Synonyms & Antonyms
🔒 Log in to trackExam strategy for vocabulary questions
🔒 Log in to trackVocabulary questions are short and give quick marks. There is often one synonym and one antonym per paper. The plan is a 15-second routine in the exam, plus 15 minutes of daily word practice before it.
What the exam asks
Vocabulary appears in three shapes.
- A bare word, and you pick its synonym.
- A bare word, and you pick its antonym.
- A word in CAPITALS inside a sentence.
Each item takes about 15 seconds. There is no calculation. Marks depend on memory, so the plan is a word bank, not brilliance.
The 15-second routine
- Direction. Read the command first: nearest or most opposite.
- Tone. Say if the word is positive, negative or neutral. This removes two options most of the time.
- Word class. Adjective, verb or noun. The answer must match.
- Roots. If the word is new, split it into prefix and root.
- Eliminate. Strike the wrong-direction options and the unrelated one.
- Choose. Pick the closer option in strength and tone.
Watch: Most vocabulary errors are direction errors, not knowledge errors. Read "nearest" or "opposite" before anything else.
Sentence-based items
When the word sits in a sentence, the sentence decides.
- Read the full sentence.
- Say the capital word in one plain word.
- Run the routine on that plain word.
Example: His GAUNT face showed months of illness. Gaunt here means thin and bony. The most opposite option is plump.
Build a word bank
- Add each new word from mock tests to a sheet: meaning, one synonym, one antonym.
- Revise the sheet once a week. Words you miss twice go on a short weak list.
- Learn words in opposite pairs: barren and fertile, scarce and plentiful. One memory slot stores two answers.
- Say each word in a sentence of your own. Using a word fixes it better than reading it.
Words worth banking: lucid, tenacious, vigilant, frugal, notorious, imminent, futile, mitigate, squander, abundant, indispensable.
Weekly plan
| When | What |
|---|---|
| Daily, 15 minutes | 10 new words, read aloud, one sentence each |
| Daily | One root and its relatives |
| Weekly | A test of 30 mixed words, aim for 26 or more |
| After every mock | Note each missed word |
In the exam room
- Do vocabulary early. It is quick and it does not need a long read.
- Do not spend more than 20 seconds on any one item.
- If a word is new, judge its tone from its parts and pick an option with the same tone.
- Mark unknown items and return only if time is left.
Guessing rules
- Synonym question: an option that is the opposite of the word is wrong.
- Antonym question: any synonym option is wrong.
- If two options remain, the plainer word is more often the key than a rare, showy one.
- Do not leave a vocabulary item blank. An informed guess is better than nothing.
Question types you will see
Each type: how to recognise it, the method step by step, and one question to try.
Synonym of a word in a sentence
A sentence has the key word in CAPITALS. The options are possible meanings.
Say the capital word in one plain word from the sentence.
Use the tone and word-class filters.
Match your plain word to the options.
The sentence fixes the meaning the examiner has in mind.
His account of the accident was COHERENT. (a) clear and logical (b) confused (c) lengthy (d) angry
Show solutionHide solution
An account that hangs together is easy to follow.
Confused is the opposite. Lengthy and angry do not fit.
Clear and logical fits.
(a) clear and logical
Antonym of a word in a sentence
The same shape as the last one, but the question asks for the most opposite word.
Say the capital word in one plain word.
Strike every option that means the same.
Choose the option that truly reverses it.
Striking the synonyms removes the decoys at once.
His GAUNT face showed months of illness. Most opposite: (a) thin (b) plump (c) pale (d) tired
Show solutionHide solution
Gaunt here means thin and bony.
Thin is a synonym. Pale and tired are related, not opposite.
Plump reverses it.
(b) plump
Read the direction first
A set mixes synonym and antonym items. Check whether the question says nearest or most opposite.
Read the command word first.
Then look at the given word and mark its tone.
Strike opposites in a synonym question. Strike synonyms in an antonym question.
Direction slips cost more marks than missing words.
Most opposite to FRUGAL: (a) thrifty (b) wasteful (c) poor (d) careful
Show solutionHide solution
The command says most opposite.
FRUGAL means careful with money. Thrifty and careful are synonyms.
Wasteful reverses it.
(b) wasteful
Unknown word: root and context
The capital word is new, but its parts and the sentence each give a clue.
Split the word for a prefix or root (aud = hear).
Check the meaning against the sentence.
Choose the option both clues agree on.
Two weak clues that point the same way are strong.
Even in the last row the lecturer's voice was AUDIBLE. (a) able to be heard (b) very angry (c) recorded (d) sweet
Show solutionHide solution
aud means hear, and -ible means able to be.
The sentence is about hearing the voice.
Able to be heard fits.
(a) able to be heard
Recall from a memorised pair
The word is one half of a pair you have banked (barren and fertile).
Recognise the word.
Recall its partner from the bank.
Find the partner in the options.
One pair in memory answers a synonym item and an antonym item.
Most opposite to BARREN: (a) fertile (b) empty (c) dry (d) poor
Show solutionHide solution
BARREN means unable to produce crops.
Empty and dry are related, not opposite.
Fertile is the banked partner.
(a) fertile
Shortcuts that save time
Answer every sure vocabulary item in the first pass at 15 seconds each. Come back to the unknown words with the time left.
If the options are kind, cruel, wealthy, talkative, the scale is temperament. Now guess the tone of the given word from its parts and pick a matching option.
Solve the last five years of synonym and antonym questions. Words come back within two to four years.
Mistakes to avoid
Where most students lose marks on this subtopic.
Starting with the options.
Read the command word and the given word first.
Mixing up nearest and most opposite.
Underline the command word before you look at the options.
Skipping the sentence and answering from the common meaning.
In a sentence item, paraphrase the word from the sentence.
Reading a word list once and stopping.
Use each word in a sentence and revise it every week.
Spending long on one unknown word.
Take 15 seconds, split it, pick by tone, and move on.
Quick revision
Read this the night before the exam.
Routine: direction, tone, word class, roots, eliminate, choose.
Sentence given: paraphrase the capital word first.
Learn words in opposite pairs. Keep a mock-test word sheet.
Antonym question: synonyms are wrong. Synonym question: opposites are wrong.
Prefer the plainer survivor over the showy word.
Never leave a vocabulary item blank.
Practice: 12 questions
Sets of 10, mixed across the question types above. Every answer has a step-by-step explanation.
Topic test · 12 questions
Suggested time 5 min · wrong answers go to your mistake notebook automatically.