Question

Choose the alternative which best expresses the meaning of the word printed in bold in the sentence.
The army had laid out an entire web of secret agents to detect the surreptitious activities of the enemy.
A) Hostile
B) Secret
C) Intriguing
D) Foppish

Answer 1

Hint:Synonyms are the words that have the same or similar meaning and to avoid repetition synonyms are used. For example: the synonym of beautiful is pretty and adorable.

Complete answer:
We must find the meaning of surreptitious and the meaning of words that are given in the options. And both the words should have the same meaning or the exact sense.
The meaning of surreptitious is ‘kept secret, especially because it would not be approved of or stealthy’. And we must find the correct answer from the options given whose meaning is the same as surreptitious.
Option A) Hostile - is an incorrect answer because the meaning of hostile is ‘showing or feeling opposition or dislike; unfriendly or aggressive’ and this is not the synonym of surreptitious because their meanings are not the same. Thus, this is an incorrect answer.

Option B) Secret - is the correct answer because the meaning of secret is ‘not known or seen or not meant to be known or seen by others or confidential or top secret’ and this is the synonym of the word surreptitious and they can be used in place of each other because they have similar meaning. Thus, this is the correct answer.

Option C) Intriguing - is an incorrect answer because the meaning of intriguing is ‘arousing one's curiosity or interest; fascinating’ and this is not the synonym of surreptitious because their meanings are not same. Thus, this is an incorrect answer.

Option D) Foppish - is an incorrect answer because the meaning of foppish is ‘concerned with one's clothes and appearance in an affected and excessive way or dressy’ and this is not the synonym of surreptitious because their meanings are not same. Thus, this is an incorrect answer.

Hence, the correct answer is Option ‘B’.

Note:Synonyms are the words that have the same or similar meaning i.e. synonyms of surreptitious are secret, and antonyms are the words that are opposite in meaning and the antonym of surreptitious is open. Thus, Option B is the correct answer as the question is all about telling the same or similar meaning of the word surreptitious and other options are wrong.