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.
Choose the best synonym for the word “skim”:
B — scan. “skim” means v. to read quickly to get the main ideas. Study “skim” →
Choose the best synonym for the word “apathetic”:
A — indifferent. “apathetic” means adj. showing or feeling no interest. Study “apathetic” →
Select the best synonym for the word “shabby”:
C — worn. “shabby” means adj. in poor condition through long use or lack of care. Study “shabby” →
Choose the best synonym for the word “daunting”:
B — intimidating. “daunting” means adj. seeming difficult to deal with in anticipation. Study “daunting” →
Choose the best synonym for the word “faith”:
C — trust. “faith” means n. strong belief or trust in someone or something. Study “faith” →
Choose the best synonym for the word “thinly”:
B — sparsely. “thinly” means adv. in a thin manner. Study “thinly” →
Select the best synonym for the word “disapproval”:
A — disfavor. “disapproval” means n. a feeling of not approving. Study “disapproval” →
Select the best synonym for the word “root”:
A — base. “root” means n. the part of a plant that grows underground. Study “root” →
Select the best synonym for the word “draining”:
B — exhausting. “draining” means adj. causing someone to feel very tired. Study “draining” →
Choose the best synonym for the word “intentional”:
C — deliberate. “intentional” means adj. done on purpose; deliberate. Study “intentional” →
Choose the best synonym for the word “accomplishment”:
A — achievement. “accomplishment” means n. something that has been achieved successfully. Study “accomplishment” →
Choose the best synonym for the word “scornful”:
D — contemptuous. “scornful” means adj. feeling or expressing contempt or derision. Study “scornful” →
Choose the best synonym for the word “wrench”:
D — yank. “wrench” means v. to pull or twist something suddenly and violently. Study “wrench” →
Select the best synonym for the word “pull”:
B — drag. “pull” means v. to exert force on something to move it towards oneself. Study “pull” →
Select the best synonym for the word “stingy”:
A — miserly. “stingy” means adj. unwilling to give or spend; ungenerous. Study “stingy” →
A single bee sting can make your whole hand ______ up and turn bright red.
A — swell. “swell” means v. to become larger or rounder in size. Study “swell” →
The human brain is an amazingly ______ organ with billions of cells.
C — complex. “complex” means adj. made of many different parts. Study “complex” →
After many long hours of waiting, the bus ______ arrived at the stop.
B — finally. “finally” means adv. after a long time. Study “finally” →
Unable to attend herself, she sent a trusted ______ to vote in her place.
B — proxy. “proxy” means n. a person authorized to act on behalf of another. Study “proxy” →
In a healthy ______, people help and deeply respect one another.
A — society. “society” means n. a community of people living together. Study “society” →
If you leave the ripe fruit out too long, it will soon begin to ______.
A — rot. “rot” means v. to decay or decompose. Study “rot” →
The judges will ______ the final winner after carefully counting all the votes.
D — determine. “determine” means v. to decide or conclude. Study “determine” →
They began to ______ the whole house top to bottom for the missing kitten.
A — search. “search” means v. to look carefully for something; n. an attempt to find something. Study “search” →
It was cruel of him to ______ the shy new student in front of everyone.
C — insult. “insult” means v. to say or do something that is rude or offensive to someone. Study “insult” →
There was only a ______ difference between the two pale shades of blue.
B — slight. “slight” means adj. small in degree; not serious. Study “slight” →
She made a very big ______ over one tiny scratch on her shiny new car.
B — fuss. “fuss” means n. unnecessary excitement or activity. Study “fuss” →
The ______ old witch in the story cast a cruel spell on the whole village.
C — wicked. “wicked” means adj. evil or morally wrong. Study “wicked” →
Always ______ your answers carefully before handing in the difficult test.
B — check. “check” means v. to examine something to make sure it is correct or satisfactory. Study “check” →
The gentle nurse cared for the sick child with warm, ______ love.
B — motherly. “motherly” means adj. having the qualities of a good mother. Study “motherly” →
His sudden, ______ anger surprised and badly frightened everyone present.
D — unjustified. “unjustified” means adj. not shown to be right or reasonable. Study “unjustified” →
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.