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Are you bored of picking up Barron's word list or dictionary to learn new words?
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Are you bored of picking up Barron's word list or dictionary to learn new words?
Take a break!
Try something else today - grab a pen, a pocket notebook and
watch an English movie, or start with an interesting novel!
Trust me, this is a great way to improve your vocabulary. Write
down the new words you encounter while watching movie, reading
novel, or newspaper. Look up their meanings and synonyms in the
dictionary. Create your own sentences and review these words
periodically until you become familiar with them.
Once you have developed a strong vocabulary, it should not be
hard to crack verbal section and particularly antonyms.
Cracking Antonym Section
The antonym section of GRE is approximately 9 questions long and
requires you to choose the opposite of a given word from a set of
five choices. This section tests your ability to understand the
words - their usage, primary and secondary meaning. In some
cases, this type of question may require you to look for
secondary meaning of word to find an antonym.
A typical antonym question will look like this:
pedestrian
1) prosaic
2) banal
3) original
4) circumspect
5) eulogistic
Solution: Here you need to consider secondary meaning of this
word. The word pedestrian, in addition to meaning "on foot" also
means "common, or dull". The words prosaic(dull), banal are
synonyms. Original is an antonym and the correct answer.
Here's an approach to answer antonyms.....
- If the word is known to you, then you can directly select the opposite without spending much time on the question.
- In some questions, a synonym of the word is deliberately added in a list of answer choices. Stay Alert. You are not looking for a word that means the same but the opposite.
This is the most common mistake that students make.
- If you do not know the meaning of the word, try to infer its meaning by breaking it into pieces.
Knowledge of roots, prefixes and suffix will help in finding meaning of word.
e.g: ANTIPATHY
ANTI (against) PATH (to feel) Y(noun suffix)
meaning: feeling of hatred
- Figure out whether the word has positive or negative connotation. This will help in eliminating the wrong answer choices. For example, if the word is positive, you should look for a word with a negative connotation. You can also eliminate any words that also have a positive connotation.
e.g: AFFABLE
A) jovial
B) disconcert
C) surly
D) prolific
E) gregarious
The word affable has positive connotation. So all positive words
(jovial, prolific, magnanimous) can be crossed out. Affable means
polite, easily approachable. Surly (meaning rude) is the
antonym.
The words with the prefix de, dis, in have negative connotation.
- If you can't find the opposite to the primary meaning, look for the secondary meaning of the word.
e.g: RENT
A) own
B) deplete
C) harbor
D) restore
E) release
Here rent is used as a verb, meaning to tear apart. Restore is the antonym.
- Watch out for eye-catchers. The word SUFFRAGE may remind you something related to suffer (or pain), but suffrage means the right to vote.
Some more Tips to improve your vocabulary
- When you learn a word, try to create a picture related to the word or its meaning in your mind. This will help in recalling the meaning of word.
- Incorporate the new words into your speech.
- When looking for the meaning of a word in dictionary, also look for its secondary meaning and synonyms.
- Crossword puzzles and scrabble - a great way of increasing your vocabulary.
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