Question

Choose the word that gives the antonym of the word italicized :
 She used to disparage her neighbor every now and then.
a)Denigrate
b)Belittle
c)Praise
d)Please

Answer 1

Hint: Disparage means to depreciate or downgrade something, now one needs to know the meanings of the words given in the options.

Complete step-by-step answer:
In the given sentence, the italicized word “disparage” means to depreciate or belittle someone or something. Antonym means a word that is opposite in meaning to the given word. Now one must check which one of options means the opposite of the word “disparage”.

Option a, “denigrate” means to diminish, decry or depreciate, which is similar in meaning to the given word, hence it is an incorrect option.

 Option b, “belittle”, again, means to depreciate or degrade, it is synonymous to the given word, hence is also incorrect. Option c, “praise” means to glorify, worship or honour, which is opposite in meaning as the given word, hence is an antonym, it is the correct option.

Option d, “please”, means nice or pleasant, which is irrelevant to the given word and context. Hence option d is an incorrect option.


Note: the tricky part of this question can be to differentiate between the words “please” and “praise”, because they both have positive meanings and can be confusing, but “praise” is much closer to the opposite of the given word.