Select the most appropriate antonym of the given word. Zany

Correct — A. Zany means amusingly unconventional and eccentric: silly, clownish behaviour meant to make people laugh.

Its opposite is behaviour that is level-headed and practical. Sensible, acting with good judgement, is that opposite → option (a).

Why the others are wrong

• (b)
  Bizarre — Bizarre means very strange or odd. Zany behaviour is strange too, so bizarre sits on the prompt word's side, not against it.
• (c)
  Clownish — Clownish means like a clown, which is where zany comes from. It is a synonym, the reverse of what an antonym item asks for.
• (d)
  Eccentric — Eccentric means unconventional and slightly strange, a near-synonym of zany. It agrees with the prompt word instead of opposing it.

Zany describes behaviour that is amusingly odd: comic, unconventional, a little wild.

It began as a noun. A zany was a comic performer who mimicked the clown, and the word comes from Zanni, the stock servant-clown of the Italian commedia dell'arte.

So its synonyms run toward the clownish and the odd, and its antonyms toward the sober: sensible, serious, sober, staid.

Key facts

• Zany: amusingly unconventional and eccentric.
• The word comes from Zanni, the servant-clown of Italian commedia dell'arte.
• Sensible, serious, sober and staid are antonyms of zany.

Common traps

• Picking Eccentric or Clownish because each fits zany, when the instruction asks for the opposite
• Confusing sensible, showing good sense, with sensitive, easily affected

No directly related past PYQ was found.