Synonyms Questions and Answers

Answer: D

Exorbitant means Excessive.

An exorbitant price, fee or demand is far higher than is reasonable. The word comes from Latin exorbitare, 'to go out of the track', so something exorbitant has gone beyond its proper bounds.

Ridiculous can describe a price informally, but it means 'deserving mockery', not 'too high'. Odd means strange, and Threatining (threatening) means menacing; neither says anything about amount.

Answer: C

Lethal means Deadly.

Something lethal is sufficient to cause death: a lethal dose, a lethal weapon, a lethal attack. It comes from Latin letum, death, and its common synonyms are deadly, fatal and mortal.

Unlawful describes something against the law, which an attack may also be, but that is not what lethal means. Sluggish means slow-moving and smooth means even or effortless, both unrelated.

Answer: B

Obligatory means Required.

An obligatory duty is one that must be done because a rule, law or position demands it; the word comes from oblige, to bind. For a policeman, protecting the public is not a matter of choice but part of what the job requires.

Optional is the opposite, something left to choice. Useful means helpful and agreeable means pleasant or willing to agree; a duty can be either without being compulsory.

Answer: A

Secure here means Safe.

After weeks of tension and terror he felt free from danger and fear, which is the sense of secure in this sentence: protected, not exposed to harm.

Secret looks similar but means hidden or kept from others. Submissive means ready to obey, and surprised describes a reaction to the unexpected; neither fits the relief that follows a period of danger.

Answer: A

The word closest in meaning to AMBULATORY is Peripatetic.

Ambulatory means relating to walking or able to walk about, from Latin ambulare, to walk. Peripatetic means walking or travelling from place to place; the name was given to Aristotle's school because he taught while walking.

Quiescent (at rest), stationary (not moving) and sedentary (sitting, inactive) all describe the absence of movement, so they are nearer opposites.

Answer: D

The word closest in meaning to MUNIFICENCE is Generosity.

Munificence is great generosity, the lavish giving of money or gifts; a munificent patron gives freely and on a large scale.

Plagiarism is passing off another's work as one's own, a principality is a state ruled by a prince, and charisma is a compelling personal charm. None of them has to do with giving.

Answer: A

The word closest in meaning to PILLORY is Scorn.

The pillory was a wooden frame in which offenders were locked and exposed to public abuse. As a verb, to pillory someone is to hold him up to public ridicule and scorn.

Extol, applaud and revere all mean to praise or honour, which is the opposite of pillorying.

Answer: C

MASTICATE means Chew.

To masticate is to chew food, grinding it with the teeth before swallowing. The word survives in biology, where mastication is the first stage of digestion.

Devour means to eat hungrily and quickly, swallow is the step after chewing, and drink applies to liquids, so none of them means masticate.

Mastication breaks food into smaller pieces and mixes it with saliva, which begins the digestion of starch.

Answer: C

IMBECILE is closest in meaning to Foolish.

As an adjective, imbecile means stupid or foolish, a person or act lacking sense. Foolish is the nearest of the options.

Sane means of sound mind and astute means shrewd, so both point the other way. Aid means help and has no connection with the word.

Answer: D

CANDOR is closest in meaning to Truthfulness.

Candor (candour) is the quality of being open and honest in speech, saying what one really thinks. Truthfulness is the nearest of the options.

Falsifier is the opposite, a person who misrepresents the truth. Generous describes giving freely and rough describes harshness of surface or manner, neither of which is the same as honesty.