Question

Choose the word/phrase which is opposite in meaning to the bold word/phrase in the sentence.
William Wordsworth is celebrated for his lucid style.
a. Notorious
b. Unpopular
c. Unknown
d. Renowned
e. Undistinguished

Answer 1

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

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 adult, its opposite would be a word that implies a young human i.e., child. Similarly, if the word is aggressive, its opposite would be a word that implies a submissive and a yielding attitude i.e. passive.
In the given question, the word is ‘celebrated’. Celebrated is an adjective. If something is celebrated, it is renowned or well-known. It is talked about a lot. Now, that we know what the word means, we must find a word whose meaning is the opposite of ‘celebrated’. Logically, this means that we have to find a word whose meaning is obscure or unrenowned. Out of all the given options, the word unknown, which implies that something is obscure, is the correct match of this opposite meaning. Hence, option ‘c’ is the correct answer.

Note: Let us consider the problematic areas of this question. Students may mistake option ‘b’ unpopular as the correct answer as it implies something that isn’t liked by the public. However, unpopular things can also be quite renowned and famous. This would make the option ‘b’ the wrong answer. Unless it is mentioned explicitly, the question will only have one right answer.