Word Knowledge
What is tested
Word Knowledge asks you to pick the closest meaning (a synonym) for a given word, and occasionally the opposite. Words range from everyday to moderately academic, and the format is usually one word with four one-word options.
Build words from parts
Learn common prefixes (bene- good, mal- bad, pre- before, circum- around, anti- against), roots (cred- believe, spec- look, dict- say, port- carry, chron- time), and suffixes that signal part of speech (-ous adjective, -tion noun, -ify verb). Knowing that 'benevolent' contains bene- (good) and vol- (wish) leads you to 'kindly' without memorizing the word.
Traps
- Near-synonyms that differ in intensity or connotation: 'curious' versus 'nosy', 'thrifty' versus 'stingy'.
- Look-alikes and homophones: 'eminent' (famous) versus 'imminent' (about to happen).
- Deceptive forms: 'inflammable' means easily ignited, not fireproof.
- Choosing a meaning for a secondary sense of a multiple-meaning word.
- Ignoring part of speech: if the stem is a verb, an adjective option cannot be right.
Worked example
Stem: 'abate.' Options: encourage, lessen, repair, request. The word suggests beating something down, so 'lessen' is correct. Even without knowing it, 'encourage' moves in the opposite direction, and 'repair' and 'request' share no root.
Rule of thumb
Cover the choices, say the stem word in a sentence, predict a meaning, then match. Eliminate wrong part-of-speech and wrong-intensity options before comparing the survivors.