The achievements of the team have been monumental in the last ten years.
- (a)enormous
- (b)memorable
- (c)striking
- (d)unimpressive
Correct — D, unimpressive. Applied to achievements, 'monumental' means great enough to stand out and be remembered, so the reverse is work that makes no impression at all. Enormous, memorable and striking each praise the achievements in their own way; only 'unimpressive' withholds the praise.
- (a)enormous — 'Enormous' means very large in size or degree — a synonym of 'monumental' in this use, not its opposite.
- (b)memorable — 'Memorable' means worth remembering, which is part of what 'monumental' claims, so it points the same way.
- (c)striking — 'Striking' means noticeable and impressive, echoing 'monumental' instead of reversing it.
An antonym item on 'monumental' used figuratively of achievements — outstanding in scale or importance — whose reverse is 'unimpressive'.
'Monumental' also has a literal sense, of or serving as a monument, as in monumental sculpture. The sentence rules that out by attaching the word to ten years of team achievements, which forces the figurative reading. After that the sorting is quick: three options praise, one does not.
- Figuratively, 'monumental' means outstanding in size, extent or importance.
- It also has an ironic use for a very large mistake, as in a monumental blunder.
- Its nearest opposites are unimpressive, trivial, insignificant and paltry.
- Choosing 'enormous' because it matches the size idea rather than reversing it.
- Treating the item as a synonym question when three of the options are synonyms.
Asked as an antonym item — choose the word opposite in meaning to the underlined word 'monumental'.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Select the word opposite in meaning to 'colossal'.
- (a)gigantic
- (b)vast
- (c)tiny
- (d)immense
Answer(c) tiny — colossal means extremely large, so the reverse is extremely small; the other three are synonyms.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Select the word opposite in meaning to 'remarkable'.
- (a)notable
- (b)ordinary
- (c)striking
- (d)extraordinary
Answer(b) ordinary — what is remarkable stands out, and what is ordinary does not.