Ask and you shall receive! Based on the many requests from our students (thank you, as always, for your suggestions!), we’ve compiled the best of our word lists into a one-stop vocabulary resource for the revised GRE in eBook form.
It includes:
- Instructions on how to use our very popular GRE vocabulary lists
- How to not use GRE vocabualry word lists!
- Themed lists, organized by category
- 300+ of the most common GRE vocabulary words
- Recommended resources for finding/learning new words
- A total of 92 pages!
And it’s free 
So feel free to share with friends, print it out, and use it to learn some new vocabulary words on the go. Enjoy!
Click here to download.
Let us know if you have any suggestions or feedback (love it? hate it? let us know!) by leaving us a comment below.
By the way, students who use Magoosh GRE improve their scores on average by 8 points on the new scale (150 points on the old scale.) Click here to learn more.
Hi Team Magoosh,
This ebook is a great work. Appreciate the work gone into it.
As I was goin through it, I got this doubt.
#########
Start
The secondary meaning for start is somewhat similar to the common meaning. To start is to suddenly move or dart in a particular direction.
#########
is this similar to ‘startled’. Can they both be used interchangeably?
Hi Vijay,
Yes! That’s a great mnemonic device
. ‘Startled’ is definitely consistent with the second definition of ‘start.’
Hey,
and i still see new words which confuse me. Would you recommend any technique to understand words better?
The book is great and very helpful ! i have been practicing GRE vocab for almost 4 months now. I have my GRE next month. My math score is excellent but my vocab scores during practice tests are bad! I always go wrong with the triple blank or two blank questions when i get one option right and the other wrong. I am getting nervous because of this
Thanks,
Hi Vibha,
Those three-blank questions definitely are tough. While vocabulary is part of the problem, convoluted sentence structure is usually a big part of the problem. Learning how words such as ‘notwithstanding, ‘for all…’, ‘anything but’ function in sentences can help you decode two- and three-blank TCs much faster.
In the instructional material/questions, I know Manhattan GRE focuses on this, and I know we (Magoosh) do as well. The other companies don’t really do a very good job. I’d recommend doing a lot more practice with TCs at this level.
Let me know if that helps. And if you are already doing something similar, let me know, and I can help you find other ways to improve your verbal performance.
Good luck
!
Hello,
Great book!!! Wish i had gone through this before.
I gave GRE in May-2012 and got a score of 305( 157-Quant, 148-Verbal, 3.5 – Essays). I have 2.5 years of experience in HP R&D and good academics throughout. People told me that with this score I wont be able to get into top 15-20 colleges. So, i am planning to take GRE again. Is it a good idea? Or is this score good enough?
If not, how can i improve my Verbal? Last time i felt i screwed up verbal due to lack of practice.
Hi, Vardhaman
The top 15-20 colleges in the US are very competitive since they receive many applications from many highly-qualified students, so if you have the time to study for and take the exam again, it certainly wouldn’t hurt to have higher scores.
Some extra information for you to consider:
http://magoosh.com/gre/2011/should-i-retake-the-gre/
http://gre.magoosh.com/score-guarantee
For Verbal I would definitely recommend going through the eBook above, and especially following the advice at the end of it about doing plenty of outside reading, as well as working on more practice questions, as you mentioned!
I hope that helps, feel free to let us know if you have any other questions!
Best,
Margarette
Hi, Vardhaman
Could you please tell us if you are admitted at the top 20 colleges with this score? Did the preparation help you to improve your GRE score?
Thank you in advance!
Wow, this e-book was SO helpful! I was feeling pretty stressed out by my inability to learn and retain new vocabulary, but I don’t know. The way you guys designed this… it just sticks! Thank you guys.. I REALLY appreciate it
Thanks, Michelle! We’re glad you like it! We worked hard to make it as effective as possible, we know vocab can be tough!
Best,
Margarette
Hey, thanks so much for this ebook! Quick question, how reliable is it to study from this ebook in terms of vocabulary? That is, how exactly were the words chosen for this prep? I’ve heard some brands of books were better than others, and I would hate to study off this and find that none of the words here appeared on the GRE (mainly because I don’t have enough time to study). Thanks in advance!
