Select the most appropriate synonym of the given word: CADAVEROUS

Correct — B. Cadaverous is built on cadaver, a corpse. It describes a living person who looks like one: deathly pale, thin and hollow-cheeked.

Pallor is the core of that look, so the synonym is Pale → option (b).

Vibrant, Lively and Healthy all describe the opposite condition, so they would answer an antonym item, not this one.

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Vibrant — Vibrant means full of energy and life, or vivid in colour. A cadaverous face is drained of both, so this points the wrong way.
• (c)
  Lively — Lively means active and full of spirit. It is close to an antonym of cadaverous, which pictures someone who looks half-dead.
• (d)
  Healthy — Healthy means in good physical condition. Cadaverous describes the look of illness or starvation, so Healthy is its opposite, not its synonym.

Cadaverous means resembling a corpse, especially in being very pale, thin or bony. It comes from Latin cadaver, a dead body, a word English also uses as a noun.

The adjective is used of people who are alive: a cadaverous face, a cadaverous old man. It exaggerates a look, it does not report a death.

Its neighbours are pallid, wan, ashen and gaunt. Pallid, wan and ashen catch the colour, gaunt catches the thinness.

Key facts

• Cadaverous means resembling a corpse, especially very pale, thin or bony.
• It comes from Latin cadaver, a dead body, which English also uses as a noun.
• Pallid, wan, ashen and gaunt are its close synonyms.
• Ruddy, hale and robust sit on the opposite side.

Common traps

• Knowing cadaver means corpse and hunting for a word meaning dead, when the adjective describes a living person's look
• Rejecting Pale because it leaves out the thinness, when a synonym item asks for the closest word, not a full match

No directly related past PYQ was found.