Before you even look at the answer choices, try to come up with an antonym for the word in all capital letters. If you know the meaning of the word in all capital letter, then the antonym that you come up with should be very similar to one of the answer choices. Just like on the analogy questions, the makers of the GRE claim that the antonym questions are straight-forward, and that if you know the definition of all of the words in the question, then the answer is easy to spot. For example, try to come up with antonyms for the following words (we've left out the answer choices so that you won't be tempted to jump ahead). If you don't know the meaning of any of these words, then you probably can't pick a good antonym. The remedy? Look up these words in a dictionary if you don't know them, as they are on the list of the 100 most common tested words on the GRE.
PULSATE
CONVERGE
DISSEMBLE
METICULOUS
RESOLVE
If you don't know the meaning of the word in all capital letters, then you'll need to employ one of the other antonym tactics, each of which is described in more detail in the following pages.
Test Tip |
The first -- and most important -- tactic on an antonym question is to come up with your own antonym for the provided word BEFORE you look at the answer choices. That way, you'll be forced to think about the word. Of course, if you don't know the meaning of the word, then you'll need to use additional tactics. |