Question

Choose the alternative which best expresses the meaning of the word printed in italic bold in the sentence.
The rapacious plunderers did not spare even the people living in slums.
A. warlike
B. barbarous
C. avaricious
D. nomadic

Answer 1

Hint: Synonyms are words or phrases that have the exact same meaning even when they are used differently and at different places. Example: Synonym of beautiful is alluring, gracious etc.

Complete answer:
Synonyms are words that can alternatively be used in place of the given word. The word rapacious is used to describe a person or organization or an entity that is aggressively greedy, meaning that they are greedy beyond reason. Example of usage of the word “rapacious” in a sentence is as follows- We live in a world where rapacious landlords take full advantage of innocent tenants.

In place of rapacious we can use the following words- Voracious, ravenous, and gluttonous. All these words imply greed but the word rapacious suggests aggressive greed that is full of selfish acquisitiveness. The word rapacious suggests greed that has no bounds and no moral considerations.

Now let us look into the given options:
A) The word warlike means something related to war which does not fit in the above sentence. Hence, this is incorrect.

B) The word barbarous gives the idea of a person or organization showing the desire to inflict pain or suffering but not necessarily out of greed. Since, rapacious means aggressive greed, the word barbarous cannot be used as the replacement of rapacious in the above sentence. Therefore, this is also incorrect.

C) The word avaricious can be used in place of rapacious but it is not commonly used as a synonym for rapacious, as it also means greed but not matching the level of rapacious greed. The main difference between avaricious and rapacious is that, rapacious means to be voracious not showing any restrain or empathy, but avaricious means the desire to accumulate property and to score gains. Both avaricious and rapacious can be used as adjectives, as they both can be used to describe a quality of the subject.

D) The word nomadic is not related to greed at all, it is used for people that do not have a permanent house and travel around. Hence, this word also cannot be used as a replacement in the above sentence. Hence, this is also incorrect.

In the given sentence we can replace the word rapacious with avaricious, as both of them mean greed. And the ability to use power to satisfy that greed.

Therefore, the correct answer is Option C.

Note:
i) When looking for synonyms, we have to keep in mind that the word may not have the exact same meaning but can be used in place of the word roughly.
ii) Adjectives are words that describe the subject.
iii) Both rapacious and avaricious are adjectives that can be used in place of one another, but not commonly to express greed.