Essential Vocabulary for the GRE【Part 14】1301. mortify ～ 1400. palatable

Coming from a small town of only four hundred residents, Jonas was shocked by the millions of people who made up the multifarious population of the big city.

1305. mundane [adjective]

ordinary and not interesting in any way:

The restaurant should replace the dull and mundane dishes to spice up their menu.

1306. munificence [noun]

the quality of being very generous with money:

I thanked them for their munificence.

1307. munificent [adjective]

very generous with money:

The wealthy actor always gives the members of his staff munificent appreciation gifts.

1308. munition [noun]

military equipment and supplies, especially bombs, shells, and guns:

Although they were out of munitions and firepower, the relentless troop refused to retreat.

1309. murderous [adjective]

extremely dangerous and likely to commit murder:

I couldn't withstand the murderous heat.

1310. murky [adjective]

dark and dirty or difficult to see through:

The frightened little boy refused to walk with his friends through the murky forest.

1311. muse [verb]

to think about something carefully and for a long time:

I began to muse about the possibility of starting my own business.

1312. mutation [noun]

a permanent change in an organism, or the changed organism itself:

A new vaccination had to be created for a mutation of the antigen.

1313. mutiny [noun]

refusal to obey orders, or a violent attempt to take control from people in authority:

Because the mutiny failed, the tyrant is still in power.

1314. myopic [adjective]

unable to understand a situation or the way actions will affect it in the future:

Their myopic refusal to act now will undoubtedly cause problems in the future.

1315. myriad [adjective]

a very large number of something:

Kelly and Clint discuss myriad topics on their talk show.

1316. mythical [adjective]

imaginary or not real:

The mythical creature had the head of a man and the body of a horse in the story.

1317. nadir [noun]

the point at which something is at its lowest value or level:

The defeat was the nadir of her career.

1318. nanny [noun]

a person whose job is to take care of a particular family's children:

They have a male nanny for their kids.

1319. nascent [adjective]

in the earliest stages of development:

Everyone in this nascent business is still struggling with basic issues.

1320. natty [adjective]

stylish and tidy in every detail:

He's always been a natty dresser.

1321. naysayer [noun]

someone who says something is not possible, is not good, or will fail:

He ignored the naysayers and persevered.

1322. nebulous [adjective]

unclear and lacking form:

Scientists are not certain why nebulous gas balls rotate around the planet.

1323. necromancy [noun]

the act of communicating with the dead in order to discover what is going to happen in the future, or black magic:

It seems that some people still believe in necromancy.

1324. nefarious [adjective]

morally bad:

The company's CEO seems to have been involved in some nefarious practices.

1325. negate [verb]

to cause something to have no effect:

The increase in our profits has been negated by the rising costs of running the business.

1326. neologism [noun]

a new word or expression, or a new meaning for an existing word:

The neologism became so popular that it was added to most dictionaries.

1327. neophyte [noun]

someone who has recently become involved in an activity and is still learning about it:

Because I have very little computer experience, I am a neophyte when it comes to working with most software programs.

1328. nettle [verb]

to make someone annoyed or slightly angry:

My brother will often nettle me by reading my diary.

1329. nexus [noun]

an important connection between the parts of a system or a group of things:

The school cafeteria is the nexus of student activity.

1330. noble [adjective]

moral in an honest, brave, and kind way:

His followers believe they are fighting for a noble cause.

1331. nobleman [noun]

a member of the nobility:

The wealthy nobleman has never worked a day in his life.

1332. noisome [adjective]

very unpleasant and offensive:

The dog’s noisome odor is making me physically ill.

1333. nominal [adjective]

in name or thought but not in fact or not as things really are:

The court gave me a nominal award that did not cover the cost of my car repairs.

1334. nonchalant [adjective]

behaving in a calm manner, often in a way that suggests you are not interested or do not care:

The rich man was very nonchalant about wrecking his car.

1335. nonplus [verb]

to cause to be at a loss as to what to say, think, or do:

The aggressive questioning at the job interview nonplussed the applicant.

1336. nontrivial [adjective]

not trivial:

In contrast to previous theoretical work, our model economy includes a nontrivial role for external finance in the financial development process.

1337. normative [adjective]

relating to rules, or making people obey rules, especially rules of behavior:

His basic attitude toward language is highly normative.

1338. nostrum [noun]

a usually questionable remedy or scheme:

Although my sister is not a doctor, she is always quick to suggest a nostrum to her friends.

