Words starting with I | Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) for GRE PDF Download

iconoclast: one who smashes revered images; an attacker of cherished beliefs

Nietzche's attacks on government, religion, and custom made him an iconoclast of grand dimension.

The iconoclast spoke against the traditions of the holiday.

ideology: speculation; representative way of thinking

His ideology proved to be faulty.

The ideology of business can be found in the new book.

He joined the religious group because he agreed with their ideology.

idiosyncrasy: any personal peculiarity, mannerism

Her tendency to bite her lip is an idiosyncrasy.

idyll: a written piece of work describing a peaceful rural scene

Reading the idyll made me think of the family farm.

igneous: having the nature of fire; volcanic

When the sun shone upon it, the material took on an igneous quality.

ignoble: ordinary; dishonorable;

The king was adamant about keeping his son from wedding an ignoble serf.

Consciously lying to someone is ignoble.

It was ignoble to disgrace the family in front of all of the townspeople.

ignominious: contemptible; disgraced; degrading

The behavior was so ignominious he was ashamed to be associated with it.

She left him because of his ignominious treatment of her.

illuminate:  make understandable

I asked a classmate to illuminate the professor's far-ranging lecture for me.

illusive: deceiving, misleading

It was as illusive as a mirage.

illusory: unreal; false; deceptive

He was proven guilty when his alibi was found to be illusory.

imbue:  to soak or stain; permeate

The wound will imbue the shirt in blood.

The new day imbued him with a sense of optimism.

immaculate: perfectly clean; correct; pure

An immaculate house is free of dust or clutter.

imminent: likely to happen without delay

The storm clouds warned of the imminent downpour.

immune: exempt from or protected against something

Doesn't everybody wish to be immune from the common cold?

immutable: unchangeable; permanent

The ties that bind alumni to their university are immutable .

The man's immutable schedule soon became boring.

impale: pierce through with, or stick on; something pointed

The knight was impaled by the sharp lance.

impartial: unbiased; fair

Exasperated by charges to the contrary, the judge reiterated that he had bent over backwards to be impartial in a case that crackled with emotion.

impasse: a situation that has no solution or escape

The workers and administration were at an impasse in their negotiations.

impassive: showing no emotion

Even when his father died he gave an impassive response and walked out tearless.

Her expected announcement was met by an impassive facial expression.

impecunious: poor; having no money

The Great Depression made family after family impecunious.

impede:  to stop the progress of; obstruct

The rain impeded the work on the building.

impenitent: without regret, shame, or remorse

It was obvious after his impenitent remark to the press that the defendant felt no remorse for his crime.

imperious: arrogant; urgent

Her imperious manner cost her her two best friends.

It was imperious that the message reach the police chief.

imperturbable: calm; not easily excited

The imperturbable West Point graduate made a fine negotiator.

impervious: impenetrable; not allowing anything to pass through; unaffected

The vest that the policeman wears is impervious to bullets.

The child was impervious to the actions of the adult.

impetuous: moving with great force; done with little thought

The impetuous movement took the art community by storm.

The impetuous teenager spent her money without considering what she needed the new purchase for.

Dagmar came to regret his impetuous actions, once he realized what he'd done.

The pirate's men boarded the ship with impetuous matter-of-factness.

implacable: unwilling to be pacified or appeased

The baby was so implacable a warm bottle would not settle her.

The two year old was an implacable child; he cried no matter what his parents did to comfort him.

implement:  to carry into effect; something used in a given activity

In case of emergency implement the evacuation plan immediately.

The rack is an implement of torture.

implication:  suggestion; inference

An implication was made that there might be trickery involved.

implicit: understood but not plainly stated; without doubt

The child's anger was implicit.

Implicit trust must be earned.

impolitic: unwise; imprudent

If you are planning to invest your money, impolitic decisions may be costly.

imprecate:  to pray for evil; to invoke a curse

A witch may imprecate an enemy with a curse of bad luck.

impromptu: without preparation

Her impromptu speech was well-received, giving her new confidence in her ability to speak off the cuff.

improvident: not providing for the future

An improvident person may end up destitute in latter life.

impudent: disrespectful and shameless

Impudent actions caused him to be unpopular.

impugn: to attack with words; to question the truthfulness or integrity

The defense lawyer impugned the witness's testimony, which set back the prosecution's case.

