Synonyms and Shades of Meaning

Most Word Knowledge questions have one obviously best answer and three that are not close. This lesson is about the rest - the ones where you know what the word means and two choices still look right.

Why two choices can both fit

Enlarge

Zoom in

English has very few exact synonyms. Words that share a definition almost always differ in one of three ways.

Intensity. How strong the word is.

Connotation. Whether it is approving, disapproving or neutral.

Application. What kinds of things it can describe.

A question with two defensible choices is testing one of those three, and knowing which one is being tested is most of the work.

Intensity

Words sit on a scale, and the test expects you to land on the right rung.

Abhor most nearly means

(A) dislike (B) detest (C) ignore (D) question

Both (A) and (B) are in the right family. Abhor is at the strong end, and so is detest; dislike is mild.

(B) detest.

When two choices differ only in strength, pick the one matching the tested word's strength. A word with an intense prefix or a dramatic sound is usually the strong one, and the mild synonym is placed for people who identified the family and stopped there.

Connotation

Two words can describe identical behavior and disagree about it.

Obstinate most nearly means

(A) determined (B) stubborn (C) reliable (D) patient

Obstinate is a criticism. Determined is praise for the same behavior; stubborn is the criticism.

(B) stubborn.

Match the charge. This is the most commonly missed distinction in the topic, because both choices name the same underlying conduct and only the speaker's attitude differs.

Application

Some words only go with certain things.

• Rancid applies to fats and oils gone bad, not to milk, which is sour.
• Stale applies to bread and air, not to meat, which is spoiled.
• Shatter applies to brittle things, not to rope, which snaps.

Which word describes butter that has gone bad?

(A) sour (B) rancid (C) stale (D) withered

All four describe deterioration. Only (B) applies to fats.

This is the least common of the three and it is the most decisive when it appears: the wrong choices are not slightly off, they are about a different kind of thing.

The substitution test

When intensity and connotation both look plausible, say a sentence with each.

Candid most nearly means

(A) honest (B) blunt (C) rude (D) friendly

All three of the first choices are in the territory. Try them:

• "Thank you for being so candid" is a compliment. So is "so honest".
• "Thank you for being so rude" is not something anyone says.
• "Blunt" sits between them - it can be a compliment or a mild criticism.

Candid is approving or neutral, which removes (C). Between (A) and (B), candid is about telling the truth rather than about delivering it harshly.

(A) honest.

When two choices mean the same thing

A different situation, and it resolves instantly.

If two choices are genuine synonyms of each other, neither is the answer. A question has exactly one correct option, and picking either of a matched pair would make the other correct too. That is free elimination.

But it cuts the other way more often, and this is the useful half: if you think two choices are identical, you have probably missed the distinction being tested.

Reticent most nearly means

(A) quiet (B) reserved (C) rude (D) tired

Quiet and reserved look like a synonym pair, and if they were, both would be out. They are not. Quiet describes how much noise someone makes; reserved describes an unwillingness to reveal things. Reticent is specifically about holding back from speaking, which is the second.

(B) reserved.

So the rule to carry is: spotting a true pair eliminates both, and failing to find one when you thought you had is the question telling you where the real difference lies. Look for it in intensity, connotation or application before concluding the question is flawed.

What you can skip

• Fine distinctions for their own sake. The shades-of-meaning work in this lesson is for choosing between two close choices; no question asks you to explain the difference between two synonyms.

Where people lose points

Getting the family right and the intensity wrong. Picking "dislike" for abhor.

Ignoring connotation and choosing the approving word for a disapproving one.

Rejecting the best available answer for being imperfect.

Overthinking a word you know. These distinctions matter on the hard questions. On a word you are sure of, first instinct is usually right.

Treating an associated word as a synonym. For frugal, the answer is "thrifty", not "poor".

Work one in under a minute

His meticulous preparation impressed the board.

(A) careful (B) obsessive (C) lengthy (D) adequate

Family: attention to detail. That leaves (A) and (B).

Connotation decides it. The sentence says the preparation impressed the board, so the word is approving. Meticulous is praise; obsessive is criticism of the same behavior.

(A) careful.

Note that the sentence supplied the connotation. When a sentence is provided, read it for attitude as well as for meaning.

Where this leads

The same sensitivity to charge and degree is what makes the opposite-meaning trap recognizable, and it is what Paragraph Comprehension is testing when it asks about tone.