11.21.13 Word Meaning: GATE2017 EC-1 GA-5 "If you are looking for a history of India, or for an account of the rise and fall of the British Raj, or for all reason of the cleaving of the subcontinent into two mutually antagonistic parts and the effects this mutilation will have in the respective sections, and ultimately on Asia, you will not find it in these pages; for though I have spent a lifetime in the country, I lived too near the seat of events, and was too intimately associated with the actors, to get the perspective needed for impartial recording of these matters." Here, the word 'antagonistic' is closest in meaning to, A. Impartial B. Argumentative C. Separated D. Hostile
GATE 2017 · General Aptitude · Word Meaning · medium
Answer: D. Hostile is closest in meaning to 'antagonistic'. Both words describe active opposition and enmity between parties.
- Determine meaning of 'antagonistic' in context: The passage says the subcontinent was cleaved into two 'mutually antagonistic parts'. This refers to India and Pakistan after partition - two nations in active opposition, deep hostility, and conflict with each other. Antagonistic = actively opposing and hostile.
- Evaluate each option: A. Impartial - means neutral, unbiased; opposite of antagonistic. B. Argumentative - means prone to arguing; too mild for the scale of partition and its conflicts. C. Separated - describes physical division, not the quality of the relationship between the parts. D. Hostile - means showing opposition, enmity, unfriendliness; very close to antagonistic in meaning.