Synonyms Questions and Answers

Answer: D

The word similar in meaning to 'Quote' is cite.

To quote is to repeat or refer to words from a source or an authority, which is what to cite means: lawyers cite, or quote, a precedent.

'Sight' (the ability to see) and 'sigh' (a breath expressing feeling) only sound like 'cite', and 'sue' means to bring a legal action.

Answer: B

The synonym of 'Advise' is Counsel.

As a verb, to counsel is to give advice or guidance, so it means the same as to advise.

'Council' is a different word, a body of people that meets to deliberate, and is easily confused with 'counsel'. 'Practice' means habitual action or exercise, and 'proposal' is a plan put forward, a noun.

Answer: B

The synonym of anguish is Distress.

Anguish means severe mental or physical pain or suffering, and distress means extreme anxiety, sorrow or pain, so the two are close in meaning.

Calamity is a disaster, the event that may cause anguish rather than the feeling itself. Extinguish means to put out a fire or end something, and only looks similar. Acquire means to obtain.

Answer: C

Infernal means hellish.

The word comes from the Latin infernus, the lower world, and describes something belonging to hell or as fierce and dreadful as hell, as in 'an infernal noise' or 'the infernal regions'.

The other three options are its opposites. Heavenly, divine and celestial all relate to heaven or the gods, so a candidate who knows only that the word is religious in flavour can still eliminate them as a group.

Answer: B

The synonyms of 'incredible' are a and c: unbelievable and amazing.

'Incredible' literally means not credible, impossible or hard to believe (unbelievable), and in everyday use it also means extraordinary or astonishing (amazing).

'Trustable' and 'convincing' mean the opposite: something easy to believe or rely on. So every option that includes b or d is wrong.

Answer: B

The correct matching is (a)-(iii), (b)-(iv), (c)-(i), (d)-(ii).

• Accomplish means achieve, to complete something successfully (iii).
• Cordial means warm and friendly (iv).
• Arrogant means proud in a way that is rude to others (i).
• Absurd means foolish or ridiculous (ii).

Each of the other options pairs at least one word with a meaning that is unrelated, such as 'accomplish' with 'friendly'.

Answer: B

The correct matching is (a)-(iv), (b)-(iii), (c)-(i), (d)-(ii).

• Aberration means a departure from what is normal, a deviation (iv).
• Perpetual means never ending, constant (iii).
• Redundant means no longer needed, unnecessary (i).
• Abundant means existing in large quantities, plentiful (ii).

The other options pair 'aberration' with 'plentiful' or 'constant', or 'perpetual' with 'plentiful', which are unrelated meanings.

Answer: A

It is servile.

Abject means utterly humbled or degraded - an abject apology, abject poverty. Servile carries the same self-abasement; vain is its opposite in bearing.

Answer: A

It is contain.

To comprise is to consist of or be made up of - the house comprises six rooms. Note that the whole comprises the parts, not the other way round.

Answer: C

It is prerogative.

Immunity is exemption from an obligation or penalty, and a prerogative is a special right - the nearest of the four, both being freedoms others do not have.