NDA (II) 2023 General Ability Test · Question 43 of 146

Correct — B, ‘modest’. Ostentatious means showy, arranged to be noticed and to impress. The opposite is conduct that avoids display, and modest is the standard word for it — an unassuming manner that does not advertise itself.

• (a)tawdry — Tawdry means cheap and showy, a close relative of the underlined word rather than its opposite.
• (c)gaudy — Gaudy is bright and flashy, another synonym sitting on the same side of the scale.
• (d)apparent — Apparent means visible or seeming to be so; it describes what can be seen, not how much display a person makes.

Ostentatious describes a deliberate parade of wealth, learning or status. The opposite end of that axis is restraint, where modest, unassuming and understated all sit.

Two synonyms and one word from an unrelated axis surround a single true opposite. The trap is apparent, which shares a faint whiff of visibility with the underlined word yet says nothing at all about showing off.

• Ostentatious comes from Latin ostentare, to display or parade.
• Tawdry adds cheapness to showiness and gaudy adds garish colour, so neither reverses the sense.
• Modest covers both a low estimate of oneself and a refusal to make a display.

• Choosing a synonym because it is the least familiar word offered.
• Taking apparent as an opposite because it sounds like the reverse of hidden.

Asked as an antonym item — pick the word opposite in meaning to the underlined word.

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Choose the word most nearly opposite in meaning to the underlined word. The hall was decorated in a garish style.

  • (a)bright
  • (b)subdued
  • (c)costly
  • (d)crowded

  Answer(b) subdued — garish is loud and glaring, subdued is restrained.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Choose the word most nearly opposite in meaning to the underlined word. She gave a modest account of her achievement.

  • (a)brief
  • (b)honest
  • (c)boastful
  • (d)quiet

  Answer(c) boastful — modesty plays an achievement down, boasting plays it up.