Question

Choose the word that is most OPPOSITE in meaning to the word given in capitals.

PERNICIOUS

• A. Innocuous
• B. Healthy
• C. Hygienic
• D. Fine

Hint:

Pernicious means causing serious, often slow harm. Look for the option describing a beneficial, wholesome state rather than just the absence of harm.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

The word PERNICIOUS means causing great harm, often gradually and in a way that is not obvious at first. It describes something destructive or damaging to health, morals, or well being. We need the option that means the opposite: something wholesome or beneficial, not something harmful.

1. Innocuous: This word means harmless, something that does no damage at all. It removes the harm but does not add any positive benefit. It sits close to an antonym but describes only the absence of harm, not a state of well being.
2. Healthy: This word means being in a sound, beneficial state, free of disease and full of vigour. Since pernicious describes something that damages health and well being over time, healthy stands as its clearest and most complete opposite.
3. Hygienic: This word is about cleanliness and sanitary conditions. It touches only one narrow part of health and does not capture the full sense of not harmful.
4. Fine: This word is vague and can mean anything from acceptable to in good condition. It is too weak and general to serve as a precise opposite of pernicious.

Healthy carries the strongest and most complete contrast with pernicious, because it names a positive, beneficial state rather than merely the absence of harm. So option (2), Healthy, is the correct opposite.

Let's summarize:

• Pernicious means causing gradual, serious harm.
• Innocuous only means harmless, not positively beneficial.
• Healthy is the fullest opposite, since it stands for well being rather than just an absence of damage.

The correct answer is option (2), Healthy.