Antonyms Questions and Answers

Answer: A

The opposite of EPICUREAN is Ascetic.

An epicurean is devoted to pleasure, especially fine food and drink; the word comes from the philosopher Epicurus. An ascetic denies himself pleasure and comfort, often for religious reasons, which is the exact opposite.

Slovenly means untidy or careless, imprecision is a lack of exactness, and providential means lucky or as if arranged by providence. None of them is opposed to a love of pleasure.

Answer: B

The opposite of COERCIVE is Gentle.

Coercive means using force, threats or pressure to make someone act. Gentle describes the mild, non-forceful manner that is its opposite.

Progressive means favouring reform, opinionated means holding fixed views, and promoting means encouraging or advancing something. A coercive person can be any of these, so none is an opposite.

Answer: C

The opposite of RELINQUISH is Possess.

To relinquish is to give up or let go of something one holds. To possess is to have and keep it, the opposite state.

Abdicate and renounce are synonyms, both meaning to give up a right, office or claim. Deny means to refuse or to declare untrue, which is not the opposite of giving something up.

Answer: D

The opposite of DILAPIDATED is Renovated.

Dilapidated describes a building or object that has fallen into disrepair through age or neglect. Renovated means restored to good condition, the direct opposite.

Broken-down is a synonym, not an antonym. Costly and well-furnished describe price and contents, not the state of repair, so they are not opposites.

Dilapidated comes from the Latin lapis, stone: a dilapidated building is one whose stones are falling apart.

Answer: D

The opposite of ZEAL is Apathy.

Zeal is great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or an aim. Apathy is the lack of interest, enthusiasm or concern, so it is the direct opposite.

Intolerance is unwillingness to accept differing views, inefficiency is poor use of time or effort, and senile describes the weakness of old age. None of these is the lack of enthusiasm.

Answer: A

The opposite of BENIGN is Malevolent.

Benign means kind, gentle or harmless, and in medicine not cancerous. Malevolent means wishing harm to others, the direct opposite of kind and harmless.

Friendly and soft are close in meaning to benign, so they are synonyms, not antonyms. Unwise describes poor judgement and has no link with kindness or harm.

Answer: C

The word most opposite to obfuscate is Clarify.

To obfuscate is to make something obscure, unclear or hard to understand, often on purpose, as in 'The report obfuscates the real cost'. Its opposite is to clarify, to make clear and easy to understand.

The other three are synonyms, not antonyms: to confuse and to muddle both mean to make unclear or mixed up, and to conceal is to hide, which is one way of obfuscating. A question asking for the opposite makes these the traps.

Answer: C

The word most opposite to ephemeral is Eternal.

Ephemeral means lasting a very short time, from the Greek ephemeros, 'lasting only a day'. Its opposite is eternal, lasting for ever.

Transient and short-lived are synonyms of ephemeral, so they are the traps in an antonym question. Trivial means of little importance, which describes value, not duration, so it is neither a synonym nor an antonym.

Answer: D

The antonym of barren is fertile.

Barren land or a barren woman is unable to produce crops or children, and fertile means able to produce them in abundance. They are the standard pair of opposites.

Early, dull and last have no such opposite relation with barren.

Answer: A

The antonym of oral is written.

Oral means spoken, not written down, as in an oral test or an oral tradition. A written test or record is the opposite.

Spoken is a synonym of oral, not an antonym, and seen has no such relationship. Since written fits, "None of these" is wrong.