Lesson 1: Closest in Meaning LEARN

This question type requires a good understanding of synonyms (words with a similar meaning). A thesaurus enables you to look up synonyms quickly and is a useful tool whilst you practise this question type until you are more familiar with the vocabulary.

In these questions you have to find the two words, one from each group, that are the closest in meaning.

Let’s look at an example.

Choose two words, one word from each group, which are the most similar in meaning.

(colander considerate thoughtful)

Technique

(carefree strain pensive) colander and carefree colander and strain colander and pensive considerate and carefree considerate and strain considerate and pensive

1. You are looking for two words that mean the same, one from each bracket. If you immediately see the two that are closest in meaning, record your answer.

2. If you are not certain you have found two words with the same meaning, you need to work through the words in turn. Use the first word from the first group and check it against each word in the second. Are any of those close in meaning?

3. If you have not yet found the closest pair, you must repeat the process by pairing the second word from the first group with each word in the second. Are any of those close in meaning?

4. If your answer is still no, repeat the process again with the third and final word in your first group. thoughtful and carefree thoughtful and strain thoughtful and pensive

The two words with a similar meaning are thoughtful and pensive.

5. Once you have decided which words are the closest in meaning, double check by substituting one for another in a sentence. Does the sentence still make sense?

For example:

The man was thoughtful for a moment before he shrugged casually. The man was pensive for a moment before he shrugged casually.