Question

Verbosity : Brevity :: Insolence : __________

Choose the word that best fills the blank.

• A. Innocence
• B. Respect
• C. Solace
• D. Wealth

Hint:

Find how the first two words are related (they are opposites), then look for the opposite of the second word in the blank pair.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

A fast way to solve a word analogy is to name the exact relationship between the first two words, then reuse that same relationship on the second pair. Verbosity and Brevity both describe how much a person talks, one is 'too much', the other is 'too little'. So the relationship is a direct antonym pair on a single scale, the amount of speech.

Insolence sits on a different scale, how a person treats others. It marks the rude, disrespectful end of that scale. The correct answer has to sit at the opposite end of the very same scale, the polite or respectful end, nothing else.

1. Innocence sits on a guilt or wrongdoing scale. That is a different scale from manners, so it cannot be the opposite of insolence.
2. Solace sits on a comfort or grief scale, again unrelated to how someone treats others.
3. Wealth sits on a money scale, which has nothing to do with rude or polite behaviour.
4. Respect sits on the exact same manners scale as insolence, at the opposite end. This is the only option that keeps the analogy on the correct scale.

Since the task is to find the antonym of insolence, and respect is the only word that opposes insolence on the same manner-towards-others scale, the blank is filled by Respect, matching option (B).