Home › Certifications › ASVAB › Word Knowledge
35 multiple-choice questions and 13 flashcards on Word Knowledge, about 12% of the ASVAB bank. Every one carries a written rationale.
Word Knowledge is one of 11 chapters in CoStudy's ASVAB bank, and it holds 35 of the bank's 300 multiple-choice questions — roughly 12% of the total. That proportion is not arbitrary: chapters follow the certifying body's published exam outline, and the number of questions in each is set by that domain's published weight, so the share of your practice time this chapter takes matches the share of the real exam it accounts for.
Studying by chapter is worth doing once you have a diagnostic score. A single overall percentage tells you whether you are close; it does not tell you which domain is dragging. Working a weak chapter in isolation, and re-testing it in isolation, is the fastest way to move a score that has stalled — and it is why the mock exams in CoStudy report by domain rather than as one number.
10 questions drawn from this chapter, with the full rationale shown — the controlling principle behind the right answer, and why each wrong option tempts and fails.
Ambiguous most nearly means:
Answer: D — open to two readings
D) Right — ambiguous means capable of more than one interpretation. A) Strongly ambitious is a look-alike word that shares the first four letters. B) Openly unfriendly borrows from ambivalent's negative feel. C) Happening often has no relation; it tempts readers who half-recall ambient.
Her PRUDENT decision saved them money. PRUDENT most nearly means:
Answer: D — Wise and careful
A) Opposite. D) Prudent means careful and sensible. C/B) Unrelated.
Rigorous most nearly means:
Answer: D — strict and demanding
D) Right — rigorous describes standards or training that are severe and exacting. A) Unbending in shape is rigid, the closest look-alike. B) Performed very fast borrows the r-sound of rapid without the meaning. C) Likely to be risky confuses a hard program with a dangerous one.
Frugal most nearly means:
Answer: A — careful with money
A) Right — frugal describes someone who spends sparingly. B) Eager for wealth confuses thrift with greed; a frugal person may have no interest in riches. C) Generous with gifts is nearly the opposite behavior, though both involve money. D) Careless in spending is the direct antonym and tempts anyone guessing from an unfamiliar word.
TRANSPARENT most nearly means:
Answer: D — Clear or easy to see through
A) Opposite. D) Transparent = letting light through; figuratively, open. C/B) Unrelated.
VIGILANT most nearly means:
Answer: D — Watchful
A) Opposite. D) Vigilant = alert and watchful. C/B) Unrelated.
FRUGAL most nearly means:
Answer: B — Thrifty
A) Opposite. B) Frugal = sparing with money. C/D) Unrelated qualities.
Heavy rain will impede the repair crew's progress. In this sentence, impede most nearly means:
Answer: C — get in the way of
C) Right — impede means to obstruct or slow. A) Speed up sharply is the reverse and tempts readers who assume rain forces urgency. B) Closely observe has no link to the root ped-, foot. D) Make necessary confuses the effect of weather on the job with the meaning of the verb.
Benevolent most nearly means:
Answer: C — kindly and giving
C) Right — benevolent describes a disposition to do good for others. A) Financially secure comes from linking benevolence with wealthy donors, a real association but not the meaning. B) Unusually talkative has no connection to the root bene-, good. D) Carefully guarded confuses benevolent with benign caution.
DILIGENT most nearly means:
Answer: B — Careful and hardworking
A) Opposite. B) Diligent = persistent and hardworking. C) Opposite trait. D) Unrelated.
4 cards from the 13 in this chapter.
What do the prefixes 'bene-', 'mal-', and 'a-/an-' signal about a word's meaning?
bene- means good or well (benefactor, benign) • mal- means bad or badly (malice, malfunction) • a-/an- means without or not (atypical, anemic).
Define 'meticulous'.
Very careful and precise.
What do the roots 'dict', 'spec/spect', and 'ject' mean?
dict means to say or speak (verdict, dictate) • spec/spect means to look or see (inspect, spectator) • ject means to throw (eject, projectile).
What is 'connotation' and why does it matter for choosing among near-synonyms?
Connotation is a word's emotional charge beyond its literal definition. • Thrifty and stingy both mean spending little, but thrifty is positive and stingy is negative, so context decides.
These are a sample. The full Word Knowledge chapter runs 48 items with per-chapter progress tracking, on the web and in the iOS app.