40 Verbal Reasoning questions — Part 1: 20 synonym, Part 2: 20 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.
Which of the following is a synonym for “illicit”?
B — illegal. “illicit” means adj. forbidden by law, rules, or custom. Study “illicit” →
Which of the following words is a synonym for “diverge”?
B — deviate. “diverge” means v. to move or extend in different directions from a common point, to differ in opinion, plot, or character. Study “diverge” →
Choose the word that is closest in meaning to “limber”:
B — flexible. “limber” means adj. flexible; agile; supple. Study “limber” →
Which of the following is a synonym for the word “facile”?
B — Easy. “facile” means adj. easy; superficial; simplistic. Study “facile” →
Which word best matches the meaning of “fraud”?
B — deception. “fraud” means n. wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain.. Study “fraud” →
Choose the best synonym for the word “wither” as used in the sentence: “The garden plants began to wither under the relentless summer heat.”
C — shrivel. “wither” means v. shrivel; decay; fade. Study “wither” →
Choose the word that is most similar in meaning to “vacuous”:
C — Mindless. “vacuous” means adj. empty; meaningless; blank. Study “vacuous” →
Which word is a synonym of “bliss”?
B — Happiness. “bliss” means n. perfect happiness or joy. Study “bliss” →
Select the word that is closest in meaning to “amiable”.
A — Friendly. “amiable” means adj. friendly; pleasant; agreeable. Study “amiable” →
Which of the following is a synonym for “conceited”?
B — Arrogant. “conceited” means adj. Arrogant and vain; egotistical. Study “conceited” →
Choose the best synonym for the word “audible”:
B — perceptible. “audible” means adj. able to be heard. Study “audible” →
Choose the word that is most similar in meaning to “affect”:
A — impact. “affect” means v. to influence; impact; pretend. Study “affect” →
In his speech, the coach ruefully accepted the loss, acknowledging the team''s hard work but recognizing their mistakes. What is the closest synonym for ruefully?
B — Regretfully. “ruefully” means adv. regretfully; sadly; sorrowfully. Study “ruefully” →
Choose the word that is closest in meaning to “upbraid”.
B — Scold. “upbraid” means v. scold; criticize; rebuke. Study “upbraid” →
Choose the best synonym for the word “opaque”:
B — cloudy. “opaque” means adj. not transparent or translucent; hard to understand or explain. Study “opaque” →
Which word is the best synonym for “amicable” as used in the sentence: “The negotiations were surprisingly amicable, considering the previous disagreements between the two parties”?
B — Friendly. “amicable” means adj. friendly; peaceful; cordial. Study “amicable” →
Select the best synonym for the word “exigent”:
C — pressing. “exigent” means adj. requiring immediate attention or action; urgent. Study “exigent” →
Which of the following is a synonym for “heckle”?
A — challenge. “heckle” means v. To harass; badger. Study “heckle” →
Which of the following words is a synonym for hinder?
C — impede. “hinder” means v. to delay or obstruct the progress of something. Study “hinder” →
Choose the word that is the closest synonym to “affirm”:
B — Assert. “affirm” means v. to confirm; assert; declare. Study “affirm” →
The monk's ______ room contained only a narrow bed, a chair, and a candle.
C — austere. “austere” means adj. severe simple plain. Study “austere” →
After only a ______ glance at the report, the manager quickly signed it.
B — cursory. “cursory” means adj. done quickly and without thoroughness. Study “cursory” →
The stranded refugees lived in ______ poverty, without food or shelter.
B — abject. “abject” means adj. wretched; miserable; degraded. Study “abject” →
The professor's ______ lecture left even the brightest students confused.
C — abstruse. “abstruse” means adj. difficult to understand or comprehend. Study “abstruse” →
The horse and cart was in many ways the ______ of the modern automobile.
A — antecedent. “antecedent” means n. predecessor; precedent; prior event. Study “antecedent” →
So ______ and trusting, the child believed every tall tale he was told.
A — guileless. “guileless” means adj. innocent honest naive. Study “guileless” →
Archaeologists hope to ______ ancient treasures buried deep beneath the sand.
A — unearth. “unearth” means v. to discover or find something that was hidden or lost. Study “unearth” →
She left the safe, steady job of her own ______, and no one at all forced her.
D — volition. “volition” means n. Free will; choice. Study “volition” →
The ______ prankster kept playing tricks no matter how often he was punished.
D — incorrigible. “incorrigible” means adj. hopeless incurable unchangeable. Study “incorrigible” →
The museum proudly displayed a perfect ______ of the fragile ancient scroll.
C — facsimile. “facsimile” means n. exact copy; reproduction; duplicate. Study “facsimile” →
The ______ of all the small donations came to over a million dollars.
B — aggregate. “aggregate” means n. total sum collection. Study “aggregate” →
As a strict ______, she insisted the old recipe be followed exactly as written.
A — purist. “purist” means n. perfectionist; traditionalist; stickler. Study “purist” →
The engineers built a working ______ before mass-producing the new phone.
B — prototype. “prototype” means n. Model and original; template. Study “prototype” →
The sharp editor cut every ______ word to make the essay clean and lean.
D — superfluous. “superfluous” means adj. unnecessary; excessive; redundant. Study “superfluous” →
The ______ ruler crushed anyone who dared to question his absolute power.
B — tyrannical. “tyrannical” means adj. oppressive dictatorial authoritarian. Study “tyrannical” →
The reporter needed solid facts to ______ the very serious accusation.
B — substantiate. “substantiate” means v. To prove; verify. Study “substantiate” →
Without any natural predators, the rabbits began to ______ across the island.
C — proliferate. “proliferate” means v. to increase rapidly in numbers or amount. Study “proliferate” →
The thief began to ______ of his crimes after seeing the harm he had caused.
D — repent. “repent” means v. regret; feel sorry; atone. Study “repent” →
The museum proudly displayed rare coins dating all the way back to ______.
A — antiquity. “antiquity” means n. ancient times; old age. Study “antiquity” →
After finally paying off all of its debts, the company was ______ once again.
B — solvent. “solvent” means adj. financially stable; dissolving agent. Study “solvent” →
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.
40 — Part 1 is 20 synonym questions, Part 2 is 20 sentence-completion questions, the same roughly-even split the real ISEE Verbal Reasoning section uses.
No. Every Upper 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.