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CSS 2018 — Synonyms & Antonyms (Solved)

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Option sets for 2018 were never published, so each question shows the word and the keyed answer. A few answers that circulate online are wrong (for example "Unfazed → calm"); they are corrected with notes.

(a) Synonyms

1. SNIPE

✅

Answer: Criticise / carp

  • Urdu: طعنہ زنی کرنا، چھپ کر وار کرنا
  • Meaning (v.): to make a sly or petty verbal attack; to shoot from a hidden position
  • Synonyms: criticise, carp, jibe, take potshots, gibe, find fault
  • Antonyms: praise, compliment, commend, support
  • Sentences:
    1. Opposition leaders sniped at the budget from the sidelines.
    2. Columnists kept sniping at the new coach.

2. PUMMEL

✅

Answer: Pound / beat

  • Urdu: مکے برسانا، پیٹنا
  • Meaning (v.): to strike repeatedly, especially with the fists
  • Synonyms: pound, batter, thump, beat, hammer, punch
  • Antonyms: caress, stroke, pat, protect
  • Sentences:
    1. Heavy rain pummelled the city all night.
    2. The boxer pummelled his opponent in the final round.

3. INSUPERABLE

✅

Answer: Insurmountable

  • Urdu: ناقابلِ عبور، ناقابلِ تسخیر
  • Meaning (adj.): impossible to overcome
  • Synonyms: insurmountable, unconquerable, overwhelming, invincible, impassable
  • Antonyms: surmountable, manageable, easy, conquerable, solvable
  • Sentences:
    1. The team faced insuperable odds but kept fighting.
    2. Lack of funds proved an insuperable obstacle.

4. CRUDE

✅

Answer: Unrefined / raw

  • Urdu: خام، بھدا، غیر مہذب
  • Meaning (adj.): in a natural or raw state; rough; offensively coarse
  • Synonyms: raw, unrefined, rough, primitive, coarse, vulgar
  • Antonyms: refined, processed, polished, sophisticated, elegant
  • Sentences:
    1. Pakistan imports most of its crude oil.
    2. He made a crude joke at the dinner table.

5. CAGEY

✅

Answer: Secretive / wary (some keys also accept "shrewd")

  • Urdu: محتاط، بات چھپانے والا، گول مول
  • Meaning (adj.): reluctant to give information; cautious
  • Synonyms: guarded, evasive, wary, secretive, cautious, non-committal
  • Antonyms: open, frank, forthcoming, candid, communicative
  • Sentences:
    1. The official was cagey about the date of the elections.
    2. She was cagey when asked about her salary.

6. BALEFUL

✅

Answer: Menacing / harmful

  • Urdu: منحوس، مہلک، دھمکی آمیز
  • Meaning (adj.): threatening harm; having a harmful effect
  • Synonyms: menacing, malevolent, sinister, pernicious, hostile, deadly
  • Antonyms: benign, friendly, beneficial, kindly, harmless
  • Sentences:
    1. The guard dog gave us a baleful stare.
    2. Smog has a baleful effect on children's lungs.
  • Correction: some lists give nouns (ruin, calamity) as synonyms, but baleful is an adjective.

7. LAX

✅

Answer: Lenient / careless

  • Urdu: ڈھیلا، لاپروا، نرم
  • Meaning (adj.): not sufficiently strict, severe or careful
  • Synonyms: slack, careless, lenient, negligent, loose, remiss
  • Antonyms: strict, rigorous, stringent, careful, firm
  • Sentences:
    1. Lax security allowed the intruder in.
    2. Lax enforcement makes traffic laws meaningless.

8. MESH

✅

Answer: Net / entangle

  • Urdu: جالی، جال؛ آپس میں فٹ ہونا
  • Meaning (n./v.): material of interlaced strands; to fit together or become entangled
  • Synonyms: net, web, network, lattice; interlock, dovetail
  • Antonyms: clash, separate, disentangle, conflict
  • Sentences:
    1. A wire mesh keeps mosquitoes out.
    2. Their working styles meshed well from the first week.

9. PLACID

✅

Answer: Tranquil / calm

  • Urdu: پرسکون، ٹھہرا ہوا، دھیما
  • Meaning (adj.): not easily upset or excited; calm and peaceful
  • Synonyms: calm, serene, tranquil, equable, unruffled, peaceful
  • Antonyms: excitable, agitated, stormy, turbulent, irascible
  • Sentences:
    1. The placid waters of Saiful Muluk reflect the peaks.
    2. She has a placid temperament.

10. ZEALOT

✅

Answer: Fanatic

  • Urdu: متعصب، جنونی، شدت پسند
  • Meaning (n.): a person who is fanatical in pursuit of religious, political or other ideals
  • Synonyms: fanatic, extremist, bigot, radical, militant, diehard
  • Antonyms: moderate, sceptic, liberal, neutral
  • Sentences:
    1. Zealots on both sides wrecked the peace talks.
    2. He was a zealot for fitness and never missed a workout.

