One of the first things to keep in mind about the GRE vocabulary section is that it is designed to evaluate the college level skills of the examinees. This means that the vocabulary questions will be of a standard meant for a student who is going on to pursue post graduate studies. Your knowledge must be that of a college level student. Another pointer to keep in mind is that the vocabulary section is not the only place where your word skills will be tested. The analytical writing section is there as well.  There are ways to go about preparing for the GRE vocabulary.

• Read, read and read. This is one of the most important things. Read articles, books, newspapers and so on. Whenever you come across a new and unfamiliar word, look it up. Start making a list of suchlike.  Don’t make random lists. Put down similar words of association in lists. Look at the lists every day.
• Make word cards. Keep the word and the meaning on the same side. Keep on looking at these words every day. After a few weeks, look at the cards from the back and try and guess what the word could be.
• Go through free vocabulary tests online.  You will find them on Skill Guru and Fast Vocabulary. These are free and intensive practice tests designed to give you a true taste of how the GRE is like. Here is a recent GRE Sentence completion test
• Another really high tech way of preparing for the GRE vocabulary is by using GRE vocabulary software. Try Ultimate Vocabulary.  A lot of students have found them very helpful.

Remember that since the GRE is an adaptive test, doing well at the beginning is a double edged sword. If the computer detects that you are doing well, then the questions start becoming difficult. Do NOT let that confuse you. One way of keeping new words in mind is by creating personal associations to them in your mind.

The last tip would be to sleep, eat and drink with a dictionary and a thesaurus by your side.