30 Verbal Reasoning questions — Part 1: 15 synonym, Part 2: 15 sentence completion — in the ISEE's own four-option format. Every answer is explained, and every question links to its word's full study page.
Note: The real ISEE Primary Level (for applicants to grades 2–4) is Auditory Comprehension, Reading Comprehension, Mathematics and a writing sample — it has no Verbal Reasoning section, so the real Primary-level test never asks a synonym or sentence-completion question. This practice test borrows that question style from the Lower/Middle/Upper Verbal Reasoning format purely to help younger students build vocabulary early, ahead of the level where it is actually tested that way.
Select the best synonym for the word “few”:
A — scant. “few” means adj. a small number of. Study “few” →
Choose the best synonym for the word “condense”:
A — compress. “condense” means v. to make something shorter or more concentrated. Study “condense” →
Choose the best synonym for the word “angle”:
A — corner. “angle” means n. the space between two lines or surfaces that meet. Study “angle” →
Select the best synonym for the word “optimal”:
A — ideal. “optimal” means adj. best or most effective. Study “optimal” →
Choose the best synonym for the word “standard”:
D — benchmark. “standard” means n. a level of quality or norm. Study “standard” →
Select the best synonym for the word “overcrowded”:
A — congested. “overcrowded” means adj. filled with too many people or things. Study “overcrowded” →
Select the best synonym for the word “smaller”:
C — lesser. “smaller” means adj. comparative of small; less in size. Study “smaller” →
Select the best synonym for the word “notion”:
A — idea. “notion” means n. an idea or belief about something. Study “notion” →
Select the best synonym for the word “hardship”:
D — adversity. “hardship” means n. severe suffering or privation. Study “hardship” →
Select the best synonym for the word “growth”:
B — expansion. “growth” means n. the process of increasing in size. Study “growth” →
Select the best synonym for the word “note”:
A — memo. “note” means n. a brief record of something. Study “note” →
Select the best synonym for the word “power”:
B — capacity. “power” means n. the ability to do something or act in a particular way. Study “power” →
Choose the best synonym for the word “chase”:
C — pursue. “chase” means v. to run after someone or something in order to catch them. Study “chase” →
Select the best synonym for the word “thoughtless”:
C — careless. “thoughtless” means adj. not considering others. Study “thoughtless” →
Select the best synonym for the word “harmless”:
C — safe. “harmless” means adj. not able to cause harm or damage. Study “harmless” →
The rotten food gave off a truly ______ smell that filled the whole kitchen.
A — awful. “awful” means adj. very bad or unpleasant. Study “awful” →
The clever machine can ______ huge sums in a tiny fraction of a second.
A — compute. “compute” means v. to calculate or reckon a figure or amount. Study “compute” →
Regular exercise clearly improves both ______ and mental health.
A — bodily. “bodily” means adj. relating to the body. Study “bodily” →
The ______ old neighbor was always giving loud, unwanted advice.
C — interfering. “interfering” means adj. tending to get involved in other people''s affairs. Study “interfering” →
He looked utterly ______ after hearing that the whole trip was canceled.
A — downcast. “downcast” means adj. feeling sad or discouraged. Study “downcast” →
She truly loved the deep quiet ______ of her small cottage in the woods.
A — seclusion. “seclusion” means n. the state of being private and away from other people. Study “seclusion” →
As the new town leader, she now held real ______ over the whole community.
D — power. “power” means n. the ability to do something or act in a particular way. Study “power” →
The sudden hard frost ______ all the young plants in the garden overnight.
C — killed. “killed” means v. past tense of kill; to cause the death of a person, animal, or other living thing. Study “killed” →
In the distant ______, people traveled almost everywhere on horseback.
D — past. “past” means n. the time before now. Study “past” →
He ______ slipped the folded note into her bag so that no one would see.
B — secretly. “secretly” means adv. in a way that is hidden from others. Study “secretly” →
The children left a huge ______ of scattered toys all over the living room.
A — mess. “mess” means n. a state of disorder or untidiness. Study “mess” →
The city built a new ______ of roads to reduce the very heavy traffic.
B — system. “system” means n. a set of connected things or parts forming a complex whole. Study “system” →
The long report had one small ______ that had to be quickly fixed.
D — inaccuracy. “inaccuracy” means n. the quality of being incorrect or not exact. Study “inaccuracy” →
The strong team won three ______ games without a single loss.
D — successive. “successive” means adj. following one after another. Study “successive” →
She stared ______ at the chessboard, thinking hard about her next move.
B — intensely. “intensely” means adv. with extreme force or strength. Study “intensely” →
Score:
Every question below is now marked up: the correct answer is highlighted in red, and any option you picked that was wrong is highlighted in blue.
No. These are original synonym and sentence-completion questions written from the iSEE Vocab word bank, in the ISEE's own four-option Verbal Reasoning format. No retired or copyrighted ISEE/SSAT questions appear anywhere on this site.
The real ISEE Primary Level (for applicants to grades 2–4) is Auditory Comprehension, Reading Comprehension, Mathematics and a writing sample — it has no Verbal Reasoning section, so the real Primary-level test never asks a synonym or sentence-completion question. This practice test borrows that question style from the Lower/Middle/Upper Verbal Reasoning format purely to help younger students build vocabulary early, ahead of the level where it is actually tested that way.
30 — Part 1 is 15 synonym questions, Part 2 is 15 sentence-completion questions, the same roughly-even split the real ISEE Verbal Reasoning section uses.
No. Every Primary Level practice test on this site draws from a disjoint slice of the word bank, so Test 1, Test 2 and every other numbered test at this level use entirely different questions.
Yes. The ISEE gives no penalty for a wrong answer — a blank scores the same as a wrong guess, which is zero — so answer every question even when you have to guess.