Verbal Classifications: Adjectives and Adverbs - HSPT Language Skills

You likely know the words “concise” and “succinct,” which mean “short spoken” or merely “brief.” These clearly are opposed to “wordy.” Still, it helps to be sure regarding the other words. “Laconic” is an adjective describing someone who uses few words. Likewise, “pithy” describes something that is brief, though often implying that is a very strong and emphatic kind of brevity. “A pithy remark” is one that is short, “cutting directly to the point.”

Each of these words are adjectives, so we can't make a distinction based on the part of speech. "Elderly," "juvenile," "youthful," and "senior" all describe age. "Glorious" is a synonym for "wonderful," or "superb." "Glorious" does not describe age.

All five words are adjectives that describe a person's ability. "Inept" means incompetent, or unskilled. The "inept" teacher might routinely lose her students' papers. "Competent," "proficient," "skilled," and "qualified" are all synonyms meaning capable, or able to complete the assigned tasks. These words are all antonyms of "inept."

Although all of these words pertain to being active, the wrong answers are all related in that they describe frantic activity of some sort. You may not know “frenetic,” but it is somewhat akin to “frantic,” meaning “wild and fast with energy.” Likewise, “feverish” might seem to be the correct answer, for it can merely indicate that someone is ill with an elevated temperature (a fever); however, “feverish” activity can be thought of as “hot and fast moving” activity. The word indeed has the English meaning of being frenetic activity.

The four related terms all pertain to being rich or abundant. “Verdant” describes a lush and green state of country land. It comes from Latin roots for “green,” which can be found in the French “vert”and Spanish “verde.” Even though we often think of “prolific” as applying more to human actions (as in “a prolific writer” who writes many books), the word first means “producing much fruit.” (This applies to a person, of course, for our writer above produces much “written fruit”). Only the word “barren” is opposed to the other words, for it means “not producing much vegetation, fruit, or seeds.”

The set of four related words all have something to do with difficult work. Drudgery is dull and difficult work. To “toil” at something is to work without ceasing with a great expenditure of energy. Something is “laborious” when it requires much labor—when it is very difficult, that is. A “grueling task” is one that requires much effort and is tiring. A person is called “industrious” if he or she is hard working; however, the word emphasizes diligence and does not have the same negative tones as do the other options.

While all of these words indicate something negative, bad, or difficult, they do not do so to the same degree. All of the words are all relatively familiar, so you should not have a vocabulary issue. What is necessary is to know that the word “severe” means “very intense,” almost always implying that it is something that is intensely bad. This is a much stronger sense of trouble / badness than the other options and thus is differentiated from them.

All of the alike terms in this question merely express possibility, not certainty. Even the cases of “probable” and “likely” do not express complete lack of doubt that something will happen. Something probable is quite likely to happen, but a doubt remains; however, something “indubitable” is without a doubt and cannot be questioned. An “indubitable outcome” is one that is completely certain. While we might be able to come up with a better term, among the options provided, this is the best option provided.

The group of related words are all descriptions of kinds of sounds. Something “euphonious” is pleasant-sounding, and something “cacophonous” is a jumbled, harsh mixture of sounds. A clamor is a loud noise—often a shouting (from the Latin for to cry out)—and something harmonious consists of sounds that are beautifully mixed. The last word certainly has metaphorical uses—e.g. “a harmonious relationship”—but still is related to the general category of “descriptions of sounds.” Only “delectable” is different from the rest. While the word is related to “delightful,” its primary usage is applied to food and drink that are delightful or delicious.

Each of the related words here pertains to smoothness. Something “satiny” is like the silky fabric “satin.” Likewise, velvety is soft like its namesake fabric. When something is “unruffled” it is in good order and is calm (lacking any rough, uneven patches). This can be used metaphorically or—at times, at least—literally (e.g. unruffled fabric). When something is calloused, it is made rough—as when someone’s hands are covered with calluses because of hard manual labor.

Each of the related words pertain to something that is average. Even something “mediocre” is not necessarily bad—it is merely an average amount, nothing extremely good. To say that someone is “mediocre” is perhaps an insult, but it is in the sense that “he or she is not all that great,” not necessarily implying that he or she is bad or completely lacking talent. Something “maximal” is obviously quite different from something merely “middling” or “moderate” (etc.), for to be at the “maximum” is to be at the highest point.

