One Word Substitution: 160+ Examples With Meanings (SSC, Bank and School Exams)
"A person who can speak many languages" takes seven words. Polyglot takes one. That is one word substitution: replacing a long phrase with the single word that means the same thing.
It is one of the most reliable scoring topics in English sections of SSC CGL, CHSL, MTS, bank PO and clerk exams, CDS, NDA, state exams and school papers. Questions are short and the same words come back again and again. Most of them can be cracked with a handful of root words.
This guide gives you more than 160 one word substitutions with meanings:
- grouped by topic so they are easier to remember;
- the root-word method that lets you work out words you have never seen;
- 20 practice questions with answers.
Words with a blue link have their own page, where you can read a short story that uses the word. One story sticks better than ten readings of a list.
What is one word substitution?
One word substitution means using one precise word in place of a group of words, without changing the meaning.
- A life story written by the person themselves → autobiography
- Something that cannot be read → illegible
- A person who loves books → bibliophile
In exams it appears as a multiple-choice question. You get the phrase and four options, and you pick the single word that matches.
The root-word method (learn 15 roots, crack 100 words)
Most one word substitutions are built from Greek and Latin parts. Learn these and you can solve questions you have never seen.
| Root | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| omni- | all | omnipotent (all-powerful), omniscient (all-knowing), omnipresent (everywhere), omnivore (eats everything) |
| phil- / -phile | love | philanthropist (loves mankind), bibliophile (loves books), philatelist (collects stamps) |
| mis- / miso- | hate | misanthrope (hates mankind), misogynist (hates women), misogamist (hates marriage) |
| anthrop- | human | anthropologist, philanthropist, misanthrope |
| poly- | many | polyglot (many languages), polygamy (many spouses) |
| mono- | one | monarchy (rule by one), monogamy (one spouse) |
| -cracy | rule | democracy, autocracy, bureaucracy, theocracy, plutocracy |
| -archy | rule | monarchy, anarchy, oligarchy |
| -cide | killing | homicide, regicide, genocide, fratricide, patricide, matricide, infanticide |
| -logist | one who studies | anthropologist, archaeologist, ornithologist, zoologist |
| -phobia | fear | xenophobia (of foreigners), claustrophobia (of closed spaces), acrophobia (of heights), hydrophobia (of water) |
| -vore | eater | omnivore, carnivore, herbivore |
| in- / il- / im- | not | illegible, inaudible, inedible, invincible, infallible |
| -ible / -able | can be | edible, audible, eligible |
| pseudo- | false | pseudonym (a false name) |
Exam trick: if the phrase contains "all", look for omni-. If it contains "love of", look for phil-. "Hatred" points to mis-, "rule" to -cracy or -archy, "killing" to -cide, and "cannot be" to in-/il-/im-.
1. People: beliefs and attitudes
| Phrase | One word |
|---|---|
| One who does not believe in God | atheist |
| One who believes God's existence cannot be known | agnostic |
| One who believes in God | theist |
| One who loves mankind and helps others | philanthropist |
| One who hates mankind | misanthrope |
| One who cares for others without wanting anything back | altruist |
| One who always looks at the bright side | optimist |
| One who always expects the worst | pessimist |
| One who believes people act only from self-interest | cynic |
| One who thinks and talks mostly about himself | egotist |
| One who lives for pleasure | hedonist |
| One who bears pain or hardship without complaint | stoic |
| One who loves his country | patriot |
| One who betrays his country or friends | traitor |
| One who believes there should be no government | anarchist |
| One with extreme, unreasoning enthusiasm | fanatic |
| One who holds extreme views and will not compromise | zealot |
| One who gives up his religion or beliefs | apostate |
| One who leaves his side to join the enemy | renegade |
| One who dies or suffers for his beliefs | martyr |
| One who pretends to be what he is not | hypocrite |
| One who flatters powerful people to gain favour | sycophant |
| A belief against accepted religious teaching | heresy |
2. People: habits and behaviour
| Phrase | One word |
|---|---|
| One who lives alone and avoids company | recluse |
| One who prefers his own company and is quiet | introvert |
| One who is outgoing and loves company | extrovert |
| One who is fond of the company of others | gregarious |
| One who talks a lot | loquacious / garrulous |
| One who speaks very little | taciturn |
| One who uses more words than needed | verbose |
| One who eats too much | glutton |
| One who knows a lot about fine food | gourmet |
| An expert judge of art, food or wine | connoisseur |
| One who eats very little and lives simply | abstemious |
| One who does not eat meat or fish | vegetarian |
| One who eats human flesh | cannibal |
| One who is very careful and hard to please | fastidious |
| One who cannot be corrected or improved | incorrigible |
| One who is easily deceived | gullible |
| One who worries too much about small rules | pedant |
| One who falsely claims special knowledge | charlatan / quack |
| One who has no interest in art or culture | philistine |
| One who loves books | bibliophile |
| One who wanders with no fixed home | vagabond / nomad |
| One who belongs to the whole world, not one country | cosmopolitan |
| One who leaves his country to settle in another | emigrant |
| One who comes into a country to settle there | immigrant |
| One who cannot sleep | insomniac (the condition: insomnia) |
| One who can use both hands equally well | ambidextrous |
| One who speaks many languages | polyglot |
| One who cannot read or write | illiterate |
| One who is new to a skill or job | novice |
