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CSS 2014 — Synonyms & Antonyms (Solved)

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Answer key: Synonyms 1-a · 2-c · 3-b · 4-b · 5-a · 6-d · 7-b · 8-d · 9-c · 10-a │ Antonyms 1-c · 2-d · 3-a · 4-c · 5-a · 6-c · 7-d · 8-a · 9-a · 10-a

(a) Synonyms — choose the word nearly most SIMILAR in meaning

1. APROPOS

(a) Regarding (b) Unexpected (c) Misspoken (d) Idea

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Answer: (a) Regarding

  • Urdu: کے بارے میں، کے سلسلے میں؛ برمحل
  • Meaning (prep./adj.): with reference to; appropriate to the situation
  • Synonyms: regarding, concerning, about, re, apposite, pertinent
  • Antonyms: irrelevant, inappropriate, unrelated, inapt
  • Sentences:
    1. Apropos of your letter, the meeting is postponed.
    2. His remark was perfectly apropos.
  • 🔁 Also asked in 2010.

2. BULWARK

(a) Conundrum (b) Festival (c) Rampart (d) Confuse

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Answer: (c) Rampart

  • Urdu: فصیل، حصار، مضبوط سہارا
  • Meaning (n.): a defensive wall; a person or thing giving protection or support
  • Synonyms: rampart, fortification, bastion, barricade, safeguard, mainstay
  • Antonyms: weakness, vulnerability, liability, breach
  • Sentences:
    1. An independent judiciary is a bulwark against tyranny.
    2. Lahore Fort's bulwarks stood for centuries.

3. EPITOME

(a) Volume (b) Essence (c) Summit (d) Deliverance

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Answer: (b) Essence

  • Urdu: مجسم نمونہ، خلاصہ، لبِ لباب
  • Meaning (n.): a perfect example of a quality or type; a summary
  • Synonyms: essence, embodiment, personification, quintessence, archetype, summary
  • Antonyms: antithesis, opposite, expansion
  • Sentences:
    1. Edhi was the epitome of selfless service.
    2. The hotel is the epitome of luxury.
  • Trap: summit = peak, not a model example.

4. REGURGITATE

(a) Assimilate (b) Reproduce (c) Exemplify (d) Study

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Answer: (b) Reproduce

  • Urdu: (خوراک) واپس اگلنا؛ بغیر سمجھے دہرا دینا، رٹا لگانا
  • Meaning (v.): to bring swallowed food back up; to repeat information without understanding
  • Synonyms: reproduce, repeat, parrot, recite, disgorge, rehash
  • Antonyms: assimilate, digest, absorb, analyse, create
  • Sentences:
    1. Our exam system rewards students who regurgitate notes.
    2. Birds regurgitate food for their chicks.

5. PLUTOCRAT

(a) Magnate (b) Priest (c) Judge (d) Astronaut

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Answer: (a) Magnate

  • Urdu: دولت کے بل پر حکومت کرنے والا، سرمایہ دار
  • Meaning (n.): a person whose power derives from wealth
  • Synonyms: magnate, tycoon, capitalist, billionaire, mogul, fat cat
  • Antonyms: pauper, proletarian, commoner, have-not
  • Sentences:
    1. Critics say plutocrats control the country's politics.
    2. The plutocrat bought three newspapers.

6. INEBRIATE

(a) Dreamy (b) Stupefied (c) Unsteady (d) Drunken

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Answer: (d) Drunken

  • Urdu: مدہوش، نشے میں دھت
  • Meaning (adj./v.): drunk; to make drunk
  • Synonyms: drunken, intoxicated, tipsy, inebriated, sozzled, sottish
  • Antonyms: sober, teetotal, clear-headed, abstinent
  • Sentences:
    1. The inebriate driver was arrested at the checkpoint.
    2. Success seemed to inebriate him.

