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GRE Barrons Words G
A complete list of Barron's GRE Wordlist, with meanings and sentences.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| gadfly | animal-biting fly; an irritating person Like a gadfly, he irritated all the guests at the hotel; within forty eight hours, everyone regarded him as an annoying busybody. |
| gaffe | social blunder According to Miss Manners, to call your husband by your lover's name is worse than a mere gaffe; it is a tactical mistake. |
| gainsay | deny She was too honest to gainsay the truth of the report. |
| gait | manner of walking or running; speed The lame man walked with an uneven gait. |
| galaxy | the Milky Way; any collection of brilliant personalities The deaths of such famous actors as Clark Gable, Gary Cooper, Spencer Tracy, and Marlene Dietrich demonstrate that the galaxy of Hollywood superstars is rapidly disppearing. |
| gall | bitterness; nerve The knowledge of his failure filled him with gall. |
| gall | annoy; chafe Their taunts galled him. |
| galleon | large sailing ship The Spaniards pinned their hopes on the galleon, the large warship; the British, on the smaller and faster pinnace. |
| galvanize | stimulate by shock; stir up The entire nation was galvanized into strong military activity by the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor. |
| gambit | opening in chess in which a piece is sacrificed The player was afraid to accept his opponent's gambit because he feared a trap which as yet he could not see. |
| gambol | skip; leap playfully Watching children gamboling in the park is a pleasant experience |
| gamely | in a spirited manner; with courage Because he had fought gamely against a much superior boxer, the crowd gave him a standing ovation when he left the arena. |
| gamut | entire range In this performance, the leading lady was able to demonstrate the complete gamut of her acting ability. |
| gape | open widely The huge pit gaped before him; if he stumbled, he would fall in. |
| garbled | mixed up; jumbled; distorted A favorite party game involves passing a whispered message from one person to another; by the time it reaches the last player, the message has become totally garbled. |
| gargantuan | huge; enormous The gargantuan wrestler was terrified of mice. |
| gargolye | waterspout carved in groteque figures on a building The gargoyles adorning the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris are amusing in their grotesqueness. |
| garish | gaudy She wore a garish rhinestone necklace. |
| garner | gather; store up She hoped to garner the world's literature in one library. |
| garnish | decorate Parsley was used to garnish the boiled potato. |
| garrulity | talkativeness The man who married a dumb wife asked the doctor to make him deaf because of his wife's garrulity after her cure. |
| garrulous | excessively talkative, especially about unimportant subjects; loquacious; wordy Many club members avoided the company of the garrulous junior executive because his contant chatter bored them to tears. |
| gastronomy | science of preparing and serving good food One of the by-products of his trip to Europe was his interest in gastronomy; he enjoyed preparing and serving foreign dishes to his friends. |
| gauche | clumsy; boorish Such remarks are gauche and out of place; you should apologize for making them. |
| gaudy | flashy; showy Her gaudy taste in clothes apalled us. |
| gaunt | lean and angular; barren His once-round face looked surprisingly gaunt after he had lost weight. |
| gawk | stare foolishly; look in open-mouthed awe The country boy gawked at the skyscrapers and neon lights of the big city. |
| gazette | official publication He read the gazettes regularly for announcement of his promotion. |
| genealogy | record of descent; lineage He was proud of his genealogy and constantly referred to the achievements of his ancestors. |
| generality | vague statement This report is filled with generalities; you must be more specific in you statements. |
| generic | characteristic of an entire class or species Sue knew so many computer programmers who spent their spare time playing fantasy games that she began to think that playing Dungeon & Dragons was a generic trait. |
| genesis | beginning; origin Tracing the genesis of a family is the theme of "Roots." |
| geniality | cheerfulness; kindliness; sympathy This restaurant is famous and popular because of the geniality of the proprietor, who tries to make everyone happy. |
| genre | particular variety of art or literature Both a short story writer and a poet, Langston Hughes proved himself equally skilled in either genre. |
| genteel | well-bred; elegant We are looking for a man with a genteel apperance who can inspire confidence by his cultivated manner. |
