Test Prep HSPT Test Exam Prep
High School Placement Test (Page 21 )

Updated On: 7-Oct-2026

Select the word that is most nearly the same in meaning as the word in capital letters.
MUNDANE

  1. Exciting
  2. Intelligent
  3. Boring
  4. Common
  5. Plausible

Answer(s): D

Explanation:

The definition of "mundane" is everyday or ordinary, making "common" the only possible choice.



Select the answer choice that is closest in meaning to the word in capital letters.
PLATITUDINOUS

  1. Annoying
  2. Overused
  3. Unhelpful
  4. Boring
  5. Tedious

Answer(s): B

Explanation:

You might be more familiar with the word “platitude” than with “platitudinous.” The former is the related noun form of the same base. A “platitude” is an expression, often moral in nature, that has been so overused that it has lost its meaning. You might know someone who recites such expressions as, “Everything happens for a reason.” Such remarks either tell you nothing or often just frustrate you when horrible things happen. They provide little consolation or direction. Although a “platitudinous” expression could be called “annoying,” it is most properly said to be something “overused.” The annoyance follows on the fact that overuse has totally shorn it of its meaning and significance.



Select the answer choice that is closest in meaning to the word in capital letters.
PRESAGE

  1. Wise
  2. Prodigious
  3. Foreshadow
  4. Adorable
  5. Precocious

Answer(s): C

Explanation:

When used as a verb, the word “presage” means to be a sign of a future event, often implying that this is a sign of warning. The word comes from the prefix “pre-”, meaning before, and the base “sage,” which does not merely mean wise, but to perceive keenly. Someone who is “sagacious” is wise precisely because that person keenly perceives reality. The word would be used in a sentence like, “In many cultures, the flying of a crow over a barn presaged a poor harvest in the coming year.”



Select the answer choice that is closest in meaning to the word in capital letters.
DIFFUSE

  1. Scattered
  2. Disagreeable
  3. Dissimilar
  4. Irregular
  5. Variant

Answer(s): A

Explanation:

The word “diffuse” comes from roots that literally mean poured away from. The “di-” prefix means away from or down from, and the “-fuse” means to pour. This latter is found in words like “infuse” (meaning, literally, to pour into) and “effusive” (meaning pouring out, implying that someone “pours out” a great amount of something like praise). As a verb, the word “diffuse” means to scatter or to spread out, as when one diffuses a smell into a room or when an idea diffuses through an entire population. The word can likewise be used as an adjective, basically having the meaning of the past participle of the word, namely “scattered.”



An antonym of "economical" is __________.

  1. filial
  2. personal
  3. laborious
  4. exorbitant
  5. familial

Answer(s): D

Explanation:

Something is called "economical" when it is priced in a way that gives the most value per dollar. For instance, a car that is cheap, small, gets good gas mileage, and requires little maintenance is quite economical. In contrast to this, something exorbitant is very expensive – often to the point of making little financial sense.
While we might think of better antonyms than this, of the options provided, this is the best match, for the others do not function as antonyms in any proper sense. (However, some options like "familial" and "laborious" attempt to trick you into thinking these things are contrasted to the "economy" in the sense that we normally use that word.)



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