← SSAT® Middle Level

Verbal: Synonyms

Thirty synonyms in half a verbal section: predict your own word, split two near-misses by feel, read word parts, and survive the quarter-point penalty.

15 topics · 58 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.

Anatomy of an SSAT Synonym Question

  1. How it worksHow does drawing a word's meaning as a region and the five choices as nearby regions show which one overlaps most?
  2. Common mistakeWhy isn't the hardest-sounding choice usually the right synonym?
  3. Worked exampleWalk me through picking the closest word to VACANT from occupied, empty, noisy, broken and tall.
  4. Going furtherWhat changes about a synonym question when two of the five choices both land close to the stem word?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Question 20 of the 30 synonyms in your verbal section shows one word in capitals and five choices. The stem word is BARREN. Which choice is closest in meaning?

Predicting Your Own Synonym First

  1. How it worksHow does saying your own word first turn five tempting choices into a simple matching job?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through predicting a word for STURDY before looking, then matching it to solid, tall, heavy, shiny or costly.
  3. Common mistakeWhy doesn't it matter that the word you predicted never appears among the five choices?
  4. Going furtherWhat do you do when a stem word is one you can only half define, like BRISK?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Before you read the choices, say your own word for the stem word. You are 19 questions into the section and the stem word is STURDY. Which choice is closest in meaning?

Connotation: Warm Words and Cold Words

  1. How it worksHow does a word's good or bad feeling show up as a colour on a meaning map when definitions alone cannot separate two choices?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through choosing between confident and arrogant as the closest word to BOLD.
  3. Common mistakeWhy isn't a dictionary definition enough to pick between curious and nosy?
  4. Going furtherWhat happens to a word's feeling when it is aimed at a person instead of a thing, like sharp?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Your teacher praises you for asking 12 good questions in one science lesson and calls you INQUISITIVE. Which choice is closest in meaning to INQUISITIVE?

Intensity: How Strong a Word Is

  1. How it worksHow do you line up warm, hot and scorching on a strength scale to find the choice sitting at the right level?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through placing FURIOUS on a strength scale beside annoyed, upset, angry and calm.
  3. Common mistakeWhy isn't the strongest word on the list the safest guess for a strong stem word?
Your turneasy1 of 3
A weather report says the town got 10 centimetres of rain in one hour, and a reporter calls the field DRENCHED. Which choice is closest in meaning to DRENCHED?

Formality: Everyday Word or Dressed-Up Word

  1. How it worksHow does sorting words onto a casual shelf and a formal shelf break a tie between two choices that both fit?
  2. Common mistakeWhy isn't the longest, fanciest choice automatically the formal match a stem word is asking for?
  3. Going furtherWhat changes when a stem word sounds slangy, like SNOOP, and every choice is a dressed-up word?
Your turneasy1 of 3
A school notice written for parents thanks the 30 YOUTHS who volunteered. Which choice is closest in meaning to YOUTH?

Prefixes That Flip or Point a Word

  1. How it worksHow does a prefix block snap onto a root and flip, repeat or aim the meaning that was already sitting there?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through using the prefix in MISJUDGE to choose between praise, mistake, measure, forgive and rush.
  3. Worked exampleFind the meaning of PREHISTORIC by pulling its prefix off the front and then snapping it back on.
  4. Common mistakeWhy doesn't the in- at the start of INVALUABLE mean not, the way it does at the start of INVISIBLE?
Your turneasy1 of 3
The stem word is MISJUDGE, and you have 36 seconds to put its prefix to work. Which choice is closest in meaning to MISJUDGE?

Roots: The Meaning Buried in the Middle

  1. How it worksHow does one root grow a whole family of words, so that knowing PORT unlocks export, portable and transport at once?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through using the root inside AQUATIC to choose between water, air, rock, heat and speed.
  3. Going furtherWhat happens when a root is spelled a little differently, like spect in inspect and spec in specimen?
  4. Common mistakeWhy doesn't the root of UNDERSTAND have anything to do with standing underneath something?
  5. Ties togetherHow does knowing word roots pay off on an analogy question and not just on a synonym question?
Your turneasy1 of 3
A science worksheet lists 23 AQUATIC animals. Which choice is closest in meaning to AQUATIC?

