Decoding Strategies For Guessing A Word’s Meaning

You have many tools at your disposal for guessing a word’s meaning, and this section will cover them each in turn.

Breaking Words Apart

One of the most effective decoding strategies is to break a word into parts. We can do this because many long words in English are composed of a prefix (a first syllable that affects the word’s meaning) and/or a suffix (a final syllable that can also affect the word’s meaning), plus a word root (a middle part that often derives from a Greek or Latin word).

For example, consider the word convolution. It breaks into parts like this:

con + volu + tion
prefix + word root + suffix

Suppose that you didn’t know what the word convolution means, but you did know that the prefix con– means together and that the word root volu means turning or rolling. The suffix –tion indicates that the word is a noun. So you could guess that a convolution is something rolled up together. And that’s a pretty good guess: In fact, convolution means a coil or twist, or the act of coiling. It can also refer to a complicated thought process that might be described as “twisty.”

As a first step, get some practice breaking words apart into prefix, suffix, and root. Be aware that not all the words below will have all of those parts. The first one has been done for you.

Word Prefix Root Suffix
dejection de ject ion
paraphrase ___________________ ___________________ ___________________
multilingual ___________________ ___________________ ___________________
regenerate ___________________ ___________________ ___________________
ossify ___________________ ___________________ ___________________

Check your work against the answers below.

Word Prefix Root Suffix
dejection de ject ion
paraphrase para phrase (none)
multilingual multi lingu al
regenerate re gener ate
ossify (none) oss ify

So far so good, but what do all those word parts mean? Let’s start with the meanings of common prefixes.

Prefixes

There are many prefixes you might see on Test Day. We offer a comprehensive list of prefixes in the Appendix of this book. If you are struggling to raise your Word Knowledge score, we would encourage you to make flashcards out of the word parts in the Appendix.

For our purposes here, we’re going to present a few prefixes to enable you to get some practice working with them. Here are some extremely common prefixes with examples:

Prefix Meaning Examples
a, an not, without amoral: not related to morality; lacking regard for morality atypical: not typical
co, col, con, com together, completely collaborate: to work with another, cooperate compatible: able to exist together with someone or something else; capable of harmonious co-existence
de away, off, down, reversal defame: to slander; to publicly speak ill of descend: to move from a higher to a lower place
e, ex out of, from, former efface: to rub or wipe out; surpass, eclipse
exclude: to shut out; to leave out
i, in, im not, without immoral: not moral; evil
impartial: unbiased; fair
pre before, in front premonition: a feeling that an unwanted event may happen in the future
presentiment: foreboding
pro in front, before, much, for proceed: to go forward
propound: to set forth for consideration
re back, again recline: to lean back; to lie down
regain: to gain again; to take back
sub, sup below, under subliminal: existing beneath consciousness
substandard: inadequate, below expectations or requirements

Try your hand at working with prefixes. Use the list above to predict the meaning of the following words:

Word Your Prediction
preset ______________________________________________________________
subset ______________________________________________________________
reset ______________________________________________________________

The word root gno relates to knowing or discerning. Use that information and the list of prefixes above to predict the meanings of the following words.

Word Your Prediction
agnostic ______________________________________________________________
prognosis ______________________________________________________________
ignoramus ______________________________________________________________

The word root ject relates to throwing or throwing downward. Use that information and the list of prefixes above to predict the meanings of the following words.

Word Your Prediction
eject ______________________________________________________________
dejected ______________________________________________________________
conjecture ______________________________________________________________

How did you do? Your answers may vary somewhat, but they should resemble the definitions below.

Word Your Prediction
preset set before: that is, arranged beforehand
subset something set under: that is, a small group within a larger group
reset set again
agnostic a without-knower: that is, a person that believes that the nature of God or the universe is unknowable
prognosis the act of knowing before: that is, a prediction about how a problem will progress
ignoramus a not-knower: that is, a very ignorant person, an idiot (formed by combining in + gno and then dropping the first n)
eject throw out
dejected thrown off or down: that is, sad, depressed
conjecture something thrown together: that is, the formation of an opinion or guess without enough information

Great work! The next step in decoding a long word involves looking at the end of the word. That brings us to suffixes.

Suffixes

Unlike prefixes, suffixes usually do two jobs at once. They affect the meaning of a word, and they also typically tell you what part of speech the word is. Here’s a reminder about parts of speech:

There are many prefixes you might see on Test Day. We offer a comprehensive list of suffixes in the Appendix of this book. If you are struggling to raise your Word Knowledge score, we would encourage you to make flashcards out of the word parts in the Appendix.

For our purposes here, we’re going to present a few suffixes to enable you to get some practice working with them. Below is a list of some extremely common suffixes with examples.

