Synonyms, Antonyms & Analogies

Synonyms, antonyms and analogies

These verbal reasoning questions test your vocabulary — how many words you know and how they relate. The wider your vocabulary, the easier they are.

Synonyms

A synonym is a word with the same or a similar meaning.

• big → large, huge, enormous
• happy → cheerful, joyful, glad

In questions you might be asked to pick the word closest in meaning to a given word.

Antonyms

An antonym is a word with the opposite meaning.

• big → small · hot → cold · begin → end · ancient → modern

Watch for prefixes that create opposites: un- (happy → unhappy), dis- (agree → disagree), im-/in- (possible → impossible).

Analogies

An analogy shows a relationship: "A is to B as C is to ?" Work out how A and B are linked, then apply the same link to C.

Common relationships:

• Opposites: hot is to cold as up is to down.
• Young/old: cat is to kitten as dog is to puppy.
• Part to whole: finger is to hand as toe is to foot.
• Object to use: pen is to write as knife is to cut.
• Category: rose is to flower as oak is to tree.

Method for analogies

1. Say the first pair as a sentence: "A cat is the adult of a kitten."

2. Apply the same sentence to the second pair: "A dog is the adult of a ___" → puppy.

3. Check the relationship matches exactly.

Worked example

"Teacher is to school as doctor is to ?"

• The link is "works in": a teacher works in a school, so a doctor works in a hospital. ✓

Common mistakes

• Choosing a word that's related but not the exact relationship.
• Mixing up synonyms (same) and antonyms (opposite).
• Not turning the analogy into a sentence to test it.

Top tips

• Read widely to grow your vocabulary — it's the biggest help.
• For analogies, make a sentence describing the link and reuse it.
• Learn common opposite prefixes (un-, dis-, im-, in-).

Quick recap

• Synonym = similar meaning; antonym = opposite meaning (watch for un-/dis-/im- prefixes).
• Analogy = "A is to B as C is to ?" — find the relationship and apply it.
• Turn the analogy into a sentence to check your answer; a wide vocabulary is key.