The following easily confused words are likely to appear in the verbal sections
of the GRE. These are
not homonyms (words that are spelled the differently, have different meanings, but sound and/or
are
spelled alike but have different meanings, such as they're, their, and there).
There are two types:
-
words that have similar
spellings but different meanings. When these words are confused for
each other, it is usually because the reader is familiar with one, but not the other (less
commonly used) one. A good example is the pair: different and diffident.
- A few are confused because their meanings overlap
or because the words are used in related
contexts. A good example of this type is the frequently confused pair: infer, and imply.
I suggest you learn
all these words. When you take the GRE, you'll find it was time well spent. Because
the best way for you to learn to distinguish these words is to learn both the spelling and the definition,
I
am not including definitions of most of the words in this list. Looking the words up in the dictionary
will
help fix the new words in your memory. For really problematic words, however, I do give the definitions.
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viscous
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vicious
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restive
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restful
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effect
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affect
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compass
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compress
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indigenous
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indigent
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ingenuous (and
disingenuous)
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ingenious
(ingenuity)
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infer
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imply
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insensible
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insensitive
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elusive
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effusive
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corroborate
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collaborate
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endemic
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epidemic
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dissemble
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disassemble
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diffident
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different
(difference)
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deference
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deprecate
(deprecation)
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depreciate
(depreciation)
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fission
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division into two
or more parts: Nuclear fission is the principle
behind nuclear weapons.
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fusion
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joining of two
or more entities into one, such as in nuclear fusion (the
joining of atomic nuclei) or fusion jazz (jazz that joins elements from
various musical traditions): They are attempting to harness the
energy produced by nuclear fusion
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extant
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in existence; used
especially to refer to the last surviving examples of
something passing out of existence, such as an antique book or a
nearly extinct species
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extent
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length or amount: The
extent of corruption in the bureaucracy was
well known.
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incredulous
(credulous)
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disbelieving,
very doubtful
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incredible
(credible)
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difficult
to believe
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emulate
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to
pattern one's behavior (on a respected role model)
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imitate
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to
copy
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descry
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to
make open or plain, by saying
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decry
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to
condemn
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engender
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to
bring into being
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endanger
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to
put at risk
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ambiguous
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vague;
capable of various interpretations
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ambivalent
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being
of two minds; holding conflicting feelings or attitudes
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discomfort
(n)
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the
lack of ease or comfort
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flaunt
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to
display brazenly or pretentiously
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flout
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to show an obvious
disregard or disrespect for; to treat
contemptuously
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lied
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the
past tense of lie, as in "He lied about his age to get into the Army."
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lied (pronounced
leed)
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a song; a type
German of song, meant to be sung, as opposed to a
purely instrumental tune (since this is actually a German word, the
plural is lieder, not lieds)
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discomfit
(vt)
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to
disconcert or make uncomfortable
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1. readin'
