ISEE Lower Level

## What a synonym is A **synonym** is a word with nearly the same meaning as another. Two words are rarely identical in meaning, so the aim is to find the word that is closest, and the others will differ in meaning, in strength or in how they are used. "Enormous" and "large" are synonyms, yet enormous is stronger, and "quick" and "hasty" are close but hasty suggests doing something carelessly. A synonym question shows one word and asks for the word closest to it from a short list. The words are ones a student of this age meets in school books and stories, so the work is mostly knowing words well and, when a word is new, working out what it probably means. ## Think of your own word first Before looking at the choices, say what the word means in your own words or think of a word you would use in its place. Then look for that word or something close to it. Looking at the choices first is risky because every choice is a real word and some will seem to fit if you let them. For "MEAGER", a student might think "very small in amount", and then look for a word such as "scanty" among the choices. A choice like "hungry" is tempting because meagre meals are connected to hunger, but it names a feeling, not an amount. ## Part of speech A synonym must be the same part of speech as the word given. A noun has a noun as a synonym, a verb a verb and an adjective an adjective, which removes some choices at once. | Word given | Part of speech | Possible synonym | |---|---|---| | journey | noun…