Question 1

What are the hardest words on the GRE?

Accepted Answer

The hardest GRE words are low-frequency English words that most test-takers haven't encountered. Examples include calumny, enervate, and tendentious. These words appear in the most difficult Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence questions.

Question 2

How many hard vocabulary words should I learn for the GRE?

Accepted Answer

Most GRE experts recommend knowing 800-1,200 vocabulary words total, with roughly 200-300 being truly hard words. Focus on quality over quantity.

Question 3

Is memorizing hard GRE words enough to score well?

Accepted Answer

No. While vocabulary is important for the Verbal section, the GRE also tests reading comprehension, analytical reasoning, and contextual understanding.

Hard GRE Words You Need to Know