Hi Janine,
That’s a good point! Cramming words that you are less likely to see test day isn’t helpful. The ebook words were mostly chosen for their likelihood to show up on the GRE. Sometimes I throw in obscure words because they fit the topic well (I can’t imagine anyone seeing ‘bwana’ test day). Often, I will point out that such words are obscure.
As for the common words in the ebook, well over a dozen showed up on the latest practice test (and these questions were from the last year during which time most of the words on the site were live!). Here is a link to a post I wrote about it:
http://magoosh.com/gre/2012/vocab-wednesday-words-from-newly-released-ets-material/
Hi Magoosh, I have improved my vocabulary using flash cards and Princeton review’s word smart. Now I want to do some practice of text completion and sentence equivalence. Which book do you think would provide the best practice . Is Manhattan’s sentence equivalence and text completion a good option?
Hi Sab,
Actually, I wouldn’t rely on Manhattan’s books. It relies too much on obscure vocabulary and, as a result, it does not mimic the test very well. We (that’s Magoosh) recently uploaded hundreds of SE/TC, thereby already adding to our large number. Beyond ETS we are always a good place for SE/TC practice
.
Hi,
I started preparing for GRE (mainly Verbal) about 1 1/2 months back. I completed magoosh verbal book, and Kaplan GRE word list (500 words) but still the marks that I get in the exam is pretty low and most words are still new to me.
Initially I got 147 in GRE Verbal Kaplan but now my marks have decreased to just 144. Please help me. I am really worried as my GRE is on 27th August.
Regards,
Srikant Aggarwal
HI Srikant,
The GRE is definitely a test of will, esp. learning vocabulary. Do not think of your lower score as failure; it is an opportunity to learn more words. Be zealous and hunt down as much GRE vocab as possible. And when you miss a practice question because of vocab, learn those words. In a month, you should be able to boost your vocab so that many of the words test day aren’t new to you.
Good luck!
Thanks a lot for this addition.
Hi, Vandana
You’re very welcome!
Hi Chris,
Needed some advice. I am a Magoosh product user and I seem to be positively struggling with the gre vocab words used in the sentences. As in if I haven’t seen them before, then its difficult to decipher the meaning too based on etymology or any other technique. This, despite the fact that I am quite a voracious reader. At the same time I realize that English as a vast language always throws up words that will be new. How would you suggest to best counter these? Especially considering the fact that I am giving the GRE on August 14th.
Hi Saagar,
With so little time left, you can only so many words. Perhaps a better piece of advice is to remember that you can still answer a question correctly without knowing every word in a question. Oftentimes the GRE will drop a difficult word in their, such as ‘untenable’ and ‘antinomianism’ – neither of which you actually have to know to answer the question correctly. So keep a cool head and work on understanding the sentence.
Good luck!
Wow thank you so much! perfect book. Appreciate the heart to share such stuff online that too for free.
You’re very welcome, Murali!
Hi! This is such a great way to put up the tricky words!!! Impressive! Thanks a lot…immensely appreciated!
Thanks, Aditi! We’re glad you like it!
Best,
Margarette
Hi my name is ahmed. I have taken the Revised GRE two times but unfortunately my verbal score is very poor. I got these scores
1st time verbal 137 Quantitive 152
2nd time Verbal 138 Quantitive 157
I can’t believe that I am so poor in verbal. Could you please suggest me the best book for verbal.
For Verbal a great place to start is our general Ebook – therein you will find book reviews and ways to approach the verbal section. Speaking of which, the vocabulary ebook – this is the thread for it – also provides helpful tips to bring your score out of the 130′s. The link below is for the Ebook:
http://magoosh.com/gre/gre-ebook/
Good luck your third time around, and let me know if you have any questions along the way!
Love the guide! But I have one question so far. This example in the book kind of confuses me logically…
Erratic – Unpredictable (in extreme cases), strange, unconventional…
“Regardless of which meaning you are employing, you should be erratic in your GRE prep.”
I’d think you should be the opposite of erratic–consistent, planned, regular, etc.
Hi Laila,
That is clearly a typo, which we didn’t catch. You are right: one should NOT be erratic in ones GRE prep
.
Thanks!
Suggested edit: On page 11 of the GRE Vocab book, I think the second “veracious” is meant to be “voracious.” Unless you meant to use the same word twice?
