HSPT Language Skills › Antonyms: Adjectives Describing Authenticity, Truth, Existence, and Understanding
An antonym of "veracious" is __________.
deceitful
immense
minimal
maximal
reflected
Most of the wrong answers are trying to make you think that the "ver-" at the beginning of "veracious" is the same as "very." However, this comes from the Latin for truth. Someone is called "veracious" when he or she is truthful. (Likewise, words are called "veracious" when they are truthful.) The best contrast to this is "deceitful," which is quite opposed to being truthful.
An antonym of "authentic" is __________.
forgery
upright
believable
regulated
despised
When something is authentic, it is accepted as being genuine—not judged as being a fake version of something. Sometimes, people will speak of a person as being "authentic," implying that he or she is not fake in his or her self-presentation; however, for this question, the general sense is "authentic" as genuine. A forgery is far from being a genuine version—it is a faked version meant to trick people. (Think of a forged signature.)
An antonym to "illiterate" is __________.
educated
suspicious
humble
persistent
loud
"Illiterate" means not literate or able to read. Since literacy is a basic part of education, an illiterate person is almost certain to be uneducated. None of the other words are relevant to the idea of literacy.
An antonym of "nascent" is __________.
dying
waxing
overcome
destroyed
forging
The word "nascent" comes from roots similar to those of "natal" and "nativity." These words all have to do with birth or coming to birth. Here, the sense is of something that is coming into existence—a nascent idea or a nascent personality trait (or something else of the like). In contrast to this, something dying is ending its time of existence and development.