Synonyms Questions and Answers

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.

Answer: B

The word closest in meaning to perfidy is Treachery.

Perfidy means deliberate breach of faith or trust, betrayal of someone who relied on you. It comes from the Latin perfidia, from per fidem, 'through (that is, violating) faith'. Treachery carries exactly that sense of betrayal.

Confidence (trust placed in someone) is close to its opposite, the thing perfidy breaks. Boldness is daring, which has nothing to do with loyalty, and clarify is a verb meaning to make clear, unrelated in sense and not even the same part of speech.

Answer: D

The word closest in meaning to ubiquitous is Omnipresent.

Ubiquitous means present, or seeming to be present, everywhere at the same time, as in 'Smartphones have become ubiquitous'. It comes from the Latin ubique, 'everywhere'. Omnipresent means the same: present in all places.

Rare and scarce are its opposites, describing something seldom found. Unique means the only one of its kind, which is also the reverse of something found everywhere.

Answer: C

The synonym of enemy is foe.

An enemy is a person who is hostile to another or opposes them, and foe is a formal or literary word for the same thing. Both can refer to a rival in war or in everyday life.

Friend is the antonym, and relative means a member of the family. Since foe fits, "None of these" is wrong.

Answer: A

The synonym of pain is agony.

Pain is physical or mental suffering, and agony is extreme pain. The two are close in meaning, with agony the stronger word.

Comfort is the opposite of pain, insolent means rude or disrespectful, and recollect means to remember, so none of them is a synonym.