GRE Vocabulary List

GRE Vocabulary List

Memorizing vocabulary lists is not the best way to improve your vocabulary.

The best way is to read more and  readmore challenging material. However, if you only have a couple of months till you take the test, memorization might be your only realistic option. I hope you are seeing this page in your first, rather than your last year of college. If so, consider taking courses in a broad range of disciplines. Doing so will prepare you for the wide range of reading comprehension topics you will get on the GRE, GMAT, MCAT, and LSAT, and improve your vocabulary as well. Include a course in logic for good measure (MSU students can take PHL 130 -- a basic logic course). However, if you're already a senior, you might want to learn all the words on this list. They are not all that uncommon, and you might run into them elsewhere than on the GRE.

At least two sections of the GRE, analogies and antonyms, depend largely on the test-taker's knowledge of vocabulary. Many of the following words have appeared in the GRE exams (based upon previous exams which ETS has has released for students to practice with). Others are, in my opinion, good candidates to appear on the GRE. I can't guarantee that you will see all (or any) of these words on the GRE. No one can (legally) do that, as the GRE is secret. However, because of the difficulty of coming up with good antonym and analogy questions, it is likely that some words will be "recycled".

The first column contains the vocabulary words, arranged in alphabetical order. The second column gives the part(s) of speech (noun, verb, adjective, or adverb) to which the word belongs, and the third gives a bief definition. In some cases, the third column also includes examples of other forms of the listed word. Knowing the part of speech to which a word belongs can often help you analyze questions and answer choices on the verbal sections of the GRE and improve your chances of figuring out the correct answer. This is especially true for analogy questions. For more information on this subject.