Choose the synonym of the highlighted word from the options given below. The…

Concept: A synonym is a word that can take the target word’s place in the same sentence without altering the writer’s meaning or tone. For adjectives that describe speech or writing, two features decide the match: force — how sharp, biting or penetrating the expression is — and precision — how clearly the meaning is pinned down. A word that reverses either feature is a near-opposite, not a synonym.

Application: “trenchant” means keen, sharp and incisive — vigorously effective and cutting in expression. The sentence itself supports this reading, because the remarks “revealed the depth of her insight”, so they were forceful and penetrating rather than gentle or unclear. Among the offered adjectives, “pungent” carries the same sense of sharply biting, caustic expression, as in “pungent criticism”, so it preserves both the force and the precision of “trenchant”.

Contrast with the near-misses, by value:

• “mild” means gentle and moderate in force, which reverses the sharpness of the original and makes the remarks soft rather than cutting.

• “vague” means indistinct and loosely worded, which reverses the precision of the original; remarks that are imprecise could not reveal depth of insight.

• “hesitant” means halting and uncertain in delivery, which describes the speaker’s confidence rather than the sharpness of the remarks themselves.

Cross-check: substitute each word back into the sentence. “The speaker’s pungent remarks revealed the depth of her insight” keeps the original meaning intact, whereas mild, vague or hesitant remarks would contradict the depth of insight the sentence reports. Hence the synonym of “trenchant” here is “pungent”.