powerful vocabulary for CAT

1. Intend : / v /
Have something as your aim or plan.
Plan that something should be, do or mean something (the book was intended as
a satire).
(Intend something for/to do) design or plan something for a particular purpose.
Usage: From now on we want you to look at works intently, to be inordinately curious about
them.
2. Inordinately: / adj / in-or-di-nuht /
Unusually large.
Excessive.
(Der: inordinately. Org: Latin-not arranged).

3. Fastidious: / adj / fa-stid-i-uhss /
Very careful about accuracy and detail.
Very concerned about cleanliness.
(Der: fastidiously. Org:latin-fastidiun-loathing).
Usage : develop a fastidious, but not a fussy, choice. Work always towards good taste in their
use.
4. fussy : / adj / fussier, fussiest /
Hard to please
Full of unnecessary details.
(Der: fussily.)
5. urge : / v / urges, urging, urged /
Encourage or earnestly ask someone to do something.
(n) a strong desire or impulse.
(org: latin-urgere-press,drive).
1. 6. Anomalous : / uh-nom-uh-luhs / adj /
Differing from what is standard or normal
Not normal
Usage: According to those who do not believe in climate change, the extreme weather over the last five
years is simply Anomalous daily temperature should return to their old average, they believe.
Der : Greek /an-not+homalos even.

2. Restive : / adj /
Unable to keep still or unwilling to submit to control.
Restless
Usage: the crowd grew Restive as the comedians opening jokes fell flat.
Der : old French.
3. Parsimonious : / par-si-muh-ni / Parsimony (n) /
(n) Extreme unwilling to speed money.
Extreme frugal; miserly.
Usage: Katie is so parsimonious that she only buy a pair of socks, if all of her socks have holes in them.
Der : Latin : Parsimonia.
4. Frugal : / froo-gl / adj / frugality(n), frugally(adj) /
Using only as much money or food as necessary.
Sparing or economical as regards money or food.
Der : Latin frugalis from frugi economical.
5. Miserly : / adj /
Of or characteristic of a miser.
(of quantity) pitiable small.

6. Chastise : / v / chastisement(n),chastiser(n) /
To reprimand harshly or severely.
Punish, especially by beating.
usage : though chastised for eating the snacks for the party, Lawrence shrugged of his mothers harsh
words, and continued to plow through jars of cookies and boxes of donuts.
Der : Chaste

7. Reprimand : / reprima:nd /
(n) a formal expression of disapproval.
(v) address a reprimand to.
Der : French reprimande , Spanish from latin reprimenda.

8. Shrugged : / v / shrugs, shrugging, shrugged )
Raise (ones shoulders) slightly and momentarily to express doubt, ignorance, or
indifference.
(shrug something off) dismiss something as unimportant.


9. Maintain : / v / Maintainability(n),maintainable(adj),maintainer(n).
To assert.
Cause or enable ( a condition or situation ) to continue
Keep at the same level or rate.
Keep ( a building, machine, etc) in good condition by checking or reparing it regularly.
Usage : the scientist maintained that the extinction of dinosaurs was most likely brought about by a
drastic change in climate.
Origin : French maintenir, Latin manu tenere hold in the hand;

10. Venality : / venality(n), venally(adv) /
(n) the condition of being susceptible to bribes or corruption.
(adj) showing or motivated by susceptibility to bribery.
Usage : Even some of the most sacred sporting events are not immune to venality, as many of the
officials have received substantial bribes to make biased calls.
Der : latin venalis from venum thing for sale.

11. Galvanize : / verb / gal-van^iz / galvanization(n), galvanizer(n) /
(v) To excite or inspire(someone) to action
(v) Shock or excite into action.
(adj galvanized) coat (iron or steel) with a protective layer of zinc.
Usage : At mile 23 of his first marathon, kyle had all but given up, until he noticed his friends and family
holding a banner that read, Go kyle;Galvanized, he broke into a gallop, finishing the last three miles in
less than 20 minutes.
Orgin : French galvanizer ( in the sense stimulate by electricity)

12. Harangue : / hran / Der: Harangure(n)
(v) lecture(someone) at length in an aggressive and hectoring manner.
(n) a forcefull and aggressive speech; a tirade.
Usage : Dinner at Billys was more a punishment than a reward, since anyone who sat at the dinner table
would have to listen to Billys fathers interminable Harangues against the government.
Tired of his parents Haranguing him about his laziness and lack of initiative, tyler finally moved out of
home at the age of thirty-five.
Orgin : French harangue(n), haranguer(v).

13. Tirade : / tAIreId/
(n) a long speech of angry criticism or accusation.
Orgin: French lilerally long speeach.

14. Prevaricate : (v)
To speak in an evasive way.
Usage : the cynic quipped, there is not much variance in politicians; they all seem to prevaricate.

15. Amorphous : / adj / amorphously(adv),amorphousness(n) /
Without a clearly defined shape or form.
Mineralogy or Chemistry not crystalline or not apparently crystalline
Usage : His study plan for the GRE was at best amorphous; he would do questions from random pages in
any one of seven test prep books.
Orgin: Greek amorphous shapeless(from a without+ morphe form)+ous.

16. Egregious : / adj / egregiously(adv),egregiousness(n) /
Outstandingly bad; shocking.
Archaic remarkable good.
Standing out in negative way,shocking bad.
Usage : the dictators abuse of human rights was so egregious that many world leaders demanded that
he be tried in an international court for genocide.
Orgin : latin egregious illustious literally standing out from the flock;. From ex-out+grex,greg-flock.

