English Vocabulary · GRE Live Review Preview

GRE Vocabulary Words

The GRE Verbal Reasoning measure asks test takers to understand and evaluate written material, analyze relationships among ideas, and use evidence within a sentence or passage. Reading Comprehension, Text Completion, and Sentence Equivalence all reward careful attention to connotation, contrast, logic, and precise word choice—not isolated memorization alone.

This independently authored 800-word beta curriculum prioritizes vocabulary identified in Magoosh’s official public GRE vocabulary ebook, then draws on advanced KSSR entries that have already passed English safety and structure audits. Additional official and public GRE references guide test alignment and editorial review. Overlap with SAT and advanced school-level vocabulary is intentional because the tests share academic language. Pages containing words 1–500 include five cloze questions; every word remains visible, editable in Vocabulary Studio, and available for private difficult/learned tracking. This unofficial resource is not endorsed by or affiliated with ETS.

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Words 631–665 of 800
#	Word	Details	Meaning	Sample sentence
631	compelling	adjective Study Field: GRE evidence and rhetorical analysis Word study: Base-form focus: compelling is the dictionary headword; compare its inflected or derived forms in context.	Reviewed Cantonese equivalent not yet available.	The documentary offers compelling evidence from newly opened archives.
632	conjecture	noun Study Field: GRE evidence and rhetorical analysis Word study: Base-form focus: conjecture is the dictionary headword; compare its inflected or derived forms in context.	Reviewed Cantonese equivalent not yet available.	The claim remains conjecture until the documents are authenticated.
633	decry	verb Study Field: GRE evidence and rhetorical analysis Word study: Base-form focus: decry is the dictionary headword; compare its inflected or derived forms in context.	Reviewed Cantonese equivalent not yet available.	Health advocates decry advertising that targets young children.
634	elucidate	verb Study Field: GRE evidence and rhetorical analysis Word study: Base-form focus: elucidate is the dictionary headword; compare its inflected or derived forms in context.	Reviewed Cantonese equivalent not yet available.	A timeline helps elucidate the sequence of discoveries.
635	evince	verb Study Field: GRE evidence and rhetorical analysis Word study: Base-form focus: evince is the dictionary headword; compare its inflected or derived forms in context.	Reviewed Cantonese equivalent not yet available.	The letters evince deep concern for displaced families.
636	superfluous	adjective Study Field: GRE literature, history, and humanities Word study: Suffix focus: -ous commonly forms an adjective meaning full of or characterized by.	Reviewed Cantonese equivalent not yet available.	The editor removed every superfluous adjective.
637	surfeit	noun Study Field: GRE literature, history, and humanities Word study: Base-form focus: surfeit is the dictionary headword; compare its inflected or derived forms in context.	Reviewed Cantonese equivalent not yet available.	A surfeit of examples made the argument harder to follow.
638	surreptitious	adjective Study Field: GRE literature, history, and humanities Word study: Suffix focus: -ous commonly forms an adjective meaning full of or characterized by.	Reviewed Cantonese equivalent not yet available.	The camera recorded a surreptitious exchange of documents.
639	sycophant	noun Study Field: GRE literature, history, and humanities Word study: Base-form focus: sycophant is the dictionary headword; compare its inflected or derived forms in context.	Reviewed Cantonese equivalent not yet available.	The ruler surrounded himself with each sycophant who praised every decision.
640	synthesis	noun Study Field: GRE literature, history, and humanities Word study: Base-form focus: synthesis is the dictionary headword; compare its inflected or derived forms in context.	Reviewed Cantonese equivalent not yet available.	The essay offers a synthesis of archaeological and linguistic evidence.
641	tacit	adjective Study Field: GRE literature, history, and humanities Word study: Base-form focus: tacit is the dictionary headword; compare its inflected or derived forms in context.	Reviewed Cantonese equivalent not yet available.	Their silence gave tacit approval to the change.
642	taciturn	adjective Study Field: GRE literature, history, and humanities Word study: Base-form focus: taciturn is the dictionary headword; compare its inflected or derived forms in context.	Reviewed Cantonese equivalent not yet available.	The taciturn witness answered in brief phrases.
643	tangential	adjective Study Field: GRE literature, history, and humanities Word study: Base-form focus: tangential is the dictionary headword; compare its inflected or derived forms in context.	Reviewed Cantonese equivalent not yet available.	The editor removed a tangential discussion of the author's childhood.
644	tantamount	adjective Study Field: GRE literature, history, and humanities Word study: Base-form focus: tantamount is the dictionary headword; compare its inflected or derived forms in context.	Reviewed Cantonese equivalent not yet available.	Ignoring the warning was tantamount to accepting the risk.
645	tautological	adjective Study Field: GRE literature, history, and humanities Word study: Base-form focus: tautological is the dictionary headword; compare its inflected or derived forms in context.	Reviewed Cantonese equivalent not yet available.	The phrase “future plans” can be tautological in some contexts.
