 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||
ANTONYM Fundamentals
There are three factors that are fundamental to your success on this
question type. Let’s take a look:
- Vocabulary
- Clues
- Traps
Vocabulary
We know we’re stating the obvious, but there’s simply no way around
it: The better your vocabulary, the better you’ll do on Antonym questions.
When you know the meaning of the original word and the words in the choices,
Antonym questions are perhaps the most straightforward on the GRE. Much like
in the childhood opposites act described earlier, the GRE may spit out word
X, prompting you to immediately spit back opposite word Y. For example, say
the word is sullen. You immediately think
gloomy or brooding, which causes something
along the lines of happy or joyful to pop
into your head as its opposite. Scanning the choices you come across
gleeful, and you’re done. Boom. Next question. This is
the best-case scenario that will play out whenever you know the words,
whether those words are easy or difficult.
The best way to improve your performance on GRE Antonyms is therefore
to add high-level words to your vocabulary. We encouraged you in the “Meet
GRE Verbal” chapter to read widely and deeply, and we suggest that you do so
with a dictionary by your side. Look up any unfamiliar words you come across
as you peruse the Economist or the New York
Times. You might consider keeping a list of words you don’t know or
don’t know well and adding those to the list of 400 GRE-level vocabulary
words we provide in the tear-out chart in this book.
Memorization
Use whatever methods work for you to memorize words. We won’t make
fun of your silly songs or poems, and no one will hear you chanting
strings of polysyllabic nouns in your car. What matters is that your
methods work—and that you learn the words.
You could make a CD with words and definitions and listen to it
while you drive or while you sleep, which, hopefully, are not
simultaneous activities. You could read the dictionary. You could hang
out with some really smart people who use big words whenever they can
(an annoying behavior practiced by sesquipedalian
individuals, people who use a big word when a small one would do). Here
are some more suggestions.
Use Flash Cards.
Flash cards are simple and portable. Write a word on one side
and its definition on the other. Take these cards with you wherever you
go and use them when you have a free minute or two. Think of a stack of
flash cards as a mini-quiz: You look at each word, think of the
definition, and then flip the card over to check yourself. If you get it
right, set the card aside. If you get it wrong, keep the card in the
stack. Repeatedly go through the stack until all the words are in your
“got it right” pile. Going through your flash cards in this way gives
you a clear-cut method for knowing when you know your words and when you
don’t.
Create Mnemonic Devices.
Some words are hard to remember, plain and simple. These are the
words that never seem to make it to your “got it right” pile, no matter
how many times you go through them. For these troublesome words,
mnemonic devices may be just what you need.
A mnemonic device is a memory aid, usually in the form of a word
association. The more off the wall a mnemonic device, the more effective
it tends to be. For example, if you have trouble remembering that
craven means “cowardly or weak-willed,” you could
think of Cliff Claven, the character from Cheers. Among
other things, Mr. Claven was pretty cowardly and weak-willed, so
craven could mean “like Cliff Claven.” Be
creative—you’ll find many tough words can be remembered through suitable
mnemonic devices.
Make Up Sentences.
Making up sentences is a great way to help you remember
difficult words. For each word, make up a sentence that gives a clue to
the word’s meaning. To be effective, your sentence must be specific. For
example, “Edgar is very philanthropic” wouldn’t be very
helpful, but “Since he always gives to charities, Edgar is very
philanthropic” provides a strong clue that
philanthropic means “of, relating to, or marked by
charity.”
Expanding your vocabulary will help you craft a number of “blue
sky” antonym scenarios—simply knowing the words and scanning to the
correct choice. But it’s still likely you’ll comes across at least some
cases in which you don’t know some of the vocab or have only a partial
understanding of the words in question.
The rest of the fundamentals in this section are intended to help
you at least narrow down the choices in such cases and at best eliminate
all but the correct answer.
Clues
There are numerous clues that can shed light on words you don’t know.
Will these clues help you to define unfamiliar words precisely? Probably
not, but they may often help you distinguish possible choices from unlikely
ones. Our first clue concerns how words are formed.
Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes
New words aren’t created by people simply sitting around making
them up on the spot. If they were, there would probably be more fun
words like blissenfrazzle and fewer nasty words like
deleterious. Words are comprised of pieces that
reflect their origins and contribute to their definitions. Especially
important are roots, prefixes, and suffixes. By learning some of these
common building blocks, you’ll be able to make intelligent guesses on
words whose meanings you may not have memorized. Consider the following
fairly difficult Antonym question:
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
Circum is a prefix that means “around,” as in the
words circumference (“distance around a circle”) and
circumvent (“to go around or bypass”).
Loc and loq are common roots meaning
“to speak,” as in eloquent (“well spoken”) and
ventriloquist (“one who speaks through a wooden
dummy”). Putting these two pieces together,
circumlocution means “a roundabout way of speaking.”
The opposite of this is direct speaking or
concision, another word for which is
brevity, choice B.
Root, suffix, and prefix clues may not always lead you all the way
to the correct choice, as in the example above, but they can help you
get in the ballpark. It therefore pays to have a solid command of these
common word components. Here are some of the major building blocks of
English words, along with the related GRE words you might see on test
day. You’ll see some of these GRE words again in our vocabulary list in
the tear-out chart in this book. If you see a word that you don’t know,
look it up and learn it.
Helpful Roots
| Root | What It Means | Example |
| aco(u) | to hear, hearing | acoustic |
| act, ag | to act, to do, to drive | active, agent |
| agog(ue), agogy | to lead, leader, guiding, inducing | demagogue |
| agon, agonist | struggle, content | agony, antagonist |
| alg, algesia, algia | pain | analgesic |
| am, amat | to love | amiable, amorous |
| ambul | to walk | circumambulate, amble |
| andro, andry | male | android, androgynous |
| anim | mind, feeling, life | animate |
| anthrop | man, human being | philanthropy, anthropology |
| aqu | water | aquatic, aquarium |
| arch | first, ancient, rule | archaic, archive |
| aud | to hear, hearing, aloud | audible, audience |
| aug, auct, auth, aux | to increase, to create | augment, author, auxiliary |
| auto | of, by, for, or in oneself | autobiography, autocrat, autodidact |
| bene, bon | good | bonus, benefit |
| brac, brachi | the arm | brachiate, bracelet |
| cant, cent | to sing | canticle, chant, recant, incantation |
| cap, capt, cep, cept | box, to take, contain, seize | capture, receipt, capacious |
| capit, capt, cipit | head, chief | capital, precipitate, chapter, capitulate |
| carn | flesh | carnal, incarnate, carnivore |
| caus, cuse | to cause | causal, excuse, accuse |
| ced, cede, ceed, cess | to yield, to go | cede, accessible, necessary |
| cern, cert, cret, crim | to separate, to distinguish | discern, uncertain |
| chrom, chromat | color | chromatic, polychromatic |
| chron | time | synchronous, chronicle |
| cid, cide | to kill | regicide, suicide, genocide |
| cis, cise | to cut | excise, scissors |
| cog, cogit | to think | cognitive, cogent |
| coll | glue, to stick together | colloquy, collage |
| corp, cors | body | corporeal, corpulent |
| cosm | universe, order | cosmic, cosmopolitan |
| creant, cred, creed | to believe, to trust | credence, credit, incredible |
| cruc, crus | cross, significant | crux, crusade, crucial |
| de, div | concerning God or deities | divine, deity |
| dic, dict, diction | to say, speech, word | dictate, indicate, edict, benediction |
| doc, doct, dog, dox | to teach, learning | doctrine, dogma, orthodox |
| dom | house, master | domestic, dominate |
| equ, qui | equal, even | equate, adequate, equinox |
| esthe, esthesia | to feel, sensation | anesthesia, esthetics |
| fid, fidel | faith, trust | fidelity, confidence, infidel |
| fin, finite | end, purpose | infinite, definite |
| flu, fluor, flux, fluv | to flow | affluence, fluid, superfluous |
