Question

In each of the following questions, out of the choose the one which best expresses the meaning of the given word
ANATHEMA
A. Religious chant
B. Pun
C. Musical subject
D. Curse

Answer 1

Hint: Synonyms refers to those words which can be used in place of another word as both the words have the same or almost the same meaning. Synonyms are words having similar meaning.

 Complete step by step answer:
We have to find out the meaning of the word ANATHEMA, for that let’s see which word out of the four means quite the same or best expresses the meaning of that word.
The meaning of anathema is – a curse or ban by the papal authority leading to a person’s deprivation of the church membership.
Option A) Religious chant- is an incorrect answer. Religious chant means prayer sung when performing a religious ritual. This word doesn’t mean the same or is not even close to the meaning of the word anathema. Thus, this is an incorrect answer.
Option B) Pun- is an incorrect answer. Pun refers to the use of a word in such a way that exploits multiple meanings of a word or words that sound similar but have different meanings. Pun doesn’t mean the same as anathema hence it is an incorrect answer.
Option C) Musical subject- is an incorrect answer. It refers to the melody or theme of a musical composition. Again we see that it has nothing to do with the word anathema. Hence it’s an incorrect answer.
Option D) Curse- it’s the correct answer. As we see that the meaning of anathema is a ban or a curse. Hence ‘curse’ is the right answer. However, they are considered the synonyms of each other and can be replaced by each other by changing its literal meaning. Thus, this is the correct answer.

The meaning of anathema is best expressed by the word ‘curse’ (option D).

Note:
Curse antonym is ‘bless’ and religious chant is almost the opposite of curse. If the question is about telling the opposite of the word anathema then religious chant would have fit. But, the question asked the similar meaning of the word ‘anathema’ instead of the opposite. That's why we will consider Option D the correct answer.