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GRE Antonyms

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!





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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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joydas
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joydas said:

The lesson is really supposed to be helpful.

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mridulsingh
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mridulsingh said:

very good…..

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chandru raiah
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chandru raiah said:

i think it is a good experiance

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satyabh
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satyabh said:

nice one

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jajajajaaj
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jajajajaaj said:

nice

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priyanjali
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priyanjali said:

i think it’s helpful to improve the vocabulary

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sumit pancholi
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sumit pancholi said:

good job

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CRMSHOBHIT01
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CRMSHOBHIT01 said:

keeping posting and learning..

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  • Posted 6 days ago.
Elysian
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Elysian said:

Good but not new so

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  • Posted 1 day ago.
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