Select the most appropriate antonym of the given word. Turpitude

Correct — C. Turpitude means depravity or wickedness: conduct that is base and shameful.

The antonym has to stand at the other end of that scale, right and good conduct. Morality, in its sense of moral conduct or virtue, is the option that does → option (c).

Depravity, Vice and Sin all mean much the same as turpitude, so the set is built from synonyms around a single antonym.

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Depravity — Depravity means moral corruption or wickedness, a near-exact synonym of turpitude. It stands at the same end of the scale, not the opposite one.
• (b)
  Vice — Vice is immoral or wicked behaviour, or a particular bad habit. It names the very thing turpitude describes, so it is a synonym.
• (d)
  Sin — Sin is an immoral act, especially one against religious or moral law. It sits beside turpitude on the wrongdoing side, not against it.

An antonym item asks for the word at the opposite pole of the same scale. Turpitude sits on the moral scale, at the wicked end.

Here the options split three to one. Depravity, Vice and Sin stand at the wicked end with turpitude. Morality is the lone word at the good end.

The word comes from Latin turpis, 'disgraceful, base'. It appears in the legal phrase moral turpitude.

Key facts

• Turpitude means depravity or wickedness.
• It comes from Latin turpis, 'disgraceful, base'.
• Depravity, vice and sin are synonyms of turpitude, not antonyms.
• Virtue, rectitude and probity stand at the opposite end of the same scale.

Common traps

• Assuming turpitude names a virtue because it ends in -itude like fortitude and rectitude, then picking Depravity, Vice or Sin as its opposite
• Rejecting Morality because it can also mean a system of rules, when its sense of moral conduct is the one the item needs

No directly related past PYQ was found.