Beware GRE Vocabulary Words That Look Alike
The GRE — or Graduate Record Exam — includes several kinds of vocabulary questions. One of the most difficult kind of GRE vocabulary questions is the analogy questions. When working through analogies, you must take care with words that look alike.
For example, say you are given the following analogy question (this question is taken from Matthew F Ignoffo, "The Thread of Thought: Analogies as a Vocabulary Building Method" (1980) 23(6) Journal of Reading 519, 521):
You are given these choices:
- biologist : cells
- botanist : animals
- etymologist : insects
- etymologist : words
- pediatrician : feet
You might easily get distracted by etymologist : insects, confusing etymology with entomology. You might also easily get distracted by pediatrician : feet if you confuse pediatrics with podiatry.
Be Prepared
Here are some typical trick pairs that have appeared in analogies (Ignoffo, 521):
- apocryphal - apocalyptical
- bibliophile - bibliophobe
- emollient - emolument
- etymologist - entomologist
- temerarious - timorous
Some tips for preparing for GRE vocabulary questions like these include:
- Read books of mnemonic devices; these are books that give you tips on how to remember easily confused words; for example, the book "Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge" by Rod L Evans gives this tip for emollient (substance for soothing or softening the skin): "Molly applied emollient to Bob's tired feet." (page 162).
- Read lists of commonly confused words. Good examples are Paul Brians' "Common Errors in English Usage" and lists by Robert Hartwell Fiske.
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- Play vocabulary games. For example, our own game "Eggcorns and Misspellings" includes several commonly confused words that you might come across.
- Use good vocabulary-learning software, such as the popular Ultimate Vocabulary.