Word Knowledge: mixed review

Target the word and its sense, predict a plain paraphrase before reading choices, classify each choice (synonym, opposite, related, unrelated), test the best one in a sentence, then commit to the best match.

Desert is only associated with arid (it shows up near the idea); it does not mean arid. The answer must be able to stand in for the word, so choose 'very dry'.

Denotation is the literal core meaning; connotation is the emotional tone. Thrifty and stingy share a denotation (spending little) but thrifty sounds positive, stingy negative. Match denotation first, then tone.

Words on a scale differ in strength (annoyed, angry, furious). For FURIOUS, a mild word like irritated falls short; for drenched, soaked beats damp.

The answer must do the same grammatical job as the target. In 'will BRIEF the squad', brief is a verb meaning inform, so adjective senses like short are out.

Small shifts add up across links, so the end word can mean something different. Use a chain only to generate a guess, then compare that choice directly with the original word.

No. They help eliminate choices, but can mislead: inflammable means easily set on fire, not fireproof. Confirm with the sentence or your sense of the whole word.

Start with the most common everyday sense (SOUND as noise). If it is not among the choices, check other real senses, such as healthy (a sound body).

Cover the choices and read the whole sentence; find and name the clue type; predict your own plain word; compare choices to the prediction and confirm the best one by replacing the target word.

A phrase set off by commas, dashes or parentheses that renames the noun beside it. It acts as a built-in definition: 'The farrier, a craftsman who shoes horses, ...'

Which side of the contrast the unknown word belongs to, then take the opposite of the other side. Landing on the wrong side is the most common contrast error.

A surprise: the second part goes against what the first part suggests. 'Although the truck looked decrepit, it started at once' means decrepit is run-down.

Ask what the listed examples have in common and choose the answer naming that whole category, not one example from the list.

Find what the negative applies to and remove it to define the word. Superficial means surface-level; 'deep' is a trap because it describes the actual repairs.

Test makers offer the literal sense as a distractor. If the literal reading makes no sense in the situation, use the figurative one: here a gloomy mood.

Opposite meaning; related topic word; wrong part of speech; wrong intensity (too mild or too strong); wrong sense of the word, often the literal one.

Not. In- shifts to match the next letter: im- before b, m or p (impatient), il- before l (illegible), ir- before r (irregular). Caution: in- can also mean in or into (inhale).

Mis- means wrongly, a mistake in doing an action (misread, misaddress). Mal- means bad or faulty, a poor condition or quality (malfunction, malnourished).

Inter- means between or among separate groups (interstate). Intra- means within one unit (intrastate, intravenous, intramural). Only one letter differs, so read slowly.

Post- means after (postwar, postpone: move to a later time). Retro- means backward or back in time (retrospective: looking back; retroactive: effective from an earlier date).

Anti- means against or preventing (antifreeze, antitheft). Ante- means before (anteroom, a small room in front of a larger one).

Sub-: under, below or less than (substandard, subsurface). Super-: above or beyond (superhuman). Sur-: over or on top of (surcharge, an extra fee; surplus, an amount above what is needed).

Half or partly (semicircle, semiretired, semiconscious). It lowers the degree but does not reverse it, so choices meaning fully or not at all are wrong. Semiannual means every half year.

Invaluable means extremely useful, too valuable to measure. Confirm the leftover base is real (uncle, reason, pretty have no prefix) and trust context over a quick split.

A derivational suffix builds a new word, often a new word class (teach to teacher, calm to calmly). An inflectional ending only adds grammar to the same word: -s, -ed, -ing, comparative -er, -est.

-ness, -ity, -ty, -tion, -sion, -ment, -ance, -ence, -ship, -hood, -dom, -age, -ure; person endings -er, -or, -ist; and -ism for a belief or system.

-ize/-ise (standardize: make uniform), -ify/-fy (clarify: make clear), -en (widen: make wide), and sometimes -ate (activate). The synonym must also be a verb.

-ful means full of or having (careful, joyful). -less means without or lacking (careless, fearless). Swapping one for the other often reverses the meaning: careless means negligent.

Able to be or fit for: washable, visible, comprehensible (able to be understood). They form adjectives.

No. On an adjective, -ly usually forms an adverb (quickly), but on a noun it often forms an adjective: friendly, costly, orderly, elderly. If it describes a noun, it is an adjective.

The answer must replace the target in the sentence, so it must match the word class. Courage is a noun and courageous an adjective; likewise width cannot replace widen.

-ist names a person who practices, studies or believes something (pianist, biologist). -ism names the belief, system or attitude itself (realism, pessimism).

Chron means time (chronological: in time order; chronic: long-lasting or recurring). Therm means heat (thermal, thermostat; hypothermia is dangerously low body temperature).

Both mean water, one Greek and one Latin: hydrant, dehydrated, hydroelectric (water-powered); aquarium, aquifer (underground rock layer holding groundwater).

Both relate to seeing. Spect/spic means look (inspect, perspective; circumspect means cautious). Vid/vis means see (visible, evidence, revise: look at again).

Tract: pull or draw (extract, retract: pull back). Ject: throw (eject, projectile, reject). Rupt: break or burst (erupt, rupture, interrupt: break in between).

