GRE Study Group Kaplan Vocabulary

ucent (adj.) partially transparent. 
transmogrify (v.) transform or change completely, especially in a grotesque or strange manner. 
(humorous pseudo-L.) 
transubstantiation (n.) chaging of one substance into another, transformation, 
metaphosis, transfiguration. 
trauma (n.) (a) an injury or wound violently produced, or the condition resulting from this. 
 (b) an emotional experience or shock which has a lasting, esp. harmful, effect. 
travail (v.) work very hard; toil, labor, drudge. 
 (n.) (a) hard, esp. painful, physical or mental work or exertion; labor, toil, drudgery. 
 (b) agony, torment, painful struggle. (Only this sense is really common.) tripalium (a three-
pronged torture instrument) 
 from tria (three) + palus (a stake) (hypothetical derivation) 
[Kap. Voc. 29/30] trepidation - vernacular
trepidation (n.) (a) tremor, qualm. 
 (b) fear, anxiety, alarm, trepidus (disturbed) 
tribulation (n.) great distress or misery; suffering; affliction; trial; vexation. tribulare (thrash, beat) 
trident (n.) three-pronged fish spear; any three-pronged instrument. 
 tri (three) + dens, dentis (tooth) 
truckle (v.) be servile; cringe, today, kow-tow, grovel; 
 (adj.) -----ing; acting in such a manner. 
truculent (adj.) (a) fierce, ferocious, cruel, savage. 
 (b) rude, harsh, mean. 
truism (n.) a self-evident truth, esp. one rendered trivaial or trite by over-familarity; platitude, 
commonplace. 
trumpery (n.) (a) that which deceives by false show;/ anything externally splendid but 
actually worthless; worthless finery; trifle; rubbish; twaddle. 
 (adj.) (b) deceit, fraud, double-dealing. showy but worthless; trifling, flash, paltry, tawdry, pinchbeck, 
catchpenny. 
tryst (n.) agreement (as between lovers) to meet; appointed meeting, rendezvous, assignation; place 
of a tryst. 
tumid (adj.) swollen, enlarged, distended, bulging, protuberant, inflated; swollen or pretentious in style, 
bombastic. tumere (to swell) 
turbid (adj.) dark, obscure, gloomy, muddy, murky. 
turgid (adj.) swollen, inflated; pompous, bombastic, tumid.turgere (to swell) 
turpitude (n.) notoriety, baseness, vileness, shameful wickedness. turpis (base) 
tyro (n.) beginner, novice, learner, greenhorn, neophyte. tiro (a young soldier) 
ubiquitous (adj.) present everywhere at the same time; omnipresent. ubique (everywhere) 
ulterior (adj.) (a) lying beyond, further; later, subsequent, future (rare). 
 (b) further or more remote in meaning; especially, beyond what is expressed, implied or 
evident; undisclosed, concealed. ulter (beyond) 
ululate (v.) howl, hoot; wail or lament loudly; bay. ululare (howi) 
umbrage (n.) (a) shade; that which affords shade, esp. foliage (rare) 
 (b) offense, resentment, displeasure. umbra (a shade) 
unbridled (adj.) unrestrained, uncontrolled, ungoverned;by extension, vehement, excessive, immoderate. 
uncanny (adj.) (a) mysterious, unfamiliar, esp. in such a way as to frighten or make uneasy; eerie, weird. 
 (b) so acute in any characteristic as to seem preternatural. 
undulating (adj.) (a) moving in waves; moving up and down or to and fro with a wavy motion; having an 
irregular but wavy motion. 
 (b) having a form or outline resembling that of a wave or series of waves. 
unexceptionable (adj.) not liable to any exception; ordinary, usual, average. 
unfettered (adj.) unrestricted, free of inhibitions, rules or prohibitions, liberated. 
ungainly (adj.) awkward, clumsy, ungraceful. 
unimpeachable (adj.) unchallengeable, irreproachable, unquestionable, unexceptionable. 
untoward (adj.) inconvenient, unfortunate, unfavorable, unlucky; vexatious; hard to 
manage, perverse, stubborn, unruly. 
untrammeled (adj.) free, unconfined, untouched by civilization. (See trammeled.) 
unwitting (adj.) unconscious, unknowing, unaware, ignorant; unintentional. (OE) witan (know) 
usurp (v.) take into possession without right or by force; seize, assume, preempt. 
 usus (use) + rapere (seize) 
vacuous (adj.) empty, void, vacant either physically (rare) or in mental capacity or 
content; showing lack of intelligence, stupid; charaterized by lack of purpose, idle. 
vacuus (empty) 
vagary (n.) eccentric action or notion; caprice, whim, oddity. vagari (wander) 
vanguard (n.) advanced guard, the leading position in a military formation or a movement; 
those leading a movement. 
 (OFr.) avant (before) + garde (guard) 
vapid (adj.) bland, flat or tasteless; empty of content, dull. vapidus (stale) 
vaunted (adj.) boasted or bragged of. vanus (vain, useless) 
vehement (adj.) very ardent or urgent; furious; deeply felt. 
venal (adj.) readily bribed or corrupted; greedy, mercenary. venus (sale) 
venerate (v.) revere, respect, worship, adore. venerari (worship) 
venial (adj.) pardonable, forgivable. venia (grade, favor) 
ventral (adj.) pertaining to the belly; abdominal; being or located near the lower surface of an animal as 
opposed to the upper (dorsal) surface. venter (belly) 
veracious (adj.) truthful, honest; true, accurate. verus (true) 
verbose (adj.) wordy, prolix, rambling. verbum (word) 
verdant (adj.) green; covered with plant life; raw, immature or inexperrienced. 
verity (n.) (a) truthfulness, quality of being factual. 
