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CSS 2017 — Synonyms & Antonyms (Solved)

ℹ️

Option sets for 2017 were never published, so each question shows the word and the keyed answer. Watch the Dastard trap: "recreant" appears in some answer lists, but it is a synonym (coward), not an antonym.

(a) Synonyms

1. FUDGE

✅

Answer: Evade / fake

  • Urdu: گول مول کرنا، ہیرا پھیری کرنا، ٹالنا
  • Meaning (v.): to present or deal with something vaguely or dishonestly; to manipulate figures
  • Synonyms: evade, dodge, fiddle, falsify, doctor, fudge
  • Antonyms: clarify, face squarely, state plainly, confront
  • Sentences:
    1. Clever accountants fudge the numbers to evade taxes.
    2. The minister fudged the question about inflation.

2. LEVITATE

✅

Answer: Float / hover

  • Urdu: ہوا میں معلق ہونا
  • Meaning (v.): to rise and hover in the air
  • Synonyms: float, hover, rise, drift, soar, hang
  • Antonyms: sink, fall, descend, drop, plummet
  • Sentences:
    1. The magician seemed to levitate a table.
    2. In folk tales, saints were said to levitate while praying.
  • 🔁 Asked again in 2025.

3. NICETY

✅

Answer: Subtlety / fine detail

  • Urdu: باریکی، نزاکت، لطافت
  • Meaning (n.): a fine or subtle detail; precision
  • Synonyms: subtlety, nuance, refinement, detail, delicacy, precision
  • Antonyms: crudeness, generality, roughness, imprecision
  • Sentences:
    1. He never bothered with the niceties of diplomatic protocol.
    2. Legal niceties delayed the verdict.

4. OCCULT

✅

Answer: Mysterious / secret

  • Urdu: پراسرار، مخفی، جادو ٹونے سے متعلق
  • Meaning (adj./n.): supernatural or mystical; hidden from view
  • Synonyms: supernatural, esoteric, hidden, arcane, mystical, secret
  • Antonyms: open, known, natural, obvious, revealed
  • Sentences:
    1. The old palace was rumoured to host occult rituals.
    2. He took an interest in occult sciences.

5. PERORATION

✅

Answer: Conclusion (of a speech)

  • Urdu: تقریر کا اختتامی حصہ، خطبے کا انجام
  • Meaning (n.): the concluding part of a speech, meant to inspire the audience
  • Synonyms: conclusion, summing-up, closing, finale, ending, summation
  • Antonyms: introduction, preamble, exordium, opening, preface
  • Sentences:
    1. The peroration of Jinnah's 11 August 1947 speech is still quoted today.
    2. His peroration brought the audience to its feet.

6. TRICE

✅

Answer: Instant / moment

  • Urdu: پل بھر، آناً فاناً
  • Meaning (n.): a moment ("in a trice" = very quickly)
  • Synonyms: instant, jiffy, flash, twinkling, second, moment
  • Antonyms: age, eternity, long time
  • Sentences:
    1. The waiter cleared the table in a trice.
    2. News spreads in a trice on social media.

7. WANTON

✅

Answer: Malicious / gratuitous

  • Urdu: بلاوجہ، بے رحمانہ، بے لگام
  • Meaning (adj.): deliberate and unprovoked (of cruelty or violence); sexually immodest (dated)
  • Synonyms: deliberate, gratuitous, malicious, senseless, wilful, reckless
  • Antonyms: justified, provoked, restrained, careful, reasonable
  • Sentences:
    1. The wanton destruction of public property shocked the city.
    2. It was a wanton waste of resources.

8. WILT

✅

Answer: Droop / weaken

  • Urdu: مرجھانا، کمزور پڑنا
  • Meaning (v.): (of a plant) to become limp; (of a person) to lose energy
  • Synonyms: droop, wither, sag, flag, fade, shrivel
  • Antonyms: flourish, revive, thrive, bloom, perk up
  • Sentences:
    1. The crops wilted in the June heat.
    2. The players began to wilt in the second half.

9. VENIAL

✅

Answer: Pardonable / minor

  • Urdu: قابلِ معافی، معمولی (غلطی)
  • Meaning (adj.): (of a fault) slight and pardonable
  • Synonyms: forgivable, excusable, pardonable, trivial, minor, slight
  • Antonyms: mortal, unforgivable, grave, serious, heinous
  • Sentences:
    1. A spelling slip is a venial error; plagiarism is not.
    2. The judge treated his offence as venial.
  • Trap: don't confuse it with venal (open to bribery).

10. NUMMARY

✅

Answer: Monetary

  • Urdu: سکوں یا روپے پیسے سے متعلق
  • Meaning (adj.): relating to coins or money
  • Synonyms: monetary, pecuniary, financial, fiscal, numismatic
  • Antonyms: non-monetary, in-kind
  • Sentences:
    1. The museum's nummary collection includes Mughal coins.
    2. The dispute was purely nummary.