If I believe the man is a fraud I will impugn his comments.

imputation:  to charge, to attribute a fault or misconduct to another

The imputation of guilt was made by the judge.

inadvertent: not on purpose; unintentional

It was an inadvertent error, to be sure, but nonetheless a mistake that required correction.

inanimate: to be dull or spiritless; not animated, not endowed with life

The boy nagged his father for a real puppy, not some inanimate stuffed animal.

inarticulate: speechless; unable to speak clearly

He was so inarticulate that he had trouble making himself understood.

inaudible: not able to be heard

The signals were inaudible when the fans began to cheer.

incessant: constant and unending

The mother gave in to the child after her incessant crying.

Incessant rain caused the river to flood over its banks.

inchoate: not yet fully formed; rudimentary

The inchoate building appeared as if it would be a fast-food restaurant.

The outline of the thesis was the inchoate form of a very complex theory.

incidental: extraneous; unexpected

The defense lawyer argued that the whereabouts of the defendant's sneakers were only incidental to the commission of the crime.

incisive: getting to the heart of things; to the point

His incisive questioning helped settle the matter quickly.

inclined: apt to; likely; angled

The man's ear for music indicated he was inclined toward learning an instrument.

The hillside was inclined just enough to make for a fairly serious climb.

incognito: unidentified; disguised; concealed

The federal Witness Protection Program makes its charges permanently incognito.

incoherent: illogical; rambling; disjointed

Following the accident, the woman went into shock and became incoherent as medics struggled to understand her.

incommodious: inconvenient

The incommodious illness caused her to miss an important interview.

incompatible: disagreeing; disharmonious not compatible

Being incompatible with each other, children were assigned to sit on opposite sides of the room.

incompetence: failing to meet necessary requirements

The alleged incompetence of the construction crew would later become the subject of a class-action suit.

inconclusive: not final or of a definite result

The results being inconclusive, the doctors continued to look for a cause of the illness.

incorporeal: not consisting of matter

The apparition appeared to be incorporeal.

incorrigible: not capable of correction or improvement

The mischievous boy was an incorrigible practical joker.

incredulous: skeptical

The incredulous look on his face led me to believe he was not convinced of its importance.

The reporter was incredulous on hearing the computer executive's UFO account.

inculcate:  to impress upon the mind, as by insistent urging

I will inculcate the directions if people are unsure of them.

incursion:  an entry into, especially when not desired

The incursion by enemy forces left the country shocked.

indecipherable: illegible

The scribbling on the paper is indecipherable.

indelible: that which cannot be blotted out or erased

The photograph of Neil Armstrong setting foot on the moon made an indelible impression on all who saw it.

indemnify: to insure against or pay for loss or damage

It is important to indemnify your valuables with a reliable insurance company.

indict:  charge with a crime

The grand jury indicted her and her husband for embezzlement and six other lesser counts.

indifferent: unconcerned

There he lay, indifferent to all the excitement around him.

indigence:  the condition of being poor

The family's indigence was evident by the run-down house they lived in.

indigenous: native to a region; inborn or innate

These plants are indigenous to all of the western states.

Piranha are indigenous to the tropics.

indignant: expressing anger to an injustice

He was indignant over the way he was treated.

indolent: lazy; inactive

If we find him goofing off one more time, we won't be able to escape the fact that he's indolent.

An indolent student slept all day.

indomitable: not easily discouraged or defeated

The underdog candidate had an indomitable spirit.

indubitably: unquestionably; surely

The officer was best indubitably the candidate for captain.

indulgent: lenient; patient; permissive

He has indulgent tendencies to eat chocolate when he is happy.

ineluctable: something inevitable

They were prepared for the ineluctable disaster.

inept: incompetent; clumsy

She would rather update the budget book herself, since her assistant is so inept.

inert: not reacting chemically; inactive

Inert gases like krypton and argon can enhance window insulation.

inevitable: sure to happen; unavoidable

A confrontation between the disagreeing neighbors seemed inevitable.

infamous: having a bad reputation; notorious

After producing machines that developed many problems, the production company became infamous for poor manufacturing.

