Similarities test online: what 2 words have in common
20 word pairs, 4 statements for each. Choose the one that best says what the 2 words share: the statement naming their common category earns the most.
Start the Similarities testWhen pair 20 is answered you see your points and can keep them with a free account.
How it works
2 practice pairs, then 20 scored ones. There is no timer, so at an unhurried pace it takes about 4 minutes.
- 1 · Practice
2 pairs with feedback
Each practice answer gets 3 seconds of feedback: the points it earned and, when it was not the best choice, the statement that was.
- 2 · Each pair
Find what they share
2 words appear under the question "How are these similar?" with 4 statements that all start with Both. Click or tap one and the next pair appears.
- 3 · Scoring
Category over detail
The statement naming the group both words belong to earns 2 points. A narrower link, such as a shared shape or material, earns 1.
- 4 · 20 pairs
From concrete to abstract
A 3-second countdown starts the scored pairs: 5 groups of 4, moving from everyday objects to abstract ideas and values.
Before the practice, a tip on screen says what the test rewards: the most general likeness, not physical features. During the scored pairs a counter shows where you are and a bar at the top fills up. The opening screen has a button that reads the instructions aloud.
The task comes from the verbal part of the Wechsler intelligence scales. There you answer aloud in your own words, and an examiner gives each answer 0, 1 or 2 points. This version keeps the idea of full and partial credit but offers written statements to choose from, so no examiner is needed.
What it measures
Seeing that a trumpet and a drum are both instruments is quick. Doing the same for 2 abstract ideas means looking past what each one is like and naming the concept they share.
Verbal concept formation
- Abstraction: moving from what 2 things look like or do to the class they belong to.
- Telling a defining link from an incidental one, since most statements say something true about the pair.
- Flexibility with familiar words used in an unfamiliar way.
What it leans on
- Word knowledge: the later pairs use abstract nouns from science, politics and ethics.
- Reading: the pair and all 4 statements are written, in English.
- A habit of thinking in categories, which the scoring favours over concrete description.
Horn and Cattell (1967) split intelligence into fluid reasoning, used on new problems, and crystallized knowledge, built up through learning. Similarities draws on both: you need to know the words, and then you need to reason about how they relate.
The Wechsler subtest is a clinical staple that has been reused well beyond its first purpose. A 2025 study of 153 veterans, for example, cross-validated a memory index built on the WAIS-IV Similarities subtest (Gradwohl et al., 2025). This version has no memory part and scores only the statements you choose.
A test, not a diagnosis.
Your points describe one sitting with 20 written pairs. They cannot diagnose or exclude any condition.
What you get
Your points appear as soon as pair 20 is answered.
On the result screen
- Your points out of 40, and the same total as a percentage.
- A headline reading: 80% of the points or more reads as strong abstract reasoning, lower totals as moderate.
- How many answers earned 2, 1 and 0 points, plus your points in each group of 4 pairs, from concrete to complex.
- 2 findings written from your totals, and a CSV file listing each pair, your choice, the best statement and your response time.
When you keep it
- Saved with a free account, ready to open later on any device you sign in from.
- Filed under verbal comprehension in your results, next to Vocabulary, Verbal Analogies and Word Fluency once you take them.
- Another test is suggested the moment you finish.
How this version is scored
Each choice is stored with its points and how long it took. The totals are built from the points.
- Points per pair
- 2 for the statement that names the shared category. In this version each of the other 3 statements earns 1 point, so no answer scores 0 and your total falls between 20 and 40.
- Total
- Points from all 20 pairs, out of 40. The practice pairs are not counted.
- Score percentage
- Total divided by 40, as a whole percentage. Because every answer earns at least 1 point it runs from 50% to 100%, and the headline reading turns on the 80% mark, which is 32 points.
- Difficulty groups
- Pairs 1 to 4 are labelled concrete, 5 to 8 everyday, 9 to 12 conceptual, 13 to 16 abstract and 17 to 20 complex. Each group shows its points out of 8.
- Answer counts
- How many of your 20 answers were the category statement (2 points), a narrower one (1 point) or scored 0, shown as separate tiles.
Why a concrete answer still counts. Saying that 2 things share a colour or a material is true, just narrow. The Wechsler scoring gives answers like that partial credit, and this version does the same with 1 point.
Recognition, not recall. Picking a statement from 4 is a different task from finding the words yourself, as the spoken version asks. Totals from the 2 formats are not interchangeable.
Fixed items. The 20 pairs, their order and their statements are the same on every attempt, so a retake partly measures what you remember. Response times go into the CSV file but never change your points.
Before you start
A calm read of each pair matters more than speed here.
For a cleaner attempt
- Read all 4 statements before choosing; a single click moves on to the next pair.
- Ask what both words are, not what they look like or what they are made of.
- Use a phone or a computer somewhere quiet and finish the 20 pairs in one go.
- Answer from your own knowledge, without searching.
Interpret cautiously when
- English is not your first language, or reading takes you extra effort.
- You live outside the US: a few statements draw on American civic terms.
- You naturally describe things in concrete, practical terms, a valid style that this scoring rates lower.
- You were tired or distracted, or have taken the test before.
Questions
What does the similarities test measure?
It measures verbal concept formation: seeing what 2 words have in common and naming the category they share. It also leans on word knowledge, because the later pairs use abstract and academic words, and on reading, because everything is written.
What is a good score on the similarities test?
There is no fixed pass mark. The result screen reads 80% of the points or more, 32 of 40, as strong abstract reasoning and lower totals as moderate. Since every answer earns at least 1 point, 20 of 40 is the floor of the scale. Reading and language background shape the total too.
Is this the WAIS Similarities subtest?
No. It follows the same idea, with full credit for the shared category and partial credit for a narrower link, but it uses its own 20 pairs and written statements instead of spoken answers graded by an examiner. Its totals cannot be read as Wechsler scores.
Can I take the similarities test on my phone?
Yes. The 4 statements are wide buttons in one column and there is no clock, so a phone works as well as a computer. What matters more is a few quiet minutes to read each pair properly.
Sources
- Horn and Cattell (1967): Age differences in fluid and crystallized intelligence
- Gradwohl et al. (2025): Cross-validation of the WAIS-IV Similarities incidental learning task
- Lezak, Howieson, Bigler and Tranel (2012): Neuropsychological Assessment, 5th edition
- Strauss, Sherman and Spreen (2006): A Compendium of Neuropsychological Tests, 3rd edition