| gentility | those of gentle birth; refinement Her family was proud of its gentility and elegance. |
| gentry | people of standing; class of people just below nobility The local gentry did not welcome the visits of the summer tourists and tried to ignore their presence in the community. |
| genuflect | bend the knee as in worship A proud denocrat, he refused to genuflect to any man. |
| germane | pertinent; bearing upon the case at hand The lawyer objected that the testimony being offered was not germane to the case at hand. |
| germinal | pertaining to a germ; creative Such an idea is germinal; I am certain that it will influence thinkers and philosophers for many generations. |
| germinate | cause to sprout; sprout After the seeds germinate and develop their permanent leaves, the plants may be removed from the cold frames and transplanted to the garden. |
| gerontocracy | government ruled by old people Gulliver visited a gerontocracy in which the young people acted as servants to their elders, all the while dreaming of the day they would be old enough to have servants of their own. |
| gerrymander | change in voting district lines in order to favor a political party The illogical pattern of the map of this congressional district is proof that the state legislature gerrymandered this area in order to favor the majority party. |
| gestate | evolve, as in prenatal growth While this scheme was being gestated by the conspirators, they maintained complete silence about their intentions. |
| gesticulation | motion; gesture Operatic performers are trained to make exaggerated gesticulations because of the large auditoriums in whic they appear. |
| ghastly | horrible The murdered man was a ghastly sight. |
| gibberish | nonsense; babbling Did you hear that foolish boy spouting gibberish about monsters from outer space? |
| gibe | mock As you gibe at their superstitious beliefs, do you realize that you, too, are guilty of similarly foolish thoughts? |
| giddy | light-hearted; dizzy He felt his giddy youth was past. |
| gingerly | very carefully To separate egg whites, first crack the egg gingerly. |
| girth | distance around something; circunference It took an extra-large cummerbund to fit around Andrew Carnegie's considerable girth. |
| gist | essence she was asked to give the gist of the essay in two sentence. |
| glacial | like a glacier; extremely cold Never a warm person, when offended hugo could seem positively glacial. |
| glaring | highly conspicuous; harshly bright glaring spelling or grammatical errors in your resume will unfavorably impress potential employers. |
| glaze | cover with a thin and shiny surface The freezing rain glazed the streets and made driving hazardous. |
| glean | gather leavings After the crops had been harvested by the machines, the peasants were permitted to glean the wheat left in the fields. |
| glib | fluent He is a glib and articulate speaker. |
| glimmer | shine erratically; twinkle In the darkness of the cavern, the glowworms hanging from the cavern roof glimmered like distant stars. |
| gloat | express evil satisfaction; view malevolently As you gloat over your ill-gotten wealth, do you think of the many victims you have defrauded? |
| gloss | over explain away No matter how hard he tried to talk around the issue, President Bush could not gloss over the fact that he had raised the taxes after all. |
| glossary | brief explanation of words used in the text I have found the glossary in this book very useful; it has eliminated many trips to the dictionary. |
| glossy | smooth and shining I want this photograph printed on glossy paper, not matte. |
| glower | scowl The angry boy glowered at his father. |
| glut | overstock; fill to excess The many manufacturers glutted the market and could not find purchasers for the many articles they had produced. |
| glutinous | sticky; viscous Molasses is a glutinous substance. |
| glutton | someone who eats too much When Mother saw that Bobby had eaten all the cookies, she called him a little glutton. |
| gnarled | twisted The gnarled oak tree had been a landmark for years and was mentioned in several deeds. |
| gnome | dwarf; underground spirit In medieval mythology, gnomes were the special guardians and inhabitants of subterranean mines. |
| goad | urge on He was goaded by his friends until he yielded to their wishes. |
| gorge | narrow canyon; steep, rocky cleft Terrified of heights, George could not bring himself to peer down into the gorge to see the rapids below. |
| gorge | stuff oneself The gluttonous guest gorged himself with food as though he had not eaten for days. |
| gory | bloody The audience shuddered as they listened to the details of the gory massacre. |
| gossamer | sheer; like cobwebs Nylon can be woven into gossaner or thick fabrics. |
| gouge | tear out In that fight, all the rules were forgotten; the adversaries bit, kicked, and tried to gouge each other's eyes out. |