| One with long experience | veteran |
| One who does something for pleasure, not money | amateur |
| A young person with exceptional talent | prodigy |
| One who is extremely skilled, especially in music | virtuoso / maestro |
| A soldier who fights for money for a foreign army | mercenary |
| One who rebels against the government | insurgent |
| One who walks on the road | pedestrian |
| One who cannot pay his debts | insolvent |
| One who is widely known for bad deeds | notorious |
| A false name used by a writer | pseudonym |
3. People: professions and studies
| Phrase | One word |
|---|---|
| One who studies birds | ornithologist |
| One who studies animals | zoologist |
| One who studies insects | entomologist |
| One who studies plants | botanist |
| One who studies human societies and cultures | anthropologist |
| One who studies ancient remains | archaeologist |
| One who studies the stars and planets | astronomer |
| One who predicts the future from the stars | astrologer |
| One who draws maps | cartographer |
| One who collects stamps | philatelist |
| One who collects coins | numismatist |
| The art of beautiful handwriting | calligraphy |
| One who settles a dispute between two sides | arbitrator / mediator |
4. Government and power
| Phrase | One word |
|---|---|
| Government by the people | democracy |
| Government by one person with total power | autocracy |
| Government by a king or queen | monarchy |
| Government by a small group | oligarchy |
| Government by the rich | plutocracy |
| Government by religious leaders | theocracy |
| Government by officials following strict rules | bureaucracy |
| Government by nobles | aristocracy |
| Absence of government; complete disorder | anarchy |
| To give up a throne or high office | abdicate |
| To free someone from blame | exonerate |
| To shut someone out of a group | ostracize |
| Agreed by everyone | unanimous |
| A paid job with little or no work | sinecure |
| A direct vote of all people on one question | referendum / plebiscite |
5. Places
| Phrase | One word |
|---|---|
| A place where birds are kept | aviary |
| A place where bees are kept | apiary |
| A place where fish are kept | aquarium |
| A place where dogs are kept | kennel |
| A place where aeroplanes are kept | hangar |
| A place where dead bodies are kept | morgue |
| A large room where many people sleep | dormitory |
| A place where grain is stored | granary |
| A place where weapons are stored | arsenal |
| A place where orphans live | orphanage |
| A place where monks live | monastery |
| A place for watching the stars | observatory |
| A place for recovering from long illness | sanatorium |
| Keeping people or animals apart to stop disease | quarantine |
| An imaginary perfect place | utopia |
6. Writing, speech and books
| Phrase | One word |
|---|---|
| Life story written by oneself | autobiography |
| Life story written by someone else | biography |
| A list of books and sources used | bibliography |
| A collection of poems or stories by different writers | anthology |
| Words written on a tomb | epitaph |
| A speech praising someone, often at a funeral | eulogy |
| The opening part of a book or play | prologue |
| The closing part of a book or play | epilogue |
| Notice of a death in a newspaper | obituary |
| Word for word, exactly as said | verbatim |
| A speech made without preparation | impromptu / extempore |
| Published after the author's death | posthumous |
| Writing whose author is unknown | anonymous |
| Having more than one meaning | ambiguous |
| A plan of a journey | itinerary |
| Copying someone's work and claiming it as yours | plagiarism (the person: plagiarist) |
7. "Cannot" and "can" words (in-, il-, im-, -ible)
| Phrase | One word |
|---|---|
| That which cannot be read | illegible |
| That which can be eaten | edible |
| That which cannot be eaten | inedible |
| That which can be heard | audible |
| That which cannot be heard | inaudible |
| That which cannot be defeated | invincible |
| That which cannot be wrong | infallible |
| That which cannot be avoided | inevitable |
| That which cannot be rubbed out | indelible |
| That which cannot be captured or broken into | impregnable |
| That which cannot be reached | inaccessible |
| That which cannot be corrected | incorrigible |
| Fit to be chosen | eligible |
| That through which light passes clearly | transparent |
| That through which light passes partly | translucent |
| That through which light cannot pass | opaque |
| One who must die | mortal |
| One who never dies | immortal |
8. Time and other common substitutions
| Phrase | One word |
|---|---|
| Lasting for a very short time | ephemeral |
| Lasting for many years, or happening again and again | perennial |
| Happening every year | annual |
| Happening every two years | biennial |
| Happening every hundred years | centennial |
| Belonging to the same period of time | contemporary |
| A remedy for all diseases or problems | panacea |
| A sign of something to come | omen |
| Extreme greed for wealth | avarice |
| A longing for the past | nostalgia |
| Dislike or fear of foreigners | xenophobia |
| Fear of closed spaces | claustrophobia |
| Fear of heights | acrophobia |
| Killing of a human being | homicide |
| Killing of a king | regicide |
| Killing of a whole race or people | genocide |
| Killing of one's brother | fratricide |
| Killing of one's father | patricide |
| Killing of one's mother | matricide |
| Killing of an infant | infanticide |
| Marriage to one person at a time | monogamy |
| Having two spouses at the same time | bigamy |
| Having many spouses | polygamy |
| One who is a hundred years old | centenarian |
| One who is in his eighties | octogenarian |
How to prepare one word substitution for exams
- Learn by group, not alphabetically. Learn all "-cracy" words together, all "-logist" words together, all "places" together. Groups are easier to recall under pressure.
