GMAT vocabulary: argument and evidence.

Departing from what is normal or expected; deviating from the standard

The scientist noted the aberrant data point and investigated whether it was caused by equipment malfunction.

Memory cueAn aberrant arrow strays outside the normal target rings.

Claims or assertions, typically without proof, that someone has done something wrong

The allegations of financial impropriety forced the university president to resign before any formal investigation began.

Memory cueAllegations point accusing fingers before proof has established the claims.

Of doubtful authenticity, although widely circulated as being true

The story about the cherry tree is almost certainly apocryphal, yet it persists in popular culture.

Memory cueAn apocryphal tale circulates widely while its truth remains doubtful.

Attributed to or regarded as belonging to

Historians have long ascribed the empire's decline to military overextension, though economic factors also played a role.

Memory cueA signature ascribed the anonymous painting to a particular artist.

Charming or enchanting, often in a deceptive way

The beguiling simplicity of the theory concealed deep mathematical complexities that took decades to unravel.

Memory cueA beguiling smile charms you while quietly hiding deceptive intentions.

A reference point or standard used to compare and evaluate results.

The industry average provides a benchmark for judging whether the firm's operating costs are unusually high.

Memory cueA benchmark is the marked line on a workbench against which every new result is measured.

Fake; not genuine; fraudulent

The academic journal retracted the paper after discovering that its data was entirely bogus.

Memory cueA bogus bill looks official but is completely fake.

The quality of being open and honest in expression; frankness

Voters appreciated the candidate's candor, even when his views were controversial.

Memory cueCandor removes the curtain and speaks with open, direct honesty.

To cover or conceal; to hide or disguise

Diplomatic language can cloak aggressive intentions behind a veneer of cooperation and goodwill.

Memory cueTo cloak an intention, wrap and conceal it from view.

Covered or concealed; disguised

The proposal was cloaked in the rhetoric of fiscal responsibility, but its true aim was to cut social services.

Memory cueA cloaked motive remains covered beneath a respectable-looking disguise.

To keep from sight or discovery; to hide

The dense canopy of the rainforest can conceal entire species from researchers working at ground level.

Memory cuePull a curtain over an object to conceal it from view and keep it secret.

A thing that forms a pleasing or notable contrast to something else; a complementary or opposing element

The novel uses the daughter's optimism as a counterpoint to the father's deep-rooted cynicism.

Memory cueA dark tower creates counterpoint against the pale, open landscape.

Deserving blame; at fault

The investigation found the supervisor equally culpable for the safety violations.

Memory cueA culpable person carries blame because they are at fault.

Giving an appearance or impression different from the truth; misleading

The deceptive calm of the river masked a treacherous undertow that had caught many swimmers off guard.

Memory cueA deceptive mask shows a pleasant face while hiding a different truth underneath.

Imitative of the work of another; not original; lacking originality

Critics dismissed the album as derivative, noting its heavy borrowing from earlier jazz recordings.

Memory cueA derivative result follows an origin arrow from an earlier source.

To conceal the true nature of something

Satire can disguise serious political commentary as humor, reaching audiences that might otherwise tune out.

Memory cueA disguise is a mask that changes appearance to conceal identity.

Not candid or sincere; giving a false appearance of simple frankness

The company's claim to have discovered the contamination voluntarily struck regulators as disingenuous, given the pending lawsuit.

Memory cueA disingenuous smile hides insincerity and pretended ignorance behind a mask.

Not influenced by considerations of personal advantage; impartial and unbiased

The dispute required a disinterested mediator who had no stake in the outcome.

Memory cueA disinterested judge has no personal stake and remains impartial.

The act of twisting or altering something from its true meaning or proportions

The memoir's critics accused it of deliberate distortion, claiming key events were presented out of context.

Memory cueA funhouse mirror creates distortion by twisting true proportions.

Hesitating or doubting; not to be relied upon; of questionable value

The startup's claims of revolutionary technology struck investors as dubious once they examined the patents more closely.

Memory cueA dubious claim wobbles beneath a question mark and cannot earn confidence.

Difficult to interpret or understand; mysterious

The Mona Lisa's enigmatic smile has inspired countless interpretations, none of which has achieved scholarly consensus.

Memory cueAn enigmatic figure stands behind a question-mark mask that resists interpretation.

To absolve someone from blame for a fault or wrongdoing

The inquiry completely exonerated the officer of any misconduct.

Memory cueTo exonerate someone, erase blame after proving they were not responsible.

To estimate an unknown value or future pattern by extending a trend beyond observed data.

Analysts should not extrapolate national demand from one unusually wealthy neighborhood without making careful adjustments.

Memory cueExtend a data line past its last dot to extrapolate beyond what was directly observed.

Invented or concocted in order to deceive; manufactured artificially

The journalist was fired after editors discovered that key quotes in the article had been fabricated.

Memory cueA fabricated story is manufactured from invention rather than truth.

Imaginative and unrealistic; existing only in fantasy; over-elaborate

The architect's fanciful design featured towers shaped like seashells and bridges that mimicked ocean waves.

Memory cueA fanciful castle floats beautifully in imagination but not reality.

Imaginative or fanciful; remote from reality; bizarre

The novel's fantastical elements—talking animals, floating cities—serve as allegories for real political struggles.

Memory cueA fantastical creature belongs to fantasy, far from ordinary reality.

A reasoned estimate of future conditions, demand, revenue, or other results.

The revised forecast predicts slower growth after accounting for higher borrowing costs and weaker consumer demand.

Memory cueLike a weather map for business, a forecast estimates conditions that have not arrived yet.

