Synonyms Questions and Answers

Answer: D

A prevalent disease is a widespread one.

Prevalent means widely existing or common at a particular time or place; the prevalence of a disease is the proportion of a population that has it. So a prevalent disease is one found widely.

Contagious describes how a disease spreads (by contact), not how common it is, and a contagious disease may be rare. Dangerous and fatal describe how serious a disease is, which has nothing to do with how widely it occurs.

Answer: C

An incredible story is an unbelievable one.

Incredible comes from the Latin in (not) and credibilis (believable), so in its strict sense it means impossible or hard to believe, which is unbelievable.

True is close to the opposite, since an incredible story is one that seems untrue. Interesting is a loose modern use of 'incredible' to mean amazing, but it is not the definition. Unknown means not known, which is a different idea altogether.

Answer: A

A dishevelled appearance is an untidy one.

Dishevelled (spelt disheveled in American English) describes hair, clothes or a person that are disordered and messy, as if not combed or arranged, so the closest definition is untidy.

Fierce means savage or intense, foolish means lacking good sense, and peculiar means strange or odd. A dishevelled person may look odd, but the word is about disorder, not strangeness.

Answer: A

In this context incorrigible means unreformed.

Incorrigible (from Latin in-, not, and corrigere, to correct) describes someone whose bad habits cannot be corrected. A year in jail was meant to reform the man, and the sentence says he stayed the same: unreformed.

'Reformable' is the opposite, someone who can be corrected. 'Regretful' and 'penitent' both mean sorry for wrongdoing, which is the state a reformed prisoner might reach, not the one the sentence describes.

Answer: C

Disheveled means untidy.

A disheveled person has messy hair and rumpled clothes; after long working hours the officer looks tired and unkempt. The word comes from the Old French deschevele, with the hair undone.

'Well-groomed' is the opposite, neat and tidy. 'Happy' and 'enthusiastic' describe mood, and they also clash with 'tired' in the same sentence.

Answer: D

Here audacious is closest to defiant.

Audacious means boldly daring, often recklessly so, with a disregard for rules or risks. 'An audacious disregard for innocent bystanders' describes the police acting with bold, defiant contempt for the danger to others.

'Foolish' captures the poor judgement but not the boldness the word stresses. 'Useless' is unrelated, and 'necessary' would justify the act, which is the opposite of the critical tone of the sentence.

Answer: C

The synonym of obsolete is outdated.

Something obsolete is no longer in use because something newer has replaced it, like the typewriter or the floppy disk. Outdated carries the same meaning.

Useful is nearly the opposite. Unreliable describes something that cannot be trusted to work, which is a different idea, and complete has nothing to do with age or use.

Answer: B

The synonym of credence is belief.

Credence (Latin credere, to believe) means acceptance of something as true: to give credence to a rumour. Belief is the nearest word.

Virtue is moral goodness. Corrupt means dishonest, and incredible, though from the same root, means unbelievable, the opposite direction. Neither of them means belief.

Answer: D

The synonym of august is eminent.

As an adjective (stressed on the second syllable), august means respected and impressive, inspiring reverence: an august institution, an august gathering of scholars. Eminent, meaning distinguished and highly regarded, is the closest match.

The month name is the trap, but the word here is the adjective. Humble is almost the opposite, arrogant means proud in an unpleasant way, and secretive means inclined to hide things.

Answer: A

The synonym of brusque is impolite.

Brusque describes a manner that is abrupt and offhand, short to the point of rudeness: a brusque reply. Impolite is the closest of the four.

Polite and courteous are opposites. Great has no connection with manner of speaking.