 (b) belief, principle, etc., taken as fundamentally true and enduring. 
 verus (true) 
vernacular (adj.) using the native language of a country, as in writing; of or pertaining to a native language; 
pecular to region or county. 
 (n.) native language; the commonly spoken language or dialect of 
a particular people, as opposed to literary or formal language. 
 verna (a homeborn slave) 
[Kap. Voc. 30/30] vernal - zephyr (1)
vernal (adj.) pertaining to spring. ver (spring) 
verve (n.) vigor, energy in expressing ideas, enthusiasm. 
verstage (n.) (a) trace, remnant, mark of something that has ceased to be. verstigium (footprint) 
 (b) a degenerate, atrophied or rudimentary organ or part, once more fully developed or 
functional, as the appendix in humans. 
viable (adj.) able to live, succeed, grow or take root. vita (life) 
vicarious (adj.) substitute, surrogate; performaed by one person in place of as the deputy of another; 
experienced by one person by imaginary participation in another's experiences. vicis 
(change, alteration) 
vicissitude (n.) (usually plural) changes in fortune, health, etc., esp. when unpredictable or frotuitous; ups 
and downs. 
vignette (n.) (a) an ornamental picture or design used as an inset, headpiece or tailpiece on a printed 
page; a photograph or protait having no defined border. (These senses rare.) 
 (b) a short literary composition characterized by subtlety, compactness and delicacy; a literary 
sketch. 
virile (adj.) (a) having the nature or properties of an adult; specifically, capable of procreation; manly, 
manlike, masculine, male. 
 (b) in conventional usage, masterful, forceful. vir (man) 
viscous (adj.) glutinous; thick; syrupy and sticky. 
vitiate (v.) (a) make ineffective, faulty or impure; spoil, corrupt, weaken, debase physically or morally. 
 (b) make ineffective, invalidate. 
vitreous (adj.) glassy; resembling glass, as in transparency, hardness, brittleness. vitrum (glass) 
vitriolic (adj.) biting, caustic, sharp, bitter, sarcastic (of chemicals, but more usually of language, tone, etc.). 
vituperation (n.) bitter, abusive languge; berating, censuring, upbraiding 
volition (n.) the act or power of choosing, determining, or willing; free choice, free will. velle (to will) 
voracious (ajd.) ravenous, greedy in eating, devouring large amounts, insatiable; eager or insatiable 
in any pursuit. vorare (devour) 
vortex (n.) mass of fluid having a circular motion; eddy, whirlpool; any situation or state of affairs 
similar to a vortex in its effect, as having inevitable and irreversible results, etc. 
vorary (n.) one bound by a vow; devoted worshipper; disciple, follower, adherent. 
 votere (to vow) 
vying (adj.) competing, contending, striving against another. 
wanton (adj.) undisciplined, unrestrained, lavish, luxuriant; senseless, unprovoked, malicious; without 
regard for consequences, reckless, unthinking; lewd, lascivious. 
waspish (adj.) like a wasp in form, slightly built; (more freq.) like a wasp in behavior, easily irritated, 
snappish, testy, irritable, petulant. 
wassail (n.) drinking bout, or a toast given at the same. 
 (v.) engage in same, esp. at Christmas. (OE) wes hal (be healthy) 
whet (v.) sharpen by rubbing; make sharp, keen or eager; excite, stimulate. 
whittle (v.) (a) carve by cutting off chips. 
 (b) pare, reduce, destroy gradually. 
wizened (adj.) dried, shriveled, withered, wrinkled, no longer fresh or vigorous. 
wont (n.) custom, habit, usual practice. 
 (adj.) accustomed, habituated. 
wrack (n.) ruin, destruction; wreckage, weeds, (NOTE: NOT a verb --"wrack with pain" is incorrect for 
"rack with pain") 
wraith (n.) (a) ghost, specter, esp. the spectral image of a person supposed to be seen just before or 
after death. 
 (b) anyone excessively thin, slight or shrunken. 
xenophobia (n.) fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners. 
yawp (n. or v.) a loud, harsh call or cry; to utter the same; noisy and stupid talk; yap. 
yeoman (n.) (a) formerly, a man possessed of a small estate in land, or a freeman owning and working 
his own land; also, an attendant or manservant in a royal household. 
 (b) in the U.S. Navy, a petty officer who performs the duties of a clerk, typist or stenographer. 
yoke (n.) (a) a frame for harnessing animals together; also, the animals so harnessed. 
 (b) any mark of servitude or boundage. 
zealot (n.) a person with great zeal; a person ardently devoted to a cause. 
zenith (n.) vertical point of the heavens, point directly above the viewer; (fig.) highest point, summit, peak. 
zephyr (n.) (a) the west wind. 
 (b) any soft, light, airy breeze. 
 (c) something light, airy or insubstantial.