The words that are related all pertain to being intelligent and insightful. To be “perspicacious” is to “see through” to the truth of some matter. (It comes from “per,” meaning “through,” and the Latin root for “to see”—as found in “spectator” and “spectacular”). To be penetrating is not merely to push through a boundary; it likewise can mean “mentally penetrating”—seeing the truth of a matter, getting to “the heart of the matter.” Someone who is “acute” is keenly perceptive or “sharp” (in the sense of intelligence). Only “dull” is different from all of these words.

At first glance, the related words likely seem to be all unrelated. What has humility to do with haughtiness? Likewise, to be "irate" is to be extremely angry, while to be "pusillanimous" is to be timid and weak-willed. Note that all of these are psychological character traits of some sort. In contrast to this group, the word “towering” might describe someone’s physical or social stature; however, it does not describe a psychological condition in the manner that the other words do.

Each of these related words pertains to some form of loud speech or being outspoken. Something is presented stridently when it is done so in a harsh, forceful way. Someone is vociferous when they speak in a vehement or loud manner. Vocal can mean “outspoken” as in “a vocal supporter.” Even “forceful” is related to these other words, insofar as it pertains to being vehement. The only word that does not match these senses is “understated.”

The group of “like” terms is comprised of words that connote mere permission or allowance. Even when something is “authorized,” it is not necessarily actively promoted for use. It is merely approved—which is quite different. Likewise, to “countenance” something is to classify or accept it as possible or acceptable. To say, “I will not countenance that sort of language,” is akin to saying, “I will not accept or endorse that kind of language.” To “encourage” something, on the contrary, is to promote something in an active way. It is one thing to say, “He encouraged the telling of small lies.” It is quite another to say, “He permitted the telling of small lies.”

Notice that all of the related terms pertain to being careful or cautious. Prudent people make decisions that carefully consider the future ramifications of current actions. Someone “circumspect” is hesitant to take risks. The word literally means to look around. The “circum” comes from the Latin for around as found in “circumnavigate”—to sail around (the world). The “-spect” is derived from the Latin for to look at, which can be found in words like “spectacle” and “spectator.” The only answer choice that does not describe being careful or cautious is "heedless," which on the contrary means reckless.

All of these words that are related pertain to relations in a family. While it is rather easy to see this in “parental,” the others might be a matter of vocabulary knowledge. Something “filial” pertains to a child. A filial relationship is a relationship of a child to a parent. A fraternal relationship is that between brothers. (A fraternity is a “brotherhood”). An “avuncular” relationship is the relationship of an uncle to nieces and nephews. The word “genitive” might be a bit confusing, for it might seem to be the same as “to generate” (as in “to give birth to”). Actually, the word is a matter of grammar indicating the possessive case. In languages like German and Latin, the genitive is used much like we use the –’s to denote that one person owns or is related to something else. (Still the sense of “relation” is not familial, so “genitive” is not related to the other words).

Each of the related words pertain to illegality in some way. A miscreant is a person who breaks the law—though the term is sometimes used also to describe someone who acts badly in general. A delinquent is a person who commits crimes, usually small ones. Often, you will hear the word combined with “juvenile” as in “juvenile delinquent,” which is used to describe young people who commit minor crimes (like vandalizing with paint or eggs). The word “unaccounted” means “not taken to mind” in some consideration (calculation, etc). This is not related to the other words.

Each of the related words here is concerned with being “relevant,” that is, being related to a matter being considered. Something is “pertinent” when it “pertains” to a question or situation. For instance, if someone insists on asking questions that really are not related to a lecture, a teacher has full rights to say, “Your question is not pertinent, and I will ignore it. Even though it is interesting, it will just distract us from our main topic.” Something “germane” is likewise relevant, and while “fitting” might seem to be used more in the sense of physically “fitting” (as in clothes), the term has this meaning precisely because “to be fit” means to be of suitable status or quality. Something “extraneous” is irrelevant and outside the bounds of a given topic or matter.