GRE Text Completion Vocabulary: 20 Words by Context Pattern
Solve GRE Text Completion by predicting the blank from the sentence's logical pattern, then match vocabulary to that prediction.
A strong Text Completion routine begins with structure. ETS explicitly advises noticing words that signal the passage's logic and checking that the completed sentence is logical, grammatical, and stylistically coherent.
Contrast and reversal
following established or traditional ideas
The essay begins with an orthodox account before challenging it.
a person whose habits and opinions sit cheerfully outside the ordinary
The village eccentric mowed his lawn in a dinner jacket, rain or shine.
based on what is generally accepted or traditional
The architect rejected a conventional floor plan.
introducing a new idea or method
The device was innovative even though its materials were familiar.
to make a bad situation better
Targeted grants may ameliorate the shortage.
to make a problem worse
A vague rule could exacerbate the existing confusion.
Visibility and emphasis
to make something seem less important or noticeable
The policy debate should not overshadow the study's central finding.
to make an idea clearer
The comparison helps illuminate the author's larger point.
to make something difficult to understand or see
Technical jargon can obscure a simple conclusion.
to emphasize the importance of something
The repeated image underscores the poem's central tension.
in a way too slight to be noticed
The shoreline curves imperceptibly toward the east.
Confidence and depth
the quality of seeming reasonable or likely
The new evidence increased the hypothesis's plausibility.
complete confidence that something is true
The limited sample prevents certainty about the result.
lack of depth or thoroughness
The review criticized the analysis for its superficiality.
to find out or establish something for certain, especially through investigation
Investigators worked for weeks to ascertain the exact cause of the fire.
Degree and consequence
in an unstable or insecure way
The agreement rested precariously on one disputed assumption.
in a persistent way that does not ease
The critic relentlessly questioned the study's narrow sample.
so minor or unimportant as to be hardly worth any attention
He dismissed the missing dollar as a trifling error not worth chasing down.
to become or make something worse
Cutting maintenance would worsen the backlog.
having the opposite of the intended effect
Adding more steps would be counterproductive.
Before inspecting choices, write a plain word such as good, hidden, or worse above the blank. Precision comes next.
