Question

The Chief Minister was given a warm welcome at the onset of the function.
Choose the word which is closest to the opposite in meaning to the italicized word:
A) hindrance
B) commencement
C) finale
D) middle

Answer 1

Hint: Read the given sentence and decipher what it means, this will give you an idea of what the italicized word means. Now, go through the options and recall what they mean. Choose the one which is the opposite or closest to meaning the opposite of the italicized word. We need to keep in mind that the opposite in meaning word used is grammatically correct and of correct tense.

Complete answer:
The sentence given has a particular meaning. We need to make sure to substitute the italicized word “onset” with the word that would give the sentence the opposite meaning. This means we have to substitute the italicized word with its antonyms. Antonyms are the words that are opposite in meaning to the word. “Onset” means the beginning or start of something. It is used to define the first initial stage of some event or process happening. E.g.: All the misunderstandings might onset a cold war between them. So we need to find the antonym of onset that would fit in the sentence to give it a completely opposite meaning. Now let us analyse all the given options:

Option A) hindrance – is the incorrect answer because it means “something that provides resistance causing delay”. The statement “The Chief Minister was given a warm welcome at the hindrance of the function” is grammatically incorrect because the word doesn’t make any sense with the statement. Here the Chief Minister is given a warm welcome which is positive and following this if we put hindrance in the statement, it becomes incorrect. Therefore, hindrance is the incorrect answer.

Option B) commencement – is the incorrect answer because although it means the same as onset i.e. the start of something, but we have to put the antonym of the italicized word onset. Onset and commencement are similar in meaning. Therefore, “commencement” is an incorrect option.

Option C) finale – is the correct answer because it means the last stage or last part of any event. “finale” is totally opposite in meaning with “onset”. Therefore, the finale is the correct answer.

Option D) middle – is the incorrect answer because it means the central portion or part of something. It is the position between the starting and ending of something. E.g.: In the middle of his speech, he got distracted a little bit. Therefore, “middle” is an incorrect option because the statement will have incorrect meaning.

Hence the correct answer is option ‘C’.


Note: Synonyms are the words that have the same meaning to the word. Several synonyms of onset are start, beginning, opening, etc. Several antonyms of onset are retreat, withdrawal, end, etc. “finale” is the closing or termination point of something while “onset” is the beginning of something.