In a perfect world, you'd have plenty of time before the test to memorize the 200 most commonly tested words, along with hundreds of others. You'd be ready for every possible question they could throw at you. But that's not always reality. If you find yourself seriously pressed for time before the exam, consider this file your best shot to avoid common pitfalls. We offer two sections:
a. A list of tricky lookalike words that often appear on the test
b. A quick way to learn several hundred commonly-tested words that are grouped by subject area
Tricky Lookalike Words
The following pairs of words look similar and are easily confused with each other. Test writers often take advantage of this confusion. Some are very similar in meaning, while others are different. Know the difference!
1) adulate and adulterate
2) adverse and averse
3) anachronism and anarchism
4) antipathy and apathy
5) ascetic and aesthetic
6) baleful and baneful
7) censure and censor
8) capitulate and recapitulate
9) disparate and desperate
10) divers and diverse
11) elicit and illicit
12) heterogeneous and homogeneous
13) illusion and allusion
14) imbibe and imbue
15) imminent and eminent
16) ingenious and ingenuous
17) mendicant and mendacious
18) penury and penurious
19) pestilence and petulance
20) qualitative and quantitative
21) vicious and viscious
1) adulate: to praise, adulterate: to make impure
2) adverse: hostile; averse: unwilling
3) anachronism: an outdated custom, anarchism: disruptive
4) antipathy: hatred, aversion, apathy: indifference
5) ascetic: self-denying, abstinent, austere aesthetic: related to beauty or art
6) baleful: forshadows evil, baneful: poisonous, deadly
7) censure: blame, criticize, censor: to remove the inappropriate
8) capitulate: to surrender, recapitulate: to repeat
9) disparate: different; diverse, desperate: needy, beyond reason
10) divers: several diverse: distinct, varied
11) elicit: to draw out, provoke illicit: illegal, improper
12) heterogeneous: diverse throughout homogeneous: the same throughout
13) illusion: something unreal deceptive allusion: indirect reference
14) imbibe: to drink imbue: to infuse, dye, wet or moisten
15) imminent: at any moment, soon eminent: famous, renowned
16) ingenious: original, clever ingenuous: straightforward, open
17) mendicant: beggar mendacious: dishonest
18) penury: extreme poverty penurious: stingy
19) pestilence: epidemic, plague petulance: irritable or ill-tempered
20) qualitative: having to do with a quality, quantitative: having to do with a number
21) vicious: mean; viscious: resistance to flow
No Time to Memorize? Learn to Recognize Groups of Related Words
Many test questions simply require you to have a general idea of what a word means, not an exact definition. Use this list to quickly learn a few hundred related words that are grouped in commonly-tested subject areas.
1) Communication
assertion: a declaration or statement
clarity: clearness in commmunication
cogent: convincing, reasonable
coherent: logically connected
cohesive: sticking together
didactic: intended to instruct
discourse: verbal expression, conversation
eloquence: the ability to speak persuasively
fluid: flows easily
lucid: clearly understood
rhetoric: using language effectively and persuasively
2) Legal Terms
arbiter: a judge
exculpate: to free from guilt or blame
incontrovertible: indisputable
integrity: trustworthiness
jurisprudence: the philosophy or science of law
objectivity: treating facts without influence from personal feelings or biases
penitent: expressing remorse for misdeeds
vindicated: freed from blame
3) Air of Superiority
condescending: treating others as inferior
contemptuous: scornful
despotic: having absolute power, tyrannical
dictatorial: domineering, overbearing
disdain: contempt, scorn
imperious: domineering, overbearing
patronizing: to treat in a condescending manner
4) Hard to Understand
convoluted: intricate, complex
cryptic: difficult to comprehend
futile: pointless
impede: to slow progress
obscure: to conceal
quandary: a state of uncertainty
5) Bad Habits
dilatory: always late
indolent: lazy
insipid: uninteresting, unchallenging
listless: lacking energy
torpor: laziness, dullness
6) Excessive
ebullience: intense enthusiasm
effusive: emotionally unrestrained
egregious: bad or offensive
flagrant: shocking or noticeable
frenetic: wildly excited or active
gratuitious: given freely, unwarranted
superfluous: extra, unnecessary
7) Positive Connotations
asylum: a place for retreat
auspicious: favorable, promising
benevolent: well-meaning, generous
benign: kind and gentle
emollient: soft and soothing
intuition: sharp insight
mollify: to calm or soothe
reclamation: to make something useful again
sanction: to give official approval
8) Untruthful