Hi, Ksenia
You’re right, that was a typo, and we’ve fixed it. Thank you for letting us know!
Thanks for sharing this for free. Best vocabulary book I have so far. With the examples to help me memorize words, I feel some of the confusing words got rooted on my head now. Thanks
Hi, Julius
Great, we’re happy to hear it!
If you like the Vocab eBook style of teaching words, remember to check in to the blog every week for Vocab Wednesday!
Best,
Margarette
hi chris
Could you please check this website out because I’m confused wether I should use this website for mnemonics or not.
http://www.mnemonicdictionary.com
Thanks
Hi Jay,
My take on it is this: this link helps give you inspiration for your own mnemonics. But trying to memorize somebody else twisted mnemonic, unless it is spectacularly clever and elegant, is not the way to go. The mnemonics that work best are often the ones we come up with. But as I said–come up with your own and then see what others have come up. Such a process may help you refine your mnemonic thus making it even more memorable.
Hope that helps!
Chris and Marg. How about an Ebook on math tips and strategies?
Hmmm…I’m thinking the current Magoosh ebook is pretty good. It gives a breakdown of strategies. Have you checked that out yet? If so, maybe you can let us know what we should add
.
Galvanize: ” . . . want to get an indolent rodent moving with an electric shock” This is really disgusting and inhumane. Very disappointed!!!
Hi Tahlia,
We messed up. We definitely should not have included that as an example. I’m sorry. We’ve removed it from eBook. Thanks for pointing it out!
Bhavin
Thank you for taking care of this issue. Still love Magoosh as should all other GRE test takers =o)
On my part I thought that this was a great example! I loved it!
It’s incredible that such a great ebook is free thank you
You’re welcome!
Best,
Margarette
Ma’am,
can you give examples to the various contexts of “beg a question”?
Hopefully this link will help:
http://magoosh.com/gre/2011/gre-vocabulary-list-words-with-multiple-meanings/
In short, ‘begging the question’ relates to when people are discussing a matter and a person asks another person a question that assumes something without warrant.
Hope that helps
Thank you Sir ; so “beg the quetion” is to assume something asked in the question
Exactly! You got it
.
For instance, if I were to ask you, “When did you sign up for the GRE?”, I am begging the question by assuming that you’ve signed up for the GRE.
Thank you Sir
Hi margerette
The vocab ebook is really good. Exactly what i needed. Is the math one out yet? If yes could you please post tell me the link?
Thanks
Yes, here it is: http://magoosh.com/gre/2012/gre-math-formula-ebook/
I hope you like it!
When will be the math formula e-book published.Can’t wait for it anymore.:(..Please kindly release it soon.
Hi, Shuddha
We’re shooting for next Wednesday, so check back on the blog next week! Sorry for the wait
Best,
Margarette
Here it is, sorry for the wait!: http://magoosh.com/gre/2012/gre-math-formula-ebook/
hi Margarette
amazing job. i am not preparing for GRE but i have wonderful time using your book to boost my word power. Congrats. i love it. Thanks a lot
No problem, I’m glad you’ve been finding it helpful!
I have just started the book.It is simply awesome.Great work.Looking forward for more help from you experts and join your course.
Thanks, Gaurav!
Super useful! However, isn’t “amuck” on page 27 supposed to be “amok”? And on the same page, I think you mean “grisly” under the explanation for “juggernaut”, not “grizzly” like the bear…
Thanks for catching ‘grizzly.’ That is clearly incorrect, and it should now be fixed in the eBook.
‘Amuck’ can also be spelled ‘amok.’
Let us know if you come across any other typos
.
Hi all,
just thought I would share an idea that I had about learning vocab. I have been reading scientific american and i decided to leave a post about one of the articles! What a great way to find something I had an opinion on and take a few extra minutes to incorporate GRE words. The article was about a scientist discovering that the epidemic of obesity in weight-loss has to do with simply too much food consumption
Here is what I posted:
This is not an esoteric concept. What I see having worked in the health field, at a weight-loss facility is what Chow has discovered. It is very simply calories in vs. calories out. Many people are addicted to bad carbs and sugar. This addiction is very similar to other addictions alcohol, drugs etc. The body is an amazing machine and anyone can overcome this issue. It seems like most Americans want a “magic pill” to fix their weight problem. It seems they are missing alacrity to correct their weight problem. My opinion, what do I do? Eat healthy, educate yourself on food products, avoid heavy carbs before bed, indulge, but not every day. Little changes that are sustainable are going to make a difference in your weight. Just like what kind of oil/gas you put in your car, the food you put in your body affects the way you feel. Food is fuel, the right kind can energize the wrong kind enervates. I am not trying to draft a polemic here, just my candid thoughts
Great post!
