Enforcement Officer / Accounts Officer (EO/AO) 2017 recruitment test. Transcribed from the Commission's own booklet (series A, GRS-A-TNS); answer as per the official UPSC final answer key. This question is in Part A. Answer last reviewed 24 August 2026.

Which one of the following is the antonym of the word written in capital letters in the sentence, “There is a great deal of ENMITY”?

(a)Amity
(b)Cooperation
(c)Dispute
(d)Hostility

Answer

Why

Correct — A, (a) Amity.

The first thing to register on this question is the ask itself. Q1 to Q3 asked for a synonym; this stem asks for the antonym, in the same layout, in the same typeface, with the tested word in the same capitals. The word ‘antonym’ is not emphasised in print, so the only warning a candidate gets is the word itself, sitting in the middle of a line he has now read three times. Two of the four options here are words for hostility, which is what a candidate who missed the change will be hunting for.

‘Enmity’ means the state of being enemies — settled ill will between persons or peoples. Its history makes the answer almost mechanical: enmity comes through Old French from Latin inimicus, and inimicus is simply in-, ‘not’, prefixed to amicus, ‘a friend’. An enemy is literally a not-friend. Strip the negative away and what is left is the root of ‘amity’, from amicitia, friendship. The two words are the same idea with and without a prefix, and they even rhyme, which makes them the standard pair to learn together.

‘Amity’ is not a loose word for liking. It names friendly relations as a settled condition, and it is used of states as readily as of persons — the old treaties of ‘perpetual peace and amity’, and phrases such as living in amity with one’s neighbours. That is exactly the register of ‘enmity’, which is also a condition rather than an episode, and an antonym has to match the register as well as reverse the sense. A quarrel is an event; enmity and amity are both standing states of a relationship, which is why they sit opposite each other so cleanly.

Why the others are wrong

(b)Cooperation — ‘Cooperation’ means working together towards a common end, and it describes conduct rather than feeling. Its own opposite is non-cooperation or obstruction, and the gap that leaves is easy to see: parties who are on the worst possible terms may still cooperate — with an inquiry, under a treaty, in a court-directed settlement — without a trace of friendliness between them, and neighbours may feel real goodwill while cooperating on nothing at all. Since enmity names a state of ill will, its antonym has to name a state of good will, and this option names a pattern of joint action instead. It is the most respectable of the three misses, and it fails on a real distinction rather than on a careless reading.
(c)Dispute — ‘Dispute’ means a disagreement or controversy — an industrial dispute, a boundary dispute, a disputed claim — and it points in the same direction as the tested word rather than against it. It is also narrower: a dispute is about something and can be settled, while enmity is a standing relation that outlives the matter that began it. Two people can conduct a dispute in complete civility and remain friends at the end of it, so it is not even a reliable synonym; what it certainly is not is an opposite. This option collects the candidate who is still answering the synonym questions that came before.
(d)Hostility — ‘Hostility’ is the closest thing on the page to a plain synonym of the tested word: it means antagonism, the state or behaviour of an enemy, and English uses ‘enmity’ and ‘hostility’ almost interchangeably in the singular. It is placed here for exactly that reason. A candidate who has carried the instruction across from Q1 to Q3 without re-reading it will find it faster than any other option, because it is what a synonym item would have wanted. Its presence is the clearest possible signal that the one word to read twice in any Part A stem is the word naming the task.

Concept

An antonym is not merely a word that feels opposite; it is a word that reverses the sense along the same dimension and in the same register. Enmity and amity both name a settled relation between parties, both are abstract nouns of the same formality, and one is the negation of the other at the root — inimicus is in- plus amicus. That is why they pair so exactly.

English forms opposites in three ways, and knowing which is in play saves time. Some pairs are built by prefix on one stem: friendly and unfriendly, willing and unwilling, possible and impossible. Some are separate words that happen to occupy opposite ends of a scale: hot and cold, love and hate, enmity and amity. And some are converses, where the same relation is described from the two ends: buy and sell, lend and borrow, parent and child. A prefix pair is the safest bet when the paper offers one, because the relation is guaranteed by the morphology.

The hostility field on one side runs enmity, hostility, animosity, antagonism, rancour, malice, hatred and ill will. The friendliness field on the other runs amity, friendship, goodwill, harmony, concord, cordiality and fellowship. Learning them as two lists, and noticing which member of each list matches the register of the other, is more useful than learning single pairs.

Q4 is where Part A changes its question without changing its appearance. The first three items asked for synonyms; Q4, Q5 and Q6 ask for antonyms; and on this booklet each item states its own task inside its own stem rather than under a shared Directions block. Nothing is underlined and nothing is bolded, so the instruction is a single ordinary word in an ordinary line.

The setters have arranged the options to punish exactly that inattention. Two of the four — dispute and hostility — belong to the same field as the tested word, and one of them is a near-perfect synonym of it. The same design recurs in the next two items: Q5 offers ‘unwilling’ against ‘reluctant’, and Q6 offers ‘strange’ against ‘queer’. A candidate who loses one of these three probably loses all three, because the cause is a habit rather than a gap in vocabulary.

The defence is mechanical and takes a second: before looking at the options, underline the task word in your own mind — synonym, antonym, error, substitute, tag, phrasal verb, preposition — and then read the options knowing which of them the paper wants. On a twenty-item section that changes task eight times, that one habit is worth more than any word list.