The infamous gang was known for robbery.

infamy:  a bad reputation

The town had only 98 residents, so all it took was one bad apple to bring infamy on the whole place.

infer: form an opinion; conclude

From the broad outline he supplied it was easy to infer that the applicant knew a great deal about trains.

ingenious: clever, resourceful

His ingenious idea made it possible to double production at no extra cost.

ingenue:  an unworldly young woman

As an ingenue, Corky had no experience outside of her small town

ingratiate:  to bring into one's good graces

The man was hoping to ingratiate himself with his wife by buying a bouquet of flowers and candy.

ingratitude:  ungratefulness

When she failed to send a thank-you card, her friend took it as a sign of ingratitude .

inherent: part of the essential character; intrinsic

A constant smile is inherent in pageant competitors.

The inherent desire to do well is present throughout the family.

inimical: hostile, unfriendly

The chess player directed an inimical stare at his opponent to knock him off his game.

iniquitous: wicked; unjust

The verbal abuse towards the man was truly iniquitous.

initiate:  begin; admit into a group; a person who is in the process of being admitted into a group 

He initiated the dinner discussion by asking his father to borrow the car.

As an initiate to the Explorers, George was expected to have a taste for the outdoor life.

innate: natural; inborn

Her talent is wondrous:  it hardly matters whether it's innate or acquired.

A lion's hunting skills are innate.

innocuous: harmless; dull; innocent

The remark was rude but innocuous.

He couldn't bear to sit through another innocuous lecture.

The teens engaged in an innocuous game of touch football.

innovate:  introduce a change; depart from the old

She innovated a new product for the home construction market.

innuendo:  an indirect remark; insinuation

The student made an innuendo referring to the professor.

The office was rife with innuendo that a takeover was in the works.

inquisitive: eager to ask questions in order to learn

An inquisitive youngster is likely to become a wise adult.

insinuate: to work into gradually and indirectly

He will insinuate his need for a vacation by saying how tired he has been lately.

insipid: uninteresting, boring flat, dull

Many people left the insipid movie before it was finished.

Declaring the offerings insipid, the critic grudgingly awarded the restaurant one star.

insolvent: unable to pay debts

The insolvent state of his bank account kept him from writing any checks.

instigate: start; provoke

It was uncertain to the police as to which party instigated the riot.

insubordinate: disobedient to authority

The boy's insubordinate behavior was a constant source of tension between the school and his parents.

insular: having the characteristics of an island; narrow-minded, provincial

After walking along the entire perimeter and seeing that the spit of land was actually insular, we realized it was time to build a boat.

His insular approach to education makes him a pariah among liberals.

insularity:  having the characteristics of an island

The insularity of the country made it a great place to build a resort.

intangible: incapable of being touched; immaterial

Intangible though it may be, sometimes just knowing that the work you do helps others is reward enough.

intercede:  to plead on behalf of another; mediate

The superpowers were called on to intercede in the talks between the two warring nations.

intermittent: periodic; occasional

Luckily, the snow was only intermittent, so the accumulation was slight.

The intermittent blinking light was distracting.

intractable: stubborn, obstinate; not easily taught or disciplined

Every teacher in the school became frustrated with the intractable student and sent him to the principal's office.

An intractable pet can be very frustrating..

intransigent: uncompromising

With intransigent values, no amount of arguing could change her mind.

The baseball owners and players remained intransigent, so a deal was never struck.

intrepid: fearless, bold

The intrepid photographer flew on some of the fiercest bombing raids of the war.

Her intrepid actions deserved a medal.

inundate:  to flood; to overwhelm with a large amount of

The broken water main inundated the business district with water.

Surfing the Internet can inundate you with information:  That's why a web browser comes in handy.

inured: accustomed to pain

Beekeepers eventually become inured to bee stings.

inveterate: a practice settled on over a long period of time

The inveterate induction ceremony bespoke one of the school's great traditions.

invoke: ask for; call upon

The parishioners invoked divine help for their troubles.

iota: a very small piece

There wasn't one iota of evidence to suggest a conspiracy.

irascible: prone to anger

The irascible teenager was known to cause fights when upset.

Knowing that the king was irascible, the servants decided not to tell him about the broken crystal.

ironic: contradictory, inconsistent; sarcastic

Is it not ironic that Americans will toss out leftover French fries while people around the globe continue to starve?

irrational: not logical

It would be irrational to climb Mt. Everest without some very warm clothing.

irreparable: that which cannot be repaired or regained

The damage to the house after the flood was irreparable.

The head-on collision left the car irreparable.

irreproachable: without blame or faults

The honesty of the priest made him irreproachable.

itinerary:  travel plan; schedule; course

Their trip's itinerary was disrupted by an unexpected snow storm.