17. Undermine : / v / undermines, undermining, undermined )
Damage or weaken; this could undermine years of hard work.
Wear away the base of a rock formation
Big beneath a building so as make it collapse.
Usage : The student undermined the teachers authority by questioning the teachers judgement on
numerous occasions.

18. Ingenuous : / in-jen-yoo-uhss / adj /
To be nave and innocent.
Innocent and unsuspecting.
Usage : Two years in Manhattan had changed jenna from an ingenuous girl form the suburbs to a jaded
urbanite, unlikely to fall for any ruse, regardless of how elaborate.
Orgin : latin ingenuus native, inborn.

19. Jaded : / adj /
Tired out or lacking enthusiasm after having had too much of something.
Orgin : former jade a worn-out horse.

20. Ambiguous : / adj / am-big-yoss-uhss / ambiguously /
(of language) having more than one possible meaning.
Not clear or decided.
Open to more than one interpretation.
Usage : The coach told his team, move towards that side of the field; because he did not point, his
directions were ambiguous, and the team had no idea to which side he was referring
Orgin : latin ambiguous doubtful.

21. Mercurial : / adj / mer-kyoor-i-uhl /
Tending to change mode suddenly.
22. Gregarious : / adj / gri-gair-i-uhss /
Fond of company,sociable.
(of animals) living in flocks or colonies.
To be likely to socialize with others.
Usage : Often we think that great leaders are those who are gregarious, always in the middle of a large
group of people; yet as Mahatma Gandhi and many others have shown us, leaders can also be
introverted.
Orgin : latin gregarious
23. Amenable : / adj / uh-meenub-bl / amenability/
Willing to cooperate or be persuaded.
(amenable to) able to be affected by.
Usage : Even though she did not like the outdoors, Shirley was generally amenable and so her brother
was able to persuade her to go camping.
Orgin : amener bring to;
24. Aberration : / n / a-buh-ray-shn /
An action, event or way of behaving that is not normal or acceptable.
A deviation from what is normal or expected.
Usage : Aberrations in climate have become the norm; rarely a week goes by without some
meteorological phenomenon making headines.
Orgin : latin aberrare to stray
25. Amalga / n / uh-mal-guhm /
A mixture or blend
An alloy of mercury with another metal
A mixture ofmultiple things.
Usage : The bands music was an amalgam of hip-hop, flamenco and jazz, blending the three styles with
surprising results.
Orgin : malagma an emollient.
26. Equivocal : / adj / i-kwiv-uh-kl / equivocally /
Unclear because able to be understand in more than one way.
Confusing or ambiguous.
Usage : The finding of the study were equivocal the two researchers had different opinions on what the
results signified.
Orgin : latin aequss equal+ vocare to call;

1. Abash : \ uh Bash \ v \
To make ashamed;
To embrass
Usage : 1) Meredith felt abashed by her inability to remember her lines in the school chorus of Old
McDonald Had a Farm.
2) To do something without shame or embrassment is to do it unabashedly.
3) Ken handed in a term paper that he had unabashedly copied from the national empuirer.
Abashed : \ uh Bash ed \ adj \
Embarrassed or ashamed.
Orgin : Old French esbair utterly astound.

Abate : \ uh Bayt(Bate) \ v \ abates abating abated \
To subside ; to reduce
Become less severe or widespread.
Usage : 1) George spilled a pot of hot coffee on his leg. It hurt quite a bit, Then gradually, the agony
abated.
2) Bad weather abates when good weather begins to return, a rain storm that does not let up continues
unabated.
3) A tax abatement is a reduction in taxes. Businesses are sometimes given tax abatements in return for
building factories in places where there is a particular need for jobs.

Agony : \ adj \ pl Agonies \
Great pain or distress.

Abdicate : / Ab duh Kate / v /
To step down from a position of power or responsibility
Usage : 1) When King Edward VIII of England decided he would rather be married to Wallis Warfield
Simpson, an American divorcee, than be king of England, he turned in his crown and abdicated.
2) Even people who arent monarchs can abdicate duties and responsibilities. Mary Abdicated her
responsibility as a baby-sitter by locking the five year old in a closet and flying to the Bahamas.

Aberration : / Ab uh RAY shun / n /
Something not typical; a deviation from the standard
Usage : 1) Toms bad behavior was an Aberration. So was Harys good behavior. That is. Tom was usally
good and Harry was usually bad.
2) A snowstorm in June is an aberration; snow doesnt normally fall in june.
3) the chef at this restaurant is dreadful; the good meal we just has was aberrant: The summer
snowstorm was aberrant.

Aberrant : / uh berr- uhnt / adj /
Not normal or acceptable.



Abhor : / ab HAWR / V / abhors, abhorring, abhorred /
Feel strong hatred for.
To hate very, very much; to detest.
Usage:1) To Abhor something is to view it with horror. Hating a person is almost friendly in comparison
with abhorring him or her.
2) Emanuel abhorred having anvils dropped on his head.
3) to abhor raw chicken livers is to have an abhorrence of them or to find them abnorrent.

Abject : / ab jekt / adj /
Very unpleasant and humiliating; abject poverty
Completely without pride or dignity
Usage :1) An abject person is one who is crushed and without hope. A slave would be abject, in all
likelihood.
2) Perhaps 90 percent of the time, when you encounter this word it will be followed by the word poverty,
3) Abject poverty is hopeless, desperate poverty.
4) The phrase abject poverty is overused. Writers use it because they are too lazy to think of anything
more novel.