Select the most appropriate meaning of the given idiom. Creature of habit

Correct — A. Creature of habit names a person: someone who always does the same thing in the same way, out of routine.

'Creature' here carries its older sense of 'a living being', which is why the phrase describes a human being and not an animal.

The idiom is descriptive rather than a verdict — it says nothing about whether the routine is good or bad. Option (a) is that meaning almost word for word.

Why the others are wrong

• (b)
  A mean person — 'A mean person' imports a judgement the idiom does not carry. Being set in a routine says nothing about someone's generosity or temper.
• (c)
  A faithful dog — Creature tempts an animal reading, and 'a faithful dog' takes the bait. The phrase is used of people and their routines, not of pets.
• (d)
  A bad habit — The idiom names the person, not the habit, and it passes no verdict on the habit either, so 'a bad habit' misses on both counts.

Some idioms hide behind an ordinary word used in an older sense. Creature once meant simply 'a created being' — a person as readily as an animal — and it keeps that sense inside this phrase.

The grammar points at a person too. 'Creature of habit' means a being shaped by habit, exactly as 'man of means' means a man defined by wealth.

So the head noun is the test. The idiom is about who someone is, not about what the habit is worth.

Key facts

• Creature of habit means a person who always does the same thing in the same way.
• The idiom is neutral and passes no judgement on the routine it describes.
• The pattern 'X of Y' — creature of habit, man of means — names a person defined by Y.

Common traps

• Choosing the animal option because the word 'creature' appears in the phrase
• Adding a negative colour the idiom does not carry

No directly related past PYQ was found.