NDA (II) 2018 General Ability Test · Question 11 of 146

Correct — C, 'embellish'. In the proverb 'spoil' means to ruin or mar the broth, and 'embellish' means to make a thing more beautiful or better than it was. It is the one choice that pulls in the opposite direction.

• (a)tarnish — Means to dull or stain a surface or a reputation, which moves the same way as 'spoil'.
• (b)wreck — Means to destroy — 'spoil' taken further, not reversed.
• (d)upset — Means to disturb or overturn; it damages the thing rather than improving it.

An antonym item asks for the reverse of the underlined word, and this set surrounds the one reversal with three near-synonyms.

The proverb warns that too many people working on the same thing ruin it. Fix the sense of 'spoil' as 'ruin' before you look down the list, and the shape of the item becomes plain: three of the four choices are ways of ruining something, so the odd one out is the answer.

• 'Embellish' means to beautify or adorn, and also to add invented detail to a story.
• 'Tarnish' is used both of metal losing its shine and of a reputation losing its good name.
• 'Too many cooks spoil the broth' is an old English proverb against interference by too many hands.

• Answering the synonym question the eye expects instead of the antonym question that was asked.
• Choosing 'upset', which is close to 'spoil' rather than opposite to it.

Asked as an antonym item on a word inside a proverb.

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which word is opposite in meaning to 'mar'?

  • (a)damage
  • (b)improve
  • (c)scratch
  • (d)blemish

  Answer(b) improve — the other three are all ways of spoiling something.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  'Embellish' means

  • (a)to make plain
  • (b)to decorate
  • (c)to erase
  • (d)to enlarge

  Answer(b) to decorate — to embellish is to add beauty or ornament.