NDA (I) 2017 General Ability Test · Question 13 of 149

Correct — A, 'reserved'. 'Affable' describes a person who is easy to talk to and warm even with strangers, so the opposite is a person who holds back and keeps to himself. The frame 'Unlike his brother' calls for a contrast in sociability, and 'reserved' supplies it.

• (b)gullible — Gullible means easily deceived, which has nothing to do with how freely a person mixes with others.
• (c)irritable — Irritable reverses good temper rather than approachability, and a person quick to take offence can still be sociable.
• (d)lovable — This is close in warmth to 'affable' and so repeats the sense instead of reversing it.

'Affable' means friendly, approachable and easy to talk to.

The near-miss here is 'irritable', since both 'affable' and 'irritable' concern temperament. They reverse different properties, though — 'affable' is about openness towards other people, and 'reserved' names the absence of that openness. Whenever two options both look like opposites, ask which one negates the exact sense of the underlined word.

• 'Affable' comes from Latin affabilis, meaning easy to speak to.
• 'Reserved' describes someone slow to reveal thoughts or feelings.
• 'Gullible' means easily tricked and belongs to an unrelated sense group.

• Choosing 'irritable' because it also sounds like an unfriendly trait.
• Treating a warm word such as 'lovable' as a contrast.

Asked as an antonym item — choose the word most opposite in meaning to the underlined word.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Choose the word most opposite in meaning to 'affable'.

  • (a)cordial
  • (b)aloof
  • (c)cheerful
  • (d)generous

  Answer(b) aloof — affable means approachable, and aloof means distant.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Choose the word nearest in meaning to 'amiable'.

  • (a)hostile
  • (b)friendly
  • (c)ambitious
  • (d)careless

  Answer(b) friendly — amiable describes a pleasant, good-natured person.