Question

Choose the word that is opposite in meaning to the given word.
BANISH
A. Abandon
B. Admit
C. Intrude
D. Drop

Answer 1

Hint:Opposite words are called antonyms. They are usually in pairs and have contrasting meanings. Antonyms can be of three types, Complementary (e.g. boy-girl, push-pull), Rational (both words must exist to be each other’s antonyms. E.g. teacher-student) or Graded (showing comparison. E.g. hot-cold)

Complete answer:
The word “banish’ means to send a person out of a country or a place as a punishment. Let us verify the following options and see which one of them is opposite in meaning.

Option A) Abandon – is an incorrect answer. It means to leave a place or a person alone. For e.g. “The ship was beyond repair, so we had to abandon it.’ ‘Banish’ means to send someone away as a punishment. The two words are not opposites.

Option B) Admit – is the correct answer. It means allowing people to enter a place. For e.g. ‘Children below 5 were admitted into the book fair for free.’ This word is opposite in meaning to ‘Banish’.

Option C) Intrude – is an incorrect answer. It means entering into a place or a situation causing undesired effects. For e.g. ‘you don’t have to intrude into their personal matters.’ It is not the correct opposite of ‘Banish’ because a person is banished from a place, but a person can intrude into a situation.

Option D) Drop – is an incorrect answer. It means to abandon or discontinue something. For e.g. ‘We have to drop this plan as it is too dangerous.’

 Hence, the correct answers are Option ‘B’.

Note: ‘Abandon’ and ‘drop’ are words that are similar to ‘banish’ but are not synonyms of ‘banish’. ‘Abandon’ and ‘drop’ can be used for objects, person, situations etc. and also when used for a person, if not for a punishment. ‘Banish’ is used only for persons and only at times of punishment. More suitable synonyms for ‘banish’ would be, exile, expel, deport etc.