Pariksha Saathi Start studying
← Home हिंदी में पढ़ें

Synonyms and Antonyms Questions with Solutions

Synonym and antonym questions reward a sharp read more than a huge vocabulary — many words have more than one meaning, and the sentence around a word usually tells you which one is in play. Here’s the approach, four fully worked examples, and a few to try yourself.

The approach, quickly

  • A synonym means (nearly) the same thing as the given word; an antonym means the opposite. Read the instruction carefully — picking a synonym when the question asks for an antonym (or vice versa) is the single most common careless mistake.
  • Many common words have more than one meaning (for example, "sound" can mean "noise," "healthy," or "well-reasoned"). When the word appears in a sentence, let the sentence’s context pick the right meaning — don’t just grab the word’s most familiar meaning out of habit.
  • Mentally substitute your chosen option back into the original sentence. If it still reads naturally with the same sense, that’s a strong sign you’ve picked correctly.
  • Knowing common prefixes helps spot antonym pairs quickly: "bene-" means "good" (benevolent, beneficial) while "mal-" means "bad" (malevolent, malfunction) — opposite prefixes often mean opposite words.

Worked examples

1. Choose the synonym of "ABUNDANT": (A) Scarce (B) Plentiful (C) Hidden (D) Fragile

Solution

  1. "Abundant" means existing in large quantities.
  2. "Plentiful" matches that meaning directly.
  3. "Scarce" (A) is actually the opposite of abundant — a common distractor. "Hidden" and "Fragile" are unrelated in meaning.

Answer: (B) Plentiful

2. Choose the antonym of "GENEROUS": (A) Kind (B) Wealthy (C) Stingy (D) Friendly

Solution

  1. "Generous" means willing to give freely. Its opposite is being unwilling to give — "stingy".
  2. "Kind" and "Friendly" (A, D) are actually close in meaning to generous, not its opposite. "Wealthy" (B) describes having money, which is unrelated to willingness to share it.

Answer: (C) Stingy

3. Choose the word closest in meaning to the capitalised word: "Despite his age, the old man was remarkably SOUND in both body and mind." (A) Loud (B) Healthy (C) Quick (D) Wealthy

Solution

  1. "Sound" has more than one meaning — it can mean "noise," or, as used here, "healthy / in good condition."
  2. The sentence is praising the man’s body and mind positively despite his age, which matches "healthy," not "noise".
  3. "Loud" (A) wrongly picks the noise-meaning of "sound," which does not fit this sentence.

Answer: (B) Healthy

4. Choose the antonym of "BENEVOLENT": (A) Generous (B) Malevolent (C) Wealthy (D) Famous

Solution

  1. "Benevolent" (from "bene-" = good) means kind and well-meaning.
  2. "Malevolent" (from "mal-" = bad) means wishing harm to others — the direct opposite.
  3. "Generous" (A) is close in meaning to benevolent, not its opposite.

Answer: (B) Malevolent

Try these yourself

Work through these the same way, then check against the answer.

1. Choose the synonym of "RAPID": (A) Slow (B) Quick (C) Silent (D) Heavy

Answer: (B) Quick

2. Choose the antonym of "TRANSPARENT": (A) Clear (B) Opaque (C) Fragile (D) Visible

Answer: (B) Opaque

3. Choose the word closest in meaning to the capitalised word: "The lawyer presented a SOUND argument that convinced the entire jury." (A) Loud (B) Logical (C) Lengthy (D) Weak

Answer: (B) Logical — here "sound" means well-reasoned, a different meaning of the same word seen in the worked examples

Where this comes up

Synonyms and Antonyms are a regular topic in the English Language section of every exam Pariksha Saathi covers — SSC CGL, SSC MTS, SSC CHSL, IBPS PO, IBPS Clerk, SBI PO and SBI Clerk.

Practice more Synonyms and Antonyms questions

This page covers the approach and a handful of worked examples. Pariksha Saathi has full topic-wise practice sets for Synonyms and Antonyms (and every other English/Reasoning/Quant topic) with instant scoring and explanations — free, no account required.

Practice Synonyms and Antonyms free →