Question

“Dreary" in the present context means _______.
A) Humorous
B) Lively
C) Provocative
D) Uninteresting

Answer 1

Hint: Here in the given question we have to find out the meaning of the word ‘Dreary’.For that let us find out the meaning of the word ‘Dreary’. An example of the usage of the word ‘dreary’ is, He spent another dreary day at work. In the given options we can see that options a, b and c have a positive meaning associated with them.

Complete answer:
The word ‘dreary’ refers to something that is boring, makes one feel sad, monotonous, dull, unattractive, etc.
Option A – Humorous – It means amusing or funny. An example of its usage can be, “We wrote humorous stories about our childhood for the school’s children magazine.” Here the Humorous is opposite to the given word thus the answer is incorrect.
Option B – Lively – It means full of energy and enthusiasm, interesting and exciting. An example of its usage can be, “It is very tiring to manage a class full of lively children.” Thus it is the incorrect answer as it is not similar to the given word.
Option C – Provocative – It means to cause someone to think about something interesting. An example of its usage can be, “The mayor took a detailed and provocative look at the problems of the city.” Hence this is the incorrect answer.
Option D – Uninteresting – It means to not be interesting, to be boring, monotonous. An example of its usage can be, “One of the most anticipated novels of the year turned out to be the most uninteresting one.” The meaning of uninteresting is the closest to the meaning of dreary.

Thus, the correct answer is Option (D) Uninteresting.

Note:
- When we need to look for the meaning of words, we use a book or a device known as the Dictionary.
- Similarly, when we need to look for other words which have the same meaning or synonyms, we use a Thesaurus.
- Another useful book is the Etymological Dictionary which helps us learn about the history, origins and developments of every word.