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Learn GRE Words with Mnemonics!
Below, you'll find examples of previous GRE words of the day, along with simple definitions, clever mnemonics, and example sentences.
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GRE Word Of The Day: Scrupulous
scrupulous (adjective): having integrity; being exact.
Think: scrape the poop
If you were scrupulous , you would have scraped the poop from your dog off my lawn without my asking.
Synonyms: principled, conscientious, conscionable
GRE Word Of The Day: Recapitulate
recapitulate (verb): to summarize. Think: recap The recap on the nightly news recapitulated the major events of the day. Synonyms: encapsulate, epitomize, synopsize
GRE Word of the Day: Querulous
querulous (queer-yuh-lus) (adjective): whiny. Think: quarrel with us. We’d hang out with you more, but you’re so querulous that you always want to quarrel with us !
GRE Word of the Day: Partisan
partisan (adjective): having allegiance to a particular side or cause, usually without question. Think: party’s son. The chairman of the Democratic party’s son was unsurprisingly partisan in his political views.
GRE Word of the Day: Nascent
nascent (adjective): recently formed or developed. Think: new car scent. I jumped into the nascent BMW that had just come off the assembly line and smelled the bestnew car scent I’d ever smelled. Synonyms: incipient, budding
GRE Word of the Day: Minatory
minatory (adjective): threatening. Think: Minotaur. In Greek mythology, the Minotaur – a creature with the head of a bull and the body of a man – was minatory because it ate people. synonyms: baleful, foreboding, portentous, dire
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GRE Word of the Day: Lachrymose
lachrymose (lack-kruh-mos) (adjective): tearful; mournful. Think: lack Christmas. If you lack Christmas presents, I don’t blame you for being lachrymose . Fun fact: your tear ducts are your lacrimal glands.
GRE Word of the Day: Inculcate
inculcate (in-cull-kate) (verb): to teach by constant repetition and warning. Think: in cult.In the cult of Scientology, they inculcated Tom Cruise until he was brainwashed. Synonyms: imbue, ingrain, inoculate
GRE Word of the Day: Hidebound
hidebound (adjective): ultra-conservative; inflexible. Think: hide-bound. The Republican candidate’s views were so hidebound that a hide-bound caveman dressed in animal skins would probably vote for him.
GRE Word of the Day: Grandstand
grandstand (verb): to show off. Think: handstand. Be honest: if you’re doing a handstand , you’re doing it to grandstand .
GRE Word of the Day: Fecund
fecund (fee-cund) (adjective): fruitful; inventive. Think: feces under. Spreading manure, or feces, under your crops as fertilizer will lead to a more fecund harvest.
GRE Word of the Day: Ebullient
ebullient (e-bully-ent) (adjective): lively and cheerful. Think: Red Bull After I chugged a giant Red Bull , my fatigue lifted and I became ebullient . Etymology: from the Latin ebullire – to bubble out.
GRE Word of the Day: Dilatory
dilatory (dill-a-tory) (adjective): slow to act. Think: delay. If I have to write a paper, I’m dilatory and will delay starting it until the night before it’s due.
GRE Word of the Day: Celerity
celerity (sa-lear-ity) (noun): quickness Think: accelerate After Cee Lo switched to an all-celery diet, he lost 30 lbs. His celerity increased as did his ability to accelerate .
GRE Word of the Day: Baleful
baleful (bale-full) (adjective): threatening harm. Think: Christian Bale. I’m not a big Christian Bale fan – he always has a baleful look on his face – like he wants to fight you. synonyms: pernicious, foreboding, minatory, portentous, dire
GRE Word of the Day: Acquisitive
acquisitive (ac-quis-i-tive) (adjective): eager to acquire and possess; greedy Think: acquire The acquisitive billionaire wanted to acquire every company he saw. Synonyms: mercenary; rapacious; avaricious
GRE Vocabulary Mnemonic of the Day: Behemoth
behemoth (bee-HEE-muth) (noun): something huge Think: beast mammoth One really large beast was the woolly mammoth , a behemoth that lived during the ice age. Synonyms: mastodon; dreadnought
GRE Vocabulary Mnemonic of the Day: Wizened
wizened (wise-end) (adjective): shrunken and wrinkled, usually due to age Think: wizardWizards like Gandalf and Dumbledore are usually wizened since they’re really old. Synonyms: withered; gnarled
GRE Vocabulary Mnemonic of the Day: Vociferous
vociferous (vo-ci-fur-us)(adjective): loud Think: voice for us The announcer’s loud voice , for us , was too vociferous. Synonyms: caterwauling; obstreperous; yawping
GRE Vocabulary Mnemonic of the Day: Ubiquitous
ubiquitous (you-bick-quit-us) (adjective): existing everywhere Think: you big quidditchYou big quidditch fans have made the Harry Potter sport ubiquitous on college campuses. Synonyms: quotidian; universal
GRE Vocabulary Mnemonic of the Day: Variegated
variegated (vary-ig-ated) (adjective): varied Think: varied The autumn leaves in Vermont are known for their variegated colors; last year, they varied from red to yellow to orange. Synonyms: prismatic; multihued; polychromatic
GRE Vocabulary Mnemonic of the Day: Trepidation
trepidation (treh-pid-a-shun) (noun): fear Think: trap The haunted house filled me with trepidation ; I feared a trap would be sprung on me at any moment. Synonyms: consternation; foreboding
