50 GRE Root Words You Should Know

Some people tout learning GRE word roots as the key to conquering the vocab
questions on the Verbal section. But are they correct?

In this comprehensive introduction to root words for GRE Verbal, we’ll introduce
the root word strategy, consider the pros and cons, and make our own
recommendation about how to best use and study root words in your own
prep plan. Plus, we have a list of some common word roots that you may find
useful for the GRE!

GRE Root Words: the Strategy

Root words (also called word roots) are smaller, more basic words or word parts
that are modified by prefixes and suffixes to make more complex words. For
example, “flam-” is a root word meaning “fire or burning,” which can be combined
with various prefixes and suffixes to make words like “inflammable,” “flaming,”
“aflame,” “flamboyant,” “inflammatory,” and so on.

The idea behind learning root words for GRE Verbal is that if you memorize a whole
bunch of root words, prefixes, and suffixes, and their meanings, you’ll then be able
to combine those parts into a number of more complicated words and figure
out the meaning from the combination. This strategy thus allows you to memorize a
smaller number of word parts but still dramatically expand your vocabulary via the
combination of those parts. It should also help you to decipher unfamiliar words
when you encounter them based on your knowledge of the component parts of
words.

But does this strategy actually work?

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Pros and Cons to GRE Root Words

There are both pros and cons to the root words GRE strategy. We’ll go over both
here.

Pros

 Knowing common prefixes, suffixes, and other word parts will help you
decipher unfamiliar words when you encounter them on the GRE.

 There are some roots that are component parts of a huge number of
words, so you can theoretically gain at least a small level of familiarity with
tons of words just by learning a few roots. This can make learning root words
an efficient vocabulary enhancement strategy.

Cons

 Some roots that are very similar or identical in sound have very
different meanings. For example, the Greek root “arch” (or “archi”) means
most important or principal, and forms a part of the words archenemy,
patriarch, archon, and monarch. But another Greek root “arch” (or “archa” or
“archi”) also means old or ancient, and forms a part of the words archaic and
archaeologist. It’s very easy to get confused!

 Additionally, because English has borrowed words from many different

language families, words that sound alike may have completely
different origins and roots. For example, the word “manual” comes from
the Latin root “man,” meaning “hand.” However, the similar-sounding word
“manna” comes from Old English “manna” meaning “a providentially
provided substance” tracing all the way back to the Hebrew root “man-”
meaning “substance exuded from the tamarisk tree.” This means it is very
easy to ascribe a totally incorrect meaning to an unfamiliar word.

 Also, even if you deploy your knowledge of prefixes, suffixes, and roots
perfectly, with no mistakes, it’s still only going to get you at a vague
approximation of the actual meaning of a word, and you’ll have no idea
how to use it in context. Essentially, knowing word roots won’t help you
memorize actual entire vocab words, which is critical for the GRE.

So, what’s the conclusion on the GRE root words strategy? GRE vocabulary
questions require you to be able to identify the best word for a specific context with
a lot of precision. You need to not only recognize specific words, but also understand
exactly how to use them. Essentially, you need to increase your functional
vocabulary—the number of words that you confidently and correctly use in a
sentence.
Unfortunately, as we can see from the pros and cons of this strategy, root words can
really only ever give you a vague impression of a word on their own. Because root
words don’t really give you a precise handle on specific complex
vocabulary words, root words should not be your complete vocabulary
strategy on the GRE.

However, that doesn’t mean that root words, prefixes, and suffixes have no utility as
part of a GRE prep plan. We’ll discuss how to best incorporate them in your study
plan in the next section.

Root words are just one tool in your arsenal.

GRE Root Words: How to Study Them

Root words, prefixes, and suffixes can form a valuable ancillary part of your
vocabulary strategy. There’s some benefit in devoting a small amount of
vocabulary studying time to learning some of the most major roots,
prefixes, and suffixes. They can provide some clues if you end up with some
really unfamiliar words on GRE test day and will make any guessing you do a little
more educated. So you might consider making a few (like 50) GRE root words
flashcards to drill as a small subset of your larger, word-focused vocabulary
strategy.

