Question

Choose the option which is nearly opposite in meaning to the word given below.
TRITE

• A. Hackneyed
• B. Correct
• C. Original
• D. Certain

Hint:

Watch out, one option is a synonym trap, not the antonym.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

An efficient way to attack antonym questions is to first eliminate any option that is actually a synonym of the given word, since test makers commonly place such traps. Here, hackneyed means exactly the same as trite, both describing something overused and cliched, so it can be crossed out immediately even though at first glance it seems like a strong contender.

Next, compare the remaining three, correct, original, and certain, against the core idea of trite: lack of freshness or novelty. Correct is about accuracy, certain is about confidence, neither addresses freshness. Original directly addresses the missing quality, since something original is, by definition, new and not stale or repeated.

This process of elimination, first removing the synonym trap, then matching the remaining options against the precise quality being negated, leads cleanly to original.

Let's summarize:

• Eliminate synonym traps first in antonym questions, hackneyed matches trite in meaning.
• Original is the true antonym, since it negates the "unoriginal, stale" sense of trite.

This elimination strategy prevents falling for the most common trap in antonym based vocabulary questions.