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GATE 2026 IN GA Q.6: solution and answer

GATE 2026 · INGA Q.6 · 2 marks · MCQ

Exacerbate : Mitigate :: ______

Choose the option with the correct pair of words to fill the blank.

  1. (A)

    Aggravate : Alleviate

  2. (B)

    Alleviate : Precipitate

  3. (C)

    Aggravate : Precipitate

  4. (D)

    Emancipate : Exonerate

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Answer and solution

ANSWER

(A) Aggravate : Alleviate. Exacerbate : Mitigate is make worse : make less severe, and Aggravate : Alleviate is the same antonym pair in the same order.

Official answer: ASource: Official answer key, GATE 2026 IN (IIT Guwahati)

  1. Work out how the given pair is related. Exacerbate means to make a problem or situation worse. Mitigate means to make it less severe. So the two words are antonyms, and they come in the order worsen : lessen.

  2. The answer pair must have the same relation in the same order: the first word means make worse, and the second means make less severe.

  3. (A) Aggravate means to make worse, so it is a synonym of exacerbate. Alleviate means to lessen or relieve, so it is a synonym of mitigate. The pair reads worsen : lessen, an antonym pair in the same order. It matches.

  4. (B) Alleviate (lessen) : Precipitate (to bring something on suddenly, or hasten it). The first word already fails, because a pair that starts with 'lessen' runs the wrong way. Also, precipitate means to set off or speed up an event, not to make an existing condition worse. It does not match.

  5. (C) Aggravate : Precipitate. Both words are about bringing on or intensifying something bad, so they are close in meaning, not opposites. It does not match.

  6. (D) Emancipate (set free) : Exonerate (free from blame). Both words are about freeing, so the pair is synonymous, not antonymous. It does not match.

  7. Only (A) keeps both the antonym relation and the order worsen : lessen. The answer is (A).

KEY IDEA

In an analogy, first name the relation in the given pair (here antonyms, 'worsen : lessen'). Then check each option for both the relation and the order. A quick test is to swap in synonyms: aggravate is close to exacerbate, and alleviate is close to mitigate.

WATCH OUT FOR

Picking (B) because it pairs a 'lessen' word with a 'bring on' word. That misses the order: the given pair starts with the worsening word, so (B) is reversed even on the loosest reading. Another trap is choosing a pair of words that merely look alike (Emancipate : Exonerate) without checking their relation.

From the GATE 2026 IN paper. Every question of this paper · Download the full paper · All 41 Reasoning questions, with notes

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