Another thing to keep in mind is that you will actually learn some root words
naturally through expanding your vocabulary. As you expand the pool of
words that you know, you will start to notice patterns of words that sound alike (or
have parts that sound alike) and have similar meanings. For example, you may
notice that pathos, empathy, antipathy, and apathetic all have to do with emotions
and affect. This is because they all share the Greek root “path,” meaning feeling or
emotion. But you don’t necessarily need to know the specific root or its origins to
pick up on the fact that words with “path” in them often have to do with affect and
emotions.

So the bottom line on GRE root words is that it’s not a good strategy for your entire
vocabulary prep, but a small amount of root word work with some major roots,
prefixes, and suffixes can help you when you need to guess or decipher something
unfamiliar on the Verbal section.

I advise making GRE root words flashcards and to use the waterfall method to
drill. I also advise you to study these separately from your main vocab words, so
you don’t get confused.

In the next section we offer 50 roots, prefixes and suffixes you should drill for the
GRE.

50 Common Word Roots for the GRE

Below find a list of 50 common word roots, prefixes, and suffixes that may
help you on the GRE, as well as some words that use each of those roots. This list
was drawn up by looking at what roots appeared repeatedly on official GRE prep
materials.

Root, Prefix, or
Meaning Examples
suffix
a- without amoral, amorphous, asexual
ambi- on both sides ambidextrous, ambivalent
ante- before or in front antecedent, antedate
anti- against antipathy, antisocial
aqu/aqua- water aquatic, aqueous, aquarium, aqueduct
bene- good benefit, benediction, benevolent
bi- two bifurcate, biannual, bisect
bio- life biology, biography, biome
cede/ceed go or yield precede, exceed, recede
circum- around circumscribe, circumnavigate, circumvent

contra- against or opposite contradiction, contraception, controversy

cycl circle bicycle, cyclical
de- reduce or remove deescalate, defenestrate, decelerate
di-, dis- apart or away digress, disappear, diverge
edict, dictation, dictator, prediction,
dict speak or say
contradiction
dox belief orthodox, paradox, heterodox
du-, duo- two dual, duology, duochrome
em-, en- into, in embrace, enclose, encircle
coalesce, adolescence, obsolescent,
esce becoming
tumescent
ex- out or way exit, exhale, extirpate, exile
extra-, extro- beyond or outside extraordinary, extraterrestrial
fid/e faith bonafide, fidelity, confide
before, previously,
fore forestall, before, forebear, forebode, forecast
earlier
gram writing, letters diagram, grammar, epigram, telegram

graph writing, recording stenography, autograph, graphics

heterosexual, heterozygous, heterogeneous,
hetero- different
heterodox
homo- same homogenous, homosexual, homologous
hyper- excessive hyperactive, hyperbole
hypo- under, below hypothermia, hypocrite, hypoglycemic
inter- between intercede, interlude
intra-/intro- inside, within introvert, intramural, intravenous
junct joining juncture, conjunction, disjunct
-less without listless, aimless, heartless
-logy the study of biology, geology, psychology
mal, male bad, evil malediction, malice
mis- bad or incorrect misprint, misbehave, misstep
-ness state of being likeness, greatness
non- not, without nonfiction, nonresident
ob- against or before obdurate, obfuscate
omni- all, everything omnipotent, omniscient, omnivorous
pedi, pede foot pedestrian, pedicure
phil love or affinity bibliophile, philanthropy
pre- before or earlier pretest, preamble
pro- before or forward proceed, prologue
re- again, backwards reaction, rebound, reuse
sub- under or lower submarine, subprime
temp time temporal, contemporary, temporarily
tort twist tortuous, contortion
trans- across or beyond transnational, transit
un- not or opposite unimpressive, unwanted, unwarranted

Review: Root Words for GRE Verbal

The idea behind the GRE root words strategy is that you learn a number of root
words, prefixes, and suffixes and then are able to combine those parts into a
huge number of different words and know their approximate meanings from what all
the word parts mean.

Unfortunately, this can only ever get you a fairly vague understanding of most
words. The GRE really requires that you have specific knowledge of individual
words and exactly how to use them.

However, while this learning root words doesn’t work super-well as a main GRE
vocab strategy, it can be useful to learn some key roots, prefixes, and suffixes.
These will help you be more equipped to deal with unfamiliar words and make
educated guesses on test day.

We recommend using our list of 50 roots, prefixes, and suffixes above!