But remembering the definition is much more of a struggle. When you’re just reading each word and then the definition, you’re not actually challenging your brain.įor example, if you quiz someone 30 minutes after they’ve read a vocab list, they might remember the placement of words (“Oh yes, ‘stymie’ was next to ‘esoter…i…’ something, uh…”). Why? Well, our brains learn from being challenged. Do not simply read through a GRE word list of unknown words.
The key to memorizing new vocabulary-well, anything really-is to take an active, rather than passive, approach.
Given that these question types make up about half of the entire GRE Verbal test, having a solid GRE vocabulary cannot be overstated.įor more vocab tips and resources, check out our post on How to Study GRE Vocabulary! Sentence Equivalence and Text Completion is where your knowledge of GRE words will come most in handy.
The Reading Comprehension questions that test on vocabulary ( Meaning-in-Context questions) are more interested in how you use context clues to determine “less-common meanings of commonly used vocabulary words” they’re not meant to test how expansive your vocabulary is.