Suffix Part of Speech It Usually Indicates Meaning Examples
able, ible adjective capable of, worthy of changeable: able to be changed
combustible: capable of catching fire easily
ic adjective having the quality of, related to robotic: like a robot or having to do with robots
melodic: having to do with melody, sweetly musical
ion, tion, sion noun act of doing, act of being, result of action notation: act or process of making notes
sensation: act of feeling or perceiving
ist noun one who does an action or has a trait pianist: one who plays the piano anesthetist: a medical professional who administers anesthesia (that is, drugs that lessen pain or cause unconsciousness)
ity noun state or quality of novelty: state of being new, a new thing
solemnity: state of being solemn or serious
logy noun study of geology: study of earth’s structure
zoology: study of animals
oid adjective or noun resembling or almost ovoid: resembling an egg, having an oval or egg-like shape
asteroid: a small body orbiting the Sun (literally, an almost-star)
ous adjective having the quality of, having to do with bulbous: having a bulb-like shape
venous: related to the veins

The word root am or amo relates to love or liking. Use that information and your knowledge of suffixes to predict the parts of speech and the meanings of the following words:

Word Your Prediction: Part of Speech Your Prediction: Meaning
amiable _______________________________ _______________________________
amorous _______________________________ _______________________________
amity _______________________________ _______________________________

The word root anthro or andro means man or human. Use that information and your knowledge of suffixes to predict the parts of speech and the meanings of the following words:

Word Your Prediction: Part of Speech Your Prediction: Meaning
anthropology _______________________________ _______________________________
anthropologist _______________________________ _______________________________
anthropomorphize _______________________________ _______________________________
android _______________________________ _______________________________
misanthropic _______________________________ _______________________________

How did you do? Your answers may have varied, but they should resemble the definitions below.

Word Your Prediction: Part of Speech Your Prediction: Meaning
amiable adjective capable of being liked or loved; likable
amorous adjective displaying love or attraction
amity noun liking, friendship
anthropology noun study of human beings
anthropologist noun one who studies human beings
anthropomorphize verb to make into something that resembles humans
android noun something (such as a robot) that resembles humans
misanthropic adjective having a hatred of people (remember, mis means bad, wrong, or hateful)

Of course, prefixes and suffixes are only part of the story. You’ll also need to be able to decode what’s in the middle of a word.

Greek and Latin Word Roots

Many, though not all, of the long words in English derive from Greek or Latin, which means that learning some Greek and Latin word roots can help you decode English words. In your practice with prefixes and suffixes, above, you have already seen that a single word root can produce many words in English.

This section will examine a selection of word roots and how they form the basis for English words. This discussion will be followed by in-format exercises designed to help you put your decoding strategies to work.

There are many word roots you might see on Test Day. We offer a comprehensive list of word roots in the Appendix of this book. If you are struggling to raise your Word Knowledge score, we would encourage you to make flashcards out of the word parts in the Appendix.

For our purposes here, we’re going to present a few word roots to enable you to get some practice working with them. Below is a list of some extremely common roots with examples.

Root Meaning Examples
centr center central: in the center, important
concentrate: to bring to the center, to direct to one point
pat, path feeling, suffering empathy: identification with the feelings of another
impassive: showing no feeling or emotion
vi, viv life, living vital: concerned with or necessary to life
ced, ceed, cess yield, stop cessation: stoppage
incessant: continuous, without stopping

Practice with Word Roots

Use your knowledge of prefixes and suffixes, along with the word root list above, to predict the part of speech and meaning of the following words:

Word Your Prediction: Part of Speech Your Prediction: Meaning
concentric __________________________ __________________________________________
viable __________________________ __________________________________________
concession __________________________ __________________________________________
procession __________________________ __________________________________________
apathetic __________________________ __________________________________________
pathology __________________________ __________________________________________
vitality __________________________ __________________________________________
eccentricity __________________________ __________________________________________

How did you do? Your answers may have varied, but they should resemble the definitions below.

Word Your Prediction: Part of Speech Your Prediction: Meaning
concentric adjective together with the center: that is, having a common center
viable adjective able to live: possible or workable
concession noun act of yielding
procession noun act of moving forward
apathetic adjective without feeling or emotion
pathology noun study of suffering; study of diseases
vitality noun capacity for life or survival; state of being strong or full of life
eccentricity noun state of being out of the center: that is, oddity, state of being odd or unusual

Full lists of word parts are in the back of this book, in the Appendix. Be sure to get more practice with word parts before Test Day. The best way to do this might be to read a variety of sources and, when you come across a long, unfamiliar word, see if you can break it into parts and analyze the parts.

Using Positive or Negative Charge

One of the secrets to success in the WK section of the ASVAB is knowing that you don’t actually need precise definitions of the words that are being tested. As long as you can confidently eliminate three answer choices as being incorrect, you’ll find your way to the correct answer. That means that many times, just knowing if a word is positive, negative, or neutral will be enough to answer the question correctly. For example, let’s return to a question you’ve seen previously:

  1. Gregarious most nearly means
    1. conspicuous
    2. twisting
    3. outgoing
    4. dark

Do you know what the word gregarious means? If so, then great, this is an easy question for you. But let’s say you don’t know what it means. What do you do then? Well, you can start by breaking the word down into parts, as you’ve seen demonstrated earlier in the chapter.

