The Best 4 GRE Prep Books:
・The Official Guide to the GRE General Test
・Princeton Review GRE Premium Prep, 2021
・500 Essential Words: GRE Vocabulary Flashcards
・500 Essential Vocabulary Words to Help Boost Your GRE Score
Essential Vocabulary for the GRE【Part 13】1201. lukewarm ～ 1300. mortgage
1201. lukewarm [adjective]
not enthusiastic or interested:
Both actors gave fairly lukewarm performances.
1202. lullaby [noun]
a quiet song that is sung to children to help them go to sleep:
The infant’s mother sang her Hush Little Baby every night, so it quickly became the child’s favorite lullaby.
1203. lumber [verb]
to move in a slow, awkward, and heavy way:
In the distance, we could see a herd of elephants lumbering across the plain.
1204. luminary [noun]
a person who is famous and important in a particular area of activity:
Because Dr. Swanson is a luminary in the medical profession, he recently had a surgical procedure named after him.
1205. luminous [adjective]
producing or reflecting bright light, especially in the dark:
The movie editor used the computer program to give the actress the luminous appearance of an angel.
1206. lurid [adjective]
causing horror or revulsion:
Because the testimony in the courtroom was lurid, the judge asked the defendant’s small children to remain outside in the hallway.
1207. lurk [verb]
to stay around a place secretly, or to stay hidden, waiting to attack or appear:
Hungry lions lurk in the tall grass and wait for unsuspecting gazelles to cross their path.
1208. lustrous [adjective]
very shiny:
Her lustrous eyes shined brightly under the glow of the full moon.
1209. macabre [adjective]
used to describe something that is very strange and unpleasant because it is connected with death or violence:
Police have made a macabre discovery.
1210. Machiavellian [adjective]
using clever but often dishonest methods that deceive people so that you can win power or control:
My supervisor is very sneaky and has been known to exhibit Machiavellian behavior in order to move up in the company.
1211. machination [noun]
a scheming or crafty action or artful design intended to accomplish some usually evil end:
Fortunately, law enforcement stepped in before the crazed man could put his machination into action.
1212. maelstrom [noun]
a situation in which there is great confusion, violence, and destruction:
The country is gradually being sucked into the maelstrom of civil war.
1213. magnanimous [adjective]
very kind and generous towards an enemy or someone you have defeated:
The team's manager was magnanimous in victory, and praised the losing team.
1214. magnate [noun]
a person who is very successful, powerful, and rich, especially in a particular business:
Due to his status as a political magnate, many people were eager to vote for him in the next election.
1215. magnum opus
the most important piece of work done by a writer or artist:
The author had written many books but didn’t release his magnum opus, Charlotte’s Web, until 1952.
1216. maize [noun]
a tall plant grown in many parts of the world for its yellow seeds, which are eaten as food, made into flour, or fed to animals:
The villagers cultivate mostly maize and beans.
1217. maladjusted [adjective]
poorly or inadequately adjusted:
The maladjusted teenager suffers from depression and has a hard time socializing with his classmates.
1218. maladroit [adjective]
awkward in movement or unskilled in behavior or action:
The nervous boy was maladroit and stuttered over his words as he invited the girl to the dance.
1219. malady [noun]
a disease, or a problem in the way something works:
After the surgery, my physical malady should not bother me anymore.
1220. malediction [noun]
words that are intended to bring bad luck to someone or that express the hope that someone will have bad luck:
The witch’s malediction made the young princess fall into a deep sleep.
1221. malevolent [adjective]
causing or wanting to cause harm or evil:
I could feel his malevolent gaze as I walked away.
1222. malicious [adjective]
intended to harm or upset other people:
She was hurt by malicious comments made about her on Facebook.
1223. malign [adjective]
causing or intending to cause harm or evil:
Foreign domination had a malign influence on local politics.
1224. malinger [verb]
to pretend to be ill in order to avoid having to work:
The lazy student tried to malinger when it was time to work on his essay.
1225. malleable [adjective]
easily influenced, trained, or controlled:
The most successful commercials are the ones which take advantage of the human mind’s ability to be malleable.
1226. mammalian [adjective]
relating to mammals:
The disease can spread from one mammalian species to another.
1227. manacle [verb]
to confine with manacles;
His arm was manacled to a ring on the wall.
1228. manifest [adjective]
easily noticed or obvious:
His manifest joy in music is evident as soon as he starts to speak.
1229. manipulate [verb]
to control something or someone to your advantage, often unfairly or dishonestly:
Some businesses manipulate their company profile by deleting negative reviews.
1230. mannered [adjective]
artificial, or intended to achieve a particular effect:
He continued to write, but his mannered prose was not well received.
1231. manumit [verb]
to release from slavery:
The terrible history of slavery includes stories of owners who might manumit a slave as a reward for serving in their stead in the Revolutionary War.
