GRE Verbal Practice Questions – Sentence Equivalence

1. Her snide remarks, her simpering smile, and above all, her unceasing insubordination drove Katie to conclude that her teenage daughter was the most ____ child that had ever lived.
   (A) docile
   (B) zealous
   (C) incorrigible
   (D) primal
   (E) irredeemable
   (F) amenable
   

2. While many find the writings of early feminist writers such as Mary Woolstonecraft to be enlightening and still relevant, others find their writings ____.
   (A) archaic
   (B) inane
   (C) idiosyncratic
   (D) antediluvian
   (E) illuminative
   (F) edifying
   

3. Judith feigned a forgotten wallet to evade paying for dinner, proving she had surpassed frugality and become ____.
   (A) jejune
   (B) parsimonious
   (C) prudent
   (D) penitent
   (E) economical
   (F) miserly
   

4. Bradford’s many notorious trysts with various supermodels have earned him a reputation as a ____.
   (A) libertine
   (B) philanthropist
   (C) marionette
   (D) lecher
   (E) patriarch
   (F) puritan
   

5. Existential philosophers such as Friedrich Nietzsche are known for focusing on the subjective aspects of life rather than the ____.
   (A) obscure
   (B) personal
   (C) disingenuous
   (D) dispassionate
   (E) illusory (F) unbiased
   

6. While others label her seemingly “carpe diem” attitude as carefree blithesomeness, I suspect it is mere ____.
   (A) fatuity
   (B) frivolity
   (C) ingenuity
   (D) falsetto
   (E) imbecility
   (F) cunning
   

7. Being a stay-at-home mother requires more ____ than career-driven women often concede; indeed, it involves endlessly enduring children’s tantrums and mutinies.
   (A) forbearance
   (B) fidelity
   (C) clout
   (D) fortitude
   (E) retribution
   (F) fecklessness
   

8. The functional aspects of biodiversity are broad and vague and thus require further ____ to become more scientifically valuable.
   (A) stratagem
   (B) validation
   (C) negation
   (D) substantiation
   (E) abrogation
   (F) talion
   

9. Monks may be Christian, Buddhist, or Jain, but, though they differ in many beliefs, most orders are alike in practicing ____; they abjure carnal pleasures in pursuit of a life more conducive to spiritual enlightenment.
   (A) debauchery
   (B) lenience
   (C) asceticism
   (D) desuetude
   (E) peregrination (F) abstinence

10. Sam’s pyromaniac younger brother had a habit of singeing the tips of his hair; the unpleasant result was a ____ smell that permeated the house.
    (A) querulous
    (B) banal
    (C) pithy
    (D) acrid
    (E) pungent
    (F) dull
    

11. Listening to the dulcet crooning of famous American singer Frank Sinatra, one would never suspect his temperament to be anything but ____.
    (A) congenial
    (B) irascible
    (C) jocular
    (D) indolent
    (E) cantankerous
    (F) amiable
    

12. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s role as leader of the Civil Rights Movement made him the target of violence; a flaming brick thrown through the window of his home, for example, was a ____ of greater violence, culminating in his assassination.
    (A) prologue
    (B) quadrille
    (C) renaissance
    (D) snippet
    (E) omen
    (F) harbinger
    

13. The US Supreme Court case Foucha v. Louisiana established that a person declared not guilty by reason of insanity must remain committed and cannot be ____ until he can sufficiently demonstrate he is no longer a danger to society.
    (A) denounced
    (B) disavowed
    (C) acquitted
    (D) discharged
    (E) incarcerated
    (F) apprehended
    

14. Bradley was dumbfounded to hear his erstwhile co-conspirator go on the record and ____ him.

(A) laud
(B) denigrate
(C) buttress
(D) aggrandize
(E) malign
(F) accost

15. Covert societies, such as the Y Society at University of Virginia and Skull and Bones at Yale, often rely on the ____ of former members to continue the tradition with each generation.
    (A) progeny
    (B) prominence
    (C) benefaction
    (D) tenacity
    (E) posterity
    (F) travail
    

16. Due to a ____ of resources, indigents in cities such as Johannesburg, South Africa, inhabit shanty towns, where they construct houses out of refuse.
    (A) myriad
    (B) dearth
    (C) dichotomy
    (D) paucity
    (E) perpetuity
    (F) profusion
    