646	temerity	noun Study Field: GRE literature, history, and humanities Word study: Suffix focus: -ity commonly forms a noun naming a quality, state, or condition.	Reviewed Cantonese equivalent not yet available.	She had the temerity to challenge the ruler in public.
647	tenacious	adjective Study Field: GRE literature, history, and humanities Word study: Suffix focus: -ous commonly forms an adjective meaning full of or characterized by.	Reviewed Cantonese equivalent not yet available.	A tenacious investigator followed the evidence for years.
648	tenet	noun Study Field: GRE literature, history, and humanities Word study: Base-form focus: tenet is the dictionary headword; compare its inflected or derived forms in context.	Reviewed Cantonese equivalent not yet available.	Equal treatment is a basic tenet of the organization.
649	tenuous	adjective Study Field: GRE literature, history, and humanities Word study: Suffix focus: -ous commonly forms an adjective meaning full of or characterized by.	Reviewed Cantonese equivalent not yet available.	The article draws a tenuous link between the two events.
650	terse	adjective Study Field: GRE literature, history, and humanities Word study: Base-form focus: terse is the dictionary headword; compare its inflected or derived forms in context.	Reviewed Cantonese equivalent not yet available.	The official issued a terse denial.
651	torpor	noun Study Field: GRE literature, history, and humanities Word study: Base-form focus: torpor is the dictionary headword; compare its inflected or derived forms in context.	Reviewed Cantonese equivalent not yet available.	Winter cold sends the animal into torpor.
652	transcend	verb Study Field: GRE literature, history, and humanities Word study: Base-form focus: transcend is the dictionary headword; compare its inflected or derived forms in context.	Reviewed Cantonese equivalent not yet available.	The novel's themes transcend its historical setting.
653	transgress	verb Study Field: GRE literature, history, and humanities Word study: Prefix focus: trans- means across, through, or beyond.	Reviewed Cantonese equivalent not yet available.	The character must decide whether justice permits her to transgress the law.
654	transient	adjective Study Field: GRE literature, history, and humanities Word study: Base-form focus: transient is the dictionary headword; compare its inflected or derived forms in context.	Reviewed Cantonese equivalent not yet available.	The economic benefit proved transient.
655	trepidation	noun Study Field: GRE literature, history, and humanities Word study: Suffix focus: -ation commonly forms a noun naming an action, process, or result.	Reviewed Cantonese equivalent not yet available.	With some trepidation, the team opened the sealed chamber.
656	ubiquitous	adjective Study Field: GRE literature, history, and humanities Word study: Suffix focus: -ous commonly forms an adjective meaning full of or characterized by.	Reviewed Cantonese equivalent not yet available.	Smartphones have become ubiquitous in many communities.
657	unctuous	adjective Study Field: GRE literature, history, and humanities Word study: Suffix focus: -ous commonly forms an adjective meaning full of or characterized by.	Reviewed Cantonese equivalent not yet available.	The salesman's unctuous compliments made buyers suspicious.
658	unremitting	adjective Study Field: GRE literature, history, and humanities Word study: Base-form focus: unremitting is the dictionary headword; compare its inflected or derived forms in context.	Reviewed Cantonese equivalent not yet available.	Unremitting rain caused the river to overflow.
659	urbane	adjective Study Field: GRE literature, history, and humanities Word study: Base-form focus: urbane is the dictionary headword; compare its inflected or derived forms in context.	Reviewed Cantonese equivalent not yet available.	The urbane host moved easily among diplomats and artists.
660	usurp	verb Study Field: GRE literature, history, and humanities Word study: Base-form focus: usurp is the dictionary headword; compare its inflected or derived forms in context.	Reviewed Cantonese equivalent not yet available.	The general attempted to usurp the elected government's authority.
661	utilitarian	adjective Study Field: GRE literature, history, and humanities Word study: Base-form focus: utilitarian is the dictionary headword; compare its inflected or derived forms in context.	Reviewed Cantonese equivalent not yet available.	The building's utilitarian design prioritized durability.
662	utopia	noun Study Field: GRE literature, history, and humanities Word study: Base-form focus: utopia is the dictionary headword; compare its inflected or derived forms in context.	Reviewed Cantonese equivalent not yet available.	The novel's apparent utopia depends on hidden coercion.
663	vacillate	verb Study Field: GRE literature, history, and humanities Word study: Base-form focus: vacillate is the dictionary headword; compare its inflected or derived forms in context.	Reviewed Cantonese equivalent not yet available.	The council continued to vacillate between renovation and demolition.
664	vapid	adjective Study Field: GRE literature, history, and humanities Word study: Base-form focus: vapid is the dictionary headword; compare its inflected or derived forms in context.	Reviewed Cantonese equivalent not yet available.	The adaptation reduced a complex novel to vapid romance.
665	vehement	adjective Study Field: GRE literature, history, and humanities Word study: Base-form focus: vehement is the dictionary headword; compare its inflected or derived forms in context.	Reviewed Cantonese equivalent not yet available.	Residents voiced vehement opposition to the highway.

