List of High Frequency GRE Words for Test Takers of 2013. These are the real GRE words that you see most frequently in the General GRE Realtime Test. Learn these Important GRE words thoroughly before attending GRE General test.

GRE High Frequency Words

Abate – v – subside or moderate. Aberrant – adj – abnormal or deviant Abeyance – n – suspended action Abscond – v – depart secretly and hide Abstemious – adj – sparing in eating and drinking temperate Admonish – v – warn; reprove. Adulterate – v – make impure by adding inferior or tainted substances Aesthetic – artistic dealing with or capable of appreciating the beautiful Aggregate – v – gather; accumulate Alacrity – n – cheerful promptness; eagerness Alleviate – v – relieve Amalgamate – v – combine; unite in one body Ambiguous – adj – unclear or doubtful in meaning Ambivalence – n – the state of having contradictory or conflicting emotional attitudes Ameliorate – v – improve Anachronism – n – something or someone misplaced in time Analogous – adj – comparable Anarchy – n – absence of governing body; state of disorder Anomalous – adj – abnormal; irregular Antipathy – n – aversion; dislike Apathy – n - lack of caring; indifference Appease – v – pacify or soothe; relieve Apprise – v - inform Approbation – n – approval Appropriate – acquire; take possession of for one’s own use Arduous – adj – hard; strenuous Artless – adj – without guile; open and honest Ascetic – adj – practicing self-denial; austere Assiduous – adj- diligent Assuage – v – ease or lessen (pain); satisfy (hunger); soothe (anger) Attenuate – v – make thinner; weaken or lessen (in density, force, degree) Audacious – adj – daring bold Austere – forbiddingly stern; severely simple and unornamented Autonomous – self-governing Aver – assert confidently or declare; as used in law, state, formally as a fact Banal – hackneyed; commonplace; trite; lacking originality Belie – contradict; give a false impression Beneficent – kindly; doing good Bolster – support; reinforce Bombastic – pompous; using inflated language Boorish – rude; insensitive Burgeon – grow forth Burnish – make shiny by rubbing; polish Buttress – support; prop up Cacophonous – discordant; inharmonious Capricious – unpredictable; fickle Castigation-punishment; severe criticism Catalyst – agent that influences the pace of a chemical reaction while it remains unaffected and unchanged; person or thing that causes action Caustic – burning; sarcastically biting Chicanery – trickery; deception Coagulate – thicken; congeal; clot Coda – concluding section of a musical or literary composition; something that rounds out, summarizes, or concludes Cogent – convincing Commensurate – corresponding in extent, degree, amount; proportionate Compendium – brief; comprehensive summary Complaisant – trying to please; overly polite; obliging Compliant – yielding; conforming to requirements Conciliatory – reconciling; soothing Condone – overlook; forgive; give tacit approval; excuse Confound – confuse; puzzled Connoisseur – person competent to act as a judge of art Contention – claim; thesis Contentious – quarrelsome Contrite – penitent; repentant Conundrum – riddle; difficult problem Converge – approach; tend to meet; come together Convoluted – coiled around; involved; intricate Craven – cowardly Daunt – intimidate; frighten Decorum – propriety; orderliness and good taste in manners Default – failure to act Deference – courteous regard for another’s wish Delineate – portray; depict; sketch Denigrate – blacken Deride – ridicule; make fun of Derivative; unoriginal; obtained from another source Desiccate – dry up Desultory – aimless; haphazard; digressing at random Deterrent – something that discourage; hindrance Diatribe – bitter scolding; invective Dichotomy – split; branching into two parts (usually contradictory) Diffidence – shyness Diffuse – wordy; rambling; spread out Digression – wandering away from the subject Dirge – lament with music Disabuse – correct a false impression; undeceive Discerning – mentally quick and observant; having insight Discordant – not harmonious; conflicting Discredit – defame; destroy confidence in; disbelieve Discrepancy – lack of consistency; difference Discrete – separate; unconnected; consisting of distinct parts Disingenuous – lacking genuine candor; insincere Disinterested; unprejudiced Disjointed – lacking coherence; separated at the joints Dismiss – eliminate from consideration; reject Disparage – belittle Disparate – basically different; unrelated Dissemble – disguise; pretend Disseminate – distribute; spread; scatter Dissolution – disintegration; looseness in morals Dissonance – discord; opposite of harmony Distend – expend; swell out Distill – purify; refine; concentrate Diverge – vary; go in different directions from the same point Divest – strip; deprive Document – provide written evidence Dogmatic – opinionated; arbitrary; doctrinal Dormant – sleeping; lethargic; latent Dupe – someone easily fooled Ebullient – showing excitement; overflowing with enthusiasm Eclectic – selective; composed of elements drawn from disparate sources Efficacy – power to produce desired effect Effrontery – impudence; shameless boldness; sheer nerve; presumptuousness Elegy – poem or song expressing lamentation Elicit – draw out by discussion Embellish – adorn; ornament; enhance, as a story Empirical – based on experience Emulate – imitate; rival Endemic – prevailing among a specific group of people or in a specific area or country Enervate – weaken Engender – cause; produce Enhance – increase; improve Ephemeral – short-lived; fleeting Equanimity – calmness of temperament; composure Equivocate – lie; mislead; attempt to conceal the truth Erudite – learned; scholarly Esoteric – hard to understand; known only to the chosen few Eulogy – expression of praise, often on the occasion of someone’s death Euphemism – mild expression in place of an unpleasant one Exacerbate – worsen; embitter Exculpate – clear from blame Exigency – urgent situation; pressing needs or demands; state of requiring immediate attention Extrapolation – projection; conjecture Facetious – joking (often inappropriately) Facilitate – help bring about; make less difficult Fallacious – false; misleading Fatuous – brainless; inane; foolish, yet smug Fawning – trying to please by behaving obsequiously, flattering, or cringing Felicitous – apt; suitably expressed; well chosen Fervor – glowing ardor; intensity of feeling Flag – droop; grow feeble Fledgling – inexperienced Flout – reject; mock; show contempt for Foment – stir up; instigate Forestall – prevent by taking action in advance Frugality – thrift, economy Futile – useless; hopeless; ineffectual Gainsay – deny Garrulous – loquacious; wordy; talkative Goad – urge on Gouge – overcharge Grandiloquent – pompous; bombastic; using high-sounding language Gregarious – sociable Guileless – without deceit Gullible – easily deceived Harangue – long, passionate, and vehement speech Homogeneous – off the same kind Hyperbole – exaggeration; overstatement Iconoclastic – attacking cherished traditions Idolatry – worship of idols Immutable – unchangeable Impair – injure; hurt Impassive – without feeling; imperturbable; stoical Impede – hinder; block Impermeable – impervious; not permitting passage through its substance Imperturbable – calm placid Impervious – impenetrable; incapable of being damaged or distressed Implacable – incapable of being pacified Implicit – understood but not stated Implode – burst inward Inadvertently – unintentionally; by oversight; carelessly Inchoate – recently begun; rudimentary; elementary Incongruity – lack of harmony; absurdity Inconsequential – insignificant; unimportant Incorporate – introduce something into a larger whole; combine; unite Indeterminate – uncertain; not clearly fixed; indefinite Indigence – poverty Indolent – lazy Inert – inactive; lacking power to move Ingenuous – naïve and trusting; young; unsophisticated Inherent – firmly established by nature or habit Innocuous – harmless Insensible – unconscious; unresponsive Insinuate – hint; imply; creep in Insipid – lacking in flavor; dull Insularity – narrow-mindedness; isolation Intractable – unruly; stubborn; unyielding Intransigence – refusal of any compromise; stubbornness Inundate – overwhelm; flood; submerge Inured – accustomed; hardened Invective – abuse Irascible – irritable; easily angered Irresolute – uncertain how to act; weak Itinerary – plan of a trip Laconic – brief and to the point Lassitude – languor; weariness Latent – potential but undeveloped; dormant; hidden Laud – praise Lethargic – drowsy; dull Levee – earthen or stone embankment to prevent flooding Levity – lack of seriousness or steadiness; frivolity Log – record of a voyage or flight; record of day-to-day activities Loquacious – talkative Lucid – easily understood Luminous – shining; issuing light Magnanimity – generosity Malingerer – one who feigns illness to escape duty Malleable – capable to being shaped by pounding; impressionable Maverick – rebel; nonconformist Mendacious – lying; habitually dishonest Metamorphosis – change of form Meticulous – excessively careful; painstaking; scrupulous Misanthrope – one who hates mankind Mitigate – appease; moderate Mollify – soothe Morose – ill-humored; sullen; melancholy Mundane – worldly as opposed to spiritual; everyday Negate – cancel