Question

Choose the word that gives the antonym of the word italicized.
This is a trivial matter.
a. Difficult
b. Easy
c. Small
d. Important

Answer 1

Hint: Antonyms are opposite words. In this case, we must find a word whose meaning is completely different than that of ‘trivial’.

Complete step-by-step answer:

 As we have seen before, antonyms are also known as opposite words. Anything that is opposite differs in its meaning completely from the given word. If the word is ugly, its opposite would be a word that implies to be pleasing to the senses aesthetically i.e., beautiful. Similarly, if the word is panic, its opposite would be a word that means not showing strong emotions i.e. calm.
In the given question, the word is ‘trivial’. Trivial is an adjective that is derived from the Latin word ‘trivium’. Trivial means to be of little value or insignificant. Now, that we know what this word means, we must find a word whose meaning is the opposite of ‘trivial’. Logically, this means that we have to find a word whose meaning is to be significant or of foremost priority. Out of all the given options, the word important, which means to be of great significance or value, is the correct match of this opposite meaning. Hence, option ‘d’ is the correct answer.

Note: Let us consider the problematic areas of this question. If a student has a vague idea of the meanings of the options, he/she may choose one of the other options as the answer. Hence, it is important that the students know the meanings of all the words listed in their lessons and that they learn their respective synonyms and antonyms.