One Word Substitution
🔒 Log in to trackA phrase such as 'murder of a king' must be replaced by one word (regicide). Options are built from suffix families —cide, -phobia, -logy, -cracy, -phile — so classifying the family first kills half the options. The bank below carries 150+ exam-frequency substitutions grouped for daily revision.
One page per subtopic: detailed notes, every question type, formulas, tricks and practice sets.
Every formula on one printable page, grouped by subtopic.
3 exam-level questions worked step by step.
62 questions — untimed practice or a timed test with analysis.
Track record in the exam
Questions per shift in recent SSC CGL papers.
Test difficulty mix (62 questions)
Question patterns exams keep repeating
Taken from previous-year papers. If a pattern is marked "very common", expect to see it in your exam.
One who ... (person words)
very commonThe stem begins 'One who...' or 'A person who...' and names a job, habit or nature; all four options are person words.
How to solve: Underline the exact detail in the stem — the object of the job (maps, children, dictionary) or the habit (drinks, wastes money, easily fooled). Then match the option that owns exactly that detail, and reject the partner word (widow/widower, miser/spendthrift) planted among the options.
Example: Select the option that can substitute the given group of words: One who eats too much
Glutton. Gullible (easily cheated) and spendthrift (wastes money) are other person words that describe different habits.
Killing words (-cide family)
very commonThe stem says 'The killing of ...' and may or may not name a special victim (mother, brother, king, infant, race).
How to solve: Match the victim to its root: mater = mother, pater = father, frater = brother, geno = race. If no special victim is named, the general word homicide is right. All four options are usually -cide words, so the victim decides.
Example: Select the option that can substitute the given group of words: The killing of an infant
Infanticide. Genocide would need a whole race as the victim; homicide names no victim at all.
Fear and study words (-phobia / -logy)
very common'An abnormal fear of ...' points to a -phobia word; 'The study of ...' or 'The science of ...' points to a -logy word.
How to solve: Fix the family first (fear or study), then match the root to the thing feared or studied: hydro = water, acro = heights, ornitho = birds, entomo = insects, seismo = earthquakes. Watch the entomology/etymology twin.
Example: Select the option that can substitute the given group of words: The study of birds
Ornithology. Entomology is insects — one letter group apart, which is exactly the confusion the examiner tests.
A place where ... / A group of ...
very commonThe stem names a stored thing or resident ('A place where bees are kept') or a collection ('A group of wolves').
How to solve: Find the key noun and recall its fixed partner: bees → apiary, grain → granary, coins → mint, monks → monastery, wolves → pack, lions → pride, islands → archipelago. Check the one-letter traps (apiary/aviary) and the partner-place traps (monastery/convent) before marking.
Example: Select the option that can substitute the given group of words: A place where birds are kept
Aviary. Apiary (bees) differs by one letter and is always planted beside it.
Government and rule words (-cracy / -archy)
common'Government by ...' or 'Rule by ...' followed by the ruler — the people, the rich, officials, God, a king, nobody.
How to solve: Name the ruler in the stem and match it: people → democracy, rich → plutocracy, officials → bureaucracy, God → theocracy, one person → autocracy, a few → oligarchy, none → anarchy. The first part of each word names the ruler.
Example: Select the option that can substitute the given group of words: Government by officials
Bureaucracy. The ruler here is the office machinery, not the people (democracy) or the rich (plutocracy).
Literary, speech and time words
commonThe stem is about a poem, speech, tomb writing, life story, or about how often something happens.
How to solve: Decide what the writing does (mourns → elegy, praises → eulogy, marks a tomb → epitaph, own life → autobiography). For frequency apply the counting rule: -ennial counts years (biennial = every two years), -annual counts times per year (biannual = twice a year).
Example: Select the option that can substitute the given group of words: A speech praising a person who has died
Eulogy. It praises; an elegy mourns. The two are always planted together.
Medical words (anti- / -demic)
commonThe stem is about a medicine (against poison, germs, pain) or about a disease's spread (one area, the whole world, always present).
How to solve: For medicines, fix the job: against poison → antidote, kills bacteria inside → antibiotic, cleans wounds outside → antiseptic, removes feeling → anaesthetic. For diseases fix the spread: one area now → epidemic, the world → pandemic, always in one area → endemic.
Example: Select the option that can substitute the given group of words: A disease spreading rapidly in one area
Epidemic. Pandemic would need many countries; endemic is the constant-presence word, not rapid spread.
Correctly spelt one-word substitute
occasionalThe stem says 'Select the correctly spelt word ...' and all four options are the same word in different spellings.
How to solve: Recall the word from the meaning, then break it into syllables and check each part against the options. Watch the classic slips: ie/ei order, -ent/-ant endings, single or double letters (convalescent, atheist, obsolete).
Example: Correctly spelt word for one who walks in his sleep: somnambulist / somnambulyst / somnabulist / somnambulast
Somnambulist — somn (sleep) + ambul (walk) + ist. Only the -ist ending and the u after ambul are correct.