Antonyms Answering Tips:A typical antonym question will look like this:pedestrian1) prosaic2) banal3) original4) circumspect5) eulogisticSolution: Here you need to consider secondary meaning of this word. The word pedestrian, in addition to meaning "on foot" also means "common, or dull". The words prosaic(dull), banal are synonyms. Original is an antonym and the correct answer.Here's an approach to answer antonyms.. If the word is known to you, then you can directly select the opposite without spending much time on the question. In some questions, a synonym of the word is deliberately added in a list of answer choices. Stay Alert. You are not looking for a word that means the same but the opposite.This is the most common mistake that students make. If you do not know the meaning of the word, try to infer its meaning by breaking it into pieces.Knowledge of roots, prefixes and suffix will help in finding meaning of word.e.g:ANTIPATHYANTI(against)PATH(to feel) Y(noun suffix)meaning: feeling of hatred Figure out whether the word has positive or negative connotation. This will help in eliminating the wrong answer choices. For example, if the word is positive, you should look for a word with a negative connotation. You can also eliminate any words that also have a positive connotatione.g:AFFABLEA) jovialB) disconcertC) surlyD) prolificE) gregariousThe word affable has positive connotation. So all positive words (jovial, prolific, magnanimous) can be crossed out. Affable means polite, easily approachable. Surly (meaning rude) is the antonym.The words with the prefix de, dis, in have negative connotation. If you can't find the opposite to the primary meaning, look for the secondary meaning of the word.e.g:RENTA) ownB) depleteC) harborD) restoreE) releaseHere rent is used as a verb, meaning totear apart. Restore is the antonym. Watch out for eye-catchers. The wordSUFFRAGEmay remind you something related to suffer (or pain), but suffrage means theright to vote.Some more Tips to improve your vocabulary When you learn a word, try to create a picture related to the word or its meaning in your mind. This will help in recalling the meaning of word. Incorporatethe new words into your speech. When looking for the meaning of a word in dictionary, also look for its secondary meaning and synonyms. Crossword puzzles and scrabble - a great way of increasing your vocabulary.

If you don't know the stem word, find the opposites of the answer choices, eliminating any answers without a clear opposite.If you have a big vocabulary, youll do well on antonyms. If you have a limited vocabulary,youll have trouble. Techniques can help, but the size and strength of your GRE vocabularyis the main factor in antonyms. Get to work on it.

You must never mark an answer without reading all the choices.

Easy antonyms have easy answers. Dont fret over difficult choices on the questions youknow are easy questions. But beware: hard antonyms often have easy answers, too.

You may have to work backward, turning the answers into their opposites to see if theymight be synonyms of the question word.

If you dont know the meaning of the word in capital letters but do have some sense ofwhether it has positive connotations or negative connotations, you can eliminate similarlypositive or negative words among the choices.

Eliminate words that have no clear opposite.

Beware of pseudo-roots!

On questions you know are hard, if three or more choices have the same ending as the wordin capital letters, you should select your answer from among those choices.

Dont spin your wheels on the hard antonyms. If you run out of ideas, guess and go on.