Using Prefixes, Suffixes, and Roots to Identify Synonyms

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ISEE Upper Level Verbal Reasoning › Using Prefixes, Suffixes, and Roots to Identify Synonyms

Questions 1 - 10
1

Select the answer choice that is closest in meaning to the word in capital letters.

AMPLIFY

Intensify

Repeat

Duplicate

Maneuver

Digitize

Explanation

The word “amplify” literally means “to make larger.” The “ampli-” portion is the same as that which is found in “ample” (spacious or plentiful) and “amplitude” (roughly meaning “magnitude,” often used in physics to describe vibrations). The “-fy” means “to do or make.” The word “amplify” is often used to describe the process of making sounds louder, though it can mean “intensify” in the general sense as well.

2

Select the answer choice that is closest in meaning to the word in capital letters.

AMPLIFY

Intensify

Repeat

Duplicate

Maneuver

Digitize

Explanation

The word “amplify” literally means “to make larger.” The “ampli-” portion is the same as that which is found in “ample” (spacious or plentiful) and “amplitude” (roughly meaning “magnitude,” often used in physics to describe vibrations). The “-fy” means “to do or make.” The word “amplify” is often used to describe the process of making sounds louder, though it can mean “intensify” in the general sense as well.

3

Select the answer choice that is closest in meaning to the word in capital letters.

MYOPIC

unimaginative

transmission

vision

oversight

blindness

Explanation

If you did notice the meaning of eyes in the “-opic” portion of this word, you were on the right track. What “myopic” literally means is shut-eyes. When someone has “myopia,” that person is nearsighted (needing corrective lenses to see things at distance). Someone is called myopic when that person figuratively has shut eyes or is unable to imagine or think about things that are not immediately at hand. The person is “unimaginative” and perhaps intellectually uncreative. The word would be used in a sentence like, “Since the couple rarely left their state of residence, they were quite myopic regarding potential employment options since they only thought in terms of their local economy.”

4

Select the answer choice that is closest in meaning to the word in capital letters.

AMPLIFY

Intensify

Repeat

Duplicate

Maneuver

Digitize

Explanation

The word “amplify” literally means “to make larger.” The “ampli-” portion is the same as that which is found in “ample” (spacious or plentiful) and “amplitude” (roughly meaning “magnitude,” often used in physics to describe vibrations). The “-fy” means “to do or make.” The word “amplify” is often used to describe the process of making sounds louder, though it can mean “intensify” in the general sense as well.

5

Select the answer choice that is closest in meaning to the word in capital letters.

MYOPIC

unimaginative

transmission

vision

oversight

blindness

Explanation

If you did notice the meaning of eyes in the “-opic” portion of this word, you were on the right track. What “myopic” literally means is shut-eyes. When someone has “myopia,” that person is nearsighted (needing corrective lenses to see things at distance). Someone is called myopic when that person figuratively has shut eyes or is unable to imagine or think about things that are not immediately at hand. The person is “unimaginative” and perhaps intellectually uncreative. The word would be used in a sentence like, “Since the couple rarely left their state of residence, they were quite myopic regarding potential employment options since they only thought in terms of their local economy.”

6

Select the answer choice that is closest in meaning to the word in capital letters.

MYOPIC

unimaginative

transmission

vision

oversight

blindness

Explanation

If you did notice the meaning of eyes in the “-opic” portion of this word, you were on the right track. What “myopic” literally means is shut-eyes. When someone has “myopia,” that person is nearsighted (needing corrective lenses to see things at distance). Someone is called myopic when that person figuratively has shut eyes or is unable to imagine or think about things that are not immediately at hand. The person is “unimaginative” and perhaps intellectually uncreative. The word would be used in a sentence like, “Since the couple rarely left their state of residence, they were quite myopic regarding potential employment options since they only thought in terms of their local economy.”

7

Select the answer choice that is closest in meaning to the word in capital letters.

CHURLISH

Vulgar

Acrid

Haughty

Mutable

Notorious

Explanation

"Churlish" is an adjective that means "rude in a mean-spirited and surly way," or "marked by a lack of civility or graciousness." So, we're looking for another adjective that means something like "rude" or "uncivil." While "haughty" seems like a possible choice because someone who is haughty might also be rude, "haughty" specifically means "arrogantly superior and disdainful," not specifically "rude." On the other hand, "vulgar" means "lacking in cultivation, perception, or taste" or "offensive in language," and is the closest synonym to "churlish," and therefore the best answer choice.

8

Select the answer choice that is closest in meaning to the word in capital letters.

CHURLISH

Vulgar

Acrid

Haughty

Mutable

Notorious

Explanation

"Churlish" is an adjective that means "rude in a mean-spirited and surly way," or "marked by a lack of civility or graciousness." So, we're looking for another adjective that means something like "rude" or "uncivil." While "haughty" seems like a possible choice because someone who is haughty might also be rude, "haughty" specifically means "arrogantly superior and disdainful," not specifically "rude." On the other hand, "vulgar" means "lacking in cultivation, perception, or taste" or "offensive in language," and is the closest synonym to "churlish," and therefore the best answer choice.

9

Select the answer choice that is closest in meaning to the word in capital letters.

CHURLISH

Vulgar

Acrid

Haughty

Mutable

Notorious

Explanation

"Churlish" is an adjective that means "rude in a mean-spirited and surly way," or "marked by a lack of civility or graciousness." So, we're looking for another adjective that means something like "rude" or "uncivil." While "haughty" seems like a possible choice because someone who is haughty might also be rude, "haughty" specifically means "arrogantly superior and disdainful," not specifically "rude." On the other hand, "vulgar" means "lacking in cultivation, perception, or taste" or "offensive in language," and is the closest synonym to "churlish," and therefore the best answer choice.

10

Select the answer choice that is closest in meaning to the word in capital letters.

GENRE

Class

Music

Symphony

Selection

Preference

Explanation

The word “genre” is related to the Latin “genus,” a term that we still use in logic to mean “general kind.” For instance, when someone says “man is a rational animal,” the general class “animal” is the genus into which “man” is placed (so to speak). When we speak of “genres of music,” what we really mean are “classes” or “general types” of music. For instance, one might say, “The most popular genres of music are baroque organ and renaissance polyphony, not rock and ska.”

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