Question

The ship was caught in the tempest and all but the captain were drowned.
Out of the given alternatives, choose the one which is closest in meaning to the italicized word in the sentence.
A) bad weather
B) violent storm
C) typhoon
D) whirlpool

Answer 1

Hint: A synonym is a word or phrase that means the same as or nearly the same as another word or phrases in the same language, such as shut and close. In this question, we have to find the word which means the same as ‘the tempest’.

Complete answer:
Tempest refers to a violent windy storm.
Let us look at the given options:
A) bad weather: 'Bad weather,' denotes that the weather is unsuitable for outside activities. This option is incorrect because it does not mean the same as the given sentence, so they are not synonyms.
B) violent storm: The italicised word 'tempest,' implies 'a furious storm.' Option B, 'violent storm,' is the correct answer as they mean the same thing.
C) typhoon: This option is incorrect because it does not mean the same as the given sentence, so they are not synonyms. 'Typhoon' refers to a powerful circular wind in the ocean
D) whirlpool: This option is incorrect because it does not mean the same as the given sentence, so they are not synonyms. 'whirlpool' refers to a circular stream of water that pulls objects into its centre.

Thus, the correct answer is Option B) violent storm.

Note: Words that have the same or almost the same meaning as another term are called synonyms. Antonyms are words that have the same meaning as another word but have the opposite connotation. Synonyms with similar meanings share a seme or denotational sememe, but those with inexactly similar meanings have a bigger denotational or connotational sememe, resulting in the semantic overlap.