NDA (II) 2022 GAT Q10: The scholar quoted irrefutable evidence for her

Q: What is the answer to NDA (II) 2022 GAT Q10?

D. Correct — D, questionable. To refute a claim is to prove it false, so irrefutable evidence is evidence that cannot be proved false at all. Reverse that and you get evidence open to doubt and argument — 'questionable'. Undeniable and certain restate the strength of the evidence, and 'overwhelming' praises it too.

NDA (II) 2022 General Ability Test · Question 10 of 150

Question text verified against the official NDA question paper.

The scholar quoted irrefutable evidence for her thesis.

(a)overwhelming
(b)undeniable
(c)certain
(d)questionable

Answer

Why

Correct — D, questionable. To refute a claim is to prove it false, so irrefutable evidence is evidence that cannot be proved false at all. Reverse that and you get evidence open to doubt and argument — 'questionable'. Undeniable and certain restate the strength of the evidence, and 'overwhelming' praises it too.

Why the others are wrong

(a)overwhelming — 'Overwhelming evidence' is such a familiar pairing that the phrase pulls the eye, but it means evidence too strong to resist — agreement with the tested word, not opposition.
(b)undeniable — 'Undeniable' is the closest synonym on the list, since what cannot be denied is what cannot be refuted.
(c)certain — 'Certain' means established beyond doubt, which puts it on the same side of the argument as 'irrefutable'.

Concept

An antonym item on 'irrefutable' — impossible to disprove — whose reverse is 'questionable', meaning open to doubt.

Break the word apart before scanning the options. The stem 'refute' means to prove wrong, -able adds the possibility, and ir- cancels it, so irrefutable means it cannot be proved wrong. Only one printed choice restores the possibility of proving it wrong. Collocation is the trap here, because 'overwhelming evidence' feels like the right neighbourhood while taking the wrong side.

Key facts

'Refute' means to prove a statement or a person wrong; the prefix ir- cancels the ability.
Indisputable, incontrovertible and undeniable are near-synonyms of 'irrefutable'.
Careful writers keep 'refute' (disprove) apart from 'deny' (merely reject).

Study next

Negative prefixes ir-, in-, im- and il- and the words they cancelRefute, rebut, deny and disprove comparedCollocation traps in vocabulary questionsWords of certainty and doubt in academic writing

Common traps

Picking 'overwhelming' because 'overwhelming evidence' is such a familiar phrase.
Picking 'undeniable', which is a synonym of the tested word.

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

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Practice

practice — not a real PYQ
Select the word opposite in meaning to 'indisputable'.
- (a)certain
- (b)debatable
- (c)definite
- (d)plain
Answer(b) debatable — what is indisputable admits no argument, and what is debatable invites one.
practice — not a real PYQ
Select the word opposite in meaning to 'incontrovertible'.
- (a)undeniable
- (b)disputable
- (c)sure
- (d)proven
Answer(b) disputable — incontrovertible means beyond dispute, so disputable reverses it.