Question:easy

Given below are a few commonly used foreign language phrases, select the correct answer from the four options given below.

Carte blanche

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Picture a sheet of paper that is blank except for a signature at the bottom, handed to you to fill in as you like.
Updated On: Jul 17, 2026
  • slavery
  • complete discretion
  • anarchy
  • dependent
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The Correct Option is B

Solution and Explanation

This one is French, not Latin, and the picture behind it explains everything. "Carte" is a card or sheet, "blanche" is white or blank. Historically a commander or a patron would sign a sheet and leave the rest of it empty, then hand it over. The person receiving it could write in whatever terms he liked and the signature made them binding. That is as much power as anyone can hand over on paper.

  1. slavery: The condition of being owned and having no say at all. The blank paper does the reverse: it hands the holder every say. Wrong.
  2. complete discretion: Exactly matches the practice. The holder decides the terms himself and needs no fresh permission. Modern usage keeps this sense, as in giving an architect carte blanche over a design. Correct.
  3. anarchy: Means no ruler and no authority anywhere. Carte blanche is the opposite situation: authority is very much present, it has simply been transferred whole to one person. Wrong.
  4. dependent: Describes someone whose choices rest with another. The whole point of the blank paper is that the holder is not waiting on anyone. Wrong.

So the phrase means unrestricted freedom to act on one's own judgment, and option (B), complete discretion, is the answer.

Let's summarize:

  • Carte blanche literally means a blank sheet, from the practice of handing over signed but unfilled paper.
  • It signals full freedom to decide, not the absence of any authority.
  • Slavery and dependent are its opposites; anarchy confuses transferred power with no power.

The correct option is (B).

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