17. To combat the tension between conquered and conqueror that seems to inevitably spark revolution, the Roman Empire adopted a practice of ____, attempting to make all conquered nations “Romans.”
    (A) deterrence
    (B) integration
    (C) assimilation
    (D) hegemony
    (E) totalitarianism
    (F) subjugation
    

18. Stevens was infamous for writing lengthy, verbose pages before recapitulating in one ____ phrase.
    (A) jocular
    (B) interminable
    (C) monolithic
    (D) pithy
    (E) monotonous
    (F) concise
    

19. With an immediate ____ of funds only a dubious hope, the company’s owner began to reconcile himself to bankruptcy.
    (A) abatement
    (B) bequest
    (C) accretion
    (D) fluctuation
    (E) augmentation
    (F) reduction
    

20. When the time came to decide whether or not to hire Michael, the store manager couldn’t help but ____; Michael’s aptitude was certain, his probity equivocal.
    (A) vacillate
    (B) relent
    (C) rejoice
    (D) propitiate
    (E) hesitate
    (F) exult
    

21. Many of the Founding Fathers were influenced by deism, a religious philosophy that ____ the belief in an incomprehensible god in favor of a deity whose existence may be logically deduced.
    (A) professes
    (B) abjures
    (C) entrenches
    (D) avers
    (E) eschews
    (F) pursues
    

22. When the corporate behemoth purchased Jenny’s modest company, it amalgamated its other recent acquisitions, and Jenny was ____ to a managerial position.
    (A) elevated
    (B) relegated
    (C) demoted
    (D) abrogated
    (E) proscribed
    (F) deflected
    

23. Megan left the first conditioning session of the season feeling ____ rather than empowered.
    (A) emancipated
    (B) euphoric
    (C) quashed
    (D) enervated
    (E) vexed
    (F) debilitated
    

24. While the politician never explicitly sanctioned the use of mudslinging by his campaign managers, there was a tacit understanding that he ____ it.
    (A) prohibited
    (B) condoned
    (C) buttressed
    (D) censured
    (E) overlooked
    (F) conferred
    

25. The aging man moved with surprising ____.
    (A) alacrity
    (B) pathos
    (C) sluggishness
    (D) rancor
    (E) laxity
    (F) swiftness
    

26. His long-winded diatribe against members of the opposing party convinced me he was one of the most ____ politicians I’d ever met.
    (A) progressive
    (B) benign
    (C) untoward
    (D) sanctimonious
    (E) smug
    (F) zealous
    

27. The ____ link between dietary cholesterol and blood cholesterol levels has convinced many nutritionists of the long debated salubriousness of eggs.
    (A) cursory
    (B) dubious
    (C) tenuous
    (D) incontrovertible
    (E) chary
    (F) insubstantial
    

28. In a bourgeois community full of pretentious people, I was taken aback by the new neighbor’s ____.
    (A) exigency
    (B) guile
    (C) artlessness
    (D) ambiguity
    (E) ingenuousness
    (F) cheekiness
    

29. ____ becomes a necessary asset in the brutally competitive job market of a deteriorating economy.
    (A) boldness
    (B) temerity
    (C) diffidence
    (D) frugality
    (E) reticence
    (F) affability
    

30. For most stars in the galaxy, the Red Giant or Super Red Giant phase is the most ____, as it precedes a massive collapse that results in the formation of a planetary nebula.
    (A) mercurial
    (B) voluminous
    (C) immutable
    (D) volatile
    (E) tranquil
    (F) prodigal
    

31. While environmentalists and NGO’s have welcomed the move, there has been strong ____ from many a quarter.
    (A) opposition
    (B) rivalry
    (C) approval
    (D) counteraction
    (E) acceptance
    (F) animus
    

32. Despite all its ____, a stint in the diplomatic core is invariably an uplifting experience.
    (A) merits
    (B) compensation
    (C) effectiveness
    (D) rigors
    (E) mediocrity
    (F) hardships
    

33. Though a small man, J. Edgar Hoover appeared to be much larger behind his desk; for, having skillfully designed his office, he was ___ by the perspective.
    (A) distorted
    (B) augmented
    (C) apprehended
    (D) magnified
    (E) disconcerted
    (F) lessened
    

34. Children not only provide cheap labor, but they are also ____, as they do not complain about menial chores given to them or about harsh treatment meted out.
    (A) impertinent
    (B) facile
    (C) presumptuous
    (D) hesitant
    (E) docile
    (F) compliant