Choose the correct antonym (most opposite meaning). 'Gargantuan'

Concept

An antonym is a word whose meaning is the most opposite to that of a given word. The task is not to find a related word, but the word that lies at the far end of the same scale of meaning. For size, that scale runs from extremely large at one end to extremely small at the other.

Application

'Gargantuan' means enormous, gigantic, immense — occupying the 'extremely large' end of the size scale (it comes from Gargantua, the giant in Rabelais's tales). Its most opposite meaning is therefore a word meaning 'extremely small'. 'Dwarf', used to describe something, means very small or stunted in size, which sits at the opposite extreme of the same scale.

Contrast with the near-misses

• Colossal — means huge or vast; this is a synonym of gargantuan, not its opposite, so it is on the same end of the scale.

• Humongo — from 'humongous', meaning extremely large; again a synonym of gargantuan, not an opposite.

• Routinely — an adverb meaning 'as a regular habit'; it has nothing to do with size at all, so it cannot be an antonym of a size word.

Only 'Dwarf' expresses the opposite of large, so it is the correct antonym of 'Gargantuan'.