Ravi told his friend that he had no intention to malign him.
- (a)benign
- (b)slander
- (c)praise
- (d)greet
Correct — B, slander. To malign someone is to speak damaging falsehoods about them, and 'slander' names exactly that act, so it is the word nearest in meaning. The trap is 'benign', which differs by a single syllable but carries the opposite root — mal- for bad against bene- for good.
- (a)benign — 'Benign' means kindly and harmless. It is an adjective built on the good-root bene-, so it matches neither the part of speech nor the sense of the verb 'malign'.
- (c)praise — 'Praise' is the opposite — to speak well of someone rather than to defame them.
- (d)greet — 'Greet' means to address someone in welcome and carries no suggestion of harming a reputation.
A synonym item on the verb 'malign' — to speak harmful untruths about someone — whose nearest equivalent among the choices is 'slander'.
Sound-alike pairs are the standard trap in Latin-root vocabulary, and malign against benign is the sharpest of them. Fixing the roots settles it: mal- runs through malice, malevolent, malady and malpractice, while bene- runs through benefit, benefactor and benevolent. With the root pinned down, the only remaining check is direction, and 'praise' points the other way while 'greet' points nowhere near reputation.
- Latin malus means bad and bene means well; the two roots drive dozens of English pairs.
- In careful usage slander is spoken defamation while libel is written or published defamation.
- 'Malign' also works as an adjective, as in a malign influence, meaning harmful.
- Choosing 'benign' on the strength of the shared ending.
- Choosing 'praise', the antonym, in a synonym item.
Asked as a synonym item — choose the word nearest in meaning to the underlined word 'malign'.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Select the word nearest in meaning to 'defame'.
- (a)honour
- (b)vilify
- (c)admire
- (d)ignore
Answer(b) vilify — both mean to attack somebody's good name.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Choose the meaning of 'benevolent'.
- (a)hostile
- (b)kind-hearted
- (c)wealthy
- (d)careless
Answer(b) kind-hearted — the bene- root marks it as the good-natured word.