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 word is the best synonym for “façade” as used in the sentence: “The building had a beautiful façade, but the interior was quite outdated.”?
A — front. “façade” means n. front; appearance; false front. Study “façade” →
Choose the word that is closest in meaning to “quail” as it is used in the following sentence: Despite his bold words, he felt the need to quail when faced with the daunting task of speaking in front of a large audience.
A — shrink. “quail” means V. to cower; flinch; shrink. Study “quail” →
Choose the word that is the closest synonym to “inert”.
B — motionless. “inert” means adj. inactive; motionless; static. Study “inert” →
What is a synonym for the word “criterion”?
B — benchmark. “criterion” means n. a standard or principle by which something is judged or decided.. Study “criterion” →
Which of the following is a synonym for the word “taper”?
B — Narrow. “taper” means v. narrow reduce diminish. Study “taper” →
Choose the word that is most similar in meaning to “willful”:
B — Stubborn. “willful” means adj. stubborn; deliberate; headstrong. Study “willful” →
Which of the following is a synonym for “mandate”?
B — command. “mandate” means n. an official order or commission to do something.. Study “mandate” →
What is the synonym of the word “transmute” as used in the following sentence? The alchemist sought to transmute common metals into gold.
A — Transform. “transmute” means v. transform; change; convert. Study “transmute” →
Which of the following is a synonym for “delineate”?
B — describe. “delineate” means v. to describe or portray something precisely. Study “delineate” →
What is the best synonym for the word “eloquence” as used in the following sentence? The politician''s eloquence during the debate impressed everyone in the audience.
C — persuasiveness. “eloquence” means n. fluency; articulateness; oratory. Study “eloquence” →
Which of the following is the closest synonym to “subversive”?
B — rebellious. “subversive” means adj. seeking to undermine or overthrow an established system or institution. Study “subversive” →
What is a synonym for “connivance”?
B — complicity. “connivance” means n. willingness to secretly allow or be involved in wrongdoing, especially an immoral or illegal act. Study “connivance” →
What is the best synonym for the word “predisposition”?
A — Tendency. “predisposition” means n. tendency; inclination; susceptibility. Study “predisposition” →
Which word most closely matches the meaning of histrionic?
C — melodramatic. “histrionic” means adj. overly dramatic or emotional. Study “histrionic” →
Choose the synonym for the word “transpose”:
A — Interchange. “transpose” means v. rearrange; switch; relocate. Study “transpose” →
Choose the synonym for “ramble” in the following sentence: During our walk in the forest, we decided to ramble along the winding paths, enjoying the scenery.
C — wander. “ramble” means v. wander chat talk aimlessly. Study “ramble” →
Which of the following words is a synonym for “oxymoron”?
A — Paradox. “oxymoron” means n. contradiction; paradox; incongruity. Study “oxymoron” →
Choose the synonym for the word “confer” as it is used in the sentence: The committee will confer to decide the winner of the award.
B — consult. “confer” means v. grant; bestow; discuss. Study “confer” →
Choose the word that is most similar in meaning to “tortuous”: The path through the forest was so tortuous that it felt like we were constantly turning.
B — winding. “tortuous” means adj. winding; complex; twisted. Study “tortuous” →
Which of the following is a synonym for “injurious”?
C — harmful. “injurious” means adj. harmful; damaging; detrimental. Study “injurious” →
Her many years of experience gave her rare ______ into human behavior.
A — insight. “insight” means n. the ability to understand people and situations in a very clear way. Study “insight” →
The false rumors were clearly meant to ______ the honest senator's good name.
C — besmirch. “besmirch” means v. to damage the reputation of someone or something. Study “besmirch” →
A generous government ______ helped the struggling farmers survive the drought.
A — subsidy. “subsidy” means n. Financial aid; grant. Study “subsidy” →
The desert night sky is filled with ______ stars.
A — innumerable. “innumerable” means adj. too many to be counted. Study “innumerable” →
Riding a bicycle is a cheap and ______ way to get around the busy city.
C — economical. “economical” means adj. Thrifty and cost-effective; efficient. Study “economical” →
A ______ leader inspires the whole team with her boundless energy.
C — dynamic. “dynamic” means adj. characterized by constant change, activity, or progress. Study “dynamic” →
In a ______ mood, he argued loudly with everyone at the meeting.
B — combative. “combative” means adj. aggressive fighting argumentative. Study “combative” →
In a ______ mood, the teacher joked cheerfully throughout the whole lesson.
C — jocular. “jocular” means adj. humorous; playful; jovial. Study “jocular” →
A gifted ______, she could hold a huge audience spellbound for hours.
A — orator. “orator” means n. Speaker and rhetorician; eloquent person. Study “orator” →
The decorations at the party were so _____ that many guests found them off-putting.
A — garish. “garish” means adj. excessively bright, colorful, and showy. Study “garish” →
A ______ tool that can do a dozen jobs is well worth carrying on any trip.
C — versatile. “versatile” means adj. able to adapt or be adapted to many different functions or activities.. Study “versatile” →
The teacher took time to ______ each student's progress very carefully.
B — assess. “assess” means v. to evaluate or estimate the nature, ability, or quality of. Study “assess” →
The weary soldiers welcomed a brief ______ from the endless, brutal fighting.
D — respite. “respite” means n. break rest relief. Study “respite” →
It was ______ of the young girl to dive into the icy river to save the dog.
A — courageous. “courageous” means adj. brave bold fearless. Study “courageous” →
Despite the recent losses, the coach remained ______ about the team's future.
B — sanguine. “sanguine” means adj. optimistic; hopeful; confident. Study “sanguine” →
The concept of advanced quantum mechanics is beyond my ____.
A — ken. “ken” means n. one''s range of knowledge or understanding. Study “ken” →
All of his frantic efforts proved ______, changing nothing at all in the end.
A — nugatory. “nugatory” means adj. worthless; futile; ineffective. Study “nugatory” →
Too many conflicting orders began to ______ the confused new workers.
A — muddle. “muddle” means v. confuse mix up disorder. Study “muddle” →
A sincere and heartfelt apology helped ______ the angry customer's temper.
C — mollify. “mollify” means v. soothe calm appease. Study “mollify” →
Honesty and hard work formed the very heart of his personal ______.
C — creed. “creed” means n. a set of beliefs or aims which guide someone''s actions. Study “creed” →
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.