| GRE word list - M |
| maelstrom |
a powerful often violent whirlpool sucking in objects
within a given radius |
| magnificent |
Grand or noble in thought or deed; exalted. |
| maladroit |
lacking adroitness:INEPT |
| malaise |
uneasiness; distress |
| malcontent |
dissatisfied with the existing state of affairs:DISCONTENTED |
| malicious |
given to, marked by, or arising from malice |
| malign |
having or showing intense often vicious ill will:MALEVOLENT |
| malinger |
to pretend incapacity (as illness) so as to avoid duty
or work |
| malleable |
capable of being altered or controlled by outside forces
or influences |
| malodor |
an offensive odor |
| mandatory |
containing or constituting a command:OBLIGATORY |
| mangle |
to spoil, injure, or make incoherent especially through
ineptitude |
| mangy |
having many worn or bare spots:SEEDY, SHABBY |
| mania |
excessive or unreasonable enthusiasm |
| manifest |
1. a list of passengers or an invoice of cargo for a
vehicle (as a ship or plane) 2. easily understood or recognized
by the mind:OBVIOUS |
| manipulate |
to control or play upon by artful, unfair, or insidious
means especially to one's own advantage |
| mansion |
a large imposing residence |
| manumit |
to release from slavery |
| manuscript |
a written or typewritten composition or document as
distinguished from a printed copy; also :a document submitted
for publication |
| mar |
To impair the soundness, perfection, or integrity of;
spoil |
| marsh |
a tract of soft wet land usually characterized by monocotyledons
(as grasses or cattails) |
| marsupial |
any of an order of mammals comprising kangaroos, wombats,
bandicoots, opossums, and related animals that do not
develop a true placenta and that usually have a pouch
on the abdomen of the female which covers the teats and
serves to carry the |
| martinet |
a strict disciplinarian |
| marvel |
something that causes wonder or astonishment |
| masquerade |
to assume the appearance of something one is not |
| masticate |
to grind or crush (food) with or as if with the teeth
in preparation for swallowing:CHEW |
| mathematical |
of mathematics |
| matriculate |
to enroll as a member of a body and especially of a
college or university |
| mattress |
a fabric case filled with resilient material (as cotton,
hair, feathers, foam rubber, or an arrangement of coiled
springs) used either alone as a bed or on a bedstead |
| maudlin |
weakly and effusively sentimental |
| maven |
one who is experienced or knowledgeable:EXPERT |
| maverick |
an independent individual who does not go along with
a group or party |
| mawkish |
sickly or puerilely sentimental m |
| meager |
deficient in quality or quantity |
| mean |
PENURIOUS, STINGY |
| meander |
to wind or turn in its course |
| measly |
contemptibly small |
| measured |
marked by due proportion |
| mechanical |
Performed or performing in an impersonal or machinelike
manner; automatic |
| meddle |
to interest oneself in what is not one's concern:interfere
without right or propriety |
| media |
a nutrient system for the artificial cultivation of
cells or organisms and especially bacteria |
| mediate |
to interpose between parties in order to reconcile them |
| mediocre |
of moderate or low quality, value, ability, or performance:ORDINARY,
SO-SO |
| meditate |
to engage in contemplation or reflection |
| medley |
a musical composition made up of a series of songs or
short pieces |
| meet |
precisely adapted to a particular situation, need, or
circumstance:very proper |
| meliorism |
The belief that society has an innate tendency toward
improvement and that this tendency may be furthered through
conscious human effort. |
| mellifluous |
having a smooth rich flow |
| melody |
a sweet or agreeable succession or arrangement of sounds:TUNEFULNESS |
| membrane |
a thin soft pliable sheet or layer especially of animal
or plant origin |
| menace |
to make a show of intention to harm |
| mend |
to put into good shape or working order again:patch
up:REPAIR |
| mendacious |
given to or characterized by deception or falsehood
or divergence from absolutetruth |
| mentor |
a trusted counselor or guide:TUTOR, COACH |
| mercenary |
one that serves merely for wages; especially :a soldier
hired into foreign service |
| mercurial |
characterized by rapid and unpredictable changeableness
of mood |
| merited |
deserved, be worthy of or entitled or liable to |
| mesh |
to cause (as gears) to engage |
| mesmerism |
hypnotic induction held to involve animal magnetism;
broadly :HYPNOTISM |
| messy |
marked by confusion, disorder, or dirt:UNTIDY |
| metaphor |
a figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally
denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of
another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them
(as in drowning in money); broadly :figurative language |
| meteoric |
resembling a meteor in speed or in sudden and temporary
brilliance |
| meteorology |
a science that deals with the atmosphere and its phenomena
and especially with weather and weather forecasting |
| meticulous |
marked by extreme or excessive care in the consideration
or treatment of details |
| metrical |
of, relating to, or composed in meter |
| mettle |
courage; spirit |
| miff |
a trivial quarrel |
| migratory |
WANDERING, ROVING |
| mill |
a building provided with machinery for grinding grain
into flour |
| mime |
