Synonyms Questions

Synonyms can be defined as an alternative for the actual word, giving a similar meaning. On this page we will learn how to solve Synonyms Questions:

Some Rules to follow for Synonyms Questions are:

• Associative Words
• Word Tree
• Root- Prefix and Suffix.

Rule 1 – Building Word Families

Word families are like a family tree where you have the main word and then branch it out with other words that hold a same meaning. The meaning is somewhat similar to the parent or the root word. Let’s take an example below:

For Example:

• Let the root word be Happy – now we have to associate more words that branch out from Happy:
  • Gay
  • Merry
  • Joyful
  • Jovial
  • Jolly
  • Delighted
  • Gleeful ……………..etc.

Build your vocabulary with this specially curated list of Most Important Words for Antonyms and Synonyms NOW!

Rule 2 – Associative Words

There exists a set of words that have the charge to associate itself with other words carrying a similar or closely related meaning. For these types of words few of the letters are same for all the associated words with the same meaning. For these words, a positive word will only associate with positive words and negatives will associate with negative ones.

For example:

• Apple – Now you need to have words that you can associate with apple. As much as you think you will get a longer list. let’s say:
  • fruit, red, citrus, healthy, sour, sweet, brand, rotten, peeled, skewed, green, pie, flavor, chop, slice etc. This association helps you to get more words inside your head than you would normally do.
• Dog – Let’s associate some words with dog:
  • breed, animal, faithful, domestic, pet,stray, shaggy, naughty, panting, chained, licked, bite, howl, bark, shout, sniff, paw, beware etc.

Rule 3 – Word Charge

In order to answer any question based on vocabulary, it is important that you know the charge that that the word is carrying first. For Synonyms the word charge will be the same for the question and the answer.

These charges can be:

• Positive – words that give positive connotation. Example – help, joy, love, support, pride, etc.
• Negative – words that give a negative connotation. Example – anger, disappointment, loss, hatred, hostility, crime, etc.
• Neutral – Words that do not any predominant connotation. Example – weird, writing, dog, ship, fables, etc.

Rule 4 – Prefix and Suffix

Adding a prefix or a suffix to get several words that mean the same is another rule that can give you a book full of words easy to remember and use. 

There are also several tips to follow while answering the synonym questions. We will discuss the tips in the next section.