34 Verbal Reasoning questions — Part 1: 17 synonym, Part 2: 17 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.
Choose the best synonym for the word “superstition” as used in the following sentence: “Many people still hold onto the superstition that breaking a mirror will bring seven years of bad luck.”
B — belief. “superstition” means n. irrational belief. Study “superstition” →
Choose the word that is closest in meaning to “origin”: The scientist researched the __________ of the mysterious artifact.
C — beginning. “origin” means n. beginning, source. Study “origin” →
Choose the synonym for the following word: Injustice
B — Inequity. “injustice” means n. unfairness. Study “injustice” →
Choose the word most similar in meaning to “depend”:
A — rely. “depend” means v. rely on. Study “depend” →
Choose the word closest in meaning to “frail” as used in the sentence: The old bridge looked frail after the storm.
C — delicate. “frail” means adj. weak, easily broken. Study “frail” →
Choose the word that is most similar in meaning to “continental”.
D — Land-based. “continental” means adj. of or related to a continent. Study “continental” →
Choose the synonym for the word “passage” as used in the following sentence: The explorers navigated a narrow passage through the mountains.
A — tunnel. “passage” means n. part of text; way through. Study “passage” →
Select the word that is closest in meaning to “Dimension”.
A — Size. “dimension” means n. measurement, size. Study “dimension” →
Which of the following is a synonym for the word “political”?
A — Diplomatic. “political” means adj. relating to government. Study “political” →
Which of the following is a synonym for “avoidance”?
A — Prevention. “avoidance” means n. keeping away from. Study “avoidance” →
Choose the word that is a synonym for “extract” as used in the following sentence: The scientist needed to extract the DNA from the cells to continue with the research.
B — Remove. “extract” means v./n. remove or take out; short passage. Study “extract” →
Choose the word that is closest in meaning to “instinctive”: The baby turtles had an __________ urge to head toward the ocean after they hatched.
B — instinctive. “instinctive” means adj. natural, automatic. Study “instinctive” →
What is the best synonym for the word “circumstance” as used in the sentence: “Given the circumstance, we decided to postpone the meeting”?
B — Condition. “circumstance” means n. a fact or condition. Study “circumstance” →
Select the synonym for the word “energetic” from the list below.
B — active. “energetic” means adj. full of energy. Study “energetic” →
Select the word that is most similar in meaning to “crisis”.
A — disaster. “crisis” means n. a time of intense difficulty. Study “crisis” →
Which word is a synonym for stifle?
A — Suppress. “stifle” means v. suppress, suffocate. Study “stifle” →
Choose the word that is most similar in meaning to “hemisphere”.
B — Half-dome. “hemisphere” means n. half of a sphere or globe. Study “hemisphere” →
The soldier received a medal for his ______ during the battle.
D — bravery. “bravery” means n. courage, valor. Study “bravery” →
As a true ______, she always expects things to turn out well.
C — optimist. “optimist” means n. positive person. Study “optimist” →
She takes a daily vitamin ______ to keep herself healthy.
A — supplement. “supplement” means n./v. addition; add to. Study “supplement” →
The police promised to ______ the mysterious disappearance.
C — investigate. “investigate” means v. examine, look into. Study “investigate” →
After high school, she hopes to study biology at a famous ______.
D — university. “university” means n. college for higher education. Study “university” →
On their wedding day, the happy couple made a ______ to love each other forever.
D — vow. “vow” means n./v. solemn promise. Study “vow” →
The ______ spent years studying letters from the ancient war.
C — historian. “historian” means n. expert in history. Study “historian” →
After hours of driving, we finally reached our ______.
C — destination. “destination” means n. goal, end point. Study “destination” →
The castle survived a long ______ before the enemy finally gave up.
C — siege. “siege” means n. military attack for capture. Study “siege” →
The phone began to ______ silently inside her coat pocket.
B — vibrate. “vibrate” means v. shake, tremble. Study “vibrate” →
The ______ metal bar would not bend no matter how hard we pushed.
A — rigid. “rigid” means adj. stiff, not flexible. Study “rigid” →
The soldiers fought bravely to ______ the prisoners from the camp.
B — liberate. “liberate” means v. set free. Study “liberate” →
The picky editor decided to ______ the poorly written story.
B — reject. “reject” means v. refuse, turn down. Study “reject” →
She absolutely ______ the smell of rotten eggs.
D — loathe. “loathe” means v. hate very much. Study “loathe” →
The kind stranger rushed to help the ______ of the car accident.
C — victim. “victim” means n. person who suffers harm. Study “victim” →
The teams played a ______ match a week before the big final.
A — preliminary. “preliminary” means adj. coming before the main part. Study “preliminary” →
The mayor launched a ______ to clean up the city's parks.
D — campaign. “campaign” means n./v. organized activities. Study “campaign” →
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.
34 — Part 1 is 17 synonym questions, Part 2 is 17 sentence-completion questions, the same roughly-even split the real ISEE Verbal Reasoning section uses.
No. Every Lower 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.