Question

Find the synonym of the underlined word:
If you never do any work, you’ll only have yourself to blame when you cannot live comfortably.
A)Accountable
B)Approve
C)To appreciate
D)Deplore
E)Pity

Answer 1

Hint: A synonym of a word is its meaning which is similar to another word. For example, ‘scream’ and ‘shout’ are synonyms.

Complete step-by-step answer:

 ‘Blame’ means to hold someone responsible for some mistake. The given sentence means that if you don’t work, you will not earn enough money to live comfortably and you will only hold yourself responsible for an uncomfortable life. In this context, the synonym for the word ‘blame’ is ‘accountable’ since ‘accountable’ means holding someone responsible for something but which is not necessarily a mistake. Thus, option a is the correct answer.
Option b is wrong because ‘approve’ means to appreciate something. It is an antonym of ‘blame’.
Option c is incorrect because ‘to appreciate’ means to praise someone for doing something good. It is also an antonym of ‘blame’.
Option d is ‘deplore’ which means to strongly dislike something. For example, many people deplore violence. Thus, it is not the right answer.
Option e, that is ‘pity’, is wrong because it is not a synonym of ‘blame’. Pity means to feel sorrow for someone else.

Note: It is important to understand the context of the sentence before choosing the correct synonym. ‘Blame’ means to accuse someone of some mistake while ‘accountable’ is someone being held responsible for something. However, it is implied that people who are blamed are to be accountable for their mistakes. Therefore, they are synonymous by an extension of the meaning of blame. Also, accountable fits the given sentence perfectly as a synonym of blame. Therefore, it is always important to understand the context of the sentence in which the word in question is used.