7. PRODIGIOUS

(a) Unacceptable (b) Phenomenal (c) Discouraging (d) Vain

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Answer: (b) Phenomenal

  • Urdu: حیرت انگیز، غیر معمولی، بہت بڑا
  • Meaning (adj.): remarkably or impressively great in extent, size or degree
  • Synonyms: phenomenal, enormous, colossal, extraordinary, remarkable, staggering
  • Antonyms: tiny, ordinary, unremarkable, small, modest
  • Sentences:
    1. Arfa Karim had a prodigious talent for computers.
    2. The dam requires a prodigious amount of concrete.

8. NUANCE

(a) New word (b) Sense (c) Interpretation (d) Subtle meaning

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Answer: (d) Subtle meaning

  • Urdu: باریک فرق، لطیف فرق
  • Meaning (n.): a subtle difference in meaning, expression or sound
  • Synonyms: subtlety, shade, nicety, gradation, refinement, distinction
  • Antonyms: obviousness, bluntness, crudeness, generality
  • Sentences:
    1. Translation often loses the nuances of Urdu poetry.
    2. Diplomats pay attention to every nuance of a statement.

9. CANNY

(a) Obstinate (b) Handsome (c) Clever (d) Stout

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Answer: (c) Clever

  • Urdu: ہوشیار، چالاک، سمجھدار
  • Meaning (adj.): having or showing shrewdness and good judgement, especially in money or business
  • Synonyms: clever, shrewd, astute, sharp, savvy, wily
  • Antonyms: foolish, naive, gullible, dull, unwise
  • Sentences:
    1. A canny trader buys cotton before prices rise.
    2. She made a canny move by saving in gold.

10. SONOROUS

(a) Loud (b) Heavy (c) Sleepy (d) Bright

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Answer: (a) Loud

  • Urdu: گونج دار، پرشکوہ آواز والا
  • Meaning (adj.): (of a sound) deep and full; imposingly loud
  • Synonyms: resonant, loud, booming, rich, full, ringing
  • Antonyms: soft, thin, faint, weak, muted
  • Sentences:
    1. Zia Mohyeddin's sonorous voice made every reading memorable.
    2. The sonorous bell rang across the campus.
  • Trap: "sleepy" plays on somnolent, not sonorous.

(b) Antonyms — choose the word nearly most OPPOSITE in meaning

1. EXTENUATE

(a) Alleviate (b) Preclude (c) Worsen (d) Subdue

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Answer: (c) Worsen

  • Urdu: (جرم کی سنگینی) کم کرنا، تخفیف کرنا
  • Meaning (v.): to make guilt or an offence seem less serious
  • Synonyms: mitigate, lessen, alleviate, excuse, palliate, diminish
  • Antonyms: worsen, aggravate, intensify, exacerbate, magnify
  • Sentences:
    1. Poverty may extenuate, but it does not excuse, theft.
    2. The court found no extenuating circumstances.

2. INADVERTENT

(a) Accidental (b) Disingenuous (c) Forthright (d) Calculated

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Answer: (d) Calculated

  • Urdu: غیر ارادی، نادانستہ
  • Meaning (adj.): not resulting from deliberate planning; unintentional
  • Synonyms: accidental, unintentional, unplanned, unwitting, careless
  • Antonyms: calculated, deliberate, intentional, planned, premeditated
  • Sentences:
    1. The leak was an inadvertent error by a clerk.
    2. It was a calculated move to delay the vote.

3. ORNATE

(a) Spartan (b) Blemished (c) Sturdy (d) Counterfeit

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Answer: (a) Spartan

  • Urdu: آراستہ، مزین، پرتکلف
  • Meaning (adj.): made in an intricate shape or decorated with complex patterns
  • Synonyms: elaborate, decorated, fancy, baroque, florid, embellished
  • Antonyms: spartan, plain, austere, simple, unadorned
  • Sentences:
    1. The Badshahi Mosque has ornate frescoes.
    2. The soldier's room was spartan: a bed and a trunk.

