OLSAT® Question Type:Antonyms

In this post, we start with an overview of "Antonyms" question types. We also provide a sample question, accompanied by tips and strategies that every student can use to perform successfully on "Antonyms" questions during the official OLSAT® exam.

Antonyms: What To Expect?

These questions require students to search for the opposite meaning of a given word within the answer choices provided.

In particular, this group of questions aims to evaluate a student’s vocabulary skills. Ultimately, these questions require a sophisticated understanding of vocabulary because students have to not only comprehend a word, but also understand it enough so that they can recognize its true opposite.

The amount of antonym questions on the test depends on the age of the student and the test level.For example, 4th and 5th grade students taking the OLSAT®Level E (for admission into 5th and 6th grade) are asked approximately four of these types of questions.

Antonyms: Sample Question

The opposite of truth is:

A. hope

B. fiction

C. healing

D. fact

E. history

Correct Answer: B

Here, we are looking for the opposite of truth. Hope and healing don’t have anything to do with the definition of this word, so they are incorrect. While history might be considered a type of truth, it is not its antonym. Fact is a synonym of truth. The correct answer, then, is fiction. Since fiction is something that is made up, it is the opposite of truth.

Antonyms:Tips and Strategies

Work on improving your student’s vocabulary by encouraging him to read for a certain amount of time each day, using vocabulary flashcards, and teaching him about roots, prefixes, and suffixes. You can also practice finding antonyms in real-world situations.

As your student practices these questions, encourage him to narrow down his answer choices by crossing out obviously wrong answers.

Ask him to explain his answer choices so you can identify and correct possible misconceptions or errors in reasoning, as well as reinforce correct thinking.

What's Next?

Learn more about other verbal comprehension question types on the OLSAT, including Following Directions,Sentence Arrangement and Sentence Completion.

Also try some sample questions and see critical teaching tips that cover other areas of the OLSAT, including the sections on verbal reasoning, pictoral reasoning, figural reasoning, and quantitative reasoning.

If you think you need more information and guidance about the OLSAT, check out our in-depth article on the test, as well as our posts on the verbal and non-verbal section.

Also, learn everything you need to know about other tests that measure a child’s potential to learn in school, like the NNAT or the COGAT.