| for, fort | strong | fortress, enforce, comfort |
| fract, frag, frang, fring | to shatter | fracture, fragment, fragile, refract |
| gen, gon | birth, race, kind | genetic, gonad, congenital, gender |
| ger, gest | to carry, to produce | gestate, gesture, digest |
| grad, grade, gress | to step, a degree or grade | gradual, degree, progress |
| gram, graph | a written record, to write | telegram, autograph |
| grat | pleasing, thankful | gratitude, congratulate, ingratiate |
| greg | society, group | aggregate, gregarious |
| gynec, gyn, gynist | female | gynecologist, misogyny |
| hier, hieratic | holy, sacred | hierarchy, hieroglyphic |
| hol | whole | holistic, hologram |
| hydr, hydro | water, liquid | hydraulics, hydrant |
| ideo | idea, philosophy | ideology, idol, ideal |
| idi, idio | personal, private | idiosyncratic, idiom |
| iso | equal, similar | isometric, isotope |
| ject, jet | to throw | eject, inject, jettison, projectile |
| jud, jur, just | right, law | jury, judgment, judicious, injury, perjury |
| jug, junct | a link, to join | juncture, conjunction, conjugate |
| kine, kinesia, kinesis | movement, energy | kinetic, cinema |
| lat, late, lation | to bear, to carry | collate, correlate, legislate, translate |
| lect, leg, lig | to choose, to read | legible, intelligent, dialect, collect |
| lev, lieve, life | to lift, light in weight | alleviate, elevator, relief |
| lign, line | line | delineate, lineage |
| locut, loqu, loquy | to speak, speech | locution, circumlocution, eloquent, ventriloquist |
| log, logue, logy, lexico | speech, word, study of | logic, lecture, analogy |
| luc, lumin, lux | light, to shine | illuminate, lucent, luminary, elucidate |
| macro | large | macrocosm |
| mal | bad | malady, malcontent, malefactor |
| medi, meso, mid | in the middle of | intermediate, mediocre, medium |
| micro | small | microscope |
| mis | hate | misanthrope, misogyny |
| mor, mort | death | mortal, mortician, mortify |
| neg | to deny | negate, neglect, renege |
| neo | new | neologism, neonate |
| noct, nox | night | nocturnal, equinox |
| nom, num | law | nomad, economy, astronomy |
| od, odia | smell | odor, odious |
| opt, optic | eye, vision | panopticon, optics, |
| ov, ovul | egg, egg-shaped | oval, ovulate |
| par, pare | equal | pair, parity, peer, compare |
| part, patri | father | patriot, patronage, patriarch, paternal |
| path, pathic, pathy | emotion, suffering | pathological, pathetic, sympathy, empathy |
| pel, puls | to drive, driven | pulse, compulsion, expel, impulse |
| phil, philia | love, fondness for | philosophy, philanthropy, philander, philology |
| phob, phobo | fear | phobia |
| plaud, plaus, plod, plos | to make a loud noise | applaud, explode |
| plen, plet | to fill, full | plentiful, plethora, replenish |
| prim, prin | first | primary, primate, premier |
| pur, purg | to clear of guilt, to get rid of something unwanted | purge, pure, expurgate, purgatory |
| quest, quir, quisit | to ask | request, inquest, question, acquire, conquer |
| qui, quil, quit | rest | quiet, quit, acquiesce, acquit |
| rad, radic | root | radical, eradicate |
| rati, reas | to think, calculate | rate, ratify, rational, reasonable |
| rect, reg, rig | to rule or guide, proper, straight | rectify, regal, region, regulate, rigorous |
| rupt | to break, to sever | rupture, abrupt, disrupt, corrupt, interrupt |
| salu, salv | safety, health | salubrious, salvage, salutary |
| scrib, scribe, script | to write, something written | circumscribe, ascribe, describe, inscribe, prescribe |
| secut, sequ | to follow, to ensue | sequence, consequence, execute, consecutive |
| sen, senil | old, old age | senior, senator, senescence |
| ser, sor | a series, attachment | serial, desert, assert |
| solute, solv | to release, to loosen, to free | dissolve, absolute, insoluble |
| soph, sophy | wisdom | philosophy, sophisticated |
| spec, spect, spic | to look, to see | aspect, specific, spectator, spectrum, specimen |
| spir, spire | to breathe, breath, spirit | aspire, expire, conspire, transpire |
| stant, stat, stit | to stand, to stay, to state | assistant, consistent, constant, status, stance, destiny |
