GRE Vocabulary List 2024: GRE Vocab List with Meaning

Are you looking for a good GRE vocabulary list? You should know that a  comprehensive list will help you immensely in preparing for the GRE 2024 test. There are multiple such lists available online and even offline. However, you should focus on lists with core words that stand out more than others. This will help you build up your vocabulary in the right way. 

I have compiled an extensive list of words categorized per their difficulty level after going through numerous available lists. Read on to unveil the GRE vocabulary words through which you can ace your test preparation for 2024 GRE.

How to Prepare for GRE Vocabulary

Preparing for the GRE vocabulary involves several strategic steps to enhance your verbal reasoning skills effectively. 

Below are three effective ways in which you can prepare for your GRE vocabulary.

1. First, familiarize yourself with the types of questions on the GRE, such as reading comprehension, text completion, and sentence equivalence. Each question type requires a different approach to understanding and using vocabulary in context.
2. It is critical to read high-level texts from a variety of sources, including academic journals, feature articles, and periodicals such as The New York Times, The Economist, and Scientific American. This exposure helps you encounter and learn graduate-level prose, logical reasoning, and rhetorical patterns typical of GRE passages.
3. Additionally, practice with official GRE materials, including the free and low-cost resources provided by ETS (the test organizing body), such as the POWERPREP practice tests and the Official GRE Mentor Course, which offers 600+ practice questions and skill-building content. 

Consistent practice with these tools, coupled with strategic reading and vocabulary building, will significantly enhance your preparation for the GRE vocabulary section.

Useful Vocabulary List for GRE

Let us now hop on to the 2024 GRE vocabulary list divided into three sections per their difficulty level. Try incorporating these words in your daily language use to practice them effectively. 

Comparatively Easy Words with Their Meaning

1. Aberration- Something that departs from anything conventional or expected. 
2. Blight- Anything that damages, destroys, or spoils any item. For instance, blighting a crop or damaging it. 
3. Bolster- Strengthening or providing support to something. 
4. Chronic- Something that lasts long or perennially and cannot be left out or wiped out/eliminated. 
5. Dote- Fondly look at something, love something dearly, or be devoted to something. 
6. Facetious- This means flippantly or irreverently perceiving something, usually with humor that is not appropriate, i.e., using inappropriately humorous ways of treating anything of a serious nature. 
7. Fluke- Something happening by chance, good luck, or a fateful twist. 
8. Harangue- A speech that is long and aggressive/attacking. It can be similar to a long rant or tirade against something. 
9. Opaque- Something which is non-transparent or hard to see through. 
10. Prodigal- Anyone behaving recklessly, usually leaving home, although returning in a repentant manner later. 
11. Quack- Any fraudulent or non-qualified individual claiming to possess special expertise in any discipline/field. 
12. Ruminate- Deeply think about anything, or contemplate any matter. 
13. Treacherous- This means someone guilty of deceiving or betraying someone. 
14. Volatile- Anything that is frequently changing, and unpredictable. For instance, the stock market can be volatile. 
15. Wry- This means dry humor or a sardonic/satirical form of expression.

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Slightly More Difficult Words with Their Meaning

1. Abate- Come down, lower intensity, or die down in a manner of speaking. It can also mean subsiding. 
2. Boor- A person who is not refined, ill-behaved and coarse. 
3. Dictum- A statement about any principle, truth, maxim, saying, or regulation. 
4. Extol- Enthusiastically praise and advocate. 
5. Foible- Any minor flaw, issue, weakness, or eccentric trait in an individual's character. 
6. Grouse- A complaint, petty issue, or moaning about something. 
7. Hapless- Someone who is facing back luck or is unfortunate. 
8. Inquest- A judicial inquiry process, about any event, more like death or any other incident. This could also mean an investigation or inquiry. 
9. Largesse- Generosity and liberality in sharing wealth or good fortune. 
10. Maudlin- Excessively emotional and sentimental, often tearful and prone to self-pity. 
11. Natty- Stylish, fashionable, smart, and dapper. For instance, being nattily dressed. 
12. Pallid- Means pale, usually due to health issues, or excessively white. 
13. Quotidian- Something that is quotidian is an aspect/element which is everyday, ordinary, and especially mundane. 
14. Stipulate- Lay down something, outline something, demand something, or make something clear, usually in agreement, instruction, and so on. 
15. Verbose- Something that means lengthy and expressing things with many more words than is usually necessary. 

Tougher Words with Their Meaning

1. Abeyance- Something that is suspended or paused temporarily. It may also mean reserved. 
2. Bilk- Means restricting/getting money from an individual without any logical justification or through deceitful means. 
3. Catalyst- Anything that stimulates, sparks, or gives impetus to anything. 
4. Dyspeptic- This means continual irritability or indigestion. This could also equate to depression or being short-tempered due to these issues. 
5. Extant- Something that still survives or exists. 
6. Fracas- A rowdy or noisy argument, quarrel, disturbance, or brawl. 
7. Gerontocracy- A group, authority, society, community, state, or nation governed by older individuals. 
8. Iconoclast- Someone who doesn’t believe in long-established concepts, institutions, and also prevalent beliefs. 
9. Lachrymose- This means anything synonymous with sadness, inducing sadness or tears, or being tearful. 
10. Misanthropy- This means a strong dislike of humanity or mankind.
11. Occlude- Means closing up something, stopping something, or even obstructing or hindering anything. 
12. Philistine- Any individual who is not bothered by artistic and cultural pursuits, knowledge, or refinement. It may mean someone who is boorish and non-intellectual. 
13. Quixotic- This means something which is not practical, realistic, ideal, or even impossibly romantic. 
14. Raconteur- Someone who narrates or tells stories or anecdotes in a way that is entertaining, amusing, engaging, and attractive. 
15. Sanguine- Being optimistic about something or positive about any aspect, particularly in a tough scenario. 
16. Virulent- This means something harmful or severe by nature. 
17. Winnow- This is a technique of blowing air to remove the chaff from the grain. 
18. Yoke- It means a wooden element that is attached over the necks of beasts of burden, like oxen, and keeps them linked to the vehicle that they are pulling.  