Suffixes and What Kind of Word You Need

  1. How it worksHow does swapping the tail of a word turn it from a thing into an action into a describing word?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through why the answer to CAUTIOUS has to be a describing word and never the noun caution.
  3. Common mistakeWhy isn't a choice with a matching ending always the right answer?
  4. Going furtherWhat do the endings -ful and -less tell you about whether a word is adding something or taking it away?
Your turneasy1 of 3
The stem word CAUTIOUS ends in -ous, and question 18 offers five choices. Which choice is closest in meaning to CAUTIOUS?

Words With More Than One Meaning

  1. How it worksHow do the five choices themselves tell you which meaning of a double-meaning word is being tested?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through choosing a synonym for SPRING from leap, autumn, water, mattress and flower.
  3. Going furtherWhat changes when the rarer meaning is the one being tested, like a FLAG that droops?
  4. Common mistakeWhy isn't the first meaning that pops into your head the one to trust for a word like FIRE?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Question 20 gives the stem word SPRING, and the five choices are what tell you which meaning is being tested. Which choice is closest in meaning to SPRING?

The Lookalike Trap

  1. How it worksHow does a lookalike choice sit right next door in spelling while sitting miles away on a meaning map?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through picking the closest word to EMINENT from famous, about to happen, polite, empty and hidden.
  3. Common mistakeWhy doesn't sharing five letters with a stem word make a choice any more likely to be right?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Question 28 shows the stem word EMINENT. Which choice is closest in meaning?

The Opposite Trap

  1. How it worksHow does an antonym get onto the answer list on purpose, and where does it land on a meaning map?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through why scatter is a trap rather than the answer when the stem word is GATHER.
  3. Going furtherWhat happens when a stem word already carries a not inside it, like UNWILLING, and one choice is eager?
  4. Common mistakeWhy isn't a word that jumped into your head right after the stem word a safe pick?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Question 16 gives you the stem word GATHER. Which choice is closest in meaning?

The Right Subject, Wrong Meaning Trap

  1. How it worksHow does a wrong choice hide inside the same topic as a stem word while missing its meaning by a mile?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through why orchestra is a trap and melody is closer when the stem word is TUNE.
  3. Common mistakeWhy doesn't belonging to the same subject as a stem word make a choice a synonym for it?
  4. Ties togetherHow is the same-topic trap on a synonym item like the analogy trap that copies subject matter?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Question 17 gives the stem word TUNE, and three of the choices belong to the world of music. Which choice is closest in meaning?

When You Have Never Seen the Word At All

  1. How it worksHow do three fast probes, a word's feeling, its parts, and where you heard it, cut five choices down to two?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through attacking MALEVOLENT with no memory of it, using only the mal chunk and a gut feeling.
  3. Going furtherWhat happens when a word has no parts you recognise at all, like GAUNT?
  4. Common mistakeWhy isn't skipping a hard word always better than knocking out two choices and guessing?
Your turneasy1 of 3
You have never read the stem word before and question 37 will not wait. The stem word is MALEVOLENT. Which choice is closest in meaning?

The Guessing Penalty: Plus One, Minus a Quarter

  1. How it worksHow does a score meter move when a right answer drops on a whole point and a wrong one lifts off a quarter?
  2. Worked exampleShow me four wrong guesses erasing one right answer on a raw score meter.
  3. Worked exampleFind the expected score change from guessing 10 questions blind, and from guessing 10 with two choices crossed out.
  4. Common mistakeWhy doesn't the advice to never leave a blank, which is right on almost every other test, work here?
  5. Going furtherWhat changes about guessing when you can only knock out one of the five choices instead of two?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Last year this student sat the Elementary Level SSAT, finished with 7 minutes to spare, and left nothing blank. This year they sit the Middle Level. What should change?

Thirty Minutes for Sixty Verbal Questions

  1. How it worksHow do you split 30 minutes between 30 synonyms and 30 analogies when synonyms move faster?
  2. Worked exampleFind the seconds per question when 30 synonyms eat 10 minutes and 30 analogies get whatever is left of 30.
  3. Going furtherWhat happens to a pacing plan the moment you hit five unfamiliar words in a row?
Your turneasy1 of 3
A student spends a full 102 seconds on one hard analogy. Easy synonyms take that student 20 seconds each. How many synonyms did the analogy cost?

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