But let’s imagine that you aren’t familiar with the root greg. While you may be tempted to throw in the towel and give up, try something else: do you think gregarious has a positive, negative, or neutral charge?  If you’ve ever heard the word gregarious used in conversation, then you probably heard it used to describe a person. And was the person using the word gregarious delivering a compliment or an insult?

Now, you may be thinking to yourself, “hmm, okay, I don’t really know what gregarious means, but I’m pretty sure I’ve heard it used to compliment someone, so this is a positive word.” Now look through the answer choices. Which of those, if applied to a person, would be considered positive? Three answer choices are either negative or neutral. Only (C), outgoing, is positive when applied to a person. Select it and move on.

Of course, using a word’s positive or negative charge should never be your first strategy when tackling a WK question. Use this approach only when you have a general but not specific understanding of the word.

(For the record, the root greg means to flock to, and the suffix -ious means to be full of. Therefore, gregarious means “living with others, like a flock of animals,” and the closest choice is (C) outgoing.)

Try this method out on a few words below. For each word you see, rate it as positive, negative, or neutral.

Word Positive, negative, or neutral?
diabolic __________________________________________
harmony __________________________________________
fanfare __________________________________________
destitute __________________________________________
burdensome __________________________________________
zestful __________________________________________
decision __________________________________________
swampy __________________________________________
currently __________________________________________

Think about how you made the predictions you listed above. How did you come to that determination? Was it because you recognized word parts or remembered situations in which you’ve heard the word? Or was it more that the word simply “sounded” positive or negative? Either one can work, depending on how reliable your memory is. Now, take a look below. We’ve included each word’s meaning, simply to confirm why it has a positive or negative charge.

Word Positive, negative, or neutral? Meaning
diabolic negative devilish or evil
harmony positive agreement, or a pleasing combination of tones in music
fanfare positive song played in celebration, or advertisement
destitute negative poverty-stricken
burdensome negative very heavy, tiresome, troublesome
zestful positive full of enjoyment
decision neutral choice
swampy negative unpleasantly humid, resembling a swamp
currently neutral at the present time, now

Using Real-World Context to Guess at a Word’s Meaning

One of the most common—and effective—ways of guessing a word’s meaning is to place the word in context. Even if you may not know a textbook definition of the word, perhaps you remember it being used in a specific phrase. Ask yourself, “where have I heard this word before?” Sometimes, you will realize that you did know the meaning of the word.

Take this question, for example:

  1. Broach most nearly means
    1. poke
    2. introduce
    3. sermonize
    4. cook

Unfortunately, broach is one of those words that comes from Middle English, so knowing Latin and Greek roots won’t be very helpful. And if you can’t rattle off a specific definition of the word right away, you may think that this is a lost point. But ask yourself if you have heard this word used in a common phrase before. Does “broaching the subject” ring a bell? Perhaps you’ve heard a parent, teacher, or television character use this phrase. Something along the lines of: “Well, I didn’t want to talk about it, but Donny broached the subject anyway.” Using the context of how the word is used in a phrase you’ve heard before is a remarkable way to understand the “fuzzy definition” of a word. In this example, broach would mean something like “bring up” or “started to discuss.” The only word that is a close fit is answer choice (B), introduce.

Try this approach yourself. For each of the words below, try to place the word in a common phrase that you may have heard before. How does the context of the phrase help you determine the meaning of the word?

Word Think of a phrase you’ve heard the word used in, and then use that to guess at the meaning of the word:
vicarious ___________________________________________________________________________
jiffy ___________________________________________________________________________
guzzle ___________________________________________________________________________
hybrid ___________________________________________________________________________

Did those words sounds familiar? When you tried to place them in phrases or a real-world context, what did you come up with? Below, take a look at how a person might have used common usage to help them determine the right definition. Your answers, of course, may vary.

Word Think of a phrase you’ve heard the word used in, and then use that to guess at the meaning of the word (sample answers):
vicarious “I’ve heard the phrase ‘So and so lived vicariously through someone else.’ I guess that means vicariously is like experiencing something through someone else’s eyes.”
jiffy “My dad used to say ‘I’ll be back in a jiffy.’ I guess a jiffy is really fast.”
guzzle “I have a friend who is always talking about his truck being a real gas guzzler. He’s always filling it up, so I guess being a guzzler means you consume a lot.”
hybrid “There are a bunch of new cars out there that are considered to be hybrids because they use a little bit of gas and a little bit of electric. Maybe hybrid means doing two things at the same time.”

Notice that the predictions are not specific definitions or predictions that point to the word’s meaning. Instead, the phrases allow you to form a fuzzy definition of the word in your mind; that fuzzy definition will often be more than enough to select the right answer.