Antonym Step Method
Antonym questions can take the least time of all the Verbal question
types, if you know the meaning of the word in the question stem. The method for
this best-case scenario is simple and to the point. We’ll talk later about how
to go about it when you’re stumped by the stem word, but when you know it,
follow these steps:
Step 1: Simplify the Word.
Step 2: Predict an Opposite.
Step 3: Match Your Prediction to the Answer Choices.
Here are the basics of each step.
Step 1: Simplify the Word. Even if you know the meaning of
the word in question, that doesn’t mean it’s in its most user-friendly form.
Since you’ll be trying to make your own prediction in Step 2, it makes sense to
work with the easiest form of the word you can think of. If the original word is
already easy for you, then there’s no need to simplify it. No doubt you can work
with a word like greedy as is, and trying to simplify it may be
more trouble than it’s worth. However, it probably pays to turn a word like
relinquish into give up before trying to
think of potential opposites.
Step 2: Predict an Opposite. When you’re comfortable with the
word in question or a simplified synonym for it, try to come up with an opposite
of your own before looking at the answer choices. If you go to the choices
immediately, they may distract you from your understanding of the word or cause
you to lose your train of thought. You’re less likely to go off track if you
have a notion in mind before you hit the choices. Remember that positively
charged words will have negatively charged antonyms, and vice versa. Your
prediction need not be elegant, nor should you expect to find your exact
prediction among the choices. The important thing is to come up with a notion
that will represent the essence of the right choice so you’ll recognize it when
you see it.
Step 3: Match Your Prediction to the Answer Choices. When you
have a prediction in mind, scan the choices for it. Optimally, you’ll breeze by
the imposters until you come across one that matches your idea. Even then, you
should quickly check the other choices to make sure there’s not a stronger
opposite. And sometimes you’ll still have to work a bit harder for the point.
Even if you know the meaning of the stem word and have a viable prediction at
your fingertips, you still may need to employ some of the fundamentals discussed
earlier, or other strategies discussed below, to eliminate wrong choices before
settling on a choice.
We’ll demonstrate the basic step method with the following example.
Step 1: Simplify the Word. It may not be the toughest
word you’ll see on the test, so let’s assume you know what
superfluous means. Still, it could use a bit of
translation for our purposes, so let’s simplify: Something
superfluous is something that’s “more than required,”
“not essential,” or “unnecessary.” Any of these notions would do, so let’s
carry them with us into Step 2.
Step 2: Predict an Opposite. The opposite of something
that’s “more than required,” “not essential,” or “unnecessary” is something
that’s “required,” “essential,” or “necessary.” Any of these words would
make for a fine prediction.
Step 3: Match Your Prediction to the Answer Choices. With
our predictions in mind, indispensable should jump out,
since something indispensable is something one can’t do without; that is,
something required, essential, or necessary. C means the same
as our prediction and is therefore correct.
But let’s say you had some initial trouble with the word
indispensable. Referring back to our section on word
prefixes, suffixes, and roots, you can still make a proper guess at it. Note
that the word is formed from the word dispense. You
probably do know that dispense means “to get rid of.” The
prefix in means “not” or “without,” so something
indispensable is something that cannot be gotten rid
of, which brings us back to necessary. It also brings us to
our next section, which contains strategies to help you when you’re not so
sure of the tested word.
Tame the Tough Stuff
Parsimonious? Come on, virtually no one knows every
word the test makers dig up for GRE Antonym questions, especially those
lurking in the deep end of the question pool. And some, like the ones
starting this paragraph, are simply beyond the pale if you didn’t happen to
memorize them. But that doesn’t mean you still can’t use a bit of strategy
to tilt the odds in your favor. We’ve already discussed in the fundamentals
section how word components, parts of speech, and word charges can provide
clues to the meaning of unfamiliar words. We also provided examples of the
kinds of traps the test makers like to set for the unwary. Here are a few
more tips that may help you power through even when you’re stumped at first
by the word in question.
- Relate the Word to Words You Know
- Create a Context
Relate the Word to Words You Know
Let’s jump right in with an example. Say you came across this word
in an Antonym question: metamorphose. That’s a scary
bit of language, isn’t it? But notice how you can alter it just a tad to
come up with the similar-sounding word metamorphosis,
which you likely remember from high school biology as the process by
which a caterpillar changes into a butterfly. The operative word is
change, and in fact, to
metamorphose means “to change the nature of” or “to
transform.” The opposite will therefore be something along the lines
of remain unaltered, maintain, or
Try another example: alleviate. You may know its
meaning, but if you don’t, you might notice that the root
lev shows up in altered forms in words like
relieve and relief, suggesting
that alleviate might mean something like make
better. It also wouldn’t hurt if you were familiar with the
pain reliever “Aleve.” Is it likely that a company would name a pain
reliever after something bad or harmful? No. The point is that words
have associations with other words, and you can use word associations to
help you get in the ballpark of the definitions of words you don’t
Create a Context
While an unfamiliar word may bring other words to mind, even
better is if it triggers a phrase or sentence based on a common usage of
that word. For example, you may not know the word
surrogate if you encounter it in isolation, but you may
have heard the phrase “surrogate mother” applied to a woman who carries
someone else’s child. You can infer from this context that
surrogate means someone who helps someone else, but
it would be better to be as specific as possible: A
surrogate is someone who acts in place of
someone else—a substitute. An antonym for this might be
original or principal. These may
not be precise opposites, but remember, your job is to choose the word
most nearly opposite in meaning to the word in question.
Let’s try creating contexts for veto and
annulment. If you aren’t able to precisely define
veto, you may still recognize its most common use,
as in “The president vetoed the bill.” If you know what a presidential
veto is, then you can deduce that to veto means “to reject.” It can also
be used as a noun, being the rejection itself, as in “The president’s
veto was scorned by the opposing party.” In this case, context can help
you get a jump on the word, but you’d still benefit from checking the
choices to see which part of speech the test makers are after.
As for the second example, what comes to mind when you hear the
word annul? Marriages, of course—at least ones being
called off. By itself the word annulment may elude you,
but if you think of an annulled marriage, definitions like
“cancellation” or “termination” should spring to mind.