Question

Choose the word which is closest to the opposite in meaning to the italicized word.
As long as he remained in the office, he maintained his hegemony.
a)Predominance
b)Poverty
c)Subordination
d)Chaos

Answer 1

Hint: Opposite means something that is completely different or contrary to the originally given thing. Be it a word or a person etc. so, here you need to find the word that has the closest possible opposite meaning of the word – hegemony.

Complete step-by-step answer:

Let’s try to understand what hegemony means – leadership or dominance by someone over another. For e.g. the principal enjoyed his hegemony over the staff of the school.
Now, we have looked at the meaning and the usage of the given word. So, let us now look at the given options to find our solution –
a)Predominance – means or indicates the state or condition of being greater in number or amount.
b)Poverty – means the state of being extremely poor or being inferior.
c)Subordinate – means someone who is lower in rank or position or the person who works under the author or leadership of someone.
d)Chaos – means or indicates complete disorder and confusion.
As you can understand from the given explanation the most appropriate or closest opposite of the word – hegemony (leadership or dominance) is subordinate (lower in a post or under someone else’s leadership).
This implies that the correct solution is given in option – c.

Note: Compare the meaning of each word with the meaning of the given or original word – hegemony. That way you will find the closest antonym (opposite) of the word.