Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word:
The affluent lifestyles of contemporary politicians are in sharp contrast to the _________ ways of living of the freedom fighters.
a) austere
b) agnostic
c) stingy
d) extravagant
e) disciplined

Answer 1

Hint: An adjective is a word that expresses an attribute of something. An adjective is the word class that qualifies nouns.

Complete answer:
In the given question, we have to find out which of the options given to us is antonymous to ‘affluent’, as contrast is shown between the affluent lifestyle of politicians and the lifestyle of freedom fighters.
Let us thus analyze the options given to us in this question-
Option (a.), 'austere', is defined as ‘severely simple’.Therefore, option (a.) is correct as it is opposite in meaning to ‘affluent’ and thus presents a contrast in lifestyles.
Option (b.), ‘agnostic', is defined as ‘uncertain of all claims to knowledge’.Therefore, option (b.) is incorrect as it is not antonymous to ‘affluent’.
Option (c.), ‘stingy', is defined as ‘unwilling to spend (money, time, resources, etc.)’.
Therefore, option (c.) is incorrect as it is not antonymous to ‘affluent’.
Option (d.), ‘extravagant', is defined as ‘recklessly wasteful’.Therefore, option (d.) is incorrect as it is not antonymous to ‘affluent’.
Option (e.), ‘disciplined', is defined as ‘obeying the rules; trained mentally or physically by instruction or exercise’.Therefore, option (e.) is incorrect as it is not antonymous to ‘affluent’.

Note:
In this question, it will be helpful for the student to recall the concept of antonyms. An antonym is a word that expresses a meaning as opposed to the meaning of another word, in which case the two words are antonyms of each other.