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GRE Vocabulary List 2024

The GRE General Test assesses your verbal reasoning skills through a robust vocabulary list and critical thinking essential for graduate-level reading and analysis. The official GRE website emphasizes the importance of understanding complex texts and the relationships among words and concepts. 

Below is a list of words that are representative of the type of vocabulary you may encounter on the 2024 GRE:

1. Admonish - to caution or reprimand.
2. Aesthetic - concerned with beauty or the appreciation of beauty.
3. Chicanery - trickery or subterfuge.
4. Cogent - convincing and well-reasoned.
5. Convoluted - intricate and complicated.
6. Craven - cowardly.
7. Culpable - deserving blame.
8. Decorous - proper; in good taste.
9. Efficacy - the ability to produce a desired or intended result.
10. Egregious - outstandingly bad; shocking.
11. Elegy - a poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead.
12. Emollient - soothing; mollifying.
13. Empirical - based on observation or experiment.
14. Ameliorate - to make better or more tolerable.
15. Anachronism - something out of place in time.
16. Arduous - strenuous, taxing; requiring significant effort.
17. Auspicious - favorable, fortunate.
18. Belie - to give a false impression of; to misrepresent.
19. Benevolent - well-meaning and kindly.
20. Bucolic - relating to the pleasant aspects of the countryside and country life.
21. Cacophony - a harsh, discordant mixture of sounds.
22. Enigmatic - mysterious, inexplicable, puzzling.
23. Ephemeral - lasting a very short time.
24. Esoteric - intended for or likely to be understood by only a small number of people with specialized knowledge.
25. Exculpate - to clear from blame; prove innocent.
26. Furtive - secretive; attempting to avoid notice or attention.
27. Garrulous - excessively talkative.
28. Inchoate - not fully formed; disorganized.
29. Laconic - using few words; terse.
30. Diatribe - a forceful and bitter verbal attack.
31. Diffident - lacking self-confidence.
32. Ebullient - cheerful and full of energy.
33. Eclectic - deriving ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources.

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Sample Exercise

Every sentence has a phrase or word marked in bold. There are four other options given to you. 

Choose the one that matches the meaning in the best possible manner. 

Question 1- It is hard to get people to notice you at gatherings, especially when they are predisposed to be distant from others. 

1. Aloof
2. Welcoming
3. Wary
4. Opposite 

Question 2- The boxes for the factory are positioned on top of their respective desks. 

1. Over
2. Upper
3. Below
4. Beside

Question 3- There have been several questions regarding the purchase of advanced aircraft by the company over the last few years. 

1. Airplanes
2. Highways
3. Sailboats
4. Railway engines

Question 4- There are several small stores dotting the area, which are locally called shacks. 

1. In the area
2. Usually 
3. Occasionally 
4. To everyone 

Question 5- People cannot always recollect their memories of childhood, though they seem to try. 

1. Remember
2. Appreciate
3. Admire
4. Disrupt 

Question 6- What about the Keto diet? It seems to have captivated everyone. 

1. Nutritional strategy
2. Exercise routine
3. Medicine plan
4. Study of physical fitness 

Question 7- She was educated at a leading global university and wanted to show off her knowledge with her ________________ to research. 

1. Commitment
2. Repulsion
3. Observations 

Question 8- When the administration does not agree to something, then the press often tries to ______________ them in a negative light. 

1. Project
2. Destroy
3. Admire 

Question 9-  People in various corporate offices are often known for their punctuality. However, some are characterized by their penchant to be late on a daily basis, leaving their future in ______________. 

1. Abeyance
2. Doubt
3. Good Hands 

Question 10- Are you more inclined towards __________________ poetry or are you keener on music as your optional subject? 

1. Pursuing
2. Destroying
3. Admiring

Tips to Build Your GRE Vocabulary

Building a strong vocabulary is crucial for success on the GRE and essential for students planning to study abroad. It enhances comprehension and performance across all sections. 

According to the official GRE website, here are effective strategies to expand your vocabulary:

1. Read Widely: Engage with reading diverse materials, such as academic journals, newspapers, and literature. Pay attention to unfamiliar words and their contexts. Try to put those words to use in your regular conversations.

2. Use Flashcards: Create personalized flashcards for vocabulary words you encounter. Note them with their meaning and example to better understand their use. Review these GRE flashcards you prepare regularly to reinforce retention.

3. Contextual Learning: Gain an understanding of the nuances and meanings of words by understanding their use in sentences and paragraphs. For this, you must build an aptitude of how the word fits in the sentence.

4. Practice with GRE Materials: Utilize official GRE practice tests and materials that incorporate vocabulary found frequently on the exam.

5. Prefixes, Suffixes, and Roots: Learn common prefixes, suffixes, and roots to decipher the meanings of unfamiliar words.

6. Consistent Review: Schedule regular study sessions dedicated to vocabulary building to maintain and expand your word bank.

7. Apply Words Actively: Use new vocabulary in your speaking and writing to solidify understanding and application.

In fact, you can create a GRE word list vocabulary with memory triggers that will help you during revision or last-minute practice.

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To conclude, expanding your vocabulary and putting it to practical use will help you if you wish to take the 2024 GRE test. I hope this compiled list of GRE vocabulary will help you become familiar with words that you can encounter on the test. You must keep practicing to apply these words to enhance your language skills. All the best for your GRE preparation!