One Word Substitution

One-word-substitution items rarely need a giant dictionary — the ending of the answer already tells you its family, and options are built one per family. Learn the suffix, and every member of the family is within reach.

-cide — the act of killing

• Regicide – killing a king • Genocide – killing a whole race or community • Fratricide – killing one's own brother • Infanticide – killing an infant • Patricide – killing one's father • Suicide – killing oneself • Homicide – killing a human being • Sororicide – killing one's sister

-phobia — an abnormal fear of

• Hydrophobia – fear of water • Claustrophobia – fear of confined spaces • Acrophobia – fear of heights • Xenophobia – fear or dislike of foreigners • Nyctophobia – fear of darkness • Haematophobia – fear of blood • Triskaidekaphobia – fear of the number thirteen • Photophobia – abnormal sensitivity to light

-ology — the study of

• Anthropology – study of humankind's development • Ornithology – study of birds • Entomology – study of insects • Zoology – study of animals • Philology – study of languages and their history • Etymology – study of word origins • Geology – study of the earth's rocks • Psychology – study of the mind • Sociology – study of society • Seismology – study of earthquakes

-graphy / -grapher — writing/recording, or its practitioner

• Geography – study of the earth's surface • Demography – statistical study of populations • Calligraphy – the art of fine handwriting • Cartography – the making of maps • Hagiography – writing of saints' lives • Lexicographer – one who compiles dictionaries

-cracy / -crat — rule or power

• Democracy – government by the people • Autocracy – rule by one absolute ruler • Bureaucracy – government by paid officials • Aristocracy – rule by the noble class • Theocracy – rule in the name of God • Plutocracy – rule by the wealthy • Mobocracy – rule by the mob • Meritocracy – rule by ability and merit

-phile / -phile words — one who loves

• Bibliophile – a lover of books • Philatelist – a lover and collector of stamps • Anglophile – a lover of England or English ways • Philanthropist – one who loves humankind through charity

-vore / -phagous — feeding on

• Carnivorous – flesh-eating • Herbivorous – plant-eating • Insectivorous – insect-eating • Omnivorous – eating everything

-gamy / -gamy words — marriage patterns

• Monogamy – marriage to one person at a time • Polygamy – marriage to several spouses • Bigamy – marrying while legally married to another • Exogamy – marriage outside one's own group

How the family method wins. The stem 'murder of a king' invites four options, usually one -cide word, one -ology word, one -phobia word, one person-word. Knowing -cide = killing filters to the candidates, and then plain sense (rex = king → regicide) finishes. You never needed to memorise 'regicide' as a whole.

Stack two families for rare words. Nyctophobia = nycto (night) + phobia (fear) → fear of darkness. Entomology = entomo (insect) + logy (study). Rare SSC words are nearly always transparent stacks — the examiner picks words that reward this decoding.

TheGreek/Latin counting prefixes multiply coverage: mono (one), bi/duo (two), tri (three), quad (four), poly (many), pan (all), omni (all), semi (half), hemi (half), cent (hundred), milli (thousand). Omnipotent/omniscient/omnipresent are one prefix + one root each.