(b) Antonyms

11. INCEPTION

✅

Answer: End / conclusion

  • Urdu: آغاز، ابتدا
  • Meaning (n.): the beginning of something
  • Synonyms: start, outset, dawn, origin, commencement, genesis
  • Antonyms: end, conclusion, termination, finish, close
  • Sentences:
    1. The project was flawed from its inception.
    2. Since its inception, NADRA has digitised millions of records.
  • 🔁 Asked as a synonym in 2020.

12. PICKET

✅

Answer: Strikebreaker / supporter of management

  • Urdu: دھرنا دینے والا، احتجاجی پہرہ
  • Meaning (n./v.): a person or group standing outside a workplace to protest or to dissuade others from entering
  • Synonyms: protester, demonstrator, striker, picketer
  • Antonyms: strikebreaker ("scab"), conformist, loyal worker
  • Sentences:
    1. Doctors picketed the hospital gates over unpaid salaries.
    2. Pickets blocked the factory entrance.

13. DISGORGE

✅

Answer: Retain / swallow

  • Urdu: اگلنا، خارج کرنا، (ناجائز مال) واپس کرنا
  • Meaning (v.): to discharge or pour out; to give up something wrongfully held
  • Synonyms: discharge, expel, spew, surrender, vomit, eject
  • Antonyms: retain, swallow, absorb, keep, ingest
  • Sentences:
    1. The court ordered him to disgorge the illegal profits.
    2. The buses disgorged passengers at the terminal.

14. LAPSE

✅

Answer: Improve / continue

  • Urdu: چوک، کوتاہی؛ ختم ہو جانا
  • Meaning (n./v.): a temporary failure; to decline or expire
  • Synonyms: slip, error, oversight; decline, expire, deteriorate
  • Antonyms: improvement, continuation; persist, renew, progress
  • Sentences:
    1. A security lapse let the documents leak.
    2. His licence lapsed because he forgot to renew it.

15. HERESY

✅

Answer: Orthodoxy

  • Urdu: بدعت، الحاد، مسلمہ عقیدے سے انحراف
  • Meaning (n.): a belief contrary to orthodox doctrine
  • Synonyms: dissent, heterodoxy, apostasy, unorthodoxy, nonconformity
  • Antonyms: orthodoxy, conformity, convention, dogma, tradition
  • Sentences:
    1. Questioning the five-year plan was once treated as heresy.
    2. Galileo was tried for heresy.

16. UNFAZED

✅

Answer: Perturbed / flustered

  • Urdu: بے پروا، پرسکون، نہ گھبرانے والا
  • Meaning (adj.): not disconcerted or disturbed
  • Synonyms: unperturbed, composed, unruffled, calm, cool, undaunted
  • Antonyms: perturbed, flustered, rattled, disconcerted, anxious
  • Sentences:
    1. The batsman stayed unfazed by the bouncers.
    2. She was unfazed by the tough interview panel.
  • Correction: some lists give "calm" as the antonym, but calm is a synonym.

17. UNDERLING

✅

Answer: Boss / superior

  • Urdu: ماتحت، چھوٹا اہلکار
  • Meaning (n.): a person lower in status or rank (usually disparaging)
  • Synonyms: subordinate, minion, flunkey, lackey, junior, menial
  • Antonyms: boss, superior, chief, master, leader
  • Sentences:
    1. The minister blamed his underlings for the delay.
    2. He treated his underlings with contempt.

18. SLACK

✅

Answer: Taut / diligent

  • Urdu: ڈھیلا، سست، لاپروا
  • Meaning (adj.): not taut; careless or lazy
  • Synonyms: loose, lax, negligent, idle, sluggish, remiss
  • Antonyms: taut, tight; diligent, rigorous, busy
  • Sentences:
    1. Slack supervision led to the factory fire.
    2. The rope went slack when he let go.

19. THWART

✅

Answer: Assist / support

  • Urdu: ناکام بنانا، روکنا
  • Meaning (v.): to prevent someone from accomplishing something
  • Synonyms: foil, frustrate, obstruct, block, hinder, stymie
  • Antonyms: assist, facilitate, support, help, enable
  • Sentences:
    1. Police thwarted a smuggling attempt at the port.
    2. Bad weather thwarted the rescue effort.

20. TIFF

✅

Answer: Agreement / harmony

  • Urdu: معمولی جھگڑا، نوک جھونک
  • Meaning (n.): a petty quarrel
  • Synonyms: squabble, spat, quarrel, row, disagreement, argument
  • Antonyms: agreement, accord, harmony, reconciliation, peace
  • Sentences:
    1. The two coalition partners had a tiff over ministries.
    2. The couple's tiff was over by dinner.

Source: CSS Exam Desk year-wise list