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 word that is closest in meaning to “improvise”:
C — Ad-lib. “improvise” means v. make up on the spot. Study “improvise” →
Choose the best synonym for the word “council”:
A — committee. “council” means n. group that makes decisions. Study “council” →
Choose the word that is most similar in meaning to “phase”:
C — stage. “phase” means n. stage, period. Study “phase” →
Select the best synonym for the word “inept”.
A — clumsy. “inept” means adj. not skillful. Study “inept” →
Choose the word that is closest in meaning to the word “edible”:
D — Eatable. “edible” means adj. safe to eat. Study “edible” →
Which of the following is a synonym for the word “marvel”?
B — wonder. “marvel” means v./n. be amazed; something wonderful. Study “marvel” →
Choose the word that is most similar in meaning to “dispute”:
B — Argue. “dispute” means n./v. debate, argue. Study “dispute” →
Choose the word that is closest in meaning to “verdict”.
A — decision. “verdict” means n. legal decision, judgement. Study “verdict” →
Which of the following words is closest in meaning to “constructive”?
B — Productive. “constructive” means adj. helpful or positive. Study “constructive” →
Select the word that is a synonym for “prompt”:
C — Immediate. “prompt” means adj. quick; v./n. to cause, cue. Study “prompt” →
In the context of a crime novel, the detective insisted that the suspect needed an alibi to prove that they were somewhere else at the time of the crime. What is a synonym for “alibi”?
A — Excuse. “alibi” means n. proof of being elsewhere. Study “alibi” →
Choose the word that is the closest synonym to “decline”:
A — Refuse. “decline” means v. refuse; decrease. Study “decline” →
Which word is the best synonym for “pursue”?
A — chase. “pursue” means v. chase, try to achieve. Study “pursue” →
Choose the best synonym for the word “anxiety” in the following sentence: “Before the final exam, Maria could not shake off the feeling of anxiety.”
D — Worry. “anxiety” means n. worry, uneasiness. Study “anxiety” →
Which of the following is a synonym for the word “boycott”?
C — Avoid. “boycott” means v./n. refuse to deal with. Study “boycott” →
Which word is a synonym for “cycle”?
B — Process. “cycle” means n. repeated series of events. Study “cycle” →
Which of the following words is a synonym for “vibrate”?
A — Shake. “vibrate” means v. shake, tremble. Study “vibrate” →
She wore a formal suit to the ______ meeting downtown.
B — corporate. “corporate” means adj. relating to a large company. Study “corporate” →
Her strong ______ in fairness led her to defend the weaker students.
D — belief. “belief” means n. trust, opinion, faith. Study “belief” →
The principal will ______ the winners of the contest at the assembly.
A — announce. “announce” means v. make known publicly. Study “announce” →
Stir the sugar until the crystals completely ______ in the water.
A — dissolve. “dissolve” means v. melt, become liquid. Study “dissolve” →
As a nervous ______, he often got lost in the huge high school.
A — freshman. “freshman” means n. first-year student. Study “freshman” →
Do not take his joke in a ______ way; he was only teasing you.
B — literal. “literal” means adj. exactly as written or said. Study “literal” →
He is a ______ man who always treats other people with respect.
A — decent. “decent” means adj. proper, respectable. Study “decent” →
Building the long stone wall took months of hard ______.
C — labor. “labor” means n./v. work, workers. Study “labor” →
We measured every ______ of the room before buying the carpet.
B — dimension. “dimension” means n. measurement, size. Study “dimension” →
In a ______, the people elect leaders to represent them.
C — republic. “republic” means n. government by elected reps. Study “republic” →
With such a strong and skilled team, they felt completely ______.
A — invincible. “invincible” means adj. unable to be defeated. Study “invincible” →
After hearing all the evidence, the jury found the accused man completely ______.
D — innocent. “innocent” means adj. not guilty, pure. Study “innocent” →
Everyone agreed that the handmade shoes were ______ to the cheap factory ones.
C — superior. “superior” means adj. better, higher in quality. Study “superior” →
The phrase break a leg is an English ______ that actually means good luck.
D — idiom. “idiom” means n. phrase with special meaning. Study “idiom” →
This mountainous ______ is famous for its heavy snow and skiing.
D — region. “region” means n. area, part of a country. Study “region” →
The ______ camera fit easily into her tiny purse.
B — compact. “compact” means adj. small and neatly arranged. Study “compact” →
The harsh new taxes sparked a widespread ______ against the king.
B — rebellion. “rebellion” means n. resistance to authority. Study “rebellion” →
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.