NDA (II) 2017 General Ability Test · Question 16 of 150

Correct — D, 'disgust'. 'Delight' is strong pleasure, so its reverse has to be strong distaste, and 'disgust' is the word English keeps for that. A father who takes great delight in his children is at one end of the scale; a father filled with disgust would be at the other.

• (a)revolt — As a noun 'revolt' means an uprising against authority, which is not a feeling at all; the noun for the feeling of being repelled is 'revulsion'.
• (b)dissatisfaction — This is the mild reverse of satisfaction — a sense of not being content — and it is far too weak to answer a word as strong as 'delight'.
• (c)enjoyment — This restates the underlined word instead of reversing it, the standard decoy planted in an antonym block.

'Delight' names keen pleasure, and antonym items expect the reverse to match in strength as well as in direction.

Two different mistakes are on offer. 'Enjoyment' goes the wrong way entirely, and 'dissatisfaction' goes the right way but not far enough. Fixing the strength of the underlined word first — mild, moderate or intense — settles which end of the scale the answer must sit at, and 'great delight' is plainly intense.

• 'Take delight in' is a fixed expression, so the underlined word here is the noun.
• 'Revulsion', not 'revolt', is the noun matching the verb 'revolt' in its sense of causing disgust.
• Dissatisfaction reverses satisfaction, a milder word than delight.

• Choosing 'dissatisfaction' because it points the right way but is much weaker.
• Reading the noun 'revolt' as if it meant the feeling behind the verb.

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

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

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

  • (a)pleasure
  • (b)displeasure
  • (c)surprise
  • (d)interest

  Answer(b) displeasure — delight is keen pleasure, so its reverse lies on the same scale.

• practice — not a real PYQ

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

  • (a)respect
  • (b)contempt
  • (c)curiosity
  • (d)envy

  Answer(b) contempt — admiration looks up, contempt looks down.