NDA (II) 2022 GAT Q4: His frail appearance was considered a

Q: What is the answer to NDA (II) 2022 GAT Q4?

C. Correct — C, sturdy. 'Frail' describes a body that is weak and easily broken down, so its opposite describes one that is solidly built and hard to break — 'sturdy'. Watch which dimension is being reversed: 'frail' is a claim about strength, not about size.

NDA (II) 2022 General Ability Test · Question 4 of 150

Question text verified against the official NDA question paper.

His frail appearance was considered a merit.

(a)weak
(b)delicate
(c)sturdy
(d)big

Answer

Why

Correct — C, sturdy. 'Frail' describes a body that is weak and easily broken down, so its opposite describes one that is solidly built and hard to break — 'sturdy'. Watch which dimension is being reversed: 'frail' is a claim about strength, not about size.

Why the others are wrong

(a)weak — 'Weak' is a plain synonym of 'frail', repeating the meaning instead of reversing it.
(b)delicate — 'Delicate' means fragile and easily damaged, which again belongs on the same side of the pair.
(d)big — 'Big' reverses 'small', not 'frail'. A big person can be frail and a slight person can be sturdy, so size settles nothing here.

Concept

An antonym item on 'frail' — physically weak and easily broken — whose reverse is 'sturdy', meaning strongly and solidly built.

The sentence plants a small distraction by calling the frail appearance a merit, which tempts you to hunt for a word carrying approval. Ignore the value judgement, because an antonym item asks only for the reverse meaning. The real test is dimensional: decide whether the word measures strength, size, health or looks, then reverse that same dimension.

Key facts

'Frail' applies to people, structures and hopes alike, always with the sense of easily giving way.
'Sturdy' means strongly built and able to withstand rough treatment.
Robust, hardy and stout are further opposites of 'frail'.

Study next

Strength adjectives — frail, feeble, robust, sturdy, hardyFragile, brittle and flimsy comparedMatching the dimension of the word you are asked to reverseDescribing physical appearance in formal English

Common traps

Picking 'big' by treating strength and size as one dimension.
Picking 'weak' or 'delicate', both of which restate 'frail'.

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

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Practice

practice — not a real PYQ
Select the word opposite in meaning to 'fragile'.
- (a)brittle
- (b)delicate
- (c)robust
- (d)flimsy
Answer(c) robust — fragile means easily broken and robust means strong and tough; the other three are synonyms.
practice — not a real PYQ
Select the word opposite in meaning to 'feeble'.
- (a)faint
- (b)vigorous
- (c)weak
- (d)slight
Answer(b) vigorous — feeble means lacking strength, and vigorous means full of it.