GRE Words from the 'Bene' and 'Mal' Roots: Good vs. Bad

Few root pairs are as useful on the GRE as bene (Latin for "good, well") and mal (Latin for "bad, ill"). Learn them together and you can sort a whole set of words by direction at a glance — which is often all a question requires.

Benevolent (kind, well-meaning). bene (good) + volent (wishing, from velle, "to wish"). Hook: a benevolent person wishes you well.

Benign (gentle, harmless; favorable). From benignus, "kind." Hook: a benign tumor is the good kind — harmless.

Beneficent (doing good; generous). bene (good) + facere (to do). Hook: a beneficent donor does good deeds.

Malevolent (wishing harm). mal (bad) + volent (wishing). Hook: the exact opposite of benevolent — wishing you ill.

Malign (to speak evil of; or, as an adjective, harmful). From malignus, "wicked." Hook: to malign someone is to paint them in a bad light.

Malefactor (a wrongdoer, a criminal). mal (bad) + factor (doer). Hook: a malefactor is a bad-doer, the opposite of a benefactor.

A Sentence Equivalence blank: "Though the press cast him as a ___ schemer, those who knew him described a quietly generous man." The contrast pivot "though" demands a negative word, and "malevolent" fits — its mal root tells you the direction even before you weigh nuance.

Verbloom groups words by root so the bene/mal contrast becomes automatic, and drills them in sentences where direction decides the answer.