Focus on context clues to understand the words.
Are the words positive or negative?
1). The 16-year-old gymnast was adept at using the balance beam since she had been practicing from a young age.
Think of what adept could mean. Is it positive or negative? It must be positive because practicing from a young age would make someone good at something.
Adept means skilled or proficient.
2). The witch in the story was malicious and wanted to poison the princess.
Think of what malicious could mean. Is it positive or negative? It must be negative because wanting to poison someone is negative. It also has a root word “mal” from the Latin, which means bad or evil.
Malicious means intending to do harm.