4. FLAGITIOUS

(a) Cardinal (b) Mercenary (c) Meritorious (d) Askew

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Answer: (c) Meritorious

  • Urdu: نہایت شرمناک، سنگین مجرمانہ
  • Meaning (adj.): (of a person or action) criminal; villainous
  • Synonyms: villainous, wicked, heinous, criminal, atrocious, nefarious
  • Antonyms: meritorious, virtuous, praiseworthy, honourable, noble
  • Sentences:
    1. The massacre was a flagitious crime.
    2. She received an award for meritorious service.
  • 🔁 Also asked in 2011.

5. MALEDICTION

(a) Blessing (b) Termination (c) Parochial (d) Simian

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Answer: (a) Blessing

  • Urdu: بددعا، لعنت، کوسنا
  • Meaning (n.): a magical word or phrase intended to bring harm; a curse
  • Synonyms: curse, imprecation, damnation, execration, hex
  • Antonyms: blessing, benediction, prayer, praise
  • Sentences:
    1. The witch muttered a malediction against the village.
    2. The mother's blessing outweighs any malediction.
  • 🔁 Asked as a synonym in 2007. Always check whether the question asks for a synonym or an antonym.

6. BRUSQUE

(a) Gold (b) Opulent (c) Gracious (d) Suspect

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Answer: (c) Gracious

  • Urdu: روکھا، اکھڑ، درشت
  • Meaning (adj.): abrupt or offhand in speech or manner
  • Synonyms: curt, abrupt, blunt, gruff, terse, short
  • Antonyms: gracious, courteous, polite, civil, gentle
  • Sentences:
    1. The officer's brusque tone offended the visitors.
    2. She was gracious even in defeat.
  • 🔁 Asked in 2011, 2014 and 2023-S.

7. VERDANT

(a) Dishonest (b) Suspicious (c) Moldy (d) Arid

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Answer: (d) Arid

  • Urdu: سرسبز، ہرا بھرا
  • Meaning (adj.): green with grass or other rich vegetation
  • Synonyms: green, lush, leafy, grassy, luxuriant, flourishing
  • Antonyms: arid, barren, dry, parched, desert
  • Sentences:
    1. The verdant valleys of Swat attract tourists.
    2. Tharparkar is arid for most of the year.
  • 🔁 Also asked in 2010.

8. EPICUREAN

(a) Ascetic (b) Slovenly (c) Imprecision (d) Providential

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Answer: (a) Ascetic

  • Urdu: عیش پرست، لذت پسند، خوش خوراک
  • Meaning (adj./n.): devoted to sensual enjoyment, especially fine food and drink
  • Synonyms: hedonistic, sybaritic, gourmet, sensual, self-indulgent, pleasure-loving
  • Antonyms: ascetic, abstemious, austere, self-denying, puritanical
  • Sentences:
    1. The epicurean feast had twenty dishes.
    2. The Sufi lived an ascetic life of prayer.

9. QUIESCENT

(a) Active (b) Dormant (c) Weak (d) Unconcerned

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Answer: (a) Active

  • Urdu: ساکن، خاموش، غیر فعال
  • Meaning (adj.): in a state of inactivity or dormancy
  • Synonyms: dormant, inactive, latent, still, inert, passive
  • Antonyms: active, dynamic, busy, lively, energetic
  • Sentences:
    1. The fault line was quiescent for decades before the quake.
    2. Inflation remained quiescent last quarter.
  • Trap: dormant is a synonym. 🔁 Also asked in 2016.

10. LOQUACIOUS

(a) Reticent (b) Talkative (c) Garrulous (d) Verbose

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Answer: (a) Reticent

  • Urdu: باتونی، زیادہ بولنے والا
  • Meaning (adj.): tending to talk a great deal
  • Synonyms: talkative, garrulous, verbose, voluble, chatty, gabby
  • Antonyms: reticent, taciturn, silent, reserved, quiet
  • Sentences:
    1. The loquacious host left no time for guests to speak.
    2. He is reticent about his personal life.
  • Why (a): the other three options are all synonyms. 🔁 Asked in 2014, 2016 and 2024.

Source: 2014 paper (CSS Exam blog)