Finally, and most importantly, there is only one sure way to prepare for the antonym questions on the GRE, and that is to know your vocabulary! Unfortunately, building a strong vocabulary takes time -- most notably many months, if not years -- but it is never too late to start. Consider using the vocabulary section of MyGRETutor.com to brush up on your vocabulary, and especially plan accordingly if you have enough time to prepare for the test.
But knowing a large number of words is not enough. The GRE exam tests your knowledge of secondary meanings, and of course ample confusing words are provided, too, in an attempt to confuse you. Take a look at these often-confused words to see if you cane decipher between each pair of words. This list is not exhaustive, and is just meant to showcase the little nuances among seemingly-easy words.
| viscous, vicious |
| effect, affect |
| ingenuous, ingenious |
| endemic, epidemic |
| discreet, discrete |
| dissemble, disassemble |
| diffident, different |
| deprecate, depreciate |
| complacent, complaisant |
| extant, extent |
| incredulous, incredible |
| ambiguous, ambivalent |
| illusive, allusive |
If you are not able to right away define any of the above words or differentiate between the words in any one word pair, then this is a great time to look these words up in a dictionary. Go ahead, do it now.