After you do a few analogy problems, you’ll probably realize that, even if the words are new, the relationships tend to repeat themselves. The more familiar you become with these stock relationships, the better. One common relationship that often throws off students is degree.

In a degree analogy, one word is often a stronger, more intense, or more extreme version of the other word. When you are trying to articulate the relationship between the stem words, the words ‘very’ and ‘extreme’ will be very helpful.

1. EMACIATED: THIN

In this example, your first instinct might be to identify the stem words as synonyms. After all, emaciated and thin mean close to the same thing. Whenever you instinctually identify two words as synonyms, however, always ask yourself if they differ in degree. In this case, they do. Emaciated can be described as very thin. Calling somebody emaciated and calling somebody thin are two very different things, and you should be able to identify the difference.

2. INDULGENCE: DEBAUCHERY

In this case, using the word ‘very’ will not help you. Why not try using the word ‘extreme’ to help you form a relationship between the words? We can say that debauchery is an extreme form of indulgence, involving excessive drinking and promiscuity. Because you cannot qualify a noun with the word ‘very,’ using the word ‘extreme’ would make more sense. However, you can always change the part of speech in your mind. You could say that a debauched person is very indulgent. If you wish to change the part of speech, though, remember to do the same with the answer choices.

3. POKE: BLOW

Here, we might be confused by the ambiguous word ‘blow.’ The only definition of blow related to poke would have to be ‘a punch.’ In that case, then, a poke is a weak or less intense punch.

4. EUPHORIC: CONTENTED

Euphoric is an extreme version of contended, or euphoric is very contented.

5. MURMUR: YELL

A murmur is a much softer, less intense, or less extreme version of a yell. Or, if we determine the stem words to be verbs, we can say that ‘to murmur’ is to ‘yell softly.’ We can even reverse the relationship: “to yell is to murmur loudly.”

The main tip to remember with degree relationships is to get used to distinguishing between synonyms and closely related words that vary by degree. Try to imagine using the words in context. Would you use the words differently? Would somebody react differently to the substitution of one word for the other? Once you become comfortable with these questions, identifying degree relationships will be quite simple.

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