to act a part with mimic gesture and action usually
without words |
| minaret |
a tall slender tower of a mosque having one or more
balconies from which the summons to prayer is cried by
the muezzin |
| minatory |
having a menacing quality:THREATENING |
| mince |
to walk with short steps in a prim affected manner |
| mingle |
to bring or mix together or with something else usually
without fundamental loss of identity:INTERMIX |
| minion |
a servile dependent, follower, or underling |
| mint |
1. to make (as coins) out of metal:COIN 2. a vast sum
or amount |
| minuscule |
very small |
| minutia |
a minute or minor detail |
| miracle |
an extremely outstanding or unusual event, thing, or
accomplishment |
| mirage |
something illusory and unattainable |
| mire |
to cause to stick fast in or as if in mire |
| mirth |
gladness or gaiety as shown by or accompanied with laughter |
| misanthrope |
a person who hates or distrusts mankind |
| misbehave |
to behave badly |
| mischievous |
able or tending to cause annoyance, trouble, or minor
injury |
| miscreant |
one who behaves criminally or viciously |
| misdemeanor |
a crime less serious than a felony |
| miser |
a mean grasping person; especially :one who is extremely
stingy with money |
| misfortune |
a distressing or unfortunate incident or event |
| misgiving |
a feeling of doubt or suspicion especially concerning
a future event |
| mishap |
an unfortunate accident |
| misnomer |
a name wrongly or unsuitably applied to a person or
an object |
| misrepresent |
to give a false or misleading representation of usually
with an intent to deceive or be unfair |
| mite |
any of numerous small acarid arachnids that often infest
animals, plants, and stored foods and include important
disease vectors |
| mitigate |
to make less severe or painful:ALLEVIATE |
| mnemonics |
a technique of improving the memory |
| mobility |
capable of moving or being moved:MOVABLE |
| mockery |
a subject of laughter, derision, or sport |
| moderate |
to lessen the intensity or extremeness of |
| modicum |
a small portion:a limited quantity |
| molar |
A tooth with a broad crown used to grind food, located
behind the premolars. |
| molding |
a decorative plane or curved strip used for ornamentation
or finishing |
| mollify |
to soothe in temper or disposition:APPEASE |
| mollycoddle |
a pampered or effeminate man or boy |
| molt |
the act or process of sheding hair, feathers, shell,
horns, or an outer layer periodically; specifically :ECDYSIS |
| momentous |
IMPORTANT, CONSEQUENTIAL |
| momentum |
a property of a moving body that the body has by virtue
of its mass and motion and that is equal to the product
of the body's mass and velocity |
| monochromatic |
having or consisting of one color or hue |
| monocle |
an eyeglass for one eye |
| monopolize |
to get a monopoly of:assume complete possession or control
of |
| monotone |
having the property either of never increasing or of
never decreasing as the values of the independent variable
or the subscripts of the terms increase :MONOTONIC |
| montage |
the production of a rapid succession of images in a
motion picture to illustrate an association of ideas |
| morass |
something that traps, confuses, or impedes |
| moratorium |
a suspension of an ongoing or planned activity |
| morbid |
abnormally susceptible to or characterized by gloomy
or unwholesome feelings |
| mordant |
biting and caustic in thought, manner, or style:INCISIVE |
| moribund |
being in the state of dying:approaching death |
| morose |
having a sullen and gloomy disposition |
| morsel |
morsel small amount or piece of sth, esp food |
| mortar |
a strong vessel in which material is pounded or rubbed
with a pestle |
| mosque |
a building used for public worship by Muslims |
| mosquito |
any of a family (Culicidae) of dipteran flies with females
that have a set of slender organs in the proboscis adapted
to puncture the skin of animals and to suck their blood
and that are in some cases vectors of serious diseases |
| motile |
exhibiting or capable of movement |
| motivate |
to provide with a motive:IMPEL |
| motley |
variegated in colorcomposed of diverse often incongruous
elements |
| mottle |
to mark with spots or blotches of different color or
shades of color as if stained |
| mournful |
causing sorrow or melancholy:GLOOMY |
| movement |
a distinct structural unit or division having its own
key, rhythmic structure, and themes and forming part of
an extended musical composition |
| muddy |
lacking in clarity or brightness:CLOUDY, DULL |
| muffle |
to wrap or pad with something to dull the sound |
| mulish |
unreasonably and inflexibly obstinate |
| mumble |
to utter with a low inarticulate voice |
| mundane |
characterized by the practical, transitory, and ordinary:COMMONPLACE |
| municipality |
a primarily urban political unit having corporate status
and usually powers of self-government |
| munificent |
characterized by great liberality or generosity miser:munificent=zealot:blase
munificence ◆ stinginess |
| mural |
a mural work of art (as a painting) |
| murky |
characterized by a heavy dimness or obscurity caused
by or like that caused by overhanging fog or smoke |
| murmur |
a low indistinct but often continuous sound |
| mute |
to muffle, reduce, or eliminate the sound of |
| myopic |
a lack of foresight or discernment:a narrow view of
something |
| myriad |
having innumerable aspects or elements |