Vocabulary reading and practice

Reading the Evidence in the Ground

Reading practice for pages 19–21. Five relevant words are highlighted.

English reading

When archaeologists uncovered a burned doorway, newspapers quickly began to decry the site as evidence of a violent invasion. The excavation director warned that this conclusion was still a conjecture. Charred grain and collapsed roof beams did evince a sudden fire, but they could not identify its cause. A later soil analysis helped elucidate the sequence of events and offered a more compelling explanation: an accidental kitchen fire had spread during a drought.

Cantonese translation

當考古學家挖掘出一道被燒過嘅門口嗰陣，報章好快就紛紛指稱呢個遺址係一次暴力入侵嘅證據。發掘工作嘅主管警告，呢個結論仍然只係一個推測。燒焦咗嘅穀物同倒塌嘅屋頂橫樑確實顯示曾經突然起火，但未能確定起火原因。之後嘅土壤分析有助闡明事件嘅先後次序，並提出一個更有說服力嘅解釋：一次意外嘅廚房火災喺乾旱期間蔓延開去。

Reading comprehension

1. Why does the director call the invasion claim a conjecture?

The evidence shows a fire but does not identify its cause.

2. What do the charred materials evince?

They evince that a sudden fire occurred.

3. What explanation does the soil analysis support?

It supports the explanation that an accidental kitchen fire spread during a drought.

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About GRE Verbal Reasoning

The GRE Verbal Reasoning measure examines how well test takers understand and evaluate written material, recognize relationships among words and concepts, and analyze how parts of a sentence work together. Its three principal verbal question types are Reading Comprehension, Text Completion, and Sentence Equivalence.

Vocabulary matters on the GRE, but memorizing a definition is only the beginning. Strong preparation also connects each word to its connotation, common contrasts, near-synonyms, and role in an argument. Use the examples, readings, and quizzes here to practise choosing words from evidence in the sentence, then use official ETS material to learn the precise test format.

ETS test overview

Sources and curriculum references

These references guide selection and calibration. Definitions, sample sentences, readings, questions, and teaching notes are independently written and reviewed.

GRE Vocabulary Words

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Reading the Evidence in the Ground

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