JAMB synonyms and antonyms, taken from real papers

Why vocabulary is the cheapest section to improve

Use of English carries 60 of the 180 questions in the UTME, a third of the whole paper, and it is compulsory for every candidate whatever course you are applying for. A reliable share of those 60 turn on one thing: whether you know what a single word means.

That makes vocabulary unusual. Most of the syllabus needs understanding you have to build slowly. A word is a mark you can bank in about ten seconds, and it stays banked. If you are short of time before the exam, this is the highest return per hour available to you anywhere in the paper.

The instruction line decides the answer

Before the words, the trap. Every one of these questions comes with an instruction above it, and the instruction changes what the correct answer is:

• Nearest in meaning wants a synonym, a word that means the same thing.
• Opposite in meaning wants an antonym, a word that means the reverse.

Candidates lose marks every year by knowing the word perfectly, reading the options, and answering the question they expected instead of the one in front of them. The options are usually built so that both a synonym and an antonym are sitting there waiting. Read the instruction first, every time.

Synonyms from past papers

Each row is a word JAMB has asked about, the answer marked correct, and the year it appeared. Newest first.

Antonyms from past papers

How to actually learn them

1. Twenty a day, not two hundred once. Spaced repetition is the whole game with vocabulary. A short daily pass beats a marathon session you never repeat.
2. Test yourself rather than reading. Recognition is not recall. Covering the answer column and attempting it is the part that builds memory.
3. Keep a miss list. Anything you get wrong goes on a separate short list you revisit the next day and again three days later.
4. Learn the word in a sentence. JAMB often tests a word as used in context, so knowing the dictionary definition alone can still leave you guessing between two plausible options.

A word you learn today is worth the same mark as a topic you spend a week on. Vocabulary is the only part of the paper where that is true.

Practising these inside JAMB Pro

The words above came out of the app's own Use of English bank, so you can practise them in the form JAMB actually asks:

• 2,241 Use of English past questions, including the synonym and antonym sets these words came from.
• The instruction line shown clearly on every question, so you always know whether you are being asked for a synonym or an antonym.
• An explanation under every answer, which is where you learn why the near-miss option was wrong.
• Bookmarks for the words you keep missing, and offline practice once English is downloaded.

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