NDA (I) 2018 GAT Q18: There is no likeness between him and his

Q: What is the answer to NDA (I) 2018 GAT Q18?

C. Correct — C, 'dissimilarity'. Likeness means resemblance — the ways in which two people are alike — so its opposite is the absence of resemblance, which 'dissimilarity' names.

NDA (I) 2018 General Ability Test · Question 18 of 150

Question text verified against the official NDA question paper.

There is no <u>likeness</u> between him and his brother.

(a)unlikeliness
(b)unlikelihood
(c)dissimilarity
(d)disaffinity

Answer

Why

Correct — C, 'dissimilarity'. Likeness means resemblance — the ways in which two people are alike — so its opposite is the absence of resemblance, which 'dissimilarity' names.

Why the others are wrong

(a)unlikeliness — This is built on 'unlikely' and concerns how improbable something is, not how far two people resemble each other.
(b)unlikelihood — This too means improbability; 'likelihood' comes from 'likely', which is a different word from 'likeness'.
(d)disaffinity — This is not a standard English word, and 'affinity', on which it is modelled, means a natural liking or kinship of feeling rather than resemblance in looks or nature.

Concept

'Likeness' comes from 'like' in the sense of similar, while 'likelihood' comes from 'likely' in the sense of probable. The two families look alike and mean quite different things.

Two of the four options are drawn from the probability family, and they are there for exactly one reason — to catch a candidate who reads 'likeness' as 'likeliness'. The sentence is about a man and his brother, so resemblance is what is being denied, and the answer must belong to the resemblance family.

Key facts

'Likeness' also means a portrait or image, as in 'the painting is a good likeness'.
'Likelihood' means probability, as in 'in all likelihood'.
'Similarity', 'resemblance' and 'affinity' cluster near 'likeness', while 'dissimilarity' and 'disparity' reverse it.

Study next

Word families that look alike — likeness and likelihoodSuffixes that build nouns — -ness, -hood, -ityWords for resemblance and for differenceSpotting invented or non-standard options

Common traps

Reading 'likeness' as 'likeliness' and choosing a probability word.
Being drawn to the strangest-looking option in the belief that harder words make likelier answers.

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

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Practice

practice — not a real PYQ
Choose the word closest in meaning to 'resemblance'.
- (a)difference
- (b)likeness
- (c)likelihood
- (d)preference
Answer(b) likeness — both name the state of being alike.
practice — not a real PYQ
The phrase 'in all likelihood' means
- (a)in every way
- (b)very probably
- (c)in appearance
- (d)without exception
Answer(b) very probably — likelihood is about probability.