One Word Substitution

Topic – 2

ONE WORD SUBSTITUTION

INTRODUCTION

Single words often express the ideas of phrases. We should learn them, as they are very useful when we want to put our ideas in brief. Francis Bacon's old statement, “Brevity is the soul of wit”, is apt even today as conciseness and brevity are the call of modern communication. Oneword substitutes help us in summarizing, précis writing and all types of official communication. Listed below are some commonly used one-word substitutes:

Practice Exercises

I. In the following questions, out of the four alternatives choose the one that can be substituted for the given words / phrase: 

1. Person who looks at the dark side of everything 

a. pessimist 

b. idealist

c. optimist 

d. naturalism

2. Person who looks at the bright side of everything 

a. cynic

b. pessimist 

c. optimist

d. strange

3. Person who abstains from all alcoholic drinks

a. teetotaler 

b. ambitious 

c. abscond

d. escape

4. One who conceals his identity as a writer under an assumed pen-name

a. pompous 

b. plagiarist 

c. pseudonym 

d. philistine 

5. Stage of growth between boyhood and youth. 

a. infancy 

b. teenager 

c. old age

d. adolescence

6. An organ of body cut off by surgery

a. amputation 

b. imitation

c. adaptation

d. impartial

7. One who eats everything

a. carnivorous 

b. herbivorous

c. insectivorous

d. omnivorous

8. Animal that eats flesh of other animals

a. carnivorous 

b. benevolent

c. insectivorous

d. omnivorous

9. Animals that can live on land and water

a. insectivorous

b. dinosaurs

c. amphibians

d. reptile

10. Residing in a country of which one is not yet a full-fledged citizen 

a. lain 

b. lease 

c. enemy

d. alien

11. Child without parents

a. juvenile

b. sprout

c. orphan

d. ankle biter

12. Easy to shape in desired form 

a. malleable

b. stiff

c. rigid

d. brittle

13. Easy to carry over long distance 

a. fixed

b. manageable

c. portable 

d. convenient 

14. An object through which light passes but people cannot see across clearly 

a. heavy 

b. cloudy 

c. opaque

d. translucent

15. An object through which light passes and one can see through

a. transparent 

b. opaque

c. quite

d. thick

16. That which can be drunk

a. jeopardize 

b. portable

c. risk

d. peril

17. That which can be eaten

a. poisonous 

b. ripe

c. provision

d. edible

18. That which can be easily digested

a. palatable 

b. inedible

c. tasteless

d. tart

19. Belonging to one's ancestors 

a. fresh

b. acquired

c. ancestral

d. unusual

20. A truce or cessation from arms before a formal treaty is signed 

a. dispute

b. armistice 

c. commencement 

d. disagreement

21. A state of complete continence 

a. celibacy

b. conceit

c. courage

d. arrogance

22. Deserving blame for an offence or crime

a. innocent 

b. exalted

c. culpable

d. thorough

23. A state of perfect balance

a. perfection 

b. imperfect

c. imbalance

d. equilibrium

24. That which lasts forever or is never-ending

a. cessation

b. terminable

c. eternal

d. limited

25. A speech without any previous preparation

a. extempore 

b. deliberately

c. rehearsed

d. premeditated

26. Illicit partner of a married man or woman

a. foe 

b. abscond

c. hate

d. paramour

27. Beyond all powers of destruction of time

a. imperishable 

b. destructible

c. intermittent

d. transient

28. Lasting only for a very short time

a. transient 

b. enduring

c. enticing

d. lasting

29. Which can be destroyed quickly

a. endurance 

b. continuation

c. permanent

d. perishable

30. State of complete continence on the part of a woman

a. honori 

b. restraint 

c. virginity

d. virtue

31. A person who is very fond of sensuous enjoyment 

a. flat

b. hedonist 

c. underdeveloped

d. acetic

32. A person with refined taste in food and wine 

a. puritan 

b. ascetic

c. novice

d. epicure

33. The large-scale departure of people

a. entrance 

b. arrival

c. standing

d. exodus

34. Disease that spreads by contact

a. contagious 

b. lupine

c. antiseptic

d. endemic

35. Disease that spreads by means of germs carried in the atmosphere

a. hygienic 

b. limited 

c. harmless 

d. infectious

36. Disease that affects a large number of people in an area at the same time 

a. epidemic 

b. gush

c. explosion 

d. healing

37. In a state of apparent inactivity but capable of being easily called into action 

a. active

b. involved 

c. animated 

d. dormant

38. To pass winter in a dormant state or a period of inactivity in which some living organisms pass the winter (like frogs) 