1232. mar [verb]
to spoil something, making it less good or less enjoyable:
Water will mar the finish of polished wood.
1233. marginal [adjective]
very small in amount or effect:
Because the difference in the paint colors is marginal, no one can tell Ann painted her kitchen using two dissimilar hues.
1234. marginalize [verb]
to treat someone or something as if they are not important:
We've always been marginalized, exploited, and constantly threatened by the ruthless leader.
1235. martial [adjective]
relating to soldiers, war, or life in the armed forces:
Even in his later years, my grandfather retained the martial posture that carried him through thirty-five years in the navy.
1236. martinet [noun]
someone who demands that rules and orders always be obeyed, even when it is unnecessary or unreasonable to do so:
As a colonel in the army, John is a martinet who believes discipline is the only path to success.
1237. martyr [noun]
a person who suffers very much or is killed because of their religious or political beliefs, and is often admired because of it:
Joan became a martyr after she lost her life in the fight again religious persecution.
1238. mastery [noun]
great skill in a particular job or activity:
My mother has earned her mastery in nursing through several years of school that required a lot of study and effort on her part.
1239. maudlin [adjective]
weakly and effusively sentimental:
I could not enjoy the movie because it was so maudlin that it came across as incredibly foolish.
1240. maverick [noun]
a person who thinks and acts in an independent way, often behaving differently from the expected or usual way:
She has established a reputation as a maverick.
1241. maxim [noun]
a short statement of a general truth, principle, or rule for behavior:
My grandmother had a wise maxim to help me get through all of my teenage crises.
1242. mayhem [noun]
a situation in which there is little or no order or control:
Their arrival caused mayhem as crowds of refugees rushed towards them.
1243. meager [adjective]
very small or not enough:
Because you only earn a meager salary, you should be very careful about your spending.
The prisoners existed on a meager diet.
1244. meddlesome [adjective]
often getting involved in situations where you are not wanted, especially by criticizing in a damaging or annoying way:
Meddlesome men spent their morning drinking coffee and discussing their neighbors business.
1245. mediator [noun]
a person who tries to end a disagreement by helping the two sides to talk about and agree on a solution:
A mediator was needed to help the divorcing couple come to an agreement.
1246. megalomania [noun]
an unnaturally strong wish for power and control, or the belief that you are very much more important and powerful than you really are:
The singer’s megalomania has turned her into an arrogant woman who is disliked by everyone who truly knows her.
1247. mélange [noun]
a mixture, or a group of different things or people:
The buffet had a mélange of food from various cultures.
1248. mellifluous [adjective]
having a pleasant and flowing sound:
The actor has a mellifluous voice that could lull anyone into a deep sleep.
1249. melodramatic [adjective]
showing much stronger emotions than are necessary or usual for a situation:
For the practical viewer, the soap opera was way too melodramatic.
1250. menace [verb]
to represent or pose a threat to:
The hurricane menaced the eastern coast for a week.
1251. mendacious [adjective]
not telling the truth:
Some of these statements are misleading and some are downright mendacious.
1252. mendicant [noun]
someone, especially a member of a religious group, who lives by asking people they do not know for money:
The mendicant hoped pedestrians would drop money in his bucket.
1253. mercenary [adjective]
interested only in the amount of money that you can get from a situation:
He had some mercenary scheme to marry a wealthy widow.
1254. mercurial [adjective]
changing suddenly and often:
Because Mary is taking a new medication, her moods have become quite mercurial.
1255. meretricious [adjective]
seeming attractive but really false or of little value:
He claims that a lot of journalism is meretricious and superficial.
1256. mesmerize [verb]
to hold completely the attention or interest of someone:
Because Jennifer was mesmerized by the author’s writing style, she purchased all of his books.
1257. messianic [adjective]
relating or belonging to a messiah:
He announced the imminent arrival of a messianic leader.
1258. metamorphosis [noun]
a complete change of character, appearance, or condition:
During this particular metamorphosis, the caterpillar becomes a butterfly.
1259. metaphor [noun]
an expression that describes a person or object by referring to something that is considered to possess similar characteristics:
The walking dictionary is a fitting metaphor used to describe the spelling bee champion.
1260. metaphysical [adjective]
relating to the part of philosophy that is about understanding existence and knowledge:
A lot of scientists don't like discussing metaphysical matters.
1261. metastasize [verb]
to spread or grow by or as if by metastasis:
The idea of revolution began to metastasize and spread from Moscow to the impoverished Russian countryside.
1262. meticulous [adjective]
very careful and with great attention to every detail:
This accounting job requires a meticulous person.
1263. mettle [noun]
ability and determination when competing or doing something difficult:
Maxwell joined several boards of directors in order to prove his mettle as a community leader.
1264. mettlesome [adjective]
full of mettle:
The actor was considered a mettlesome dramatic performer.
1265. microcosm [noun]
a small place, society, or situation that has the same characteristics as something much larger:
The airport sometimes seems likes a microcosm of the globe with people arriving and leaving from all over the world.