1339. notoriety [noun]

the state of being famous for something bad:

The notoriety of violence in the downtown area keeps many tourists from visiting that part of the city.

1340. notwithstanding [adverb]

despite the fact or thing mentioned:

Notwithstanding his injured knee, the football player made two touchdowns.

1341. nourish [verb]

to provide people or animals with food in order to make them grow and keep them healthy:

The kindergartners were told they needed to nourish their plant seeds with water and sunlight.

1342. novice [noun]

a person who is beginning to learn a job or an activity and has little or no experience or skill in it:

I’m just a novice at making videos.

1343. noxious [adjective]

poisonous or harmful:

Besides being annoying, the mosquito is a noxious insect that can carry and transmit a number of potentially fatal diseases.

1344. nugatory [adjective]

worth nothing or of little value:

Jim’s nugatory comments contributed nothing to the class discussion.

1345. nuisance [noun]

something or someone that annoys you or causes trouble for you:

Until Jill planted a vegetable garden, she never knew a raccoon could be such a nuisance.

1346. obdurate [adjective]

extremely determined to act in a particular way and not to change despite what anyone else says:

The president remains obdurate on immigration.

1347. obfuscate [verb]

to make something less clear and harder to understand, especially intentionally:

She was criticized for using arguments that obfuscated the main issue.

1348. oblique [adjective]

not direct, so that the real meaning is not immediately clear:

To avoid worrying his wife, the man made an oblique statement about the seriousness of his medical condition.

1349. obliterate [verb]

to remove all signs of something, either by destroying it or by covering it so that it cannot be seen:

The dictator’s army is going to obliterate the rebel’s small village in less than five minutes.

1350. obloquy [noun]

very strong public criticism or blame:

His controversial essays have brought him much obloquy.

1351. obscure [adjective]

not clear and difficult to understand or see:

The obscure writer was not known in the literary community.

1352. obscurity [noun]

the state of not being known to many people:

The teen heartthrob came out of obscurity and became one of the most famous entertainers in the world.

1353. obsequious [adjective]

too eager to praise or obey someone:

She is almost embarrassingly obsequious to anyone in authority.

1354. obsess [verb]

to engage in obsessive thinking:

She used to obsess about her weight.

1355. obsolescence [noun]

the process of becoming no longer useful or needed:

Older versions had passed into obsolescence and a new version was already on the market.

1356. obsolete [adjective]

not in use any more, having been replaced by something newer and better or more fashionable:

Many people believe the Internet has made the postal service obsolete.

1357. obstinate [adjective]

unreasonably determined, especially to act in a particular way and not to change at all, despite what anyone else says:

Everyone described my grandfather as the most obstinate man alive.

1358. obstreperous [adjective]

difficult to deal with and noisy:

Because my nephew is obstreperous, he often gets in trouble at school.

1359. obtuse [adjective]

stupid or slow to understand:

The obtuse young man had a hard time understanding the simple instructions.

1360. obviate [verb]

to remove a difficulty, especially so that action to deal with it becomes unnecessary:

We replaced the old mechanisms because we wanted to obviate any nervousness about potential breakdown.

1361. occlude [verb]

to block something:

It is quite dangerous when blood clots occlude the flow of oxygen in the human body.

1362. oddity [noun]

someone or something that is strange and unusual:

I was puzzled by the oddity of her behaviour.

1363. odious [adjective]

extremely unpleasant and causing or deserving hate:

You must clean the kitchen regularly to avoid having an odious smell in your home.

1364. odyssey [noun]

a long trip or period involving a lot of different and exciting activities:

My twenty-year odyssey in the army allowed me to visit eighteen countries.

1365. officious [adjective]

too eager to tell people what to do and having too high an opinion of your own importance:

He's an officious little man and widely disliked in the company.

1366. olfactory [adjective]

connected with the ability to smell:

The hound dog used his olfactory sense to locate the missing girl.

1367. oligarchy [noun]

a government in which power is held by a small group of people:

In our small religious community, the major decisions of the town are made by the oligarchy, which is composed of six wise men.

1368. ominous [adjective]

suggesting that something unpleasant is likely to happen:

Because of the ominous music, we knew something bad was about to happen in the movie.

1369. omission [noun]

the fact of not including something that should have been included, or the thing that is not included:

The omission of my name from the Honor Roll List made me regret the fact I had played around all semester.

1370. omnipotent [adjective]

having unlimited power and able to do anything:

My teenager daughter likes to believe that she is omnipotent in our household.

1371. omnipresent [adjective]

present or having an effect everywhere at the same time:

The soccer coach described his star player as being omnipresent, all over the field at once.

