NDA (II) 2017 General Ability Test · Question 18 of 150

Correct — C, 'diffident'. A diffident person lacks belief in his own powers and hangs back on that account, which is the precise reverse of being confident of success. The two words even share a root — Latin 'fidere', to trust — with the prefixes pulling in opposite directions.

• (a)imprudent — Imprudence is poor judgement or rashness, and an imprudent person is often over-confident rather than short of confidence.
• (b)impatient — Impatience is about being unwilling to wait, an axis unconnected with self-belief.
• (d)reluctant — Reluctance is unwillingness to do something, which may spring from many causes; a thoroughly confident person can still be reluctant.

'Diffident' means lacking in self-confidence, hesitant about one's own ability, and it is the true opposite of 'confident'.

Three of the options begin with a negative-looking prefix, which is exactly what the item is playing on — 'imprudent' and 'impatient' look like plausible reversals until one asks what each of them actually reverses. Tracing the root settles it: 'confident' and 'diffident' come from the same Latin verb for trusting, one with 'con-' and the other with 'dis-'.

• 'Confident' comes from Latin 'confidere', to trust fully, and 'diffident' from 'diffidere', to distrust.
• 'Diffident' is not related to 'different' despite the similar look.
• 'Imprudent' is the opposite of 'prudent', meaning careful and far-sighted.

• Choosing 'imprudent' because its prefix looks like a reversal.
• Confusing 'diffident' with 'different'.

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 'confident'.

  • (a)certain
  • (b)hesitant
  • (c)generous
  • (d)curious

  Answer(b) hesitant — a confident person acts without holding back.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Choose the word nearest in meaning to 'diffident'.

  • (a)unusual
  • (b)shy
  • (c)careless
  • (d)stubborn

  Answer(b) shy — diffidence is a want of confidence in oneself.