Synonyms: Verbs - ISEE Lower Level Verbal Reasoning

"Loathe" means feel disgusted by someone or something or intensely dislike someone or something. "Despise" is the word that most closely matches this definition. "Adore" is the opposite of "loathe," and "loiter," which means linger, and "refuse" are both unrelated to the definition.

The word "exasperate" means irritate, annoy,or madden extremely; therefore, "infuriate" is the word that most closely matches the definition of "exasperate." "Soothe," which means make calm,is an opposite of "exasperate," and therefore incorrect. "Exonerate," which means absolve or find somebody innocent of wrongdoing, and "extend," which means stretch or make longer, are unrelated to the definition of "exasperate" and therefore also incorrect.

To "pester" someone is to annoy or irritate him or her, so "irritate" is the correct answer. None of the other answer choices are close in meaning to "pester": "assure" means boost the confidence of someone else, convince, or affirm; "suffice" means be of an amount that is just enough to meet a certain need, without excess; and "detest" means greatly dislike.

When you "resent" someone or something, you greatly "dislike" that person or thing. "mail" means to send a letter or package through a postal service from one location to another ; "approve" means agree; and "decipher" means to unlock meaning.

To “astound” means to surprise or to amaze, so "amaze" is the correct answer. While "astound" may look and sound something like "sound" and may have led you to pick "hear" as your answer choice, these three words have very different meanings.

"Despise"means abhor or hate something_._ "Hate"means to have an intensely strong dislike for something. Given the similarities between these two words, they are synonyms, and "hate" is the correct answer.

When we "offend" someone else, we make that person angry or upset. Often we do this by our remarks but can also do so through our actions. For example, if you were to shout at your grandmother and tell her that she was not beautiful, this would be offensive. Not all actions need to be "insults" (though many "insults" are "offensive"). The main meaning of "offending" someone is to make that person angry or upset. Hence, "upset" is the best option.

Whenever we "disturb" someone, we distract his or her attention. A "disturbance" is something that upsets the balance of things. When we "disturb" the surface of water, we make it move. When we "disturb" someone else, we upset or distract that person's attention.

Whenever we soothe something, we make it calmer or less severe. For example, you could say that someone listens to quiet music to soother her distressed emotions. Don't be tricked by the word "baby." Yes, we often have to soothe babies who are crying. The word "baby" as a verb means to treat someone like an immature infant. The best option is "comfort", for when we comfort someone, we make him or her calmer.

Whenever we "console" someone, we make him or her feel better because of some kind of sadness. For example, you could write, "Gretchen tried to console Peter after his hamster died, for he was very attached to the little animal." Thus, "comfort" is a good synonym, describing such comforting action.

"Flatter" means to praise someone or to make someone feel pleased, so "compliment" would be the word most like flatter. You could flatter someone by giving them a compliment.

If you "elude" something or someone, it means you evade or a void it. For instance, you might elude your parents after you receive your report card if you know your grades are not stellar.

There are two definitions of scour. In this definition, it means to polish or clean. The other meaning of scour is to search thoroughly.

If something or someone is concealed, they are hidden from view or camouflaged.

An illustrative example with the word evict is when someone is evicted from their home. This means that they are removed.

"Deploy" is a verb that means either "move troops into position for military action" or "bring into effective action; utilize." Of the possible answer choices, "station," a word that when used as a verb means "put in or assign to a specified place for a particular purpose, especially a military one," is the answer choice closest in meaning to "deploy," so "station" is the correct answer.

"Cultivate" is a verb that can mean either "prepare and use land for crops or gardening" or "try to acquire or develop a quality, sentiment, or skill." While "blight" might look like a potentially correct answer because like "cultivate," it can specifically refer to plants, "blight" actually means "infect plants or a planted area with blight (a plant disease)," so it is not a synonym of "cultivate" and cannot be the correct answer. "Plow," however, is a verb that means "turn up the earth of an area of land with a plow, especially before sowing," and because it is the answer choice closest in meaning to "cultivate," "plow" is the correct answer.

"Withstand" is a verb that means either resist successfully or not take any damage from. We need to pick out an answer choice that means something like resist. "Succumb," then, cannot be the correct answer, because "succumb" is a verb that means intend to resist but fail to do so, making it an antonym of "withstand," not a synonym. "Resist," however, is a verb that means endure, and because "resist" is the answer choice closest in meaning to "withstand," "resist" is the correct answer.

"Merge" is a verb that means "combine or cause to combine to form a single entity," so we need to pick out an answer choice that means something like "combine." "Split" cannot be the correct answer, then, because "split" means "break or cause to break forcibly into parts, especially into halves or along the grain," making it an antonym, not a synonym, of "merge." "Unite," however, is a verb that means "come or bring together for a common purpose or action," and because "unite" is the answer choice closest in meaning to "merge," "unite" is the correct answer.