Synonyms: Verbs About Emotional Changes - ISEE Lower Level Verbal Reasoning

"Petrify" is a verb that can mean either acutely frighten or slowly change something into stone. While "adore" and "terrify" both describe actions that have to do with emotions people feel, "adore" means love and venerate. Because "adore" does not mean the same thing that "petrify" does, it cannot be the correct answer. "Terrify," however, is a verb that means cause to be very afraid, and because "terrify" is the answer choice closest in meaning to "petrify," "terrify" is the correct answer.

"Flabbergast" is a verb that means astonish, so we need to pick out an answer choice that is a verb that means something like astonish. So, "expect" cannot be the correct answer, because if you expect something to happen, it cannot be a surprise, and we need to pick out an answer choice that means something like "surprise." "Astound," however, is an verb that means shock or surprise, and because it is the answer choice closest in meaning to "flabbergast," "astound" is the correct answer.

"Enamor" is a verb that means "be filled with a feeling of love for" or "have a liking or admiration for." So, we need to pick out an answer choice that means something like "be filled with love for," "have a liking of." So, "disgust" cannot be the correct answer, because as a verb, "disgust" means "cause (someone) to feel revulsion or profound disapproval," making it an antonym, not a synonym, of "enamor." "Enrapture," however, is a verb that means "give intense pleasure or joy to," and because "enrapture" is the answer choice closest in meaning to "enamor," "enrapture" is the correct answer.

"Despise" means to hate.

"Survive" means to live or remain alive.

"Provoke" means to anger, to enrage, or to incite. "Aggravate," which means to annoy or to make worse, is the correct answer because its meaning is most similar to that of "provoke."

Incorrect answers:

"Postpone" means to put off to a later time, as in the sentence, "I will be late for our meeting at 3:00, so can we postpone it to 4:00?"

"Facilitate" means to make easier, as in the sentence, "The teacher moved closer to the school to facilitate her commute."

"Reinforce" means to make stronger, as in the sentence, "The wooden railway is falling apart so we need to reinforce it with steel."

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.

"Intimidate" means to frighten somebody into doing something, "which is very similar to the meaning of "threaten," which is the correct answer. One could write, "The dishonorable politician tried to intimidate his opponents so they would drop out of the race." One could also achieve a very similar meaning by writing, "The dishonorable politician threatened to hurt his opponents to make them drop out of the race."

Incorrect answers:

"Fear," when used as a verb, means to be afraid of, as in the sentence, "Bobby feared Susan because Susan had threatened to steal his lunch money."

"Evolve" means to develop or achieve something gradually, as in the sentence, "What started as a small family-owned flower shop evolved into an international business."

"Linger" means to stay somewhere beyond the usual time, as in the sentence, "School ended several hours ago, but several teachers lingered in their classrooms to prepare for the following day."

"Evade" means avoid , oftentimes by not encountering, as in the sentence, "No matter how many times we chased the dog around the yard, it always evaded us until it was ready to go back inside."

"Provoke" means _to annoy. "_Annoy" is the best choice as it is a part of the definition of "provoke". Though related, "invoke" is a different word which means to call.

"Entice" means _attract. "_Tempt" is the best choice because it also means attract. Considering the other choices, "repel" is an antonym of "entice" and means to drive away.

The word "cherish" means have love for or treat as dear. The best choice is "adore" as it shares the same defintion as "cherish." Considering the other choices, "rich" means having wealth or great possessions,"kingly" means resembling or befitting a king,and "magnificent" means extraordinary.

Abhor means very strong hate. Something you abhor is opposite to something you love; abhor and love are antonyms of one another. To further help you, adore means love; worship means treat somebody very respectfully, like a god or goddess; enamor means charm.

"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.