pos: verb

def: to depart clandestinely; the steal off and hide

sentence: The thief absconded with the cash from the safe

pos: verb

def: to make better or more tolerable

sentence: The man was trying to ameliorate the suffering of the people who had lost their jobs

pos: adj

def: strenuous; tacing; requiring signifigant effort

sentence: The hike up Mt. Everest was long and arduous

pos: noun

def: one who practiecs rigid self-denial, esp. as an act of religious devotion

sentence: The ascetic's day consisted only of meditation

pos: adj

def: without adornment; bare; severely simple; ascetic

sentence: The quaker family lived an austere life in the country

pos: noun

def: a universally recognized principal

sentence: Adaptation as a means of survival is one of the key axioms of the theory of evolution

pos: adj

def: taken as a given; possessing self-evident truth

sentence: It is axiomatic that the instinct for self-preservation is universal throughout the animal kingdom

bucolic

pos: adj

def: rustic and pastoral; characteristic of rural areas and their inhabitants

sentence: It was a bucolic region of farm and pasture land

canonical

pos: adj

def: following or in agreement with accepted, traditional standards

sentence

pos: adj

def: argumentative; quarrelsome; causing controversy or disagreement

sentence: The debate on make abortions illegal proved to be a contentious topic during tonight's city hall meeting

pos: adj

def: complex and complicated

sentence: He gave a convoluted explanation that left the listeners even more confused than they were before

pos: adj

def: deserving blame

sentence: They held her culpable for the accident

pos: verb

def: to undecieve; to set right

sentence: Allow me to disabuse you of your foolish notions about married life

pos: adj

def: composed of elements drawn from various sources

sent: she had an eclectic collection of music, ranging from reggae to death metal to classical baroque muzac

pos: noun

def: extreme boldness; presumptuousness

sent: the little squirt had the effrontery to deny eating any cookies, even with the crumbs still on his lips

ephemeral

pos: adj

def: brief; fleeting

sent: the autumnal blaze of colors is always to be treasured, all the more so because it is so ephemeral

pos: adj

def: very learned; scholarly

sent: The most erudite people in medical research attended the conference

pos: noun

def: a speech honoring the dead

sentence: the eulogy the son gave at his father's funeral was moving

pos: adj

def: improvised; done without preperation

sentence: Caught by surprise, I had to make an extemperaneous speech at the awards banquet

pos: adj

def: playful; humorous

sent: a facetious and tasteless remark about people in famine-stricken countries being spared the problem of overeating

pos: verb

def: to loudly attack or denounce

sent: She was fulminating about the dangers of smoking

pos: noun

def: an exaggerated statement, often used as a figure of speech

sent: “enough food to feed a whole army” is a common example of hyperbole

pos: adj

def: clear; easily understood

sentence: Lucid dreaming is the bomb because everything is so clear and easily understood

pos: noun

def:  the act or state of swinging back and forth with a steady, inunterrupted rhythm

def: seriously? This is a GRE word?

pos: noun

def: a song or hymn of praise and thanksgiving

sentence: His retirment party featured many paeans for his long years of service to the company

penurious

pos: adj

def: penny-pinching; excessivelly thrifty; ungenerous

sentence: The veterinary hospitals penurious management resulted in employees leaving due to poor pay

pos: noun

adj: intentional breach of faith; treachery

sent: He decided to forgive his wife's perfidy, choosing to ascribe it to a moment of uncharacterisitc weakness

pos: adj

def: extremely harmful; potentially causing death

sent: The pernicious effects of jealousy

pos: adj

def: acutely perceptive; having keen discernment

sent: Lindsay is a very perspicacious person, able to detect personality traits from the most minute gesture or expressions

pos: adj

def: extremely reverent or devout; showing strong religous devotion

sent: the monk spoke only with pious words

pos: verb

def: to cause or happen before anticipated or required

sent: Her death precipitated a family crisis

pos: noun

def: one that precedes and indicates or announces another

sent: The chicken plant was a precursor of the modern egg plant

pos: noun

def: a disposition in favor of something; preference

sentence: An old man with a predilection for telling tall tales

Prolific

pos: adj

def: producing large volumes or amounts; productive

sentence: A famously prolific author who could produce several works of fiction and nonfiction a year

pos: noun

def: misgivings; reservations; causes for hesitancy

sent: I had no qualms with the dobermann pinscher because dobermanns are awesome

pos: noun

def: stillness; motionless; quality of being at rest

sent: was struck by the elk's quiescence as it just stood there in the clearing

recant

verb

to retract; esp a previously held belief

I recant my previous statement about whatever thing it was the I have since changed my mind about

adj

awe-inspiring; worthy of honor

There is a new biography of the redoubtable Winston Churchill

adj

quiet; reserved; reluctant to express thoughts and feelings

My boyfriend is by nature a reticent person, and I resigned myself to that fact long ago

adj

characterized by flith, grime, or squalor; foul

The basement was a sordid hell hole of moldy clothing and dead rats

Squalid

adj

sordid; wretched and dirty as from neglect

The poor family lived in squalid conditions

adj

indifferent to or unaffected by pleasure or pain; steadfast

I am certainly not a stoic person

verb

to block or thwart

His attempts at talking to the pretty girl were stymied by her cockblocking friend

verb

to take the place of; supersede

old traditions that were fading away and being supplanted by modern ways

adj

lethargic; sluggish; dormant

When dehydrated, I find my mind to be slow and torpid

noun

truthfullness; honesty

We questions the veracity of his statements