1372. onerous [adjective]

difficult to do or needing a lot of effort:

Taking care of the puppy is an onerous task.

1373. onomatopoeia [noun]

the act of creating or using words that include sounds that are similar to the noises the words refer to:

My class assignment involves writing a poem that contains onomatopoeia, a word that sounds exactly like its pronunciation.

1374. opaque [adjective]

preventing light from travelling through, and therefore not transparent or translucent:

Because my privacy is important to me, I have opaque blinds on all my windows.

1375. opine [verb]

to express an opinion:

Rather than disagree with my husband in public, I waited until we got home to opine my thoughts on the subject.

1376. opportunistic [adjective]

using a situation to get power or an advantage:

The opportunistic couple tried to take advantage of the elderly man, convincing him to sign over his home.

1377. oppress [verb]

to govern people in an unfair and cruel way and prevent them from having opportunities and freedom:

Throughout history, racist groups have tried to oppress minorities by way of force and fear.

1378. opprobrium [noun]

severe criticism and blame:

International opprobrium has been heaped on the country following its attack on its neighbours.

1379. opulent [adjective]

expensive and luxurious:

The couple spent over eighty thousand dollars on opulent kitchen appliances.

1380. ornithology [noun]

the study of birds:

It is essential that we continue to maintain our knowledge of ornithology, and that sort of activity is necessary at times.

1381. orotund [adjective]

marked by fullness, strength, and clarity of sound:

Because the politician made an orotund speech about his wealthy upbringing, he lost favor with the middle class voters.

1382. ossify [verb]

to become hardened or conventional and opposed to change:

The bones are delicate and feebly ossified.

1383. ostensible [adjective]

appearing or claiming to be one thing when it is really something else:

Their ostensible goal was to clean up government corruption, but their real aim was to unseat the government.

1384. ostentatious [adjective]

too obviously showing your money, possessions, or power, in an attempt to make other people notice and admire you:

Even though Larry has a gigantic art collection, he does not present it in an ostentatious manner to everyone who enters his home.

1385. ostracize [verb]

to avoid someone intentionally, or to prevent someone from taking part in the activities of a group:

The board directors ostracized him after he criticized the company in public.

1386. outlaw [verb]

to make something illegal or unacceptable:

The new law will outlaw smoking in public places.

1387. outlay [noun]

an amount of money spent for a particular purpose, especially as a first investment in something:

For a relatively small outlay, you can start a home hairdressing business.

1388. outmoded [adjective]

no longer modern, useful, or necessary:

Propeller aircraft were swiftly outmoded by jet aircraft after the 70s.

1389. outright [adjective]

complete:

We wanted an outright record of what everyone said.

1390. outsmart [verb]

to obtain an advantage over someone by using your intelligence and often by using a trick:

In the story, the cunning fox outsmarts the hunters.

1391. outstrip [verb]

to be or become greater in amount, degree, or success than something or someone:

Even though the marathon runner was a senior citizen, he could outstrip the young 20-year old due to his experience in running.

1392. overarching [adjective]

most important, because of including or affecting all other areas:

The boss set some overarching goals for his employees that they must work on immediately in addition to a few minor goals to do in their spare time.

1393. overshadow [verb]

to cause someone or something to seem less important or less happy:

My happiness was overshadowed by the bad news.

1394. overt [adjective]

done or shown obviously or publicly:

In some countries, racial prejudice is overt and not disguised in the least.

1395. overweening [adjective]

being too proud or confident in yourself:

Ever since Jim won the contest, he has been overweening and acting as though he is the smartest kid on earth.

1396. overwrought [adjective]

in a state of being upset, nervous, and worried:

When she was not awarded a scholarship, the student became overwrought.

1397. paean [noun]

a song, film, or piece of writing that praises someone or something very enthusiastically:

After losing the game, the team was disappointed not to sing their victory paean.

1398. pagan [adjective]

belonging or relating to a modern religion that includes beliefs and activities that are not from any of the main religions of the world:

The missionary wanted to share his religion with every pagan he encountered.

1399. painstaking [adjective]

extremely careful and correct, and involving a lot of effort:

He was described by his colleagues as a painstaking journalist.

1400. palatable [adjective]

good enough to eat or drink:

While the wine will never win any awards, it is palatable for a dinner of meatloaf and potatoes.

REFERENCE

: Essential Vocabulary for the GRE

: Cambridge Dictionary

: WORDS IN A SENTENCE

: Sentence dictionary online

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