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Identify the antonym for the word 'ostentation' as used in the sentence: 'In the interest of one's own reputation, one should avoid ostentation while entertaining friends.'
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Solution: Step 1: Understand the meaning of 'ostentation'. It means the pretentious and vulgar display of wealth and luxury, designed to impress or attract notice. It implies excessive showiness and spending.
Step 2: Examine the given options:
- 'miserliness': excessive desire to save money; extreme meanness, especially with money. This directly contrasts the lavish spending implied by ostentation.
- 'simplicity': the quality or state of being plain, uncomplicated, or easy to understand. While related, 'miserliness' is a stronger, more direct contrast to the *display of wealth* aspect.
- 'purity': freedom from adulteration or contamination.
- 'innocence': the state, quality, or fact of being innocent of a crime or wrongdoing.
Step 3: 'Miserliness' represents the extreme opposite of displaying wealth or being extravagant, which is central to 'ostentation'.
Step 4: Therefore, the correct answer is 'miserliness'.