UPSC EPFO APFC 2023 · Question 9

Question 9 of the UPSC EPFO APFC Recruitment Test 2023 (General Studies) (2 July 2023). Try it first, then open the answer and explanation.

1. APFC 2023 · Q9 · General English · Vocabulary & Idioms

   Choose the word or phrase closest in meaning to the underlined word "serendipitous". My "serendipitous" encounter with the man on the bus was to have a profound impact on my life.

   1. Fortunate
   2. Of historical significance
   3. Sudden and abrupt
   4. A chance event
   Show answer

   Answer: (4) A chance event

   Serendipitous means happening or found by chance, usually in a happy or beneficial way. The essential idea is chance: the meeting on the bus was unplanned. "Fortunate" captures only the happy side and misses the element of accident, while the good effect is already stated separately ("a profound impact on my life"). "Sudden and abrupt" refers to speed, not chance, and "of historical significance" is unrelated. The word was coined by Horace Walpole in 1754 from the tale The Three Princes of Serendip (Serendip being Sri Lanka).

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