Question

Choose the word that gives the antonym of the word italicized-
She was sceptical about the safety of the new drug.
a) Sanguine
b) Hopeful
c) Certain
d) Doubtful

Answer 1

Hint:The dictionary meaning of the word sceptical is “not easily convinced or having doubts or reservations”. For example the public were deeply sceptical about some of the proposals.

Complete answer:
Sceptical is an adjective. Someone who is sceptical is not convinced that something is true; doubtful; tending to mistrust people, ideas etc. in general. A sceptical person is a person who habitually doubts the authenticity of accepted beliefs; someone who doubts the existence of religions.
Now, let us examine all the given options to find out the correct answer:
Option ‘a’ is Sanguine. It is an adjective which means to be optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad or difficult situation. For example: He is sanguine about the prospects of the global economy.
Option ‘b’ is Hopeful. It is an adjective which means feeling or inspiring optimism about a future event. For example He is a hopeful person.
Option ‘c’ is Certain. It is an adjective which means – able to be formally relied on to happen or be the case. For example it’s certain that more changes are about to happen.
Option ‘d’ is Doubtful. It is an adjective which means feeling uncertain about some. It is an antonym of certain. For example: He looked doubtful, but gave a nod.
As we have analysed all the given options, we can easily figure out the correct answer. Here, the word that gives the antonym of the word sceptical is “certain”. So, the correct answer is “Option a”.

Note:
Don’t get confused between certain and hopeful. Hopeful is feeling optimistic about something which is not related to the given what sceptical.