SPI English · Vocabulary
Synonyms
A synonym question asks for the option nearest in meaning to a word, and the sentence around the word decides which of its meanings counts.
Why this matters
Nineteen questions in the bank ask for the nearest meaning, one of them from the 2022 paper, and six are MODERATE. Most of the lost marks come from a word with two meanings, where the option you know best is the wrong sense.
Concept 1 of 3: Put the option back into the sentence
Many English words have more than one meaning. The examiner often prints the commonest meaning as a wrong option and hides the right one behind it. So never match the word alone. Read the sentence, decide what the word is doing there, and try each option in its place.
Definition
The method:
- Read the whole sentence and ask what the bold or underlined word is doing: describing a thing, naming a thing, or showing an action.
- Say its meaning in this sentence in plain words.
- Put each option in the word's place. The right one keeps the sentence's meaning; a wrong one changes it or makes it odd.
- A word from the same area is not enough. Rank and eminence are about position, so they cannot replace dignity, which is about worth.
Worked example
Choose the word nearest in meaning: The speaker made a novel suggestion at the meeting. (a) book (b) new (c) story (d) long
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a practice question:
Practice questionModerate
Example 1 · Vocabulary · Synonyms
Select the "synonym" of the word written in bold in the following sentences.
Europe, America and Japan have taken to the field of science with singular vigour.
The meaning you know best can be the wrong one
'A mean trick' is an unkind trick; 'the mean of five numbers' is their average. Decide which meaning the sentence uses before you look at the options.
Same area is not same meaning
An option can belong to the right topic and still be wrong. 'Interruption' and 'interference' are both about getting in the way, but only one of them means stepping in to act.
Concept 2 of 3: Words about people and how they behave
Many synonym words describe a person: how hard they work, how they treat others, or what is said about them. Most carry a clear charge, praising or blaming, so the charge alone often removes two options.
Definition
How to use this table:
- Learn each word with its charge: polite and amiable praise, atrocity and tarnish blame.
- An option with the opposite charge is never the synonym. Rude cannot mean polite.
- When the last option is All of these, check every other option. It is right only if each one fits.
| Word | Meaning | Nearest word |
|---|---|---|
| industrious | hard-working | diligent |
| polite | having good manners | well-mannered |
| amiable | friendly and pleasant | friendly, cheerful |
| eulogy | a speech or writing in praise of someone | praise Not an elegy, which is a sad poem for the dead. |
| caution (verb) | to tell someone about a danger | warn |
| tarnish | to spoil a good name or a shine | taint, stain |
| atrocity | an act of great cruelty | brutality, cruelty |
| humble | not proud of oneself | modest |
| candid | saying openly what one thinks | frank |
| timid | shy and easily frightened | shy |
| generous | happy to give to others | giving, kind |
Praising words: polite, amiable, industrious, humble, candid, generous. Blaming words: atrocity, tarnish.
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
SPI · 2022 · SPI Entrance Examination 2022 · Q132Easy
Example 2 · Vocabulary · Synonyms
This passage is taken from Mr Jim Corbett's book called 'My India'. In this book, the author narrates, through different stories, the life of common Indians about a century ago or so. This particular passage, with a few minor changes, is taken from a chapter titled 'The Law of the Jungle'. A hardworking couple, Kunthi and Harkwar, has lost their two young children for more than three days, from their hut next to a jungle.
Read the passage and answer the questions based on it.
Harkwar was sitting at the door of his hut staring into the darkening night, in which points of light were beginning to appear as a lantern or cooking fire was lit here and there, when he saw a small crowd of people appearing from the direction of the bazaar. At the head of the procession, a man was walking, carrying something on his shoulders. From all sides, people were converging on the procession and he could hear an excited murmur of 'Harkwar's children'. Harkwar's children! He could not believe his ears, and yet there appeared to be no mistake, for the procession was coming straight towards his hut.
Kunthi, having reached the limit of her misery and of her physical endurance, had fallen asleep curled up in a corner of the hut. Harkwar shook her awake and got her to the door just as the herdsman carrying Punwa and Putali reached it. Putali was beyond speech but Punwa was able to talk a little, and all the explanation he could give for their being in the jungle was that they had been playing and had got lost.
When tearful greetings, blessings and thanks for the rescuer, and congratulations of friends had partly subsided, the question of the reward, the herdsman had earned, was mooted. To a poor man, fifty rupees was wealth untold, and with it, the herdsman could buy three buffaloes, or ten cows, and be independent for life. But the rescuer was a better man than the crowd gave him credit for. The blessings and thanks that had been showered on his head that night, he said, was reward enough for him, and he stoutly refused to touch one pice (paisa) of the fifty rupees. Nor would Harkwar or Kunthi accept the reward either as a gift or loan. They had got the children they had lost all hope of ever seeing again, and would resume work as their strength returned.