Both mean carry. Port: portable, transport, export. Fer: carry or bear (transfer, fertile land bears crops, conifers bear cones).

Cred: believe or trust (credible, credentials). Dict: say or declare (predict, verdict, contradict). Mit/miss: send or release (transmit, missile, emit, omit).

Credible: able to be believed (a credible witness). Credulous: believes too easily. Incredulous: unable or unwilling to believe. All share cred, believe.

Cutting a word at letters that only look like a root. Pantry is not from pan (all), and biscuit is not from bio (life). If the pieces do not fit the sentence, rely on context.

Polysemy: one word with several related senses from a shared core (head of a person, line or company). Homographs: separate, unrelated words with the same spelling (bass the fish, bass the low sound).

Words that habitually travel together. The partner calls up one sense: 'pay a fine' means penalty, 'fine sand' means small grains; 'run a business' means manage, 'run a fever' means have.

Read the whole sentence; decide the part of speech; find partner words (object, modifier, preposition); predict a short meaning; pick the matching choice and confirm by swapping it into the sentence.

Tests often use a less common sense and offer the familiar meaning as a distractor. 'Adjourned until Monday' means suspended to resume later, not canceled.

Topic only suggests possibilities. In 'a bill listing the charge for the new outlet', the topic is electrical but charge means a price. The words grammatically tied to the tested word decide.

Substitution: does the choice fit grammatically and sound natural in place of the word? Entailment: does the sentence still say the same thing? 'Strike the comment' means delete; 'hit' fails entailment.

'Object to' means oppose; 'charged with' means accused or assigned a duty; 'yield to' means give way. The verb's object also matters: 'conduct a test' is perform, 'conduct heat' is transmit.

MIN-ute: 60 seconds; my-NOOT: extremely small. re-FUSE: decline; REF-use: trash. con-TENT: satisfied; CON-tent: what something contains.

Tone (positive, negative or neutral), degree (equal strength), register (same level of formality) and context (fits this sentence). Failing any one makes it only a near-synonym.

The level of formality a word belongs to: commence is formal, begin neutral, kick off informal; technical (torque) and literary (steed) are other registers. Meaning comes first; register breaks ties.

Periodic: recurring at regular intervals. Intermittent: on and off, starting and stopping, with no regular pattern required. Sporadic: irregular and scattered, here and there. Constant: without stopping.

Rising confidence: possible (could be true), plausible (believable on its face, not confirmed), probable (more likely than not), certain (beyond doubt).

Explicit approval is stated clearly, aloud or in writing. Tacit approval is understood or implied without being spoken, such as silently allowing a practice. Tacit does not mean written or enthusiastic.

Intensity is how strong a word is; evaluation is whether it praises or criticizes. Ecstatic is intense and positive; petulant is mild in strength yet clearly negative. Check them separately.

An extreme choice (impossible, ruined, furious) placed beside a measured one. Unless the context shows an extreme situation, pick the word that matches the evidence: onerous, not impossible.

Exhausted names a state; grueling describes the task that causes it, and rested is a later result. The answer must describe the same thing (feeling, cause or outcome) as the tested word.

A group of words built on one base, such as act, action, active, actively, filling verb, noun, adjective and adverb slots. Members share a core idea but are not interchangeable.

A related form usually has a different part of speech and meaning, so it cannot replace the word. Set aside same-base choices and look for a true synonym, such as limiting.

-able/-ible signals capacity (can happen): sustainable means can be kept up; enforceable means can be enforced. -ed marks something done: sustained means has been kept up.

Continual: repeated often, with breaks between (continual phone calls). Continuous: with no break at all (a continuous hum).

Imply: suggest something without saying it outright (the speaker implies). Infer: draw a conclusion from evidence (the listener infers).

Perceptive describes a person who notices details or understands quickly (observant). Perceptible describes a thing that can be noticed (a perceptible delay, noticeable).

No. Exhaustive means covering every part or possibility: thorough, complete, comprehensive. An exhaustive search checks everywhere.

Reliable and dependable describe something others can count on. Reliant and dependent describe someone who relies on others. A reliable generator is depended on; it is not reliant.

Read the word and its sentence; paraphrase a meaning in your own words; reject choices that clearly do not fit; compare the survivors with your paraphrase; commit and move on.

CAT: no, an answer is final once submitted, so do one quick check of target and selected option. Paper: you may skip a hard item and return within the same subtest.

CAT: 15 scored items in 9 minutes (can differ with tryout items). Paper: 35 questions in 11 minutes, about 19 seconds per item.

Never leave an item blank: narrow the choices and pick. But on CAT, avoid random-filling several items at the end because of the scoring penalty; keep making reasoned attempts.

Define the word alone first (adequate: good enough, so sufficient), then let the negation apply to the sentence. Do not pick 'poor', which describes the repair, not the word.

Sound-alike traps. Eminent means famous or respected; imminent means about to happen. Affluent means wealthy; fluent means skilled in speaking. If spelling is your main reason, run substitution.

Name a real difference between them (precise sense, intensity or tone) and check which one the word or sentence requires. Conceal: hide, not store, because it means kept out of sight.

It burns time with little gain. Once one option clearly matches your prediction and passes substitution, select it; save detailed comparison for the final two.