Laconic

adjective: One who speaks less or uses very few words.

If the GRE teacher were laconic with his lectures, then he could finish the class 30 minutes early.
Mnemonic: Laconic contains the word Lack so lack of words
Equivocal
adjective: ambiguous, unclear or confusing. To equivocate is to lie or prevaricate.
The topics that were taught in the class were equivocal - the teacher himself was not sure about
the concepts he was explaining.
Mnemonic: If everyone in a GRE class started speaking in Equal + Voice, then everyone would
be confused of what the other is saying.
Commensurate
adjective: proportional to in extent, amount or degree.
His salary was commensurate to amount of hard work he did at office.
Mnemonic: Sounds like Common Rate; so your pay is of the same rate as your work.
Venerate
verb: to offer great respect.
The GRE student, despite the fact that he never helped any other student, was venerated amongst
his peers for getting perfect scores in his GRE exam.
Mnemonic: Venerate sounds like "Ven we Rate"; When we rate someone higher we treat them
with respect
Veracious
adjective: honest, truthful
During election period, we believe that our politicians will be veracious; however every time we
are proven wrong.
Mnemonics: This may sound a little silly but here is my mnemonic for Veracious.
[Link] always tells the truth
Aberration
noun: an abnormality, deviation from the normal.
Aberrations in petrol prices in Pakistan have become a daily routine; on any day the prices are
exorbitantly high, the next day back to the previous prices.
Mnemonic: Aberration sounds like abortion which is something not normal

Ambivalent
adjective: Feeling of mixed or conflicting emotions about something.
Mudassar felt ambivalent about studying for the GRE because he had wanted to do a job but his
parents wanted him to study abroad on USEFP scholarships.
Mnemonic: Ambivalent sounds like ambulance. In an ambulance you have mixed feelings
(Bachey ga ya naheen)
Amenable
adjective: agreeable, easily persuaded.
Even though Ahmed's boss did not admire him coming late to office, he was generally amenable
and so did not castigate Ahmed for his behavior.
Mnemonic: Amenable sounds like AMAN (peace) + ABLE. So someone who is amenable is
complying and at peace.
Calumny
noun: to falsely attack a person's reputation.
With elections in Pakistan about to begin, all politicians are indulging in calumny against Imran
Khan's political party.
Mnemonic: Calumny sounds like camini (in urdu) which is a harsh remark given to someone.

Venality
adjective: the state of being prone to corruption, bribery and illegal gifts.
Even cricket, which was once called the gentleman's game, is now susceptible to venality as
many cricketers and umpires have received significant bribery to alter the fate of the matches.
Mnemonic: Venal can be broken down into Ve (We) Nal (Null). We Null meaning no money (0
money). So when one has no money they are easily corruptible
set 2
Parochial
adjective: narrow minded, short sighted or lacking vision
Fatima could not carry on her relationship with her husband because his thinking was too
parochial. He always complained to Fatima that she should quit her job because females should
only be confined to the four walls of the house.
Mnemonics: Link this with "Paaro" of the Pakistani village whose parents were narrow in their
vision and married Paaro to an old man.

Prodigal
adjective: one who is wasteful of and reckless with resources.
It is very rare to see movie stars to not live a life of prodigality; most of them live extravagant
lives.
Mnemonics: Sounds like proud girl; proud girl's are always wasting their dad's money.
Frugal
adjective: someone who does not spend a lot of money but spends it wisely.
People mistook Ahmed's frugality as a sign of miserliness. However Ahmed was simply careful in
his spending.
Mnemonics: Frugal sounds like Few + Girl. So if you have few girl friends it will be very
economical on your pocket
Amalgam
noun: a mixture of things, items or substances.
His GRE preparation was an amalgam of LSAT, GMAT and SAT; blending the three tests, he
was able to prepare well for the GRE.
Mnemonics: Amalgam sounds like Balgam (in Pakistan) which comes out of our mouth when we
cough. It is a mixture of all sort of weird things :P
Wanting
adjective: lacking (this is a secondary meaning of want and it means lack of something)
Usage: After 1 month of preparation, Tanveer still felt his GRE preparation was wanting and
therefore he decided to postpone his test.
Mnemonics: You only want something when you lack it (don't have it). So wanting means
lacking
Iconoclast
noun: someone who attacks established beliefs or institutions.
Ali is an iconoclast for wearing beach shorts and T-shirt to a formal marriage function.
Mnemonics: Sounds like ICON (hero, ideal) + CLASH; So someone who clashes with icons is
an iconoclast.
Castigate
verb: to criticize severely.
Banks in Pakistan are famous to castigate new fresh employees so harshly that most of them quit
during the first week at work.
Mnemonics: In old days if someone of lower CAST would come to your GATE you would
harshly criticize or punish them.
Disinterested
adjective: neutral, not inclined towards any particular side.
The President of the election commission of Pakistan must not be affiliated with any political
party and should only be a disinterested member.
Mnemonics: Not + Interested. The GRE teacher was not interested in the students grades so he
was not bothered about the outcome.
Mercurial
adjective: (of a person) one who has unpredictable changes in mood and temperament.
Ahmed's mercurial mood was the main reason behind his divorce. At one time he was very polite
and the next moment he was furious for no reason.
Mnemonics: Mercury in a thermometer quickly goes up if a person is sick and quickly comes
down if not sick. So just like mercury going up and down, the mood of a person can be
mercurial.
Impertinent
adjective: insolent, disrespectful, lacking good manners.
After his wallet was stolen, Ahmed found the police inspector's investigation impertinent - he
thought that the police officer was trying to ask him such questions in order to place the blame
for the incident on Ahmed.
Mnemonics: Sounds like Impotent; Impotent people are rude and insolent because they are
frustrated