Question

Find the synonym of the underlined word.
The toxic material coming out of the factory chimney polluted the atmosphere.

a) Contaminated
b) Intoxicated
c) Congested
d) Cremated
e) Littered

Answer 1

Hint: Synonyms are words that mean the same to another word. The given term ‘polluted’ is used to indicate something out of use.

Complete answer:

 A commonly used term, ‘polluted’ describes something – air, water, or land that has been contaminated with undesirable things, waste, or any other harmful substances. When a body gets polluted, for instance, a river, the water becomes unusable thereafter.
Example: The Ministry has been implementing different programs to clean the polluted rivers.
In option a, we have ‘contaminated’ that very well means the same as ‘polluted.’ Hence, the option gives us the correct synonym.
Intoxicated in option b is wrong as it refers to the inebriated condition that results after drinking alcohol like beverages.
Option c is incorrect. Congested is the term that indicates the crowded situations in a room or a road.
Cremated in option d means to dispose of something by burning it into ashes. As this is different from ‘polluted’, we rule out this option.
Option e is wrong as ‘littered’ means to make a place dirty with rubbish. Though related to ‘pollute’, we use both the words in different contexts. Through littering, we pollute a place.

Note: Clean or purify are the words that we commonly use to indicate the opposite of ‘pollute.’ The noun form of pollute is ‘pollution.’