Select the most appropriate ANTONYM of the given word. Hostile

Correct — A. Hostile means unfriendly or antagonistic, showing opposition or ill will. Its direct opposite is friendly, and option (a) gives exactly that.

This one is a one-to-one pair, so no elimination is needed. Hostile and friendly sit on the same scale, at its two ends.

Spend the spare second checking the rest: each of the other three is the opposite of some other word — coherent, certain, reluctant — which is what makes them look plausible.

Why the others are wrong

• (b)
  Incoherent — Incoherent means not making sense or not hanging together. It is the opposite of coherent, and says nothing about ill will.
• (c)
  Doubtful — Doubtful means uncertain or unconvinced. It opposes confident or certain, not hostile.
• (d)
  Eager — Eager means keen and enthusiastic, the opposite of reluctant or indifferent. A person can be eager and hostile at the same time.

Hostile comes from Latin hostis, an enemy, and the same root gives hostility and hostilities. Anything hostile behaves as an enemy would: a hostile crowd, a hostile witness, a hostile takeover, hostile terrain.

The wider skill here is knowing when an antonym item is a pair and when it is an elimination. If a textbook opposite is on the list, take it and move on. Only when none is offered do you start asking which option is the nearest opposite available.

Key facts

• Hostile means unfriendly, antagonistic or actively opposed.
• It comes from Latin hostis, an enemy, which also gives hostility.
• Friendly is its standard one-word antonym, so this item needs no elimination.

Common traps

• Answering by feel because all four options sound like states of mind, when only one is about friendliness.
• Taking incoherent as the opposite because both words describe someone difficult to deal with.
• Overthinking a one-to-one pair and looking for a subtler answer than the paper wants.

No directly related past PYQ was found.