Identify from the given options the word which is similar in meaning to the following word. Morbid

Correct — B. The instruction line asks for a word similar in meaning, so this is a synonym item however much the option list looks like an antonym set.

Morbid comes from Latin morbus, disease, and describes a mind or mood dwelling on death, disease and darkness.

Gloomy carries that same settled darkness of mood, which is why the key takes option (b).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Grand — Grand means imposing or magnificent. It has no link to disease, death or lowness of mood, and lowness of mood is the whole content of morbid.
• (c)
  Bet — Bet belongs to wagering. It shares neither morbid's medical root nor its gloom, and an option this far outside the field can be dropped at once.
• (d)
  Blithe — Blithe means cheerful and carefree, so it is morbid's opposite. If you read the instruction line as ANTONYM, this is exactly where you land.

The instruction line, not the option list, tells you which relation is being tested.

Morbid comes from Latin morbus, disease. In medicine, morbidity means the condition of being diseased. In ordinary use, morbid describes a mind that dwells on death and disease, and by extension an atmosphere of that kind.

Gloomy is the option on that axis — dark, dispirited, without cheer. The rest sit elsewhere: grand is approval, bet is gambling, blithe is cheer.

Key facts

• Morbid comes from Latin morbus, meaning disease.
• In medicine, morbidity means the condition of being diseased.
• Blithe means cheerful and carefree.

Common traps

• Reading similar in meaning as ANTONYM and choosing blithe.
• Treating morbid as a purely medical word and rejecting a mood word as the match.

No directly related past PYQ was found.