Prefixes attach to the beginning of words to modify or specify meaning. Suffixes attach to the end to determine a word's grammatical role (noun, adjective, verb) and sometimes add meaning. Together, they are the frame around a root — and knowing them gives you the ability to parse unfamiliar words systematically on test day, even when you don't recognize the root.
This guide covers the 20 most important prefixes and 20 most important suffixes for GRE vocabulary, with GRE word examples for each.
The 20 Most Important Prefixes
| Prefix | Meaning | Key GRE Words |
|---|---|---|
| a- / an- | Without, not (Greek) | apathy (without feeling), anomalous (without norm), anarchy (without rule), amorphous (without shape) |
| ab- / abs- | Away from, off | abjure (swear away), abscond (run away secretly), abstain (hold away from), abstemious (moderate) |
| ad- | To, toward | admonish (warn toward), advocate (argue for), adhere (stick to), adulation (excessive praise toward) |
| anti- | Against, opposite | antipathy (feeling against), antithesis (opposite position), antidote, antagonist |
| bene- | Good, well | benevolent, beneficent, benign, benefactor, benediction |
| circum- | Around | circumspect (look around), circumlocution (speaking around), circumscribe (draw around), circumvent |
| com- / con- / col- | Together, with | cogent (fitting together), coalesce (grow together), conciliatory (bringing together), confound |
| de- | Down from; away; reverse | decry (shout down), deprecate (argue against), deride (laugh at), deference (carrying away honor) |
| dis- | Apart, not, remove | dissemble (disguise), disparate (apart; unlike), discredit (remove credit), disseminate (scatter apart) |
| eu- | Good, well (Greek) | euphemism (good sound — softened expression), eulogize (good word), euphony (pleasant sound) |
| ex- / e- | Out of, from | excoriate (strip out), evince (bring out), exacerbate (make more out of = worsen), expatriate |
| hyper- | Over, excessive | hyperbole (throw over = exaggerate), hyperbolize, hypercritical (overly critical) |
| hypo- | Under, less than | hypothesis (placed under), hypocrite (under a mask), hypocrisy |
| in- / im- | Into; not (two meanings!) | inveterate (grown into = habitual), impugn (strike against), intransigent (not yielding), ingenuous |
| mal- | Bad, evil | malevolent, malign, malediction, malefactor, malaise, malfeasance |
| mis- | Wrong, badly | miscreant (wrong believer), misanthrope (hater of humans), misgiving, misnomer |
| per- | Through, thoroughly | perspicacious (see through), perfidious (thoroughly faithless), peremptory, persiflage |
| pro- | Before, forward, for | prolix (extended forward = wordy), propitious (favorable forward), prescient, prodigal |
| re- | Back, again | recant (take back), refute (pour back = disprove), remonstrate (show back = protest), recondite |
| sub- / sur- | Under, secretly, over | subterfuge (flee under cover), surreptitious (seized secretly), suborn (bribe secretly), surfeit (overfull) |
The Critical Warning: In- Means Two Things
The prefix in- (and its variants im-, il-, ir-) has two opposite meanings in English, and the GRE exploits this mercilessly:
- In- meaning "not": incredible (not credible), impecunious (not wealthy), inglorious, immutable
- In- meaning "into/on": inveterate (grown into a habit), inculcate (teach into), inscribe (write into), incite
When you see a word beginning with in-, don't automatically assume negation. Check the root: if the root works well with "not," it's probably negation. If "into" or "upon" makes more sense, it's the directional meaning. Context is the final arbiter.
