English · Micro-test

Synonyms and Antonyms

CLAT asks for the meaning of a word as it is used in a passage, not from a list. These ten questions put each word in a sentence, which is how the paper will show it to you.

10 questions · 5 minutes · instant scoring

What this topic actually tests

A synonym question asks which option could replace the word in its sentence without changing what the sentence says. An antonym question asks for the option that would reverse it. In both, the sentence is evidence. Before looking at the options, cover the word and ask what the sentence needs there: 'The court considered factors that ___ the offence' followed by a lighter sentence tells you the word means to make less serious, even if you have never seen 'mitigate'. Then check the options against that sense. Three habits help. First, read the question stem again before marking: the most common wrong answer to an antonym question is a correct synonym, placed among the options for exactly that reason. Second, use what the word is built from. 'Bene-' means well and 'male-' means badly, so benevolent and malevolent are opposites; 'omni-' means all; 'verb-' has to do with words. Third, mind register and degree. 'Amend' and 'abrogate' both change a law, but to amend is to alter it and to abrogate is to do away with it, and only one of them is a synonym for 'repeal'. Building vocabulary for this is slow work done daily: read an editorial, note the words you could not define, and write each in a sentence of your own.

The common trap on this topic

The first trap is answering the wrong question: picking a synonym when the antonym was asked for. The second is choosing a word that belongs to the same topic without sharing the meaning, such as 'pardon' for 'acquit'; a pardon follows a conviction, while an acquittal is a finding of not guilty. The third is ignoring the sentence and answering from the word's most common sense, when the passage is using a secondary one. The sentence, not memory, decides.

Synonyms and Antonyms: answers and explanations

Choose the word closest in meaning to 'candid' as used in: The witness gave a candid account of what she had seen, including the parts that did not help her own case.
Answer: A. Frank
Candid means open and honest, which the sentence confirms: she included what did not help her. Frank is the synonym. Guarded is close to the opposite.
Choose the word opposite in meaning to 'ephemeral' as used in: Public outrage over the report proved ephemeral; within a week the news cycle had moved on.
Answer: D. Enduring
Ephemeral means lasting a very short time. Its opposite is enduring. Fleeting is a synonym, placed there for those who forget that the antonym was asked for.
Choose the word closest in meaning to 'mitigate' as used in: The court took into account the accused's age and lack of previous convictions as factors that mitigate the offence.
Answer: D. Lessen
To mitigate is to make less severe. Aggravate is the opposite, and the pair 'mitigating and aggravating factors' is standard in sentencing.
Choose the word opposite in meaning to 'benevolent' as used in: The trust was founded by a benevolent industrialist who funded schools across the district.
Answer: C. Malevolent
Benevolent means wishing others well; malevolent means wishing them harm. The prefixes bene- (well) and male- (badly) mark the opposition. Generous is a synonym; indifferent is the absence of feeling, not its opposite.
Choose the word closest in meaning to 'ambiguous' as used in: The clause was so ambiguous that each party read it as supporting its own position.
Answer: D. Equivocal
Ambiguous means open to more than one meaning, as the sentence shows. Equivocal has the same sense. Explicit is the opposite.
Choose the word opposite in meaning to 'acquit' as used in: For want of evidence, the trial court had no choice but to acquit the accused.
Answer: B. Convict
To acquit is to find not guilty; to convict is to find guilty. A pardon is granted after conviction and is a different act, not an opposite.
Choose the word closest in meaning to 'pragmatic' as used in: The committee took a pragmatic view, recommending what could be done within the budget in place of what would be ideal.
Answer: C. Practical
Pragmatic means concerned with what works in practice. The sentence contrasts it with the ideal, which rules out idealistic. Dogmatic, holding to fixed principles, is also a contrast.
Choose the word opposite in meaning to 'verbose' as used in: The judge criticised the verbose petition, which ran to two hundred pages where twenty would have done.
Answer: B. Concise
Verbose means using more words than needed. Concise is the opposite. Wordy is a synonym.
Choose the word closest in meaning to 'abrogate' as used in: The new statute will abrogate the 1950 law in its entirety.
Answer: D. Repeal
To abrogate a law is to abolish it formally, which is to repeal it. To amend is only to alter it; 'in its entirety' shows that the law is being done away with.
Choose the word opposite in meaning to 'transparent' as used in: The tender process was transparent: every bid and every score was published.
Answer: C. Opaque
Transparent here means open to scrutiny. Opaque, not able to be seen into, is the opposite. Open is a synonym; fair is a different quality, since a process can be published and still unfair.

FAQ

Does CLAT ask direct synonym and antonym questions?

Vocabulary in CLAT is tested in context: a question asks what a word or phrase means as used in the passage. Stand-alone synonym and antonym questions belong to tests with a separate vocabulary component; the skill is the same.

How should I prepare vocabulary for CLAT?

Read one good editorial a day, list the words you cannot define, and write your own sentence for each. Revise the list weekly. Words learned in sentences are remembered; words learned from lists mostly are not.

What if I do not know the word at all?

Use the sentence. Decide whether the word is doing something positive or negative there, eliminate options with the wrong charge, and look at the word's parts (bene-, mal-, omni-, in-) for a further clue.

Keep practising

Ready to see the full picture?

This micro-test covers one topic. The full CLAT diagnostic covers all five sections in 30 minutes and gives you a section-wise breakdown of where you actually stand.

Take the Full Diagnostic →