Select the most appropriate ANTONYM of the given word. Absolve

Correct — B. Absolve means to declare somebody free of guilt or blame, from Latin ab- (away) plus solvere (to loosen) — it unties a person from a charge.

The opposite movement is to fasten the charge on, and that is accuse: to state formally that somebody has done wrong.

Release against charge is a clean pair on the single axis of blame, which is why the key is option (b).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Appeal — Appeal is a request — for help, or to a higher court for a review. It belongs to the same courtroom vocabulary but does not reverse the sense of clearing somebody.
• (c)
  Excuse — Excuse means to forgive or overlook an offence, which runs alongside absolve rather than against it. It is the synonym planted where the antonym should be.
• (d)
  Commend — Commend means to praise or to entrust. Its natural opposite is condemn, and praise is not what absolve withdraws — absolve deals in guilt, not in merit.

An ANTONYM item is answered by finding the axis the headword sits on and then walking to the far end of that same axis.

Absolve sits on the axis of blame: absolve takes blame off, accuse puts blame on.

Commend sits on a neighbouring axis, praise against blame, which is close enough to feel opposite without being the opposite of this word. Excuse sits on the right axis but at the same end as absolve.

Key facts

• Absolve means to declare somebody free from guilt, blame or obligation.
• Accuse means to charge somebody formally with an offence or a fault.
• Absolve comes from Latin ab- (away) plus solvere (to loosen), the root behind solve and dissolve.

Common traps

• Reading the instruction as SYNONYM and taking excuse, the closest word to absolve on the list
• Choosing commend as the opposite of condemn rather than of absolve
• Taking appeal because it sounds legal, without testing it against the meaning of absolve

No directly related past PYQ was found.