Question

Choose the word that has most nearly the opposite meaning to the word in capital letters:
POVERTY
a. Prosperity
b. Adversary
c. Adversity
d. Diversity

Answer 1

Hint: Poverty is the condition of being poor; people who do not have a lot of financial or monetary power. To find the word with the opposite meaning, the answer should mean being wealthy or rich.

Complete answer:
A man who is rich or has a lot of money is called a prosperous man and he is said to be living in prosperity. Therefore, the opposite of poverty is prosperity. Poor people live in poverty while rich people live in prosperity.

Thus, option a is the correct answer.
The word ‘adversary’ in option b means a person who is another person’s opponent in a competition or a contest. It has nothing to do with the word ‘poverty’. Thus, option b is wrong.
‘Adversity’ in option c means a situation which is very difficult or trying for a person. The meaning of adversity is not related to the meaning of poverty and is, therefore, an incorrect answer.
Option d, that is ‘diversity’, means having a variety of things. For example, India has a lot of diversity in religions. This means India has a lot of religions. Poverty and diversity are altogether different things and hence, option d is also an incorrect option.

Note: Poverty and adversity are not the same things. Though being poor can give poor people difficulty in life, the difficulty mostly arises from the lack of money. However, adversity is trouble or misfortune of any kind. Even rich people can face adverse times.