A good GRE score largely depends on how well you perform in the GRE verbal section. In particular, a good vocabulary helps in scoring well in the sentence completion, reading comprehension, antonyms, and analogies sections. For the multiple choice questions, the most important aspect is knowing the meaning of all the words in the multiple options. Knowing these words makes it easier for you to pick the right answer. There are many proven ways to improve your GRE vocabulary.
Of the many techniques for improving your GRE vocabulary, the most effective is learning the GRE vocabulary by context. When GRE words are learned by context, the brain tends to remember the words for a longer time. So, as you learn a new word, the objective should be to learn the word as it is used in a context.
For example, reading good publications such as the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal can help you in your GRE verbal preparation. These publications have several articles that are written in the same style as the paragraphs used in the reading comprehension section of the GRE verbal exam. The vocabulary used in these publications is similar to the vocabulary used in a GRE test. Reading such publications regularly will expose you to a GRE-type vocabulary consistently, and will show you new words in a context. Looking up these words in a dictionary will also help you in learning the new words and your GRE vocabulary list will keep improving over time.
Though the most effective method is to build your GRE vocabulary gradually, often people have limited time to prepare for the GRE test. In such a scenario, your GRE vocabulary can be built from an already existing list of GRE words. Most readymade GRE word lists will have between 2000 and 4000 words. By learning the meaning of all the words in a list of GRE words, preparing for the GRE verbal section will become less daunting. Here, vocabulary-building software such as Ultimate Vocabulary’s GRE edition can help a lot.
Starting with a few words from the list will help begin the process of improving your GRE vocabulary. If a few words a day seem easy, then increase the number of words to ten. But do not study too many words at a time or you may overdo it and adversely affect your retention. Regularly reviewing the words you have already learned will help in better retention.
It is important to know the general meaning of each word as well as the exact word meaning. The GRE verbal section tests both the width of your vocabulary and the depth of your vocabulary, implicitly if not explicitly. To use a metaphor, you have to be both a "dictionary" and a "thesaurus".
Heightening your GRE vocabulary skills is easy with regular reading of good publications, a good study list of GRE words, and good GRE vocabulary-learning software. Reviewing the words learned and using them in daily conversations will help in better retention. With these simple steps, your GRE verbal score can improve significantly.