It is easy to be an <u>orthodox</u>.
- (a)idolatrous
- (b)intelligent
- (c)malignant
- (d)heterodox
Correct — D, 'heterodox'. 'Orthodox' describes a person or a view that keeps to accepted doctrine, and 'heterodox' is its formal opposite, describing what departs from it. The pair is built from Greek — orthos, straight or right, and heteros, other — around the shared element doxa, opinion.
- (a)idolatrous — Describes the worship of idols — a charge about practice, not the reverse of conforming to doctrine.
- (b)intelligent — Sits on a different scale altogether; an orthodox believer may be highly intelligent.
- (c)malignant — Means harmful or malicious, and is used of tumours and of intent.
'Orthodox' and 'heterodox' are a matched pair of Greek-built words for keeping to accepted doctrine and for departing from it.
Take the word apart when its meaning feels thin. 'Doxa' is opinion, 'ortho-' is straight or correct, 'hetero-' is other. In a pair like this the answer is nearly always the choice that keeps the same root and swaps the prefix. The booklet prints 'to be an orthodox', where English would normally want a noun after the article — 'an orthodox believer', or simply 'to be orthodox' — but the tested word and its opposite are unaffected by that.
- 'Ortho-' also gives orthodontics, orthopaedics and orthography, each carrying the idea of straight or correct.
- 'Hetero-' is the counterpart of 'homo-': heterogeneous means of mixed kinds, homogeneous of one kind.
- In Indian philosophy the schools are grouped as astika and nastika, rendered in English as orthodox and heterodox according to whether they accept the authority of the Vedas.
- Guessing from the sound of 'idolatrous' because it feels religious.
- Looking for a moral opposite when the item wants a doctrinal one.
Asked as an antonym item on a word of Greek formation.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
'Heterogeneous' means
- (a)of one kind
- (b)of different kinds
- (c)very large
- (d)unchanging
Answer(b) of different kinds — 'hetero-' means other, so a heterogeneous mixture is a mixed one.
- practice — not a real PYQ
In Indian philosophy, the schools that do not accept the authority of the Vedas are called
- (a)astika
- (b)nastika
- (c)shruti
- (d)smriti
Answer(b) nastika — the astika schools are the ones that do accept Vedic authority.