Key facts

‘Enmity’ descends from Latin inimicus, which is in- (‘not’) prefixed to amicus (‘friend’); ‘amity’ comes from amicitia, friendship, so the pair is one root with and without the negative.
Both words name a settled relation rather than an episode, which is why they match in register as well as reversing in sense.
‘Amity’ is used of states as well as of persons, and survives in the old treaty formula of ‘perpetual peace and amity’.
‘Cooperation’ names joint action, not friendly feeling; its own opposite is non-cooperation or obstruction, and parties in open enmity can still be made to cooperate.
‘Hostility’ is a near-synonym of ‘enmity’, and it is offered here as the trap for a candidate who has not noticed that the ask changed from synonym to antonym at this question.
Q4, Q5 and Q6 are the antonym set of this paper; the change from the synonym set is marked by one unemphasised word in each stem.

The instruction changed at this question, and two options are baited on that

The ask→Q1 to Q3 asked for a synonym; Q4, Q5 and Q6 ask for the antonym, in the same layout and the same typeface, with the tested word in the same capitals. The word ‘antonym’ is not emphasised in print.

ENMITY→A settled state of ill will between persons or peoples. From Latin inimicus, which is in-, ‘not’, prefixed to amicus, ‘a friend’ — an enemy is literally a not-friend.

(a) Amity→From amicitia, friendship: the same root with the negative stripped away. It names friendly relations as a settled condition, used of states as readily as of persons — the old treaty formula of ‘perpetual peace and amity’.

(d) Hostility→The trap, and the closest thing on the page to a plain synonym of the tested word. A candidate who carried the instruction across from Q3 without re-reading it finds this faster than any other option.

(c) Dispute→Points the same way rather than against, and is narrower besides: a dispute is about something and can be settled, while enmity outlives the matter that began it.

(b) Cooperation→Names joint action, not friendly feeling; its own opposite is non-cooperation or obstruction. Parties on the worst possible terms may still cooperate with an inquiry or under a treaty.

Study next

The hostility field — enmity, hostility, animosity, antagonism, rancour, malice, ill will — and the friendliness field that answers it: amity, goodwill, harmony, concord, cordiality.The three ways English builds opposites: prefixed pairs, scale pairs and converse pairs, and how to tell which the paper has offered.Latin amicus and inimicus in English: amicable, amiable, amity, enemy, enmity, inimical.Abstract nouns that name standing relations rather than events — enmity, allegiance, estrangement, rapport — and why register matters in matching them.Reading the task word first in every Part A item, since this booklet changes the task eight times in twenty questions.

Common traps

Carrying the instruction across from the previous item. Q1 to Q3 asked for synonyms and this stem asks for the antonym, in an identical layout.
Picking ‘hostility’ because it matches the tested word most closely; on an antonym item, the closest match is the option most certain to be wrong.
Accepting any positive-sounding word as the opposite. ‘Cooperation’ is positive and is still not the reverse of a state of ill will.
Matching sense but not register — choosing a word for a single friendly act where the tested word names a standing condition.

The antonym set on an EO/AO paper is built around one recurring device: at least one option is a synonym of the tested word rather than its opposite, placed to catch the candidate whose eye has not registered the change of task. The tested words themselves are ordinary — enmity, reluctant, queer — and the reversal is usually available in more than one direction, so the deciding question is which option reverses the sense along the same dimension and in the same register. Expect the same design in every antonym item of this paper, and expect the trap option to be the first one that comes to mind.

Related PYQs

EPFO_EOAO_2017_Q3Open & attempt →

Which one of the following is the synonym of the word written in capital letters in the sentence, “She is an IMMACULATE soul whose presence makes all the difference”?

(a) Spotless
(b) Excited
(c) Extraordinary
(d) Unparalleled

Answer(a) Spotless

The last item of the synonym set, immediately before the task changes; its layout is identical to this one.

EPFO_EOAO_2017_Q5Open & attempt →

Which one of the following is the antonym of the word written in capital letters in the sentence, “She was RELUCTANT to sell her car”?

(a) Anxious
(b) Happy
(c) Eager
(d) Unwilling

Answer(c) Eager

The next antonym item, built on the same design — one of its options is a plain synonym of the tested word.

EPFO_EOAO_2017_Q6Open & attempt →

Which one of the following is the antonym of the word written in capital letters in the sentence, “I cannot comply with the QUEER regulations of your land”?

(a) Strange
(b) Nimble
(c) Everyday
(d) Customary

Answer(d) Customary

The last antonym item of the set, where again a synonym of the tested word is offered among the four choices.

Practice

practice — not a real PYQ
Which one of the following is the antonym of the word written in capital letters in the sentence, “There was open ANIMOSITY between the two departments”?
- (a)Rancour
- (b)Goodwill
- (c)Suspicion
- (d)Rivalry
Answer(b) Goodwill — ‘animosity’ is active ill will, so its opposite is a settled disposition of good will. ‘Rancour’ is a synonym of it, and ‘suspicion’ and ‘rivalry’ both keep the parties opposed rather than reversing the relation.
practice — not a real PYQ
Which one of the following is the antonym of the word written in capital letters in the sentence, “The two families have lived in CONCORD for many years”?
- (a)Harmony
- (b)Discord
- (c)Agreement
- (d)Peace
Answer(b) Discord — ‘concord’ is agreement and harmony between parties, and ‘discord’ is its direct opposite, built on the same root with the reversing prefix. The other three are all synonyms of the tested word, which is what an antonym item counts on.

Why