Question

Fill in the blanks with the most appropriate option.
A great literary or artistic work is known as ___________________.
a)Par excellence
b)Bête noire
c)Peccadillo
d)Magnum opus

Answer 1

Hint: Here, one has to keep in mind that we are talking about a great work of art and not excellence or value of something or someone. we need to choose the work that explains work that is - big, great, or magnified because it is one of the best works.

Complete answer:

Now, keeping what we need in mind let us look into the above-given options-
Option a) is ‘par excellence’ which means being the best, better than all others or being an example of excellence, superior, etc. therefore this is incorrect because the question is asking about what a great work of art is called and not how excellent the work of art is.
Option b) is ‘bête noire’ which means a person or thing that is disliked or avoided, i.e. an object of aversion. Therefore, this is also an incorrect option according to what is asked in the question.
Option c) is ‘peccadillo’ which means a slight or minor fault or sin. Now as we can see this is not in accord with the given question, therefore, it is also the incorrect option.
Option d) his ‘magnum opus’ which means great work especially in the field of literature and art. Therefore, this is the correct answer.
i.e. ‘A great literary or artistic work is known as magnum opus’.

Note: The word magnum opus has two parts – ‘magnum’ which means big or great and ‘opus’ meaning work. Hence, great work.