six of Crows
  9. fledgling
    a participant with no experience with an activity
    He could tell that one was larger than the other; a mother, probably, teaching her fledgling how to hunt. Hoot
  10. frugality
    prudence in avoiding waste
    Consider “children of the Depression,” who learned frugality or who scrap to keep every possession — even after it loses its value — because they “grew up with nothing.” Seattle Times (Apr 2, 2022)
  11. gregarious
    temperamentally seeking and enjoying the company of others
    He who was too gregarious, who spoke too much and too ardently desired the company of others, their conversation and their laughter, did not have what life required. Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel
  12. inured
    made tough by habitual exposure
    You've probably experienced this too as a journalist, but in some weird way, the deeper you immerse yourself in something, you become inured; after you've looked at 20 grisly pictures, the 21st isn't as bad. Salon (Feb 8, 2022)
  13. invidious
    containing or implying a slight or showing prejudice
    Race is a social construct, mainly used to establish invidious hierarchies and scapegoats. Salon (Apr 22, 2013)
  14. itinerary
    an established line of travel or access
    Beginning in Spain and ending in Romania, the itinerary uses four ships to visit 12 countries including Portugal, France, Germany and Hungary, stringing together its most popular routes. New York Times (Oct 14, 2015)
  15. pervasive
    spreading or spread throughout
    Futility, doom, became a smell in the air, pervasive and acrid as the dead smell after a forest fire—my scent and the world’s, the scent of trees, rocks, waterways wherever I went. Grendel
  16. probity
    complete and confirmed integrity
    However, he rebels against their venality, immorality and general corruption and pays a terrible price for his decency and probity. The Guardian (Jul 30, 2011)
  17. quiescent
    marked by a state of tranquil repose
    If mental effort and ability were a simple matter of available glucose, then the children who exercised—and burnt up more energy—should have performed worse than their quiescent peers. Scientific American (Jul 18, 2012)
  18. rescind
    cancel officially
    Tillie confided to her lawyer that she wanted to prevent Morrison from inheriting her estate and to rescind his guardianship of her children. Killers of the Flower Moon
  19. squalor
    sordid dirtiness
    First, Tenebrion’s a nasty place, of course, and the goblins live in utter squalor, filth, and poverty. The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge
  20. stricture
    severe criticism
    His strictures against the other great European tyrant of the period, Josef Stalin, are softer than those against Hitler. Economist (Nov 12, 2015)
Created on Wed Nov 30 17:12:06 EST 2022 (updated Thu Jan 12 15:05:14 EST 2023)

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