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🔤 10 questions · answers and rationales · free

TEAS vocabulary practice questions

Free TEAS vocabulary questions: context clues, prefixes, suffixes and medical roots, plus the writing process, with an explanation of how to work out each word.

Tap an answer to check it, or open "Show the answer and rationale" under each question.

Question 1 of 10 · Using Language and Vocabulary

A brochure for a fictional inn wants its 1890s building to sound appealing. Which word should it use?

  1. Aging
  2. Run-down
  3. Outdated
  4. Historic
Show the answer and rationale

Answer: D

Historic has a positive connotation, suggesting charm and value from the past. Outdated, aging and run-down share the idea of "old" but suggest decline or neglect, which would discourage guests.

📚 Learn it: Word choice: denotation, connotation and precise words

Question 2 of 10 · Using Language and Vocabulary

Which action is an example of plagiarism?

  1. Quoting a source with quotation marks and a citation
  2. Summarizing an article and citing its author
  3. Copying a sentence from a website with no citation
  4. Stating a widely known fact without a citation
Show the answer and rationale

Answer: C

Using another writer's exact words without credit is plagiarism. Quoting and summarizing with a citation give proper credit, and common knowledge, such as facts found in many general sources, does not need a citation.

📚 Learn it: The writing process: prewriting, drafting, revising, editing

Question 3 of 10 · Using Language and Vocabulary

Which sentence would make the strongest thesis for a persuasive essay?

  1. Required hand washing checks would cut hospital infections.
  2. Soap has been made in many ways for thousands of years.
  3. Many people have opinions about washing their hands.
  4. This essay will be about the topic of hand washing.
Show the answer and rationale

Answer: A

A strong thesis makes a specific claim that the essay can argue and support, and "required checks would cut infections" does that. The other choices only name a topic, announce the essay, or state a background fact that no one would argue against.

📚 Learn it: The writing process: prewriting, drafting, revising, editing

Question 4 of 10 · Using Language and Vocabulary

Adding -ment to the verb "improve" creates which part of speech?

  1. Adjective
  2. Adverb
  3. Verb
  4. Noun
Show the answer and rationale

Answer: D

-ment turns a verb into a noun naming an act or result, so improve becomes improvement. Adjectives come from endings like -able or -ful, and adverbs usually end in -ly.

📚 Learn it: Suffixes: -itis, -ectomy, -ology, -algia and more

Question 5 of 10 · Using Language and Vocabulary

"Although the first bandage was adequate, the nurse replaced it with one that fit the wound better." What does adequate mean?

  1. Acceptable
  2. Unsafe
  3. Too tight
  4. Brand new
Show the answer and rationale

Answer: A

"Although" signals a contrast: the first bandage was good enough, yet the nurse still swapped it for one that fit better, so adequate means acceptable. An unsafe or too-tight bandage would need replacing anyway, leaving no contrast, and nothing suggests the first one was brand new.

📚 Learn it: Context clues: figuring out an unfamiliar word

Question 6 of 10 · Using Language and Vocabulary

The suffix -ize means "to make or become." What does it mean to sterilize surgical tools?

  1. To make them germ-free
  2. To sort them by size
  3. To store them away
  4. To count them after use
Show the answer and rationale

Answer: A

Sterilize means to make sterile, that is, free of germs. Sorting, counting and storing are other tasks done with tools, but none of them is what "make sterile" means.

📚 Learn it: Suffixes: -itis, -ectomy, -ology, -algia and more

Question 7 of 10 · Using Language and Vocabulary

"Jamal's directions were so convoluted that no one could follow all the twists and turns of his route." What does convoluted mean?

  1. Complicated
  2. Brief
  3. Written
  4. Accurate
Show the answer and rationale

Answer: A

Directions no one could follow, full of "twists and turns," are complicated. Brief and accurate directions would be easy to follow, and whether they were written is not suggested.

📚 Learn it: Context clues: figuring out an unfamiliar word

Question 8 of 10 · Using Language and Vocabulary

A neurologist treats disorders of which body system?

  1. Digestive
  2. Skeletal
  3. Nervous
  4. Urinary
Show the answer and rationale

Answer: C

Neur means nerve, so a neurologist treats the nervous system (brain, spinal cord and nerves). The digestive system relates to gastr, the skeletal system to oste, and the urinary system to nephr and ur.

📚 Learn it: Roots: cardi, gastr, derm, neur and other medical roots

Question 9 of 10 · Using Language and Vocabulary

Osteoarthritis is built from two roots. Which two body parts do they name?

  1. Bone and joint
  2. Muscle and joint
  3. Nerve and joint
  4. Bone and muscle
Show the answer and rationale

Answer: A

Oste means bone and arthr means joint, so osteoarthritis is a condition of the bones and joints. Muscle would be my and nerve would be neur, and neither root appears in the word.

📚 Learn it: Roots: cardi, gastr, derm, neur and other medical roots

Question 10 of 10 · Using Language and Vocabulary

Which phrase best replaces "freaked out" in a formal incident report: "The patient freaked out when the alarm sounded"?

  1. acted crazy with fear
  2. lost it completely
  3. became agitated
  4. got super upset
Show the answer and rationale

Answer: C

"Became agitated" is neutral, professional and specific enough for a report. "Acted crazy," "lost it" and "got super upset" are slang or informal, and some of them judge the patient rather than describe behavior.

📚 Learn it: Word choice: denotation, connotation and precise words

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