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 |