| stru, struct | to build, a building or pattern | destructive, instruct, obstruct, structural |
| tact, tang, teg, ting | to touch | tactile, taste, tangible, contact, contingent |
| temper, tempor, temp | time, balance | temporize, temporary, contemplate, temperature |
| ten, tain, tent, tin | to hold | tenable, tenacious, tenet, contain, detain |
| tend, tens | to stretch | extend, distend, tension, tendril |
| top, tope, topy | place | topic, topology, utopia |
| tract, treat | to draw, to extend, to attract | extract, treatise, contract, retreat, subtract |
| trib, tribe, trit | to rub, to wear down | tribulation, trite, attrition |
| trop, tropic, tropy | to turn, a change or turn | trope, tropic, entropy |
| troub, turb | confusion, whirling | disturb, perturb, turbine, turbulence |
| vac, van, vast, void | empty, desolate | vacuum, vacant, vanity, devastate, avoid |
| vail, val | to be strong, to be worthy | valiant, valor, validate, valence |
| ver, veri | true | veracious, verdict, verify |
| vit, viv | life, to live | vital, survive, viable, vivify |
| voc, vok, vow | voice, to call or summon | vocalize, vociferous, avow, equivocate |
| vol | will, desire, wish | volition, volunteer, involuntary |
| vor, vorous, vour | to eat, to swallow | voracious, carnivorous |
| xene, xeno, xeny | foreign | xenophobe, xenogamy |
| zoa, zo, zoo, zoon | life, living | zoo, zodiac, metazoan |
Helpful Prefixes and Suffixes
| Prefix or Suffix | What It Means | Example |
| a, an | not, without | apathy, analgesic |
| ab, abs | away, from, separated | abdicate, abort |
| ac, ad | to, toward | acclaim, accrete, adhere, adjoin |
| ambi, amphi | both, around | ambiguous, ambidextrous, ambiance |
| ante, anter | before, prior, in front of | antebellum, antechamber, anterior, antique |
| ap, apo | away from, detached | apology, apostate, apostle |
| cata, cat, cath | downwards, against, contrary to | cataclysm, catapult, catharsis |
| circum | around | circumscribe, circumspect, circumference |
| co, com, con | with, together | cohabitation, comfort, collude, colloquy |
| contra | against | contradict, contrast |
| de | down from, reverse, remove, out of, derived from | decapitate, declare, deface, delegate, delineate |
| di, dif, dis | separation | disable, dispute, decrease, divert |
| dys | bad, difficult | dysentery, dysphoria |
| ec, ecto, ex | outside of, external, away from | eclectic, ecstasy, excursion, excuse, explode |
| em, en, ent | in, into, within | encourage, endemic, embryo, embargo, enchant |
| epi | over, above, around | epilogue, epitome, epidemic |
| eu, ev | well, good | euphoria, eulogy, euphemism |
| hyper | more, beyond normal, excessive | hyperkinetic, hypersonic |
| hypo | less, under, below | hypochondria, hypothesis |
| in, im, em, en | in, on, amongst, within | incarnate, insert, inspire, instruct, immolate, employ, enchant |
| in, im | not | immeasurable, improper, inadequate |
| men, ment | result, means of or product of an action | instrument, ailment, compartment, entanglement |
| meta, meth | after, along with, transfer, changed | metabolism, metaphor, metaphysics, method |
| mis | worse, badly | mischief, misadventure, mistake |
| ob, of, op | toward, against, face-to-face | object, obnoxious, occupy, oppose |
| par, para | beside, near, faulty | paradox, parasite, parody |
| per | through, thoroughly | perceive, permit, perpetrate, persuade |
| peri | around, near, beside | perimeter, peripheral |
| pre | before, in front of | precept, precede, prediction, predominant, pregnant |
| pro | earlier, before, forward | proclivity, pronounce, propose |
| re | back, backwards | recant, recount, recur |
| se | aside, away | secede, seclude, sever |
| syl, sym, syn | united, together with, same | synonym, sympathy, syllogism |
| tra, trans | beyond, across, through | transact, traverse, transport |
| un | not | unable, undeniable, undone |
Word Charge
Even when you don’t know the exact meaning of a word, you may
still get a sense of the general feel of the word;
specifically, whether it carries a positive or negative charge.