out; nullify; deny Neophyte – recent convert; beginner Obdurate – stubborn Obsequious – slavishly attentive; servile; sycophantic Obviate – make unnecessary; get rid of Occlude – shut; close Officious – meddlesome; excessively pushy in offering one’s services Onerous – burdensome Opprobrium – infamy; vilification Oscillate – vibrate pendulumlike; waver Ostentatious – showy; pretentious; trying to attract attention Paragon – model of perfection Partisan – one-sided; prejudiced; committed to a party Pathological – pertaining to disease Paucity – scarcity Pedantic – showing off learning; bookish Penchant – strong inclination; liking Penury – severe poverty; stinginess Perennial – something long-lasting Perfidious – treacherous; disloyal Perfunctory – superficial; not thorough; lacking interest, care, enthusiasm Permeable – penetrable; porous; allowing liquids or gas to pass through Pervasive – spread throughout Phlegmatic – clam; not easily disturbed Piety – devoutness; reverence for God Placate – pacify; conciliate Plasticity – ability to be molded Platitude – trite remark Plethora – excess; overabundance Plummet – fall sharply Porous – full of pores; like a sieve Pragmatic – practical (as opposed to idealistic); concerned with the practical worth or impact of something Preamble – introductory statement Precarious – uncertain; risky Precipitate – rash; premature; hasty; sudden Precursor – forerunner Presumptuous – arrogant; taking liberties Prevaricate – lie Probity – uprightness; incorruptibility Problematic – doubtful; unsettled; questionable Prodigal – wasteful; reckless with money Profound – deep; not superficial; complete Prohibitive – tending to prevent the purchase or use of something Proliferate – grow rapidly; spread; multiply Propensity – natural inclination Propitiate – appease Propriety 0 fitness; correct conduct Proscribe – ostracize; banish; outlaw Pungent – stinging; sharp in taste or smell; caustic Qualified – limited; restricted Quibble - minor objection or complaint Quiescent – at rest; dormant; temporarily inactive Rarefied – made less dense (of a gas) Recalcitrant – obstinately stubborn; determined to resist authority; unruly Recant – disclaim of disavow; retract a precious statement Recluse – hermit; loner Recondite – abstruse; profound; secret Refractory – stubborn, unmanageable Refute – disprove Relegate – banish to an inferior position; delegate; assign Reproach – express disapproval or disappointment Reprobate – person hardened in sin; devoid of a sense of decency Repudiate - disown; disavow Rescind – cancel Resolution – determination Resolve – determination; firmness of purpose Reticent – reserved; uncommunicative; inclined to silence Reverent – respectful; worshipful Sage – person celebrated for wisdom Salubrious – healthful Sanction – approve; ratify Satiate – satisfy fully Saturate – soak thoroughly Savor – enjoy; have a distinctive flavor, smell, or quality Secrete – hide away or cache; produce and release a substance into an organism Shard – fragment, generally of pottery Skeptic – doubter; person who suspends judgment until having examined the evidence supporting a point of view Solicitous – worried, concerned Soporific – sleep-causing; marked by sleepiness Specious – seemingly reasonable but incorrect; misleading (often intentionally) Spectrum – color band produced when a beam of light passes through a prism Sporadic – occurring irregularly Stigma – token of disgrace; brand Stint – be thrifty; set limits Stipulate – make express conditions, specify Stolid – dull; impassive Striated – marked with parallel bands; grooved Strut – pompous walk Strut – supporting bar Subpoena – writ summoning a witness to appear Subside – settle down; descend; grow quiet Substantiate – establish by evidence; verity; support Supersede – cause to be set aside; replace; make obsolete Supposition – hypothesis; surmise Tacit – understood; not put into words Tangential – peripheral; only slightly connected; digressing Tenuous – thin; rare; slim Tirade – extended scolding; denunciation; harangue Torpor – lethargy; sluggishness; dormancy Tortuous – winding; full of curves Tractable – docile; easily managed Transgression – violation of a law; sin Truculence – aggressiveness; ferocity Vacillate – waver; fluctuate Venerate – revere Veracious – truthful Verbose – wordy Viable – practical or workable; capable of maintaining life Viscous – sticky, gluey Vituperative – abusive; scolding Volatile – changeable; explosive; evaporating rapidly Warranted – justified; authorized Wary – very cautious Welter – turmoil; bewildering jumble Whimsical – capricious; fanciful Zealot – fanatic; perso who shows excessive zeal (enthusiasm)