- Learn the roots first. The 15 roots above cover more than half of the questions asked.
- Use elimination. If the phrase says "cannot be heard", any option without in- or im- is out at once.
- Watch near-pairs. Emigrant/immigrant, transparent/translucent/opaque, astronomer/astrologer and egoist/egotist are favourite traps.
- Revise little and often. Ten words a day, revised every day, beats a hundred the night before.
- Read the story. For the linked words above, the short story gives you a scene to remember. That beats a definition read ten times.
Practice questions (with answers)
Choose the one word for each phrase.
- One who knows everything: (a) omnipotent (b) omniscient (c) omnipresent (d) omnivore
- A place where aeroplanes are kept: (a) hangar (b) arsenal (c) granary (d) aviary
- Writing that cannot be read: (a) inaudible (b) illegible (c) ineligible (d) indelible
- Government by the rich: (a) aristocracy (b) autocracy (c) plutocracy (d) bureaucracy
- One who collects stamps: (a) numismatist (b) philatelist (c) cartographer (d) bibliophile
- Lasting for a very short time: (a) perennial (b) ephemeral (c) annual (d) eternal
- One who hates mankind: (a) misogynist (b) misanthrope (c) philanthropist (d) cynic
- A speech made without preparation: (a) verbatim (b) eulogy (c) impromptu (d) epilogue
- One who speaks many languages: (a) polyglot (b) bilingual (c) linguist (d) loquacious
- That which cannot be avoided: (a) invincible (b) infallible (c) inevitable (d) impregnable
- A person who is new to a job: (a) veteran (b) novice (c) amateur (d) prodigy
- Words written on a tomb: (a) epitaph (b) epilogue (c) obituary (d) eulogy
- One who can use both hands equally well: (a) ambivalent (b) ambiguous (c) ambidextrous (d) ambitious
- Fear of foreigners: (a) claustrophobia (b) xenophobia (c) acrophobia (d) hydrophobia
- To give up a throne: (a) abdicate (b) exonerate (c) ostracize (d) usurp
- Agreed upon by everyone: (a) unanimous (b) anonymous (c) ambiguous (d) ubiquitous
- A remedy for all ills: (a) placebo (b) panacea (c) antidote (d) utopia
- One who lives alone and avoids people: (a) recluse (b) introvert (c) nomad (d) misanthrope
- That through which light cannot pass: (a) transparent (b) translucent (c) opaque (d) obscure
- One who flatters powerful people for gain: (a) hypocrite (b) sycophant (c) charlatan (d) renegade
Answers: 1-b, 2-a, 3-b, 4-c, 5-b, 6-b, 7-b, 8-c, 9-a, 10-c, 11-b, 12-a, 13-c, 14-b, 15-a, 16-a, 17-b, 18-a, 19-c, 20-b
Frequently asked questions
What is one word substitution with an example? It is replacing a group of words with one word that means the same. For example, "a person who loves books" becomes bibliophile, and "that which cannot be read" becomes illegible.
How many one word substitutions are asked in SSC exams? Usually 1 to 3 questions in the English section of SSC CGL, CHSL and MTS. Bank and defence exams ask a similar number, often mixed with vocabulary questions.
What is the fastest way to learn one word substitution? Learn the root words first (omni-, phil-, mis-, -cracy, -cide, -logist, -phobia, in-). Then learn the words in topic groups and revise ten a day.
Which one word substitutions are asked most often? Favourites include omniscient, philanthropist, misanthrope, atheist, agnostic, polyglot, illegible, inevitable, infallible, epitaph, autobiography, aviary, hangar, democracy, autocracy, anarchy, ephemeral and unanimous.
Is "one word substitution" the same as a synonym? No. A synonym replaces one word with another word, such as big with large. A one word substitution replaces a whole phrase with one word.
Where can I practise these words? Open any linked word above for a short story and its meaning. The Vocabulary Stories app adds a quiz for every word, so you can test yourself daily.