The GRE Verbal Reasoning Test: Intermediate Words: Intermediate, List 12

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. abeyance
    temporary cessation or suspension
    Unfortunately, he died suddenly in 1916, at least partly exhausted by his quest and the search fell into abeyance while Lowell’s heirs squabbled over his estate. A Short History of Nearly Everything
  2. burgeon
    grow and flourish
    Or here was the law: as his life diminished, theirs burgeoned, requiring attention. Typical American
  3. categorical
    not modified or restricted by reservations
    The categorical imperative also suggests that one can never lie to another person, for any reason, even if the asker is a murderer seeking information to help carry out a killing. Time (Jul 17, 2015)
  4. concomitant
    following or accompanying as a consequence
    Dementia is a neurocognitive disorder that results in a decline in brain function and concomitant impairments in thinking, remembering and reasoning. The Guardian (Jun 3, 2019)
  5. cozen
    cheat or trick
    French is exactly the language of the world,—worthy to become the universal language, that all may have it in their power to cheat and cozen and betray each other! Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von
  6. daunting
    discouraging through fear
    The inward person doth shrink and hesitate before the daunting inception of active deeds, wishing that some discouraging voice should intervene and forbid, so that no hazard might be made. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves
  7. dross
    worthless or dangerous material that should be removed
    I fancied that a malevolent Rumpelstiltskin crept into my room at night and undid my best work, turning the gold of my efforts into pathetic dross on a wheel perversely spinning backward. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
  8. encomium
    a formal expression of praise
    Usually when someone dies, there are encomiums about how kind, generous and loving the person was. New York Times (Jul 18, 2014)
  9. exacerbate
    make worse
    Greg thinks he helps on busy nights, but really, he only exacerbates the problem. Please Ignore Vera Dietz
  10. felicitous
    exhibiting an agreeably appropriate manner or style
    These scholars examined every word to determine the most felicitous turns of phrase before sending their work to colleagues for confirmation. Time (Jun 19, 2017)
  11. gossamer
    characterized by unusual lightness and delicacy
    Rue, who is dressed in a gossamer gown complete with wings, flutters her way to Caesar. The Hunger Games
  12. intractable
    difficult to manage or mold
    Many mathematical problems are so intractable, and experiments involving them so expensive, that this kind of probabilistic simulation is the only alternative to giving up on them. Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences
  13. inundated
    covered with water
    At the river’s edge during flood season are small trees inundated to the tips of their branches. 1491
  14. jocose
    characterized by jokes and good humor
    Her father was not, she insisted, “a joyous, jocose gentleman walking about the world with a plum pudding and bowl of punch.” Time (Oct 19, 2011)
  15. lassitude
    a feeling of lack of interest or energy
    A cold lassitude came over him and he passed into a dreaming, inert stupor, full of cramp and pain. Watership Down: A Novel
  16. onerous
    burdensome or difficult to endure
    Meanwhile, backbreaking toil both in the workplace and in the home was for the most part replaced by far less onerous employment. New York Times (Jan 25, 2016)
  17. phlegmatic
    showing little emotion
    Quincey Morris was phlegmatic in the way of a man who accepts all things, and accepts them in the spirit of cool bravery, with hazard of all he has to stake. Dracula
  18. primordial
    having existed from the beginning
    So if we could determine how many primordial black holes there are now, we would learn a lot about the very early stages of the universe. A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays
  19. travesty
    a distorted, debased, or absurd imitation of something
    The snake, on the other hand, was curled up on the rotting hearth rug, like some horrible travesty of a pet dog. Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire
  20. tryst
    a secret rendezvous, especially a romantic one
    The palace of the King of Elfhame has many secret alcoves and hidden corridors, perfect for trysts or assassins or staying out of the way and being really dull at parties. The Cruel Prince
Created on Wed Nov 30 17:15:34 EST 2022 (updated Thu Jan 12 15:05:23 EST 2023)

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