The children were lost at midday on Friday and were found by the herdsman at about 5 p.m. on Monday, a matter of seventy seven hours. It would be unreasonable to assume that none of the animals or birds saw, heard or smelt the children. And yet, when the herdsman put Putali and Punwa into their parents' arms, there was not a single mark of tooth or claw on them.
When Hitler's war was nearing its end, in one week I read extracts from speeches of three of the greatest men in the British Empire, condemning war atrocities, and accusing the enemy of attempting to introduce the 'law of the jungle'. Had the Creator made the same law for man as He has made for the jungle folks, there would have been no wars for the strong man would have the same consideration for the weak as is the established law of the jungles.
Synonym for atrocities is ____.
'All of these' needs every option
If even one of the first three options does not mean the word, 'All of these' is wrong. Test each option on its own before you choose it.
Eulogy is praise, not prayer
A eulogy is spoken or written praise, often for someone who has died. Because it is given at a funeral, students pick 'prayer' or 'sorrow'. The word itself means good words: eu (good) + logy (speaking).
Concept 3 of 3: Words for size, change and understanding
The other synonym words describe things rather than people: how big something is, whether it grows or shrinks, how dull or lively it is, and how easy it is to see or understand.
Definition
Three groups to learn:
- Size and amount: mammoth and enormous (huge), meagre (very small), abundant (more than enough), diminish (to become smaller).
- Dull or lively: monotonous (dull, the same all the time), frolic (lively play), vivid (bright and clear).
- Seeing and understanding: discern (to make out something hard to see), elusive (hard to catch or understand).
| Word | Meaning | Nearest word |
|---|---|---|
| mammoth | very large | huge As a describing word it means huge, not the animal. |
| enormous | very large | huge |
| meagre | very small in amount | scanty |
| abundant | more than enough | plentiful |
| diminish | to become or make smaller | decrease |
| monotonous | dull, with no change or variety | dull, tedious |
| frolic | lively, playful fun | merriment |
| vivid | bright and clear | bright |
| discern | to make out something hard to see | detect |
| elusive | hard to catch, hold or understand | baffling |
Most of these words come with a near opposite among the options: huge against small, dull against lively.
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a practice question:
Practice questionModerate
Example 3 · Vocabulary · Synonyms
DIRECTIONS : Select the option that is nearest in the meaning of underlined word
There are many elusive questions in philosophy
A look-alike is not a synonym
Discern (to make out) is printed next to discard (to throw away), and elusive (hard to catch) next to illusive (not real). Read the letters, not the shape of the word.
Frolic names the fun, not the feeling
A frolic is lively, playful fun, so its nearest word is merriment. Happiness is a feeling, not an activity, so it is a weaker match.
Summary — formulas & gotchas at a glance
A revision cheat-sheet for the formulas and gotchas above. Click any concept name to jump back to its full explanation.
Reference tables (2)
Words about people and how they behave11 rows
| Word | Meaning | Nearest word |
|---|---|---|
| industrious | hard-working | diligent |
| polite | having good manners | well-mannered |
| amiable | friendly and pleasant | friendly, cheerful |
| eulogy | a speech or writing in praise of someone | praise Not an elegy, which is a sad poem for the dead. |
| caution (verb) | to tell someone about a danger | warn |
| tarnish | to spoil a good name or a shine | taint, stain |
| atrocity | an act of great cruelty | brutality, cruelty |
| humble | not proud of oneself | modest |
| candid | saying openly what one thinks | frank |
| timid | shy and easily frightened | shy |
| generous | happy to give to others | giving, kind |
Praising words: polite, amiable, industrious, humble, candid, generous. Blaming words: atrocity, tarnish.
Words for size, change and understanding10 rows
| Word | Meaning | Nearest word |
|---|---|---|
| mammoth | very large | huge As a describing word it means huge, not the animal. |
| enormous | very large | huge |
| meagre | very small in amount | scanty |
| abundant | more than enough | plentiful |
| diminish | to become or make smaller | decrease |
| monotonous | dull, with no change or variety | dull, tedious |
| frolic | lively, playful fun | merriment |
| vivid | bright and clear | bright |
| discern | to make out something hard to see | detect |
| elusive | hard to catch, hold or understand | baffling |
Most of these words come with a near opposite among the options: huge against small, dull against lively.
Watch out for (6)
- The meaning you know best can be the wrong one→ Put the option back into the sentence
- Same area is not same meaning→ Put the option back into the sentence
- 'All of these' needs every option→ Words about people and how they behave
- Eulogy is praise, not prayer→ Words about people and how they behave
- A look-alike is not a synonym→ Words for size, change and understanding
- Frolic names the fun, not the feeling→ Words for size, change and understanding
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