dubious: doubtful
dogmatic: stubbornly adhering to unproven beliefs
fabricated: made, concocted to deceive
hypocrisy: insincerity
slander: false oral statements about someone
spurious: not genuine, counterfeit
9) Sneaky
astute: clever, shrewd
camoflage: to hide by blending in
clandestine: secretive
coup: a well-executed plan
disingenuous: not straightforward, crafty
ruse: a trick
stratagem: a clever trick used to deceive someone
surrepititious: done by secretive means
wary: on guard
wily: cunning
10) Undecided
ambiguous: open to more than one interpretation
ambivalent: uncertain, felling opposite feelings simultaneously
apathetic: showing little emotion
arbitrary: determined by impusle rather than reason
capricious: impulsive
equivocate: to avoid making a decision
inconsequential: unimportant
tenuous: shaky, unsure, weakwhimsical: unpredictable
11) Hard Working
assiduous: hard working
diligent: hard working
dogged: persevering
intrepid: courageous, fearless
maverick: independent
obdurate: stubborn, inflexible
obstinate: stubborn
proliferate: to grow or increase rapidly
tenacity: persistence
12) To Bring Together
assimilation: to absorb, to make similar
consensus: general agreement
incumbent: imposed as a duty
malleable: easily shaped or formed, easily influenced
subdue: to restrain or hold back
13) Personal Space
inherent: inborn, built in
innate: inborn, possessed at birth
inveterate: long established, deep rooted, habitual
omnipotent: all powerful
proximity: closeness
14) Moving
elusive: difficult to capture
emigrate: to leave one country and settle in another
transient: moving from one place to another
transitory: short-lived or temporary
15) Friendly
affable: friendly
amenable: agreeable
camaraderie: goodwill
candor: sincerity, openness
facetious: playfully humorous
16) Feeling Bad
impinge: hinder
lament: mourn
melancholy: sadness, depression
truncated: shortened, cut off
17) Writing
aesthetic: appreciation of beauty
anthology: a collection of literary pieces
dilettante: one with a superficial understanding of a field
eclectic: composed of a variety of sources or styles
excerpt: a selected part of a passage
genre: a category of art
medley: as assortment or mixture of musical pieces
parody: an artistic work that imitates the style of another work for comic effect
virtuoso: a skilled artist
18) Calmness
decorous: proper, good taste
equanimity: composure
propriety: appropriate behavior
prudent: using good judgment or common sense
serene: calm
staid: serious, unemotional
stoic: impassive, indifferent to pleasure or pain
19) Negative Thoughts
disparage: to belittle, to speak badly of
pejorative: to speak ngatively of someone
plagiarism: to pass someone else's ideas or writing off as one's own
vilify: to make vicious statements about
20) Rude
brusque: abrupt
caustic: biting, sarcastic
feral: savage, untamed
fractious: quarrelsome, unruly
incorrigible: unable to be reformed
ingrate: ungrateful person
insolent: insulting in manner or speech
notorious: known widely in an unfavorable manner
pugnacious: combative, belligerent
reprehensible: worthy of blame
21) Evil
deleterious: injurious, having aharmful effect
enmity: mutual hatred or ill-will
heinous: evil, abominable
malfeasance: wrongdoing, misconduct
malice: ill will
putrid: rotten
rancorous: hateful
22) Old
archaic: old-fashioned
hackneyed: trite, overused
medieval: old-fashioned
obsolete: no longer in use, old-fashioned
23) Boring
austere: without decoration, plain
mediocrity: average, low quality
mundane: ordinary, commonplace
ponderous: dull
prosaic: dull, unimaginative
sedentary: settled, not migratory
24) Bad Feelings
harbinger: something that indicates what is to come, a forerunenr
ominous: menacing, threatening
timorous: timid, fearful of the future
trepidation: uncertainty, apprehension
25) New
innovative: introducing somehting new
naive: lacking sophistication
nascent: emerging
novice: a beginner
26) Earth
arid: a dry, rainless climate
conflagration: a widespread fire
nocturnal: occurring in the night
sonorous: producing a deep or full sound
27) Abundant
comprehensive: large in scope
copious: plentiful
permeated: spread or flowing throughout
pervasive: dispersed throughout
prodigious: enormous
replete: filled to capacity
28) Respect
exemplary: commendable, worthy of imitation
laudatory: giving praise
venerated: highly respected
facile: easy
fastidious: paying careful attention to detail, hard to please
meticulous: careful and precise
pramatic: practical
solvent: able to pay one's debts
29) Scientific
abstract: not applied to actual objects
paradigm: an exmaple or model
rational: logical, motivated by reaosn rahter than feeligns
theoretical: lacking practical application
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