Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate option.
His remarks were filled with _ _ _ _ _ _ which sounded lofty but presented nothing new to the audience.
A. aphorisms
B. platitudes
C. bombast
D. adages

Answer 1

Hint: In linguistics, there are many words which closely resemble each other in their meanings. But they are not exactly the same. These words are synonyms which are thousands in number. One can be baffled by the degree of similarity in these, but they are meant to be used in different contexts. We just have to keep in mind their usage. This will clear all the confusions we have about these synonyms. Similarly, in this question, we can see that some of the words that have been given to us are similar in meanings whereas some are not. We have to understand the meaning and the usage of each word so that we can pick the correct answer from them.

Complete answer:
1. Here we are going to check each option so that we can detect the correct one containing the answer.
2. Both option A, ‘aphorism’ and option D, ‘adages’ refer to brief statements that contain general truth or facts. Either of these words cannot be used in the sentence given to us because they don’t complete the sentence meaningfully.
3. Option C, ‘bombast’ is a noun for a person or a writing. It is defined as a person or a writing which uses pretentious language in order to impress the listeners or readers. But they hardly have any meaning. Hence, this option is also incorrect.
4. ‘Platitude’ refers to a phrase or a statement that has been overused and is not original in meaning. It is synonymous with the word ‘cliche’. If this word is used in this sentence, the sentence will be grammatically correct as well as its meaning will be preserved and clearly understood. Hence, this option is correct.

Hence the correct answer is option ‘B’

Note: In this question, we saw that some of the words that were given to us are similar in meanings whereas others were not. We have tried to understand the meaning and the usage of each word. This enabled us to pick the correct answer from them.