Question

Choose the word/ phrase which is opposite in meaning to the italicized word/phrase in the sentence.
I thought about her a lot during the following months.
A. Receding
B. Preceding
C. Proceeding
D. Succeeding

Answer 1

Hint: Antonyms are the words that are opposite in meaning to another. The root words for the word ‘antonym’ are the words ‘anti’ meaning ‘against’ or ‘opposite’ and ‘onym’ meaning name. For instance: the antonym of ‘hot’ is ‘cold’.

Complete answer:
The meaning of word Following is to something that follows or comes next. So, as per the question we must find the word which is opposite in meaning to the word Following.

Option A) Receding– This option is correct because word Receding means refers to moving back or further away from a previous position. This is not opposite to the meaning of Following. Hence, it is an incorrect option.

Option B) Preceding– This is the right option because Preceding means coming before something in order, position, or time. It is opposite to the meaning of Following. Thus, option B is the right answer.

Option C) Proceeding – This option is not correct because Proceeding means begin a course of action, move forward. This is not opposite to the meaning of Following. Hence, it is an incorrect option.

Option D) Succeeding – This option is not correct because Succeeding means refers to coming after something in time. Thus, option D is not the appropriate opposite of the given word. The meaning of this word is not the opposite of the given word.

Hence the correct answer is option ‘B’.

Note:Antonyms are the words that are opposite to each other i.e. antonym of Following is Preceding, and synonyms are the words that are similar in meaning. So, the synonym of Following is backing. Thus, Option B is the most appropriate answer as compared to the other options as they do not have the opposite meaning to the given word.