Studying reams of vocabulary words can be a mind-numbing process. When faced with the task of memorizing 1000+ unfamiliar (and sometimes useless) words, most of us will either behave like a lost child or a disaffected teenager; that is, we’ll either cower in fear or reject the whole endeavor completely. Believe it or not, the ETS has a reason for this. Chances are, a career in public administration will not require you to know the proper definition of peregrinate, but the prodigious task of learning these daunting words is analogous to the rigors of graduate school (even if the analogy is a bit of stretch).

Luckily, our brains are a built for more complicated and efficient processes than rote memorization; we can actually use creativity to improve the efficiency of learning vocabulary words. If you’ve made it through college, you’ve heard of mnemonic devices. To refresh your memory (I wonder if there’s a mnemonic to remember the definition of mnemonic?), a mnemonic is a linguistic device, often a rhyme, acronym, or anecdote, that aids recall. This is one of my favorites from AP Biology that helped me remember the order of taxonomic classifications: Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species = King Philip, come on for God sakes! You likely may have heard a different version of this, but the best part is, they all will help you memorize this specific information.

Now, you may be thinking that such information lends itself well to a mnemonic, but obscure words may not. Indeed, that is partly true. But, many words do happen to conduce corresponding mnemonics–it’s all a matter of using your creativity and finding that customized mnemonic that works for you. Let’s look at a few examples.

1. Nostrum: 1. Hypothetical remedy for all ills or diseases; once sought by the alchemists 2.Patent medicine whose efficacy is questionable 

Nostrum is a pretty rare word but a surprisingly useful one since one of its definitions is pretty unique. The first definition is basically the same definition as the more familiar word panacea–a cure-all, a hypothetical remedy for all ills.

The second definition, though, is best encapsulated by the idiomatic expression “snake oil,” which is defined as “a worthless preparation fraudulently peddled as a cure for many ills.” In essence, the English word for “snake oil” is “nostrum.”

Because I find this definition more interesting and useful, I will think of a mnemonic for that definition.

The Mnemonic: Put rum in your nostrils (or nose) to cure a cold.

Indeed, this mnemonic as not as catchy as some others you’ve heard, but I find it pretty effective. Putting rum in your nostrils sounds like those many specious home remedies for preventing colds that you may have heard about (most of which have been debunked by scientists).

1. Abrogate: 1. Revoke formally

Abrogate is not a notoriously complicated word, but it has special relevance for me. I remember having a difficult time remembering the word when I was studying for my GRE. I would recognize the word, I would know that it had a simple definition, but I could never recall it. Then, it dawned on me. Abrogate means almost the same thing as Abolish, and, of course, both those words begin with “ab.”

The Mnemonic: Abrogate= Abolish

This is an example of the simplest kind of mnemonic you can imagine. There is no fancy anecdote, rhyme, or acronym here, just an easy way to remember a close synonym. Sometimes, that’s all you need.

Remember, if the mnemonic works for you, then use it. If it doesn’t, drop it. There’s no use in struggling to remember the mnemonic device on top of remembering these words.

For an impressively comprehensive list of vocabulary mnemonics, visit mnemonicdictionary.com. It’s a brilliant site that exploits the power of online collaboration (not unlike Grockit) to enhance education.