acclaim (n.

)
high praise

Greg’s excellent poem won the acclaim of his

friends.
adroit (adj.)
skillful, dexterous

The adroit thief could pick someone’s pocket

without attracting notice.
arbitration (n.)
the process or act of resolving a dispute
seek
The employee sought official arbitration
when he could not resolve a disagreement
with his supervisor.
atone (v.)
to repent, make amends

The man atoned for forgetting his wife’s

birthday by buying her five dozen roses.
augment (v.)
to add to, expand

The eager student seeks to augment his

knowledge of French vocabulary by reading
French literature.
curtail (v.)
to lessen, reduce

Since losing his job, he had to curtail his

spending.
diligent (adj.)
showing care in doing one’s work

The diligent researcher made sure to check

her measurements multiple times.
dissent (v.)
to disagree

The principal argued that the child should

repeat the fourth grade, but the unhappy
parents dissented.
embezzle (v.)
to steal money by falsifying records

The accountant was fired for embezzling

$10,000 of the company’s funds.
enigmatic (adj.)
mystifying, cryptic

That man wearing the dark suit and dark

glasses is so enigmatic that no one even
knows his name.
evince (v.)
to show, reveal

Christopher’s hand-wringing and nail-biting

evince how nervous he is about the
upcoming English test.
fabricate (v.)
to make up, invent

When he arrived an hour late to class, he

fabricated some excuse about his car
breaking down on the way to school.
fastidious (adj.)
meticulous, demanding, having high and often
unattainable standards
Mark is so fastidious that he is never able to
finish a project because it always seems
imperfect to him.
guile (n.)
deceitful, cunning, sly behavior

Because of his great guile, the politician was

able to survive scandal after scandal.
innocuous (adj.)
harmless, inoffensive

In spite of their innocuous appearance, these

mushrooms are actually quite poisonous.
laconic (adj.) ≠ verbose
terse in speech or writing

The author’s laconic style has won him many

followers who dislike wordiness.
sobriety (n.)
sedate, calm

Jason believed that maintaining his sobriety

in times of crisis was the key to success in
life.
vehemently (adv.)
marked by intense force or emotion

The candidate vehemently opposed cutting

back on Social Security funding.
jubilant (adj.)
full of high-spirited delight because of triumph
or success
My hard work paid off, and I was jubilant to
receive a perfect score on the GRE.
unequivocal (adj.)
admitting of no doubt or misunderstanding;
having only one meaning or interpretation and
leading to only one conclusion
The President's first statement on the subject
was vague and open to competing
interpretations, so when he spoke to Congress
about the same subject later, he was careful to
make his position completely unequivocal.
laudable (adj.)
worthy of high praise

To say that Gandhi's actions were laudable is

the greatest understatement; he overthrew
an empire without violence.
capricious (adj.)
determined by chance or impulse or whim rather
than by necessity or reason
Nearly every month our capricious CEO had
a new plan to turn the company around, and
none of them worked because we never
gave them the time they needed to succeed.
negligible (adj.)
so small as to be meaningless; insignificant

The GRE tests cumulative knowledge, so if

you cram the night before it is, at best, likely
to only have a negligible impact on your
score.
cogent (adj.)
clear and persuasive

A cogent argument will change the minds of

even the most skeptical audience.