The land appears to be parched.
- (a)dry
- (b)desiccated
- (c)wet
- (d)scorched
Correct — C, wet. Parched land has been dried out by heat until no moisture is left in it, so the reverse is land that holds moisture — 'wet'. Dry, desiccated and scorched are three ways of saying the same thing, which leaves the one opposite standing alone.
- (a)dry — 'Dry' states the plain meaning of 'parched' without its intensity — a synonym, not an opposite.
- (b)desiccated — 'Desiccated' means thoroughly dried out, an even stronger version of 'parched'.
- (d)scorched — 'Scorched' means burnt on the surface by heat, which is how land becomes parched rather than the reverse of it.
An antonym item on 'parched' — dried out by heat until no moisture is left — whose reverse among the choices is 'wet'.
Three synonyms and one opposite is the commonest shape of an antonym item in this paper, and spotting the shape is faster than weighing each word in turn. Keep the second use of 'parched' in mind as well: said of a person it means extremely thirsty, and there the opposite would be slaked rather than wet.
- 'Parched' describes ground, crops, throats and lips dried by heat or thirst.
- Arid, desiccated and dehydrated belong to the same family.
- Its opposites run from damp and moist through wet to waterlogged and sodden.
- Choosing 'dry' because it defines 'parched' correctly.
- Choosing 'scorched' by picturing the cause of the dryness.
Asked as an antonym item — choose the word opposite in meaning to the underlined word 'parched'.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Select the word opposite in meaning to 'arid'.
- (a)dry
- (b)barren
- (c)humid
- (d)parched
Answer(c) humid — arid means having very little moisture, and humid means full of it.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Select the word opposite in meaning to 'desiccated'.
- (a)dehydrated
- (b)moist
- (c)dried
- (d)shrivelled
Answer(b) moist — desiccated means thoroughly dried out, so moist reverses it.