Synonyms Questions and Answers

Answer: A

The synonym of CONCISE is brief.

A concise speech says a lot in few words: it is short and to the point, which is what brief means here.

Expanded is the opposite, lengthened. Irrelevant means not connected with the subject, and boring means dull; a concise speech may be neither, since conciseness is about length and economy of words.

The word comes from the Latin concisus, 'cut off', which is why it describes speech or writing from which every unnecessary word has been cut.

Answer: C

The synonym of CHRONIC is persistent.

A chronic illness is one that lasts a long time or keeps coming back, like chronic asthma or chronic diabetes. Persistent means continuing for a long time, so it matches.

Occasional and sporadic both mean happening only now and then, the opposite of chronic. Unusual means uncommon, which says nothing about how long the illness lasts.

In medicine, a chronic disease is the opposite of an acute one, which comes on suddenly and lasts a short time.

Answer: B

The synonym of GORGEOUS is splendid.

Gorgeous means strikingly beautiful or magnificent, and splendid means magnificent and impressive in appearance: she looked splendid in the moonlight.

Repulsive is the opposite, disgusting to look at. The other two options play on the similar-sounding word gorge, a deep narrow valley: a precipice is a steep cliff and a narrow valley is a gorge, but neither has anything to do with 'gorgeous'.

Answer: B

The synonym of adorable is Loveable.

Adorable means inspiring great affection, charming and delightful; something lovable is easy to love, the same idea.

Aromatic means having a pleasant smell, artful means clever or cunning, and awful means very bad or unpleasant, nearly the opposite. None of them expresses affection.

The word comes from adore, to love deeply; loveable (also spelt lovable) carries the same warmth.

Answer: B

Impromptu means without preparation.

An impromptu speech is made on the spur of the moment, without rehearsal; the word comes from the Latin in promptu, 'in readiness'.

An impromptu speech may or may not be eloquent, enthusiastic or forceful; those words describe the manner of speaking, not whether it was prepared, so they are not the meaning of the word.

Related words include extempore and off the cuff, both meaning without preparation.

Answer: B

The word closest in meaning to capricious is Whimsical.

Capricious describes someone given to sudden, unpredictable changes of mood or behaviour, acting on a whim. Whimsical carries the same idea of acting on passing fancy.

Steadfast (firm and unchanging) is close to its opposite. Cautious means careful, and generous means giving freely; neither has to do with unpredictability.

Answer: D

The synonym of TEDIOUS is Boring.

Tedious describes something too long, slow or dull to hold one's interest, so a tedious lecture is a boring one. Its noun is tedium, and close synonyms are monotonous, wearisome and dull.

Exciting means the opposite. Intellectual describes the content of a lecture, which may be tedious or not, and ordinary means unremarkable rather than tiresome, so neither carries the sense of weariness that tedious has.

Answer: B

The synonym of ARID is Dry.

An arid region receives very little rainfall, too little to support much vegetation, so a hot and arid zone is a hot and dry one, like the Thar desert. The word comes from the Latin aridus, dry.

Humid (damp air) and marshy (waterlogged ground) are nearly opposite in meaning. Sandy describes the kind of soil, which an arid region may or may not have, not the lack of moisture.

Answer: C

The synonym of baffle is bewilder.

To baffle someone is to puzzle them completely, so that they cannot understand or explain something: the problem baffled the experts. Bewilder means the same, to confuse or perplex thoroughly.

Buffoon is a noun for a clown or a person who behaves foolishly, and only resembles baffle in sound. Brute is a savage or violent person or animal. Since bewilder is an exact synonym, 'None of these' is wrong.

Answer: B

The nearest in meaning to parsimonious is penurious.

Parsimonious means extremely unwilling to spend money, stingy. Penurious means very poor, and also mean or miserly with money, and in that second sense it is the closest synonym offered.

Generous is the opposite of parsimonious. Pessimistic (expecting the worst) and despondent (low in spirits) describe outlook and mood, not attitude to money.