GRE Vocabulary Mnemonic of the Day: Solipsistic
solipsistic (soul-lip-sis-stick) (adjective): being extremely self centered Think: sold lipstick The model whose image sold lipstick became solipsistic due to all the compliments she received. Synonyms: egocentric
GRE Vocabulary Mnemonic of the Day: Repugnant
repugnant (re-pug-nant) (adjective): gross Think: ugly pug Although some people think pugs’ upturned faces and wheezing are cute, many find the breed to be repugnant . Synonyms: abhorrent; odius; noisome
GRE Vocabulary Mnemonic of the Day: Quiescent
quiescent (qui-es-sent) (adjective): at rest Think: quiet The hibernating bear was both quiet and quiescent. Synonyms: torpid; inert
GRE Vocabulary Mnemonic of the Day: Peripatetic
peripatetic (perry-pat-tet-ick) (adjective): wandering; traveling; constantly moving from place to place Think: pitter-patter The mouse in my house is peripatetic since I’m constantly hearing the pitter-patter of his little feet in the walls. Synonyms: vagrant; ambulatory; gallivanting
GRE Vocabulary Mnemonic of the Day: Obstreperous
obstreperous (ob-strep-er-is) (adjective): stubbornly resistant to control; noisy Think: strep The bacteria that cause strep throat are so obstreperous that many people take antibiotics for the condition. Synonyms: caterwauling; vociferous; blatant
GRE Vocabulary Mnemonic of the Day: Nugatory
nugatory (nugget-tori) (adjective): unimportant Think: McNuggets Eating chicken M cNuggets is nugatory for good health; their health benefits could be said to be negative. Synonym: piddling; futile
GRE Vocabulary Mnemonic of the Day: Maelstrom
maelstrom (mail-strom) (noun): something violently powerful; a whirlpool Think: mail-storm. Spam emails flock to my inbox like a maelstrom ; reading the mail storm would suck up all of my time.
GRE Vocabulary Mnemonic of the Day: Lurid
lurid (lure-id) (adjective): melodramatic; sensational; shocking. Think: lure in. The lurid neon silhouette of a naked woman was designed to lure in lonely gentlemen.
GRE Vocabulary Mnemonic of the Day: Jocose
jocose (joe-coase) (adjective): given to joking. Think: joke coach. The first thing I look for when I’m hiring a joke coach is a jocose personality. Synonyms: jocund
GRE Vocabulary Mnemonic of the Day: Importune
importune (im-poor-tune) (verb): to nag; to persistently insist. Think: I’m poor tune. The homeless man singing on the subway importuned us for money with his “I’m poor tune” . synonyms: beseech, entreat, implore
GRE Vocabulary Mnemonic of the Day: Hubris
hubris (hew-briss) (noun): excessive pride or self-confidence. Think: huge breasts. After getting implants, the girl developed hubris because her huge breasts attracted all kinds of attention.
GRE Vocabulary Mnemonic of the Day: Gumption
gumption (GUMP-shin) (noun): drive; initiative; courage Think: Forrest Gump. Forrest Gump showed gumption by playing football, starting a shrimp business, and running across the country.
GRE Vocabulary Mnemonic of the Day: Fastidious
fastidious (fass-TID-e-us) (adjective): difficult to please; having a meticulous attitude Think: fast to tidy. My fastidious roommate gets mad if I am not fast to tidy up after myself.
GRE Vocabulary Mnemonic of the Day: Eschew
eschew (ess-SHOE) (verb): to avoid. Think: Ah-choo!Eschew people who say “Ah –choo !” unless you want to catch a cold.
GRE Vocabulary Mnemonic of the Day: Diffident
diffident (DIFF-i-dent) (adjective): hesitant to speak due to lack of confidence Think: difficult dentures I’m only diffident because my difficult dentures make it hard to speak clearly. synonyms: demure, retiring, self-effacing
GRE Vocabulary Mnemonic of the Day: Cacophony
cacophony (cah-COUGH-o-knee) (noun): unpleasant, loud sounds. Think: cough . All the coughs from the tuberculosis ward formed a sickening cacophony .
GRE Vocabulary Mnemonic of the Day: Badger
badger (BADGE-er) (verb): to annoy or pester Think: bad jerk Good jerks can get laughs, but a bad jerk will just badger you with his attempts at humor. synonyms: harry, heckle, plague
GRE Vocabulary Mnemonic of the Day: Aberration
aberration (ab-ur-A-shun) (noun): something unusual or unexpected Think: a bare AsianA bare Asian would be an aberration ; Asians usually wear clothes. synonyms: anomaly, oddity
GRE Vocabulary Mnemonic of the Day: Abate
abate (uh-BATE) (verb): to lessen or reduce. Think: rebate The mail-in rebate on my new mobile phone will abate the high cost. synonyms: ebb, subside, wane
GRE Vocabulary Mnemonic of the Day: Abashed
abashed (uh-BASHED) (adjective): embarrassed. Think: B ashfulBashful the dwarf was so abashed when Snow White kissed him that he blushed. synonyms: discomfited, disconcerted, fazed
GRE Vocabulary Mnemonic of the Day: Abase
abase (uh-BASE) (verb): to degrade. Think: a base When making out with someone, if you give up a base too quickly then you just abase yourself. synonyms: debase, lessen, vitiate
GRE Vocabulary Mnemonic of the Day: Clangorous
clangorous (CLANG-or-us) (adjective): noisy.
Think: clang
I love my son, but his third-grade orchestra is so clangorous that it sounds like they’re all just clanging on their instruments instead of playing the music.
synonyms: clamorous, clattering, uproarious
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