Kaplan’s Word Groups

The following lists contain common GRE words grouped together by meaning.
You can use these lists to help you make similar Word Group piles with the
cards from your box of flashcards. If a word listed here is a word that you do
not know and is also not in your box of flashcards, use this opportunity to make
your own flashcard for that word, and add it to one of your piles.

Note: The categories in which these words are listed are general and should not
be interpreted as the exact definitions of the words.

A countenance novitiate courageous

Abbreviated espouse proselyte dauntless
Communication mainstay tyro Boring
abridge munificent Beginning/Young banal
compendium proponent burgeoning fatuous
cursory stalwart callow hackneyed
curtail sustenance engender insipid
syllabus inchoate mundane
B
synopsis incipient pedestrian
terse Bad Mood
nascent platitude
bilious
Act Quickly Biting (as in wit or prosaic
dudgeon
abrupt temperament) quotidian
irascible
apace acerbic trite
pettish
headlong petulant acidulous C
impetuous pique acrimonious
precipitate Carousal
querulous asperity
bacchanalian
Assist umbrage caustic
debauchery
abet waspish mordacious
depraved
advocate mordant
Beginner/Amateur dissipated
ancillary trenchant
dilettante iniquity
bolster fledgling Bold libertine
corroborate neophyte audacious libidinous

1
 licentious D Disgusting/Offensive erroneous
reprobate Death/Mourning defile ersatz
ribald bereave fetid fallacious
salacious cadaver invidious feigned
sordid defunct noisome guile
turpitude demise odious mendacious/
dolorous putrid mendacity
Changing Quickly
elegy rebarbative perfidy
capricious
knell prevaricate
mercurial E specious
volatile lament
Easy to Understand spurious
macabre
Copy articulate
moribund Family
counterpart cogent
obsequies conjugal
emulate eloquent
sepulchral consanguine
facsimile evident
wraith distaff
factitious limpid
endogamous
paradigm Denying of Self lucid
filial
precursor abnegate pellucid
fratricide
simulate abstain Eccentric/Dissimilar progenitor
vicarious ascetic aberrant scion
spartan anachronism
Criticize/Criticism
stoic Favoring/Not Impartial
aspersion anomalous
temperate ardent/ardor
belittle discrete
doctrinaire
berate Dictatorial eclectic
fervid
calumny authoritarian esoteric
partisan
castigate despotic iconoclast
tendentious
decry dogmatic Embarrass zealot
defame/defamation hegemonic/ abash
denounce hegemony chagrin Forgive/Make Amends
deride/derisive imperious compunction absolve
diatribe peremptory contrition acquit
disparage tyrannical diffidence exculpate
excoriate Difficult to expiate exonerate
gainsay Understand foible expiate
harangue abstruse gaucherie palliate
impugn ambiguous rue redress
inveigh arcane vindicate
Equal
lambaste bemusing equitable Funny
objurgate cryptic equity chortle
obloquy enigmatic tantamount droll
opprobrium esoteric facetious
pillory inscrutable F flippant
rebuke obscure Falsehood gibe
remonstrate opaque apocryphal jocular
reprehend paradoxical canard levity
reprove perplexing chicanery ludicrous
revile recondite dissemble raillery
tirade turbid duplicity riposte
vituperate equivocate simper

2
G inimical ingenuous exhort
Gaps/Openings injurious naive harangue
abatement insidious novitiate hector
aperture minatory tyro martinet
fissure perfidious Insincere remonstrate
hiatus pernicious disingenuous reproof
interregnum Harsh-Sounding dissemble Nasty
interstice cacophony fulsome fetid
lull din ostensible noisome
orifice dissonant unctuous noxious
rent raucous Investigate Not a Straight Line
respite strident appraise askance
rift Hatred ascertain awry
Generous/Kind abhorrence assay careen
altruistic anathema descry carom
beneficent antagonism peruse circuitous
clement antipathy circumvent
L
largess detestation gyrate
magnanimous enmity Lazy/Sluggish labyrinth
munificent loathing indolent meander
malice inert
philanthropic oblique
odium lackadaisical
unstinting serrated
rancor languid
Greedy sidle
lassitude
avaricious Healthy sinuous
lethargic
covetous beneficial undulating
phlegmatic
mercenary salubrious vortex
quiescent
miserly salutary slothful O
penurious Hesitate torpid Overblown/Wordy
rapacious dither Luck bombastic
venal oscillate adventitious circumlocution
H teeter amulet garrulous
vacillate auspicious grandiloquent
Hard-Hearted
waver fortuitous loquacious
asperity
baleful Hostile kismet periphrastic
antithetic optimum prolix
dour
churlish portentous rhetoric
fell
curmudgeon propitiate turgid
malevolent
irascible propitious verbose
mordant
sardonic malevolent providential
P
scathing misanthropic serendipity
talisman Pacify/Satisfy
truculent truculent
ameliorate
vitriolic vindictive
N appease
vituperation I Nag assuage
Harmful Innocent/ admonish defer
baleful Inexperienced belabor mitigate
baneful credulous cavil mollify
deleterious gullible enjoin placate

3
 propitiate S anterior Wandering
satiate Smart/Learned archaic discursive
slake astute diurnal expatiate
soothe canny eon forage
Pleasant-Sounding erudite ephemeral itinerant
euphonious perspicacious epoch peregrination
harmonious fortnight peripatetic
Sorrow
melodious millennium sojourn
disconsolate
sonorous penultimate
doleful Weaken
synchronous
Poor dolor adulterate
temporal
destitute elegiac enervate
esurient forlorn Timid/Timidity exacerbate
impecunious lament craven inhibit
indigent lugubrious diffident obviate
melancholy pusillanimous
Praise stultify
morose recreant
acclaim undermine
plaintive timorous
accolade vitiate
threnody trepidation
aggrandize Wisdom
encomium Stubborn Truth
adage
eulogize implacable candor/candid
aphorism
extol inexorable fealty
apothegm
fawn intractable frankness
axiom
laud/laudatory intransigent indisputable
indubitable bromide
venerate/veneration obdurate
legitimate dictum
Predict obstinate epigram
augur recalcitrant probity
sincere platitude
auspice refractory
veracious sententious
fey renitent
verity truism
harbinger untoward
portentous vexing Withdrawal/Retreat
U
precursor abeyance
T Unusual
presage abjure
aberration
prescient Terse abnegation
anomaly
prognosticate compendious abortive
iconoclast
curt abrogate
Prevent/Obstruct idiosyncrasy
laconic decamp
discomfit
pithy W demur
encumber
succinct Walking About recant
fetter
taciturn ambulatory recidivism
forfend
hinder Time/Order/Duration itinerant remission
impede anachronism meander renege
inhibit antecede peripatetic rescind
occlude antedate retrograde