The 20 Most Important Suffixes
| Suffix | Meaning / Role | GRE Examples |
|---|---|---|
| -acious | Tending to; full of (adj) | loquacious, tenacious, mendacious, audacious, rapacious, perspicacious |
| -al / -ial | Relating to (adj) | colloquial, ephemeral, equivocal, peremptory |
| -ance / -ence | State or quality of (noun) | credence, deference, malevolence, benevolence, equanimity |
| -ate | To make; having (verb / adj) | ameliorate, exacerbate, obdurate, enumerate, equivocate |
| -ation / -tion | Act or process of (noun) | circumlocution, castigation, vituperation, obfuscation, predilection |
| -cious / -ious | Full of; having the quality of (adj) | malicious, avaricious, specious, contentious, pernicious |
| -ent / -ant | Being; doing (adj); one who (noun) | eloquent, truculent, intransigent, malevolent, correspondent |
| -fy / -ify | To make (verb) | mollify (make soft), nullify, pacify, rectify, vilify (make into a villain) |
| -ic / -ical | Relating to; having the character of (adj) | didactic, pedantic, bombastic, laconic, sardonic, dogmatic |
| -ility / -ity | State or quality of (noun) | credulity, pusillanimity, magnanimity, equanimity, perspicacity |
| -ism | Doctrine; practice; quality (noun) | ostracism, cynicism, stoicism, solipsism, anachronism |
| -ist | One who does or believes (noun) | misanthrope → misanthropist, iconoclast, empiricist, altruist |
| -ize | To make; to treat as (verb) | epitomize, lionize, ostracize, stigmatize, eulogize, antagonize |
| -logy / -ology | Study of; speech (noun) | tautology, eulogy, analogy, etymology, ideology |
| -ness | State or quality of (noun) | obduracy → obdurateness, terseness, shrewdness |
| -ous | Full of; having (adj) | mendacious, vociferous, querulous, lugubrious, truculent, uxorious |
| -tion / -sion | Act, state, or result of (noun) | predilection, aberration, dissension, discretion |
| -ude | State or quality of (noun) | turpitude, rectitude, solitude, magnitude, amplitude, lassitude |
| -ulous | Tending toward (adj) | credulous, incredulous, querulous, nebulous, populous, garrulous |
| -ure | Act, process, result (noun) | censure, composure, rupture, aperture, conjecture |
How to Use Prefixes and Suffixes on Test Day
When you encounter an unfamiliar word, apply a three-step decoding process:
- Identify the suffix first. The suffix tells you the word's grammatical role and sometimes its semantic category. -acious = adjective meaning "tending to." -itude = noun meaning "state of." This narrows what the word could mean before you've decoded the root.
- Identify the prefix. Does it negate? Direct? Intensify? Reverse? The prefix modifies what the root means.
- Decode the root. With prefix and suffix decoded, the root fills in the specific meaning.
Example: circumlocutory. Suffix: -ory = relating to; adjective form. Prefix: circum- = around. Root: loc- = speak. Synthesis: relating to speaking around things = indirect, evasive in expression. Actual meaning: characterized by circumlocution. Close enough for GRE purposes.
FAQ
Should I memorize all 40 of these at once?
No — distribute them across 2 weeks, 4 prefixes and 4 suffixes per day. Study each with 3 example words you already know. The goal is pattern recognition, not memorization: seeing -acious and thinking "tendency toward" automatically, without conscious effort.
How reliable is prefix/suffix decoding for GRE words?
Very reliable for determining connotation and grammatical category; moderately reliable for precise meaning. Prefix/suffix knowledge rarely gives you the full definition, but it almost always tells you whether the word is positive or negative, and what type of word it is — which is often enough to eliminate 2–3 wrong answers and narrow down to the right one.
Which suffix is most important to know for the GRE?
-acious is arguably the most valuable because it generates so many directly tested GRE words: loquacious, tenacious, mendacious, audacious, rapacious, perspicacious, fallacious, pugnacious, voracious. Knowing this suffix transforms eight separate words into one family.
What is the difference between -ance and -ence?
Grammatically, both create abstract nouns from adjectives or verbs. The choice between -ance and -ence is largely historical and must be memorized for spelling, but the meaning is the same: the state or quality of something. For GRE purposes, focus on the meaning rather than the spelling variant.
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