Manhattan Prep - 500 Essential Words: GRE Vocabulary Flash Cards

Manhattan Prep
GRE Flash Cards: 500 Essential Words

Written by Jennifer Dziura

Copyright 2011 MG Prep, Inc.

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Table of Contents

abate

(verb)

uh-BAYT

Also abatement (noun)

Definition: Reduce, diminish

Usage: Her stress over spending so much money on a house abated when the real estate broker told her about the propertys 15 year tax abatement .

Related Words: Tax abatement is used in the same way as tax reliefthat is, a partial discount. Subside is another word for lessening (a storm could abate or subside).

More Info: Abate comes from an Old French word for beat, cast down that also gives us batter (beat severely) and abattoir (slaughterhouse).

abdicate

(verb)

AB-di-cayt

Also abdication (noun)

Definition: Formally give up the throne (or some other power or responsibility)

Usage: King Edward VIII of England famously abdicated the throne in order to marry an American divorce. / Parents can be charged with neglect for abdicating their responsibilities towards their children.

Related Words: Dont confuse abdicate with dethrone and depose, which refer to forcing a leader from power. Abdication is voluntary.

More Info: Abdicate comes from the root ab (away) and dic/dict (proclaim), the latter of which also appears in dictator, dictionary, dictate, dictum, and indict.

aberrant

(adj)

AB-er-int

Also aberration (noun)

Definition: Abnormal, deviant

Usage: The teens aberrant behavior made his family suspect that he was using drugs. / Losing rather than gaining weight over the holidays is certainly an aberration .

Related Words: Anomaly (deviation from the norm, inconsistency), Outlier (a person on the fringe; a data point that lies outside the main pattern of data)

More Info: The prefix ab means awayin this case, away from whats normal.

abhor

(verb)

ab-HORE

Definition: Detest, regard with disgust

Usage: Go out with you? she replied. I abhor you! I would rather stab myself with a rusty bread knife than be your girlfriend!

Related Words: Loathe, Abominate (synonyms), Antipathy (instinctive repugnance or aversion)

More Info: The prefix ab means awayif you abhor (or abominate ) something, you want to get as far away from it as possible.

abjure

(verb)

ab-JOOR

Definition: Give up, renounce; repudiate, recant, or shun (especially formally or under oath)

Usage: To become a citizen of the United States, you must abjure loyalty to the nation of your birth. / Since enrolling in that nutrition class, she has abjured sugar and saturated fats.

Related Words: Forswear (reject or renounce under oath; swear falsely in court), Eschew (shun, avoid, abstain from)

More Info: Abjure can be used in the same way as renounce . You renounce worldly pleasures, a religion or family member, membership in a group, etc. It can also be used in the same way as repudiate, which is more often used with ideas, as in Galileo repudiated the belief that the Sun revolves around the Earth.

abrasive

(adj)

uh-BRAY-siv

Also abrade (verb)

Definition: Rough, suitable for grinding or polishing (such as sandpaper); causing irritation or annoyance

Usage: Could the inside of this mascot costume be any more abrasive ? Its rubbing my skin raw! I have some seriously abrasive remarks for whoever designed this thing.

Related Words: Caustic (capable of burning or corroding; extremely critical or sarcastic), Excoriate (to rub the skin off of; to criticize very harshly)

More Info: Like caustic and excoriate, abrasive can be used literally or metaphorically. You scrub a dirty pan with something abrasive , such as steel wool. Harsh criticism is abrasive, like being scrubbed with steel wool.

abridge

(verb)

uh-BRIDGE

Also abridged (adj)

Definition: Reduce or lessen; shorten by omitting parts throughout while retaining the main idea

Usage: Our romantic vacation was abridged when the babysitter called to say that the kids were sick and we should come home. / Audio books are almost always abridged , since few people want to listen to a 200-hour book.

Related Words: Truncate (shorten by cutting off a part)

Memory Trick: When you abridge a book, you cut out sections from all over (hopefully without being too obvious)that is, you create a bridge from the last part you kept in to the next part you kept in, so people dont notice the missing bits. An abridged book still tells the whole story; a truncated book is missing the ending!

abstain

(verb)

ab-STAIN

Also abstemious (adj.)

Definition: Hold back, refrain (especially from something bad or unhealthy); decline to vote

Usage: The church board voted on whether to hold an abstinence rally to encourage young people not to become sexually active; while most members voted in favor, one voted against and two abstained , with one abstainer commenting that, as far as she knew, the churchs teens were pretty abstemious already.

Related Words: Temperance (moderation, holding back), Teetotaler (a person who abstains from alcohol), Forbear (hold back or abstain from)

More Info: Abstain is usually followed by from (vegetarians forbear meat or abstain from meat).

acme

(noun)

ACK-mee

Definition: Summit, peak, highest point

Usage: The acme of my vacation was when I finally climbed to the acme of the mountain and enjoyed the gorgeous vista.

Related Words: Summit, Pinnacle (synonyms), Apex (vertex, tip, point), Apogee (high point, point at which the moon is furthest from the Earth)

More Info: Acme, Summit, Pinnacle, and Apex are all popular names for businesses: Apex Locksmith, Pinnacle Home Security, etc. ( Acme is especially popular, since it occurs early in the phone book).

activism

(noun)

ACK-ti-vizm

Also activist (noun)

Definition: The practice of pursuing political or other goals through vigorous action, often including protests and demonstrations

Usage: Lindsays parents had a hard time accepting that, after incurring $100,000 in student loans, their daughter had decided to enter the low-paying field of environmental activism .

Related Words: Advocacy (pleading for, recommending), Champion (one who defends or supports, as a cause)

More Info: Activism is often considered noble, but judicial activism going beyond interpreting existing laws to actually using court decisions to create new public policiesis often controversial.

adhere

(verb)

ad-HERE

Definition: Stick (to), such as with glue, or to a plan or belief

Usage: I have a message board that adheres to my refrigerator with magnets; on it, Ive written some affirmations to help me adhere to my diet plan.

Related Words: Abide by (follow, conform to), Cohere (become united, hold together as part of the same mass)

More Info: Use adhere for attaching two different kinds of things together, and cohere for things of the same kind (good cookie dough coheres instead of crumbles).

admonish

(verb)

ad-MAHN-ish

Also admonition (noun)

Definition: Mildly scold; caution, advise, or remind to do something

Usage: She was an exacting boss who upbraided an employee for jamming the copier, yet she merely admonished her five-year-old for the same offense.