Vocabulary antonyms — Identify the best opposite in meaning to ‘‘BELITTLE’’ (nuanced lexical contrast for competitive English).

Given data

• Target word: BELITTLE
• Options: Criticize; Flatter; Exaggerate; Adore

Concept/Approach
'Belittle' = to make someone/something seem unimportant or smaller than it is; to disparage or understate. A practical antonym in exam keys is 'Exaggerate' = to magnify; to overstate or inflate importance/extent — the reverse of minimizing.

Why not the others
Criticize: can include fair/harsh evaluation; not necessarily the opposite of minimizing.Flatter/Adore: forms of praise/affection; while positive, they are not the direct semantic opposite of understating; 'exaggerate' directly reverses the scale (minimize vs. magnify).

Usage contrast
He belittled her achievements (minimized) ↔ He exaggerated her achievements (overstated/magnified).

Final Answer
Exaggerate