Question

Choose the word which best expresses the opposite of the given word;
BUSY
(A) Occupied
(B) Engrossed
(C) Relaxed
(D) Engaged

Answer 1

Hint: We need to find the word from the options that does not have a similar meaning as ‘busy’. A person or thing is said to be busy when they have a lot of things to do or if they are not available at the required moment because they are doing something else which they are committed to do.

Complete answer:
Since we are asked to find the opposite of a given term, we need to be clear about the meaning of ‘opposite’. If we are asked to find the ‘opposite’ of a word, it means that we need to find a word that is nowhere similar to the given word, or has an entirely different meaning as the given word.

We know that ‘busy’ means ‘to not have time to do anything else but what they are doing right now’ or it means ‘a state where one has an excessive amount of work to do’.
To find the opposite of ‘busy’ we just have to eliminate all the options that have the same or similar meaning as ‘busy’, then the word which has an entirely different meaning will be the right answer.

Let us examine each option carefully to see which word suits best to become the opposite of ‘busy’;
Taking option (A) occupied is incorrect; since occupied means to be caught up in doing something and so it has a meaning that is similar to ‘busy’.
Taking option (B) engrossed is incorrect; since engrossed means to dedicate one’s complete attention to do a particular activity, this is again similar to ‘busy’.
Taking option (C) relaxed is correct; since relaxed means to be free of work or to have nothing to do, this can definitely be the opposite of ‘busy’ since a busy person is not free from work but has a lot of work.
Taking option (D) engaged is incorrect; since to be engaged means to have a particular task to attend to, so it has the same meaning as ‘busy’.
So ‘relaxed’ is the opposite of ‘busy’ from the given options.

Therefore the correct answer is option (C) relaxed.

Note: Sometimes we will not be asked directly to find the opposite of a word, but they will ask us to find a word’s ‘antonym’. The ‘antonym’ is the term that is used in place or opposite, since the meaning of antonym is ‘opposite to the given term’.