Diagnostic Test - Verbal - Antonyms Review

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ANTONYMS
There are about 9 antonyms on verbal section of the test. The questions are mixed in with the analogies, sentence completions, and reading comprehension.

Put The Word In Context.
In our daily speech, we combine words into phrases and sentences; rarely do we use a word by itself. This can cause words that we have little trouble understanding in sentences to suddenly appear unfamiliar when we view them in isolation. For example, take the word "whet." Most people don't recognize it in isolation. Yet most people understand it in the following phrase:

To whet your appetite

"Whet" means to stimulate.

If you don't recognize the meaning of a word, think of a phrase in which you have heard it used.

Change The Word Into A More Common Form.
Most words are built from other words. Although you may not know a given word, you may spot the root word from which it is derived and thereby deduce the meaning of the original word.

Example: PERTURBATION: (A) impotence (B) obstruction (C) prediction (D) equanimity (E) chivalry

You may not know how to pronounce PERTURBATION let alone know what it means. However, changing its ending yields the more common form of the word "perturbed," which means "upset, agitated." The opposite of upset is calm, which is exactly what EQUANIMITY means. The answer is (D).

Test Words For Positive And Negative Connotations.
Testing words for positive and negative connotations is probably the most effective technique for antonyms. Surprisingly, you can often solve an antonym problem knowing only that the word has a negative connotation.

Example: REPUDIATE: (A) denounce (B) deceive (C) embrace (D) fib (E) generalize

You may not know what REPUDIATE means, but you probably sense that it has a negative connotation. Since we are looking for a word whose meaning is opposite of REPUDIATE, we eliminate any answer-choices that are also negative. Now, "denounce," "deceive," and "fib" are all, to varying degrees, negative. So eliminate them. "Generalize" has a neutral connotation: it can be positive, negative, or neither. So eliminate it as well. Hence, by process of elimination, the answer is (C), EMBRACE.

Any GRE Word That Starts With "De," "Dis," or "Anti" Will Almost Certainly Be Negative.
Examples: Degradation, Discrepancy, Discriminating, Debase, Antipathy

Any GRE Word That Includes The Notion of Going up Will Almost Certainly Be Positive, and any GRE Word That Includes The Notion of Going Down Will Almost Certainly Be Negative.
Examples (positive): Elevate, Ascendancy, Lofty
Examples (negative): Decline, Subjugate, Suborn (to encourage false witness)

Watch Out For Eye-Catchers.
On medium and hard problems some answer-choices will catch your eye by reminding you of some part of the original word or some common meaning of the word. Be wary of these choices--they are eye-catchers.

Example: SUFFRAGE: (A) absence of charity (B) absence of franchise (C) absence of pain (D) absence of success (E) absence of malice

SUFFRAGE is a hard word. It appears to come from the word "suffer." The opposite of suffering would be an absence of pain. However, that connection would be too easy, too obvious for this hard problem. "Absence of pain" is a trap. In fact, SUFFRAGE means "the right to vote." And FRANCHISE is a synonym for "vote." Hence, the answer is (B), ABSENCE OF FRANCHISE.

Be Alert To Secondary (Often Rare) Meanings Of Words.
On problems of average difficulty (the middle third), the GRE writers often use common words but with their uncommon meanings. An example will illustrate.

Example: CHAMPION: (A) relinquish (B) contest (C) oppress (D) modify (E) withhold

The common meaning of CHAMPION is "winner." It's opposite would be "loser." But no answer-choice given above is synonymous with "loser." CHAMPION also means to support or fight for someone else. (Think of the phrase "to champion a cause.") Hence, the answer is (C), OPPRESS.

The parts of speech in an antonym problem are consistent throughout the problem. Hence, if the given word is a verb, then every answer-choice will be a verb as well. This fact often helps you determine whether a word is being used in a secondary sense because words often have different meanings depending on their use as nouns, verbs, or adjectives.

Example: AIR: (A) release (B) differ (C) expose (D) betray (E) enshroud

AIR is commonly used as a noun--indicating that which we breathe. But every answer-choice is a verb. Hence, AIR in this case must also be a verb. A secondary meaning for AIR is to discuss publicly. The opposite is to ENSHROUD, to hide, to conceal. Hence, the answer is (E).

Never spend more than 30 seconds on an antonym problem! If you don't know the given word, use the above techniques to eliminate as many answer-choices as possible; guess from the remaining ones; then move on.

ANTONYMS Part II (WORD ANALYSIS)
Word analysis (etymology) is the process of separating a word into its parts and then using the meanings of those parts to deduce the meaning of the original word. Take, for example, the word INTERMINABLE. It is made up of three parts: a prefix IN (not), a root TERMIN (stop), and a suffix ABLE (can do). Therefore, by word analysis, INTERMINABLE means "not able to stop." This is not the literal meaning of INTERMINABLE (endless), but it is close enough to find an antonym. For another example, consider the word RETROSPECT. It is made up of the prefix RETRO (back) and the root SPECT (to look). Hence, RETROSPECT means "to look back (in time), to contemplate."

Word analysis is very effective in decoding the meaning of words. However, you must be careful in its application since words do not always have the same meaning as the sum of the meanings of their parts. In fact, on occasion words can have the opposite meaning of their parts. For example, by word analysis the word AWFUL should mean "full of awe," or awe-inspiring. But over the years it has come to mean just the opposite--terrible. In spite of the shortcomings, word analysis gives the correct meaning of a word (or at least a hint of it) far more often than not and therefore is a useful tool.

Examples:

Indefatigable
Analysis: IN (not); DE (thoroughly); FATIG (fatigue); ABLE (can do) Meaning: cannot be fatigued, tireless

Circumspect
Analysis: CIRCUM (around); SPECT (to look) Meaning: to look around, that is, to be cautious

Antipathy
Analysis: ANTI (against); PATH (to feel); Y (noun suffix) Meaning: to feel strongly against something, to hate