- EQUANIMITY :
- petulance
- aplomb
- propagate
- agitation
- misaligned
Suppose, upon viewing the word “equanimity,” you think “equal,” and go for the first word that satisfies an antonym of equal, congruent, and balanced. Surely, “misaligned,” though not an exact antonym, fits the bill, so you choose it. Unfortunately for you, hasty test-taker, you’re wrong. Though equanimity does retain the sense of “equa,” meaning equal or even, the word more accurately means “composure, steadiness under stress” (aplomb is a close synonym). If equanimity means steadiness under stress, then its antonym might suggest a more typical reaction to stress: agitation is our correct answer.
Determine Part of Speech
When we hear a word out of context, we often think of only one of its definitions and/or one of its parts of speech. For example, when I say FLAG, I expect that you imagine a colorful rectangle of linen blowing in the wind. But, what if we have this question:
- FLAG:
- wane
- burgeon
- intensify
- return
- weaken
If you were presented with these answer choices, I’d hope that you changed your mental image of flag. How do we know “flag” doesn’t mean an American flag or a white flag? All of the choices are verbs, not concrete nouns. So, we abandon our mental image and remember that, as a verb, flag can mean “to weaken, to become less intense.” Now, everything makes sense, so we choose “intensify.”
Remember Secondary Meanings
This tip is very similar to the last one. Not only should you pay attention to part of speech, but don’t forget about the lesser known meanings of familiar words. Take this example:
- RIGHT:
- lie
- serve
- keel
- acquiesce
- adumbrate
While the simple word “right” may seem like a beacon of clarity in a sea of difficult words, think again. We know, from strategy 2, that we aren’t speaking of the noun ‘right,’ like ‘right versus wrong.’ And based on the choices, we aren’t even speaking of the familiar verb “right,” as in “to right a wrong.” At this point, if you can think of a lesser known definition of “right” as a verb, go for it. It just so happens that “right” can mean “regain an upright position,” as in the phrase “he righted himself.” “Keel,” our correct answer, happens to mean “to capsize or overturn” when used as a verb.
Be Aware of Distracters
Do you think that, when making the antonym questions, test-writers arbitrarily choose wrong answer choices? Unfortunately for us, they don’t. We can only hope they’d be so lazy. When examining answer choices, certain answers are likely to grab your attention. You should be wary of such choices. Here’s an example:
- UNDERMINE:
- overturn
- assuage
- support
- denounce
- execrate
The sight of “under” in the word undermine may lead the hasty test-taker to the answer choice “overturn.” Under versus over is an attractive antonym, especially if you are running out of time and losing your composure. But, we know that undermine means to weaken or counteract, like “undermine the argument.” So, “support” is the best answer.
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