Select the most appropriate antonym of the given word. Redolent

Correct — D. Redolent has two senses: strongly smelling of something, or fragrant, and strongly reminiscent of something.

An antonym must reverse one of them. Unscented, having no smell, is the direct opposite of the smell sense → option (d).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Fragrant — Fragrant means having a pleasant smell, which is one sense of redolent itself. It is a synonym, not an antonym.
• (b)
  Evocative — Evocative means bringing memories or images to mind. That matches redolent's sense of reminiscent, as in 'redolent of the 1920s', so it is a synonym too.
• (c)
  Odorous — Odorous means having or giving off a smell. It restates redolent's smell sense rather than reversing it: a synonym, not the opposite.

An antonym question asks for the word that reverses the given one, so first pin down what the word means.

Redolent comes from Latin redolere, 'to give off a smell'. Its literal sense is smelling strongly or sweetly, as in 'a kitchen redolent of garlic'. Its extended sense is reminiscent, as in 'a style redolent of the 1920s'.

Fragrant, Evocative and Odorous each match one of those senses. Unscented alone points the opposite way.

Key facts

• Redolent: strongly smelling of something, or fragrant.
• Redolent also means strongly reminiscent or suggestive of something.
• Redolent comes from Latin redolere, 'to give off a smell'.
• Unscented and odourless both mean having no smell.

Common traps

• Taking Odorous as the opposite because it sounds like a bad smell. It means simply having a smell, which agrees with redolent.
• Treating Evocative as unrelated because you know redolent only as a smell word. It matches the word's second sense.

No directly related past PYQ was found.