1266. milieu [noun]
the people, physical, and social conditions and events that provide the environment in which someone acts or lives:
Because my father grew up in a military milieu, he knew he wanted to join the armed forces when he graduated from high school.
1267. militate [verb]
to make something less likely to happen or succeed:
In business, the demand will usually militate the product’s price.
1268. mimetic [adjective]
representing or imitating something, especially in art:
Art is a mimetic representation of reality.
1269. minatory [adjective]
expressing a warning or a threat:
My boss’s minatory emails always seemed to be a mix of threatening and intimidating.
1270. minuscule [adjective]
extremely small:
Many fast food workers are quitting their jobs because of minuscule salaries.
1271. minutiae [noun]
small and often not important details:
The students ignored their teacher as she told them minutiae about her boring life.
1272. miraculous [adjective]
very effective or surprising, or difficult to believe:
Her miraculous recovery surprised the hospital staff.
1273. mire [noun]
an unpleasant situation that is difficult to escape:
We must not be drawn into the mire of civil war.
1274. mirth [noun]
laughter, humor, or happiness:
Her impersonations of our teachers were a source of considerable mirth.
1275. misanthrope [noun]
someone who dislikes and avoids other people:
The old man was a misanthrope who surrounded his entire yard with barbed wire to keep his neighbors at bay.
1276. miscellany [noun]
a mixture of different things:
The library contained a miscellany of various types of books including both nonfiction and fictional titles.
1277. miscreant [noun]
someone who behaves badly or does not obey rules:
The miscreant will not be able to get out of jail without the assistance of a good attorney.
1278. mishmash [noun]
a confused mixture:
The magazine is a jumbled mishmash of jokes, stories, and serious news.
1279. misnomer [noun]
a name that does not suit what it refers to, or the use of such a name:
Dry cleaning is a misnomer, since the clothes are cleaned in a fluid.
1280. misogyny [adjective]
feelings of hating women, or the belief that men are much better than women:
She left the Church because of its misogynist teachings on women and their position in society.
1281. missive [noun]
an official, formal, or long letter:
The school secretary has placed a missive regarding new evacuation procedures in all staff mailboxes.
1282. mistress [noun]
a woman who has control over or responsibility for someone or something:
I'll inform the mistress of your arrival.
1283. mitigate [verb]
to make something less harmful, unpleasant, or bad:
The doctor gave me a prescription to mitigate the pain.
1284. mnemonic [noun]
something such as a very short poem or a special word used to help a person remember something:
Our math professor taught us a simple mnemonic for remembering how to complete the equation.
1285. mock [verb]
to laugh at someone, often by copying them in a funny but unkind way:
She made fun of him by mocking his limp.
1286. modicum [noun]
a small amount:
There's not even a modicum of truth in her statement.
1287. modish [adjective]
fashionable:
The contemporary art lover prefers modish pieces over traditional pieces from the past.
1288. mollify [verb]
to make someone less angry or upset, or to make something less severe or more gentle:
I am hoping the hot tea and crackers will mollify my husband and help him relax.
1289. molt [verb]
to lose feathers, skin, or hair as a natural process before a new growth of feathers, skin, or hair:
With dead shreds of skin lying around the cage, it was apparent that the lizard did molt his skin.
1290. molten [adjective]
melted or made liquid by being heated to very high temperatures:
Molten lava erupted from the top of the volcano.
1291. monastic [adjective]
of or related to monasteries or monks:
For the new monks who had recently joined the monastery, the monastic lifestyle was quite shocking.
1292. monger [noun]
a person who encourages a particular activity, especially one that causes trouble:
The greedy monger raised the price of bread and milk during the blizzard.
1293. moot [adjective]
often discussed or argued about but having no definite answer:
Federal legislation will override the states’ concerns and make them moot.
1294. moralize [verb]
to express judgments about what is morally right and wrong:
The humorous storyteller tried not to moralize and rarely told stories that had a deeper meaning.
1295. morbid [adjective]
too interested in unpleasant subjects, especially death:
The morbid pictures of the victim should never have been put on the front page of the newspaper.
1296. mordant [adjective]
cruel and criticizing in a humorous way:
The mordant mother often used harsh words that made her son cry.
1297. moribund [adjective]
not active or successful:
The figures show a moribund remortgage market.
1298. morose [adjective]
unhappy, annoyed, and unwilling to speak or smile:
After their team lost the basketball game, the disappointed fans looked morose.
1299. mortal [noun]
an ordinary person, rather than a god or a special, important, or powerful person:
All human beings are mortal.
1300. mortgage [noun]
an agreement that allows you to borrow money from a bank or similar organization, especially in order to buy a house, or the amount of money itself:
The newly married couple checked the rates on the mortgage to determine how much they would have to pay for their dream home.
REFERENCE
: Essential Vocabulary for the GRE
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