| gourmand | epicure; person who takes excessive pleasure in food and drink goumands lack self-restraint; if they enjoy a particular cuisine, they eat far too much of it. |
| gourmet | connoisseur of food and drink The gourmet stated that this was the best onion soup she had ever tasted. |
| graduated | arraged by degree (of height, difficulty, etc.) Margaret loved her graduated set of Russian hollow wooden dolls; she spent hours happily putting the smaller dolls into their larger counterparts. |
| granary | storehouse for grain We have reason to be thankful, for our crops were good and our granaries are full. |
| grandeur | impressiveness; stateliness; majesty No matter how often he hiked through the mountains, David never failed to be struck by the grandeur of the Sierra Nevada range. |
| grandiloquent | pompous; bombastic; using high-sounding language The politician could bever speak simply; she was always grandiloquent. |
| grandiose | imposing; impressive His grandiose manner impressed those who met him for the first time. |
| granulate | form into grains Sugar that has been granulated dissolves more readily than lump sugar. |
| graphic | pertaining to the art of delineating; vividly described I was particularly impressed by the graphic presentation of the storm. |
| grapple | wrestle; come to grips with He grappled with the burglar and overpowered him. |
| grate | make a harsh noise; have an unpleasant effect; shred The screams of the quarreling children grated on her nerves. |
| gratify | please Her parents were gratified by her success. |
| gratis | free The company offered to give one package gratis to every purchaser of one of their products. |
| gratuitous | given freely; unwarranted; uncalled for Quit making gratuitous comments about my driving; no one asked you for your opinion. |
| gratuity | tip Many service employees rely more on gratuities than on salaries for their livelihood. |
| gravity | seriousness We could tell we were in serious trouble from the gravity of her expression. |
| gregarious | sociable Typically, party-throwers are gregarious; hermits are not. |
| grievance | cause of complaint When her supervisor ignored her complaint, she took her grievance to the union. |
| grill | question severely In violation of the Miranda law, the police grilled the suspect for several hours before reading him his rights. |
| grimace | a facial distortion to show feeling such as pain, disgust, etc. Even though he remained silent, his grimace indicated his displeasure. |
| grisly | ghastly She shuddered at the grisly sight. |
| grotesque | fantastic; comically hideous On Halloween people enjoy wearing groteque costumes. |
| grotto | small cavern The Blue Grotto in Capri can be entered only by small boats rowed by natives through a natural opening in the rocks. |
| grouse | complain; fuss Students traditionally grouse about the abysmal quality of "mystery meat" and similar dornitory food. |
| grovel | crawl or creep on ground; remain prostrate Even though we have been defeated, we do not have to grovel before our conquerors. |
| grudging | unwilling; reluctant; stingy We received only grudging support from the mayor despite his earlier promises of aid. |
| gruel | thin, liquid porridge Our daily allotment of gruel made the meal not only monotonous but also unpalatable. |
| grueling | exhausting The marathon is a grueling race. |
| gruesome | grisly People screamed when her gruesome appearance was flashed on the screen. |
| gruff | rough-mannered Although he was blunt and gruff with most people, he was always gentle with children. |
| guffaw | boisterous laughter The loud guffaws that came from the closed room indicated that the members of the committe had not yet settled down to a serious business. |
| guile | deceit; duplicity She achieved her high position by guile and treachery. |
| guileless | without deceit He is naive, simple, and guileless; he cannot be guilty of fraud. |
| guise | appearance; costume In the guise of a plumber, the detective investigated the murder case. |
| gullible | easily deceived He preyed upon gullible people, who believed his stories of easy wealth. |
| gustatory | affecting the sense of taste The Thai restaurant offered an unusual gustatory experience for those used in a bland cuisine. |
| gusto | enjoyment; enthusiasm He accepted the assignment with such gusto that I feel he would have been satisfied with a smaller salary. |
| gusty | windy The gusty weather made sailing precarious. |
| gyroscope | apparatus used to maintain balance, ascertain direction, etc. By using a rotating gyroscope, they were able to stabilize the vessel, counteracting the rolling movements of the sea. 114. - apparatus used to maintain balance, ascertain direction, etc. |
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