Select the most appropriate synonym of the given word. Toxic

Correct — A. Toxic means poisonous — able to injure or kill by chemical action.

Lethal means capable of causing death. It is the only option in the list that carries any sense of harm, let alone deadly harm.

Licit, laudatory and lanky are about legality, praise and physical build. Nothing links them to poison, so lethal is the nearest available match → option (a).

Why the others are wrong

• (b)
  Licit — Licit means lawful or permitted — the rarely used positive of illicit. It is a legal word, with no bearing on poison.
• (c)
  Laudatory — Laudatory means expressing praise, from 'laud', to praise. The tone is approving, the reverse of toxic.
• (d)
  Lanky — Lanky describes a tall, thin build. It is purely physical description and carries no idea of harm.

Toxic comes from the Latin toxicum, poison, and its plain sense is 'containing or acting as a poison'.

Around it sits a cluster of harm adjectives: noxious (harmful), virulent (severely poisonous or bitterly hostile), venomous (poisonous by bite or sting), lethal (deadly).

Toxic also has a wide modern figurative use — a toxic relationship, a toxic workplace — but the synonym here is asked on the literal sense.

Key facts

• Toxic means poisonous, containing or acting as a poison.
• Lethal means causing death.
• Licit means permitted by law and is the positive form of illicit.
• All four options here begin with L, so sound gives no clue and only meaning decides.

Common traps

• Expecting an exact synonym when SSC has offered only the nearest of four
• Picking licit because it is the only other formal-sounding word in the list

No directly related past PYQ was found.