Everyone knows that one of the quickest ways to improve your GRE Verbal Score is to expand your vocabulary.


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New words help, of course, with Sentence Equivalence questions and Fill in the Blank questions, but they also help occasionally with reading comprehension, when a key word in the conclusion of a text can change the meaning of a whole paragraph.

I used these methods to boost my GRE vocab, and get a 170 in GRE Verbal

Method 1: Create a nickname for the word, that links to the definition.

Harangue: a scolding or a long and intense verbal attack; diatribe.
What are some appropriate words that link the definition to the sound of the word? Maybe ‘anger’ or ‘argue’

So, my nickname might be ‘to harangue is to angry-argue.’

Insipid: Lacking vigour or interest

For this word, I would think of the word ‘sip’. You often sip a drink instead of gulping it if you are not sure about the flavour or whether you like it. If it lacks any interest for you, you ‘sip-it.’ That’s my nick-name for it ‘sip-it’ – sounds close to insipid, no?

Egregious: conspicuously and outrageously bad or reprehensible

Let’s make up someone called ‘Greg’, who behaves really badly. Greg is awful and outrageous. His behaviour is ‘e-greg-ious’, ‘egregious’!

Epicure: a person devoted to refined sensuous enjoyment; a person with refined taste in wine and food

An epicure is someone who enjoys only epic stuff, epic food, epic wine. ‘Epic-ure!’

Plaintive: expressing sorrow

Someone who expresses sorrow might well be sad because of a complaint they have. You could almost say that they are ‘complaint-ive’. Plaintive is an adjective about being mournful and pitiful, so imagine someone complaining in a really sad and pitiful way.

But what do I do if I can’t think of a nick-name for a word on my word list?

Method 2: Etymology. Knowing about etymology has helped me appreciate word meanings so much more that it has made me love learning new words.

Etymology is the study of the origin of words. Basically, why do we use that collection of sounds to represent that concept.

When a bad thing happens, why do we say it is a disaster?

To find out, I use a great dictionary called the Online Etymology Dictionary. And no, I am not sponsored by them, unfortunately. Other dictionaries also often give the etymology of a word down beneath the definition.

Presage: a foreboding about what is about to happen

Pre- means ‘before’, just like the words ‘prevent’ or ‘preliminary’. ‘Sage’ comes from wisdom, like the word ‘sage’ or ‘sagacious’ meaning wise. So, having wisdom before the event, perhaps before something goes wrong, is to presage the event.

Privation: a state of extreme poverty

The origin of the word comes from taking away what is privately owned, linked to ‘deprive’ or ‘deprivation’. This helps to remember that unfortunate people can end up in a horrible state of privation.

Berserk: out of control with anger or excitement; wild or frenzied.

This is actually an Old Norse word, from Scandinavia. It comes from the words ‘bear’ and ‘coat’ – warriors who fought like bears, with maybe a bearskin on their backs. If you go berserk, you really go wild like a Viking.

The words in the video are from the Economist: [ Ссылка ]

And this, tougher list:
[ Ссылка ]



I offer private GRE / GMAT tutoring online at a fixed rate of $140/hr. Please get in touch via the email below, or through my tutoring website: [ Ссылка ]

Enquiries: philip@gretutorlondon.com If you’re now ready to get into your dream MBA program, my former student, Angel, is offering virtual private Admissions coaching. She was admitted into Harvard Business School, The Wharton School of Business, and Columbia Business School (accepted into every school she interviewed for) after graduating from UCLA with a degree in Communication. She also got 3 perfect scores on the GRE’s Analytical Writing Assessment (99th percentile).

Here is her link - [ Ссылка ] - and you can reach her at angellinzhu@gmail.com with the subject line, “PHILIP SENT ME.”

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