And a perfect use of GRE words as well
. I like how you took the gumption and posted on the site itself.
And what you say is no polemic – losing weight is not about some miracle diet. It’s about eating nutritious food, avoiding highly processed food, and simply not eating to much!
“And it’s free So feel free to share with friends, print it out, and use it to learn some new vocabulary words on the go. Enjoy!”
That’s the very definition of open source: take the fruits of our labor, learn yourself, improve upon it and share alike. Thanks for this! I’m confident with my verbal skills and this should prove useful as an eleventh hour revision before the test.
You’re welcome, I’m glad we could help! Good luck on your exam!
Hi Margarette,
No problem, nani! You’re very welcome, and I’m glad we could help
Great eBook.
Page 56: A Critical Reasoning question will you do one of a number of things…
Think you meant A Critical Reasoning question will *do you* one of a number of things
Page 59: “by the way, I made up these fish facts, so I do not think they actually apply to the natural word”. Think you meant to say “world”
Hi, Rahul
I think these are both in the general eBook, not the vocabulary one, right? We’ve fixed both mistakes and updated the PDF, so everything should be correct now: http://magoosh.com/gre/gre-ebook. Thanks for pointing those out! Let us know if you find anything else, and we can make the changes right away.
Best,
Margarette
Ah thanks for mentioning this. I had no idea that there was a Vocab eBook too! Just downloaded it – cannot wait to go through all pages! Lots of thanks! Any other eBooks being offered for free on your site?
I plan to go through all first and then get the full package – I feel it would be best for me to do that given I want to take the exam this fall.
I took a practice test with no studying whatsoever and scored a 155 on math and a 141 on verbal. I’m sure with this package – I’ll be well above 165 in both areas. Thanks again!
Hi, Rahul
Currently we just have those two eBooks up, but we’re working on a Math formulas one right now, and we have a few others on our list as well. Let us know if you have any requests for other eBook topics!
Depending on when in the Fall you’ll be taking your exam, I’d recommend using one of our study plans: http://magoosh.com/gre/gre-study-guides-and-plans/.
I hope that helps!
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Best,
Margarette
Great Book
Could there be another publish on Reading comprehension with 100 important questions???
For a collection of questions, we’d probably just recommend signing up for our premium subscription
Its amazing job from Magoosh team and compilation of Math formula sheet is really valuable for GRE aspirants.
Thanks,
Thanks, Vignesh! We’ll have the Math formulas eBook out soon, too.
This book is too good to be free.. I feel that these kinds of e-books and other added goodies must be available only to magoosh customers. I know, I sound a little mean, but, seriously, this book is too good to be free. Thanks Magoosh
Haha, I’d have to say that this is the best compliment we’ve gotten on the book so far! The lists are available to the public on various places around the blog– all we did was organize them all into one place to make it a bit easier to use, so we didn’t think it would be fair to charge for it
This is one of the best sites i have ever come across. Am totally addicted to ur blogs and invaluable materials, keep up ur good work like this
Thank you! We’re happy to hear it
Hey where is the like button ?
It should be on the left? For Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Reddit!
What about making a new e-book on just quantitative portion with very difficult problems.Please compile this book with all of the important math formulas so that it will be highly useful for students and they can have a closer look at this book before the exam day.
Hi, Shuddha
That’s next on our list! We’ll have it up in a few weeks
Best,
Margarette
Yes, this will be very helpful…good call!!
Good call!! i.e.shuddha’s comment regarding an e-book on different math problems and must know formulas.
Thank you Magoosh. Although there are many resources out there for GRE but you got me overwhelmed with powerful tools. This book is an amazing work.
haha I’m glad we’re overwhelming you, in a good way! Let us know if you have any suggestions for the next eBook topic
This is just excellent!
Thanks, Aparna, we’re glad you like it!
Great addition.
Thanks, Muhammad!