What the question looks like
Antonym questions appear in the Verbal Skills section, the first section of the HSPT. The section gives you 60 questions in 16 minutes, so you will move through these quickly.
An antonym question gives you a single word and asks for its opposite. The wording follows one pattern:
"Meager means the opposite of:"
Four choices follow, A through D. One choice is the opposite of the given word. The other three are distractors, and one of them is very often a synonym of the given word placed there to punish students who skim.
Like synonym questions, antonym questions give you no sentence and no context. The word stands alone. Several antonym questions usually sit together in a block, though the exact number is not published.
How to solve it
- Read the word "opposite" out loud in your head. This sounds silly, but it prevents the single most common mistake on this question type, which is answering with a synonym.
- Define the given word quickly. For "meager," think "small in amount."
- Flip your definition before looking at the choices. "Small in amount" flips to "large in amount." Now you know what you are hunting for.
- Find the choice that matches your flipped definition. If two choices seem close, pick the one that is the strongest and cleanest opposite.
- If you do not know the word, use the choices. Look for a pair that are opposites of each other. One of those two is probably the given word's synonym and the other is your answer. Then use any word parts you recognize to decide which is which.
Worked examples
Example 1
Meager means the opposite of:
- A.scarce
- B.abundant
- C.thin
- D.empty
Show answer
Answer: B: abundant
Meager means small or barely enough, so its opposite is abundant, which means more than enough. Scarce is the synonym trap, the choice students pick when they forget the word opposite. Thin and empty both lean toward "not much" too; neither is a true flip.
Example 2
Timid means the opposite of:
- A.shy
- B.quiet
- C.bold
- D.small
Show answer
Answer: C: bold
A timid person is easily frightened, so the opposite is bold. Shy is a synonym of timid and is the choice students pick when they forget the word opposite. Quiet is how a timid person often behaves, and small has nothing to do with courage.
Example 3
Expand means the opposite of:
- A.grow
- B.stretch
- C.contract
- D.fill
Show answer
Answer: C: contract
Expand means to grow larger, and contract means to shrink or draw inward, which is the direct opposite. Grow and stretch are both synonym traps since each makes something larger. Fill is about contents, not size.
Example 4
Hostile means the opposite of:
- A.angry
- B.unfriendly
- C.loud
- D.friendly
Show answer
Answer: D: friendly
Hostile means unfriendly or aggressive, so friendly is the opposite. Unfriendly is almost a definition of hostile and is the synonym trap; angry overlaps with it too. Loud describes volume, not attitude.
Traps to watch for
- The synonym in the choices. This is the number one trap. Almost every antonym question includes a word that means the same as the given word. Cross it out first.
- Near opposites that are not opposites. For "hot," the answer is "cold," not "cool." If two choices both point the right direction, pick the stronger one.
- Words with more than one meaning. "Grave" can mean serious or a burial place. Pick the meaning that has a clear opposite among the choices.
- Mixing up question types. Synonym and antonym questions look almost identical and are often near each other. Read the stem every single time.
Pacing
You have roughly 16 seconds per question across the Verbal Skills section, and antonyms should take you less than that when you know the word. If you are stuck after crossing out the obvious synonym, pick from what remains and move on. There is no guessing penalty on the HSPT, so never leave a question blank.
Practice
Take our free practice test to try timed antonym questions alongside every other question type on the test.
Build the word bank behind these questions with the HSPT word list, the roots and prefixes, and the ten-minute study method.