Direct and outspoken; straightforward and honest

Her forthright assessment of the problem, though uncomfortable, was exactly what the team needed.

Memory cueA forthright answer travels in a straight line from honest thought to speech.

Happening by accident or chance rather than design; fortunate

The discovery of the manuscript in a secondhand bookshop was entirely fortuitous —no one had been looking for it.

Memory cueA fortuitous find arrives by lucky chance beneath a four-leaf clover.

Attempting to avoid notice or attention, typically because of guilt; secretive

The furtive glances between the two executives suggested they were concealing something.

Memory cueA furtive figure glances around while sneaking beneath cover.

Sly or cunning intelligence; craftiness

The negotiator used guile rather than force to achieve favorable terms.

Memory cueGuile hides a clever trap beneath a sly, innocent-looking smile.

Complete and airtight; insulated or protected from outside influences

The community maintained a hermetic existence, cut off from modern society.

Memory cueA hermetic seal shuts outside air and influence completely away.

Regarded or represented as perfect or better than in reality; simplified beyond practical use

The poet's idealized vision of rural life bore little resemblance to the harsh realities faced by actual farmers.

Memory cueAn idealized portrait polishes away flaws until reality looks perfect.

Equal treatment of all sides; lack of bias or prejudice

The tribunal's impartiality was called into question when one of the judges was found to have a financial interest in the outcome.

Memory cueImpartiality keeps the judge’s scales level for every side.

Not likely to be true or to happen; unexpected

The novel's plot hinges on an improbable coincidence that stretches the reader's willingness to suspend disbelief.

Memory cueAn improbable event sits far outside the circle of likely outcomes.

Impossible to understand or interpret; mysterious

The judge's inscrutable expression gave no indication of how she would rule.

Memory cueAn inscrutable face is sealed so tightly that meaning cannot escape.

Clear or obvious to the eye or mind

The flaws in the original design became manifest only after the building had been occupied for several years.

Memory cueWhat was hidden becomes manifest when it steps into a bright, revealing spotlight.

A false or misleading account of something

The lawsuit alleged that the advertisement constituted a deliberate misrepresentation of the product's effectiveness.

Memory cueMisrepresentation bends an account away from the truth into something misleading.

Not biased toward any particular political party or viewpoint

The research institute maintains a nonpartisan stance, publishing findings regardless of which political party they favor.

Memory cueA nonpartisan referee wears no political team’s colors.

The state of being famous or well known, typically for some unfavorable quality or deed

The forger achieved a perverse notoriety when his fakes were found hanging in several major museums.

Memory cueNotoriety is fame stained by an unfavorable deed or quality.

In a way that is famous or well known, typically for something bad

The mountain pass is notoriously dangerous in winter, claiming several lives in avalanches each year.

Memory cueA notoriously unreliable clock is widely known for a bad reason.

To make unclear, indistinct, or difficult to understand; to conceal

Jargon can obscure meaning rather than clarify it, especially when used to impress rather than inform.

Memory cueFog obscures an object until it is hard to see, understand, or recognize.

Not able to be seen through; not transparent; hard to understand

The company's opaque financial reporting raised suspicions among regulators.

Memory cueAn opaque wall blocks both light and clear understanding.

A strong supporter of a party, cause, or person; showing strong, biased support

The report was dismissed by opponents as a partisan document designed to advance one party's agenda.

Memory cueA partisan wears one party’s badge and supports it with bias.

The quality of having strong moral principles; honesty and decency

The auditor's probity was beyond question, which is precisely why the board entrusted her with the sensitive investigation.

Memory cueProbity is moral uprightness supported by sturdy honesty and decency.

Describing qualities, meanings, or experiences rather than measuring them numerically.

Managers combined quantitative sales figures with qualitative feedback from customers who had abandoned their purchases.

Memory cueQualitative begins with QUALITY: it describes character and experience instead of counting amounts.

Held in high esteem; having a good reputation

Only data from reputable, peer-reviewed journals were included in the systematic review.

Memory cueA reputable name carries strong stars earned from others' trust.

Bogus; something that is not what it purports to be; a fraud

The election was widely condemned as a sham, with opposition candidates barred from running and ballots pre-filled.

Memory cueA sham wears a convincing costume but is actually a fraud.

Not being what it purports to be; false or fake; based on false reasoning

The correlation between ice cream sales and drowning deaths is spurious —both are driven by warm weather, not by each other.

Memory cueA spurious coin looks genuine until its fake coating peels away.

Based on personal feelings, opinions, or interpretations rather than external facts

Taste in art is inherently subjective, which is why critics so often disagree about the same work.

Memory cueA subjective judgment is filtered through personal feeling and interpretation.

Existing or occurring at or on the surface; lacking depth of character or understanding

A superficial reading of the text misses the irony that runs beneath the narrator's seemingly straightforward account.

Memory cueA superficial shell covers only the surface and has no depth beneath it.

A balance in which gaining one benefit requires giving up another benefit or accepting a cost.

The faster delivery plan creates a tradeoff between customer convenience and the company's transportation expenses.

Memory cueA tradeoff is a seesaw: raising one benefit often lowers another.

Conformity to facts; accuracy; habitual truthfulness

The historian devoted years to verifying the veracity of the sources before including them in the definitive account.

Memory cueVeracity keeps speech aligned with facts and habitual truthfulness.

To clear of accusation or blame; to show to be right or justified

The subsequent discovery vindicated the researcher whose hypothesis had been dismissed for years.

Memory cueEvidence erases the blame mark and vindicates the accused.

Justified or authorized; having good reason

The investigation determined that the officer's use of force was warranted under the circumstances.

Memory cueWarranted concern carries a valid reason authorizing it.