(b) Antonyms

11. AWRY

✅

Answer: Straight / according to plan

  • Urdu: ٹیڑھا، بگڑا ہوا، غلط سمت میں
  • Meaning (adj./adv.): away from the expected course; askew
  • Synonyms: amiss, wrong, crooked, askew, astray, off course
  • Antonyms: straight, aligned, as planned, right, even
  • Sentences:
    1. The rescue plan went awry because of bad weather.
    2. His tie was awry after the long journey.

12. CRASS

✅

Answer: Refined / sensitive (keys: astute)

  • Urdu: بھونڈا، کند ذہن، بے حس
  • Meaning (adj.): lacking sensitivity, refinement or intelligence
  • Synonyms: insensitive, boorish, obtuse, gross, stupid, vulgar
  • Antonyms: refined, sensitive, astute, intelligent, tactful
  • Sentences:
    1. It was crass to ask about his salary at the funeral.
    2. The ad was criticised as crass commercialism.

13. CONDIGN

✅

Answer: Undeserved / unwarranted

  • Urdu: مناسب، حسبِ حال (سزا)
  • Meaning (adj.): (of punishment) fitting and deserved
  • Synonyms: deserved, fitting, merited, just, appropriate, due
  • Antonyms: undeserved, unjustified, unwarranted, unfair, excessive
  • Sentences:
    1. The corrupt officer received condign punishment.
    2. Citizens demand condign action against hoarders.

14. DASTARD

✅

Answer: Brave person / hero

  • Urdu: بزدل، کمینہ
  • Meaning (n.): (archaic) a despicable coward
  • Synonyms: coward, craven, recreant, poltroon, chicken
  • Antonyms: hero, brave person, champion, daredevil
  • Sentences:
    1. Only a dastard attacks unarmed civilians.
    2. The dastardly attack on the school was condemned.
  • Trap: "recreant" means coward, so it is a synonym.

15. IMPEDE

✅

Answer: Promote / further

  • Urdu: رکاوٹ ڈالنا، روکنا
  • Meaning (v.): to delay or prevent by obstructing
  • Synonyms: hinder, obstruct, hamper, block, delay, restrict
  • Antonyms: promote, advance, facilitate, further, assist
  • Sentences:
    1. Red tape impedes foreign investment.
    2. Fallen trees impeded the rescue teams.

16. BUXOM

✅

Answer: Slender / thin

  • Urdu: فربہ، بھرے جسم والی
  • Meaning (adj.): (of a woman) plump and full-figured; originally "healthy, lively"
  • Synonyms: plump, full-figured, voluptuous, curvaceous, well-rounded
  • Antonyms: slender, thin, slight, slim, skinny
  • Sentences:
    1. The painter preferred buxom, rosy-cheeked models.
    2. Old ads showed buxom women as a sign of health.

17. EXTOL

✅

Answer: Criticise / condemn

  • Urdu: بہت تعریف کرنا، مدح سرائی کرنا
  • Meaning (v.): to praise enthusiastically
  • Synonyms: praise, laud, acclaim, eulogise, glorify, celebrate
  • Antonyms: criticise, condemn, disparage, denigrate, belittle
  • Sentences:
    1. The poet extolled the beauty of the Hunza valley.
    2. Doctors extol the benefits of walking.

18. SEEDY

✅

Answer: Respectable / high-class

  • Urdu: گھٹیا، بدنام، خستہ
  • Meaning (adj.): sordid and disreputable; shabby
  • Synonyms: sleazy, squalid, shabby, disreputable, run-down, sordid
  • Antonyms: respectable, upmarket, reputable, smart, classy
  • Sentences:
    1. The deal was struck in a seedy hotel near the station.
    2. The area has lost its seedy image after renovation.

19. TORTUOUS

✅

Answer: Straightforward / direct

  • Urdu: پیچ دار، گھماؤ دار، پیچیدہ
  • Meaning (adj.): full of twists and turns; excessively complex
  • Synonyms: winding, convoluted, circuitous, meandering, twisting, complicated
  • Antonyms: straight, direct, straightforward, simple, uncomplicated
  • Sentences:
    1. The Karakoram Highway follows a tortuous route through the mountains.
    2. The negotiations were long and tortuous.
  • Trap: don't confuse it with torturous (causing torture).

20. VOCIFEROUS

✅

Answer: Quiet / silent

  • Urdu: شور مچانے والا، بلند آہنگ، پرزور
  • Meaning (adj.): expressing opinions loudly and forcefully
  • Synonyms: vehement, clamorous, outspoken, strident, loud, noisy
  • Antonyms: quiet, silent, restrained, subdued, muted
  • Sentences:
    1. Traders were vociferous in their opposition to the new tax.
    2. Vociferous fans cheered every boundary.
  • 🔁 Asked as a synonym in 2016.

Sources: CSS Exam Desk list · JWT 2017 solved paper (Scribd)