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Verbal Reasoning: Synonyms

Nineteen of the forty Verbal Reasoning items are one capitalized word and four choices: meaning drawn as regions, and words assembled from their parts.

16 topics · 60 questions

Each topic is a path, not a menu: work down it in order and every question builds on the one above. Click any of them to watch the answer draw itself.

What an ISEE Synonym Question Asks

  1. How it worksHow does closest in meaning differ from means exactly the same when you rank four choices?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through choosing the closest match for CHAGRIN from courtesy, distress, geniality and temperance.
  3. Common mistakeWhy isn't the hardest-looking choice more likely to be the right synonym?
  4. Going furtherWhat changes about your method when two of the four choices are words you have never seen?
Your turneasy1 of 3
A synonym item prints one capitalized word and four choices, with nothing around it. A student knows 3 of the four choices cold and has not met the others. What does that format require?

Predicting Your Own Synonym First

  1. How it worksHow does a predicted word turn four tempting options into one match and three obvious misses?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through predicting a word for SIMULATE, then testing feign, integrate, oversimplify and rouse.
  3. Common mistakeWhy doesn't scanning all four options first save time, even though it feels faster?
  4. Going furtherWhat do you do when the word you predicted appears nowhere among the four options?
  5. Ties togetherHow does predicting a synonym use the same move as filling a sentence blank before reading options?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Before reading the choices a student predicts the word fake for SIMULATE. The four printed choices are feign, integrate, oversimplify and rouse, and 3 of them would have looked tempting without the prediction. What has the prediction done?

Meaning as a Region, Not a Point

  1. How it worksHow does drawing a word's meaning as a region rather than a dot explain near-miss choices?
  2. Common mistakeWhy isn't a dictionary definition enough to choose between frugal, thrifty and miserly?
  3. Going furtherWhat happens to the overlap between two meaning regions when one word is pushed to its extreme?
Your turneasy1 of 3
A student draws each word's meaning as a region rather than a dot. Two regions overlap across 72 percent of their area but neither sits inside the other. What does the picture explain?

Connotation: the Charge a Word Carries

  1. How it worksHow do you tag four choices as positive, negative or neutral before comparing definitions at all?
  2. Common mistakeWhy isn't a choice with the right definition correct when its charge points the other way?
  3. Worked exampleFind the closest match for OBSTINATE among determined, dishonest, stubborn and thoughtful using charge first.
  4. Going furtherWhat happens when the capitalized word is neutral but every single choice carries a charge?
Your turneasy1 of 3
OBSTINATE. A student tags the four choices as positive, negative or neutral before defining any of them, and finds 2 of the four carry a positive charge. Which is closest in meaning?

Intensity and Degree

  1. How it worksHow do you place four choices on an intensity scale and keep only the one at the same height?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through ranking dislike, disdain, loathing and irritation against the word ABHOR.
  3. Common mistakeWhy isn't the strongest word on the list the safest answer for a strong capitalized word?
Your turneasy1 of 3
On a 1-to-10 strength scale a student places ABHOR at 9. The four choices are marked dislike 3, disdain 6, loathing 9 and irritation 2. Which is closest in meaning?

Register: Formal, Plain and Slangy Words

  1. How it worksHow does the formality of the capitalized word narrow four choices before meaning matters?
  2. Common mistakeWhy isn't the fanciest-sounding option right just because the tested word is a hard one?
  3. Going furtherWhat changes when a single word is used formally in one field and casually everywhere else?
Your turneasy1 of 3
A student ranks the four choices for formality from 1 for slang to 5 for formal, and the capitalized word rates 5. What does that rating do first?

Everyday Meaning vs the Precise One

  1. How it worksHow do you check whether you know a word's definition or only the situations you have heard it in?
  2. Worked exampleFind the best match for NOMINAL among average, insignificant, named and official, and say why two tempt.
  3. Common mistakeWhy isn't enormity a synonym for enormousness even though the two words look related?
  4. Going furtherWhat happens to a precise meaning once enough people use the word loosely for long enough?
Your turneasy1 of 3
NOMINAL. A student has met this word 6 times, each in the phrase a nominal fee, and has never looked it up. Which choice is closest in meaning?

Words That Do More Than One Job

  1. How it worksHow do the four choices themselves reveal which part of speech is being tested?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through choosing a match for TEMPER when the options are anger, moderate, sharpen and strengthen.
  3. Going furtherWhat changes when a word can act as a noun, a verb and an adjective all at once?
  4. Common mistakeWhy isn't the meaning you use most often the meaning the item is asking about?
Your turneasy1 of 3
With 69 seconds left in the section, a student reaches TEMPER. The four choices are anger, moderate, sharpen and strengthen, and three of them are verbs. Which is closest in meaning?