Sometimes you’ll be able to recognize the charge of an unfamiliar word
by comparing it to similar words you do know. Consider, for example, the
word morbific. You may not know what this means, but
you do know that words like morbid,
morgue, and mortuary all have negative
connotations, and for a good reason: They all deal with death. You could
reasonably infer therefore that morbific carries a
negative charge and look for something positive and cheerful among the
choices as your opposite. In fact, morbific means
“causing disease,” so something life-affirming along the lines of
healthful would do the trick. If, on the other
hand, you can’t nail down a precise definition of a word yet sense it
has a positive aura, then you can narrow the choices down to those that
sound negative.
Don’t Get Stuck in Neutral
Some words don’t feel positive or negative, in which case they
may be neutral. You won’t see any neutral words as the featured word
in an Antonym question since it’s difficult to form an opposite of a
word that doesn’t lean in a particular direction. However, you may
come across neutral words in the choices and can eliminate those off
the bat since nothing that’s neutral can be the opposite of the
original word. What’s the opposite of statue, or
computer, or turquoise? There
are no genuine opposites for these words, so they can’t be
correct.
Parts of Speech
Sometimes the test makers throw a curveball by using words with
multiple meanings. Say you come to an Antonym question based on the word
compound. This can be a noun meaning “a cluster of
homes,” as in “the Smith clan retreated to their family compound.” As a
noun, it can also mean “a chemical substance formed by two or more
elements.” Compound can also be an adjective meaning
“something composed of multiple parts,” like a compound sentence or a
compound fracture. Then again, compound can be used as
a verb, meaning “to combine to form a whole,” or, in a different sense,
to “intensify” or “complicate,” as in “Jordan will compound his problems
at work if he misses Thursday’s meeting.” Compound is
clearly a complicated word with many possible meanings—how are you
supposed to know which one is being tested?
One clue is the part of speech of the answer choices. If the
choices are nouns, then the noun form of the stem word is the definition
you should seek, since the part of speech of the choices must match that
of the original word. If you’re unsure of what form of the word they’re
after, take a quick look at choice A to see if it’s a noun,
verb, or adjective. You need not look any further than that, since all
the choices will be the same part of speech. If you don’t know the word
in choice A, or it too can take various forms, then scan
for an unambiguous word among the choices that you do know and note its
part of speech. Check out how the choices help to clear up the ambiguity
in our compound example:
| COMPOUND: relinquish renounce simplify dismiss amplify |
The choices are verbs, which means we should focus on the verb
forms of the capitalized word. We saw above that
compound could mean to “complicate,” which leads us to
simplify, choice C, as the opposite.
The choices provide the clue we need to help us zero in on the intended
meaning of the original word, bringing us one step closer to the correct
answer.
Traps
Even when you know the word, that doesn’t guarantee the question will
be cake. Remember the test makers’ caveat: The questions may test “fine
shades of meaning.” What this means is that you will often come across wrong
choices that come close to being the opposite of the original but are one
small and subtle step removed. Such choices often seem reasonably related to
the word in question, and may even lean in the opposite direction, but they
don’t make it all the way there. Take, for example, the word
permeate. One definition is “to pass through or seep
into,” as in “the aroma permeated the second story window.” An example of a
trap for this question is solid. A solid
may be an object that’s difficult or impossible to permeate, but
solid itself is not the opposite of
permeate. The words are related in a negative sort of way,
but not negatively enough to be opposites.
Here’s a full example. See if you can not only get the right answer,
but also figure out which choice is rigged as a trap.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
Actually, there are two traps here, as the test makers hit you with a
one-two punch in B and C hoping to waylay you
before you make it to correct choice E. A
toxin is a poison, and the opposite of poison is
antidote, a substance that counteracts a poison.
But B and C are sure tempting, because toxins
are heavily associated with sickness and health is the
opposite of sickness, while an inoculation is meant to
prevent sickness. Health and
inoculation both stand in contrast to
toxin in some sense but don’t qualify as actual opposites.
That’s what makes them traps. And speaking of antidotes, the only antidote
to falling for such traps is a very careful consideration of each choice.
Stay on the lookout for how the test makers manipulate the “shades of
meaning” they warn you about in the directions. When you fall for traps in
practice questions, analyze what sets the correct choice apart from the trap
so you’ll be less likely to make the same kind of mistake again.
That takes care of the fundamentals, so let’s now turn our attention
to a methodical process for attacking the nine or so Antonym questions
you’ll see on test day.
|
|
 |
