Question

Choose the word/phrase which is opposite in meaning to the italicized word/phrase in the sentence.
Hearing the news, he jumped up in ecstasy .
A) Misery
B) Beatitude
C) Exaltation
D) Rapture

Answer 1

Hint:Antonyms are the words that are opposite in meaning to another. The root words for the word 'antonym' are the words 'anti' meaning 'against' or 'opposite' and 'onym' meaning 'name’. For instance: the antonym of ‘hot’ is ‘cold’.

Complete answer:
The meaning of the word ecstasy is ‘an overwhelming feeling of great happiness or joyful excitement or rapture or bliss’. So, as per the question we must find the word which is opposite in meaning to the word ecstasy.
Option A) Misery - is the correct answer because the meaning of opaque is ‘suffering or discomfort’ and this is the antonym of the word ecstasy as they have different meaning or they are opposite in meaning to each other. Thus, this is the correct answer.
Option B) Beatitude - is an incorrect answer because the meaning of beatitude is ‘supreme blessedness or bliss or grace’ and this is not antonym of the word ecstasy. Thus, this is an incorrect answer.
Option C) Exaltation - is an incorrect answer because the meaning of exaltation is ‘a feeling or state of extreme happiness or joy or rapture’ and this is not antonym of the word ecstasy. Thus, this is an incorrect answer.
Option D) Rapture - is an incorrect answer because the meaning of rapture is ‘a feeling of intense pleasure or joy or bliss’ and this is not antonym of the word ecstasy. Thus, this is an incorrect answer.

Hence, the correct answer is Option ‘ A’.

Note: Antonyms are the words that are opposite to each other i.e. antonyms of ecstasy is misery and synonyms are the words that are similar in meaning. So, options other than Option A is the synonym of the word ecstasy i.e. Option B, C and D are the synonym words. Synonyms of ecstasy are rapture, exaltation and beatitude. Thus, Option A is the most appropriate answer as compared to the other options because in question it is asked to give the opposite meaning.