Building a Word Out of Its Parts

  1. How it worksHow do a prefix, a root and a suffix snap together into one meaning you can read straight off?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through breaking MALEDICTION into pieces and reading its meaning off the parts.
  3. Common mistakeWhy doesn't every word split cleanly, and how do you spot one whose parts will mislead you?
  4. Going furtherWhat happens to your guess when the root stays put but the prefix flips the whole meaning?
  5. Ties togetherHow does assembling a word from parts help you throw out a look-alike trap choice?
Your turneasy1 of 3
MALEDICTION splits into 3 pieces a student recognises. What does reading the pieces in order give?

High-Frequency Latin and Greek Roots

  1. How it worksHow do roots like dic, spec, ver, cred, chron and graph generate whole families of tested words?
  2. Worked exampleFind what VERACITY, VERIFY and VERDICT share, then define VERISIMILITUDE from that alone.
  3. Common mistakeWhy isn't a root's original meaning always visible in the modern word that grew out of it?
  4. Going furtherWhat happens when a Greek root and a Latin root end up welded into the same English word?
Your turneasy1 of 3
VERACITY, VERIFY and VERDICT share a root. Given that, and given that a student can already define 2 of the three, what does VERISIMILITUDE mean?

Prefixes: Negation, Direction and Number

  1. How it worksHow do prefixes like ante, post, sub, super, inter, trans and circum place a word in space or time?
  2. Common mistakeWhy isn't every word beginning with in- a negative, given ingenious and invaluable?
  3. Worked exampleFind the meaning of INDEFATIGABLE by peeling off in-, then -able, then reading what is left.
  4. Going furtherWhat happens when a word carries a negative prefix inside a sentence that is already negative?
Your turneasy1 of 3
INDEFATIGABLE. A student peels off the prefix and the suffix and is left with a root meaning tire, then checks it against 3 of the four choices. What does the word mean?

Suffixes and the Job a Word Does

  1. How it worksHow do endings like -ous, -ate, -ify, -tion and -ish announce a word's job in a sentence?
  2. Worked exampleFind which of garrulous, garrulity and garrulously fills a slot needing a noun, and say how you knew.
  3. Going furtherWhat happens to a root's meaning when you stack two suffixes on the end of it?
Your turneasy1 of 3
A slot in a sentence needs a noun. A student is offered garrulous, garrulity and garrulously, and recognises the root in 3 of them. Which fills the slot?

The Look-Alike Trap

  1. How it worksHow do you defuse a look-alike option by defining both words out loud before comparing them?
  2. Common mistakeWhy isn't shared spelling proof that two words share a root?
  3. Worked exampleWalk me through why ingenuous is not the match for INGENIOUS and infamous is not the match for FAMOUS.
Your turneasy1 of 3
INGENIOUS. One of the four choices shares 8 letters with the capitalized word. Which choice is closest in meaning?

The Opposite Trap

  1. How it worksHow does an opposite option end up on the list, and what does it reveal about the intended meaning?
  2. Common mistakeWhy isn't a word you can picture in the same sentence automatically a match in meaning?
  3. Going furtherWhat happens when the tested word carries a negative prefix and one option simply removes it?
Your turneasy1 of 3
A student has 25 seconds for a synonym item and finds one choice that fits the same sentence as the capitalized word but points the other way. Why is that choice tempting?

The Same-Field Neighbour Trap

  1. How it worksHow do you separate a word from the same topic from a word with the same meaning?
  2. Worked exampleFind the true match for ARID among barren, desert, hot and sandy, and name why three are only neighbours.
  3. Common mistakeWhy doesn't a word that always appears alongside the tested word count as its synonym?
  4. Going furtherWhat changes when the tested word names a category and one option names a member of it?
Your turneasy1 of 3
ARID. Of the four choices, 3 come from the same subject area as the tested word and one carries its meaning. Which is closest in meaning?

Attacking a Word You Have Never Seen

  1. How it worksHow do parts, sound and charge combine into a real guess at a word you cannot define?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through making a genuine guess at PERSPICACIOUS from per-, spec and the feel of the word.
  3. Common mistakeWhy isn't leaving an answer blank ever the right move on a test with no guessing penalty?
  4. Ties togetherHow does guessing on a single word differ from guessing on a pair of words in two blanks?
Your turneasy1 of 3
With 3 minutes left in the section, PERSPICACIOUS is a word a student has never met. Working from per-, from a root meaning look, and from the sound of the word, which choice is the best guess?

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