Synonyms: Adjectives Describing Personality Traits - ISEE Upper Level Verbal Reasoning

When someone is a fraud, that person is untruthful about his or her abilities. "Fraudulent" activities are ones that are deceptive. Thus, someone might promise a great return on investments to a group of potential investors knowing that the investment will yield no such return. Such promises are fraudulent. Among the options provided, the best is "deceptive." "Insincere" is tempting, for insincere people are not always truthful; however it is one thing to be insincere by telling someone whom you dislike that you like them. It is another thing altogether to be fraudulent and deceptive in a planned manner. Deception describes active lying; insincerity is more about the manner in which a person behaves, and can be passive, or reflected simply in the manner in which a person interacts with others.

The word "juvenile" comes from the Latin root for young person. Thus, we often use the word "juvenile" to describe someone who is young. When this word is used to describe someone who is a bit older, it takes on the meaning of immature. The implication is that such a juvenile person does not act his or her age. Thus, the best option here is "immature." While "boyish" might be tempting, this is not a good answer. To be "juvenile" means to be young. While a "boy" may be young, it does not make "boyish" to mean "being young." Of an older person, boyish may be a compliment, while juvenile is almost always a pejorative term for an adult.

Generally speaking, it is not a kind thing to call someone "fickle." A fickle person is someone who changes often. A fickle person may change his or her friends often. A scholar who is fickle may change his or her interests often. Thus, we can call such a person "variable." Yes, this word can be used as a noun (as when we speak of mathematical variables), but it can also be an adjective meaning changing. Think of words like "varying" and "various."

When something is lavish, it is expensive and ornate; however this does not necessarily mean that it is overpriced. Sometimes a very fine thing is just expensive. The beauty and craftsmanship of an expensive piece of furniture may well justify its cost. Thus, it is not overpriced; it is just expensive and beautiful. We can also describe someone who buys or gives out expensive, ornate things as being "lavish." Such a person is "liberal." This has nothing to do with political affiliations. It has everything to do with being "free" with one's money. "Liberal" comes from the same root as "liberty." Thus, a lavish person is "liberal." "Liberality" is the character trait of giving such lavish gifts.

When someone is skeptical, that person has many doubts. For instance, we could say, "Although many people are sure that America went to the moon, a small group of skeptical people maintain that this was not the case—in spite of the evidence to the contrary." Such people continually doubt the fact. Thus, among the options provided for this question at least, we could describe them as being "suspicious". While we often call atheists and agnostics "skeptics", this is a particular kind of skepticism, not the more general notion of skepticism as meaning doubting anything.

The word "resolute" comes from similar roots as "resolve" and "resolution." These words mean in general to come to a determined decision. The particular adjective "resolute" describes someone who has decided in a fixed and unchanging manner. Thus, the best answer is "steadfast," which describes someone in a similar manner.

When someone is "contemplative," he or she is thoughtful. Often, this is applied to religious people who are engrossed in thoughtful prayer, but it can really describe any kind of thoughtful person. Thus, Socrates was quite contemplative, for a story speaks of how he could stand all night lost in thought. Such a person is best described as "reflective." Though a contemplative person may be likely to be "witty," "genius," or even "forgetful" (at least of day-to-day things), these meanings are not quite right. Above all else, a contemplative person is continuously thoughtful and, hence, "reflective."

When someone is "precise," he or she is exact about details. Now, this can be used to mean that the person is not vague (in speech, writing, etc). It can also mean that the person is very exacting about details when working. Such a person is well described as being "methodical." This word describes someone who works on something by using a fixed method. This allows him or her to address all needed details for the given matter (instead of randomly working on it and, thus, missing important details).

You might think that the adjective "pretentious" describes someone who is arrogant; however, this is not exactly correct. A person is pretentious when he or she acts like he or she is better than he or she is in reality. Thus, the simple word "showy" is the best option among those proposed here.

We tend to think of "partial" as being contrasted to "whole." In a way, this does apply to the meaning needed for this question but not entirely. Someone can be called "partial" when he or she favors one thing over another. Thus, you could say, "I am partial for the thought of Roger Kilwardby," meaning that I favor his way of thinking about things. Sometimes, we speak of "showing partiality"—this means showing a kind of favoritism. Now, these cases are like taking a "part" (e.g. Roger Kilwardby) at the expense of all other people or things. This could be called having a prejudice (at least in a mild form). Thus, this is the correct answer.

There are two classes of wrong answers for this question. One set is trying to get you to misread "insolent" to be "insolvent." When you are "insolvent", you are bankrupt, butthis is totally wrong, for the word is insolent! Now, the word "insolent" means rude. You might know an expression like "insolent brat" or "insolent fool." Thus, you would know at least that insolence is a bad character trait, but do not go from this general feeling to the conclusion that options like "manipulative" or "conniving" are correct. (These are the second set of trap answers.) Instead, "uncivil" is the best, for it is closest in meaning to "rude."

As you well know, the word "devoted" means loyal, but the options for answers given here might make you worry about this initial thought. You might think that the word has religious overtones, for related words like "devotional" and "devotions" are sometimes related to religious matters, but this is not the case for any of the main meanings of "devoted" (though it certainly is related historically to those other meanings). Now, the word "staunch" actually does mean "loyal." Just think about a somewhat familiar way of speaking: "He was a staunch defender of the new legislation." This means that he was a loyal or devoted defender of the legislation. Thus, "staunch" is the synonym needed for this question.

The word "meticulous" describes someone who is very careful about details. The best option among those provided is "fastidious," which means nearly the same thing. For a pairing like this, it is just necessary to know the vocabulary words in order to answer the question correctly.

The word "zealous" and "zeal" come from Latin roots that mean jealous. To be "zealous" is to be energetic with regard to something. It is a kind of "jealous anger" or "jealous energy"—not so much in the sense of being envious as in the sense of desiring something intensely. Thus, a zealous person is very devoted to his or her cause and could rightly be described as being "committed," which is the best option among those provided.

The word "pensive" is related to the French "penser," as in the famous expression of Descartes: "Je pense donc je suis!"—"I think therefore I am!" Someone who is "pensive" is reflective and thoughtful. This does not mean that the person is necessarily deeply wise or intelligent (though this may quite well be the case). To be pensive means that you can ponder. Among the options, the best is "introspective." This means inward looking (=intro + spective). A person who is thoughtful, looks inward (so to speak) and reflects for a long time.

When someone is "diligent," he or she is devoted to his or her work. Now, while this would likely make you think that "devoted" would be the best option, actually "industrious" is slightly better. When someone is "industrious," he or she is works with great care and devotion. This expresses the role of work in the devotion better than the simple word "devoted."

When someone is "thrifty," he or she is very careful with money. This does not necessarily mean that he or she is "cheap" or "stingy." Likewise, it does not mean that the person is "destitute" (poor). A wealthy person can be thrifty by buying things at a good price and not wasting his or her money. Now, "careful" may seem correct for this reason, but "economical" is better. When something is described as being "economical," it is an option that provides a good return for the amount of money spent on it. Therefore, this is the best option for a synonym for "thrifty."

"Zealous" is an adjective meaning having zeal or demonstrating energetic or fanatical support for a cause or person. "Fervent" shares the meaning of being fanatical. "Imprisoned" means held captive, "colossal" means huge, "lethargic" means tired and slow, and "apathetic" is an antonym of zealous meaning not caring at all.

"Distinguished" is an adjective used to describe a person who is accomplished, famous and eminent within their field. To provide further help, "permissive" means tolerant; "portly" means fat; "comely" means cute; "frivolous" means wasted, not necessary.