Question:
Given below are a few commonly used foreign language phrases, select the correct answer from the four options given below.
Carte blanche
Given below are a few commonly used foreign language phrases, select the correct answer from the four options given below.
Carte blanche
Carte blanche
Show Hint
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
Show Solution
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The Correct Option is B
Solution and Explanation
Step 1: Understanding the Question.
The phrase here is "carte blanche", and we must choose the option that gives its meaning. Unlike the other phrases in this set, this one is French rather than Latin.
Step 2: Key Approach.
Translate the two words. "Carte" is a card or a sheet of paper, and "blanche" is the feminine form of "blanc", meaning white or blank. Literally, carte blanche is a blank sheet.
Step 3: Detailed Explanation.
The expression comes from the practice of handing someone a piece of paper that carried nothing but your signature. Whoever held it could fill in any terms above the signature, and you were bound by them. Giving a blank signed paper is the strongest possible way of saying "decide as you think fit".
So carte blanche means full authority to act as one chooses, without needing further approval. A sentence like "the board gave the new chief executive carte blanche to restructure the company" means she could do it her own way. "Complete discretion" states precisely this, so option (B) is correct.
Step 4: Why the other options are wrong.
Option (A) "slavery" is the opposite idea. A person with carte blanche is free to decide, while a slave has no freedom at all.
Option (C) "anarchy" means the absence of any government or authority. Carte blanche is not the absence of authority; it is authority handed over to someone in full. Power still exists and still has a holder.
Option (D) "dependent" describes someone who relies on another's decisions, which again reverses the sense of the phrase.
Final Answer:
Carte blanche means a blank signed paper, so full freedom or complete discretion to act. The answer is option (B).
The phrase here is "carte blanche", and we must choose the option that gives its meaning. Unlike the other phrases in this set, this one is French rather than Latin.
Step 2: Key Approach.
Translate the two words. "Carte" is a card or a sheet of paper, and "blanche" is the feminine form of "blanc", meaning white or blank. Literally, carte blanche is a blank sheet.
Step 3: Detailed Explanation.
The expression comes from the practice of handing someone a piece of paper that carried nothing but your signature. Whoever held it could fill in any terms above the signature, and you were bound by them. Giving a blank signed paper is the strongest possible way of saying "decide as you think fit".
So carte blanche means full authority to act as one chooses, without needing further approval. A sentence like "the board gave the new chief executive carte blanche to restructure the company" means she could do it her own way. "Complete discretion" states precisely this, so option (B) is correct.
Step 4: Why the other options are wrong.
Option (A) "slavery" is the opposite idea. A person with carte blanche is free to decide, while a slave has no freedom at all.
Option (C) "anarchy" means the absence of any government or authority. Carte blanche is not the absence of authority; it is authority handed over to someone in full. Power still exists and still has a holder.
Option (D) "dependent" describes someone who relies on another's decisions, which again reverses the sense of the phrase.
Final Answer:
Carte blanche means a blank signed paper, so full freedom or complete discretion to act. The answer is option (B).
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