a. hibernation 

b. hustle

c. diligence

d. ambitious

39. One who hates mankind

a. philanthropist 

b. misanthrope

c. humanitarian

d. optimist

40. To sail round the world

a. circumnavigate 

b. assist

c. permit

d. land

41. Using ambiguous words to conceal the truth 

a. clear 

b. obvious

c. authentic

d. equivocal

42. One who can be easily duped or fooled by any swindler 

a. smart 

b. gullible

c. astute 

d. perceptive

43. Uniform in structure or composition throughout 

a. heterogeneous

b. evident

c. ordered

d. homogeneous

44. Free from external incitement or self-generation or happening without external cause

a. deliberate 

b. spontaneous 

c. premeditated 

d. painstaking

45. Organism that grows, feeds and is sheltered on or in a different organism while contributing nothing to the survival of its host 

a. leader

b. workaholic 

c. overachiever 

d. parasite

46. Person who loves mankind

a. detractor

b. egoist

c. philanthropist

d. stingy

47. To root out an evil

a. establish

b. eradicate

c. institute

d. secure

48. The state of being married

a. matrimony 

b. divorce

c. observance

d. neglect

49. Practice of having only one wife or husband at a time

a. slenderness 

b. fornication 

c. tidiness

d. monogamy

50. Dramatic scene in which a person speaks by himself

a. dialogue 

b. listening 

c. monologue 

d. address

51. Short speech or poem given at the end of a play or book

a. epilogue 

b. preface 

c. debut 

d. climax

52. Introductory part or lines to a discourse or play 

a. finish

b. prologue 

c. postscript

d. addendum

53. Account of a person's life written by another 

a. speech

b. adventure 

c. notification

d. biography

54. Unfit for human consumption 

a. inedible

b. comestible

c. appetizing

d. delicious

55. Person who is hard to please

a. conformist 

b. orthodox

c. sheep

d. dissenter

56. Person who believes in God

a. heist

b. theist

c. atheist

d. thirsty

57. Person who does not believe in the existence of God 

a. atheist 

b. believer

c. devotee

d. disciple

58. Person leading a life of strict self-discipline

a. elaborate 

b. encouraging

c. ascetic

d. indulgent

59. Things belonging to ancient times 

a. unripe

b. young

c. modern

d. antiques

60. Person more like a woman than a man

a. masculinity

b. extroverted

c. effeminate

d. unpretentious

61. Honourably discharged from service

a. employed 

b. emeritus

c. active

d. working

62. Person of strong conviction or prejudice, especially in matters of religion 

a. tolerator 

b. liberal

c. humanitarian 

d. bigot

63. Incapable of being corrected

a. reformable 

b. incorrigible

c. manageable

d. obedient

64. One who pretends to be what he is not 

a. loyalist 

b. honest

c. hypocrite 

d. rogue 

65. One who is all powerful

a. omnipotent 

b. incapable 

c. mundane 

d. unremarkable 

66. Composed of elements highly diverse in character

a. heterogeneity 

b. synonyms 

c. antonyms 

d. homogenous 

67. A physician who specializes in diseases of skin

a. dermatologist 

b. gynaecologist 

c. orthopaedician 

d. ophthalmologist 

68. A physician / surgeon dealing with diseases of the female reproductive system

a. ophthalmologist 

b. orthopaedician 

c. gynaecologist 

d. dermatologist 

69. A physician who specializes in heart diseases

a. dermatologist 

b. cardiologist 

c. ophthalmologist 

d. gynaecologist 

70. Specialist in bone or skeleton disorders

a. dermatologist 

b. orthopaedician 

c. ophthalmologist 

d. gynaecologist 

71. Specialist of eye diseases

a. ophthalmologist 

b. gynaecologist 

c. orthopaedician 

d. dermatologist

72. One who murders his own mother

a. matricide 

b. genocide 

c. contract

d. homicide

73. Act of murdering one's father

a. genocide 

b. patricide 

c. euthanasia

d. infanticide

74. Killing of one's brother or sister

a. elimination 

b. assassination

c. regicide

d. fratricide

75. Words differing in meaning from another word with same sound

a. harmony 

b. homonym 

c. hominify 

d. hominid

76. Words having more or less same meanings

a. antonyms 

b. convenient

c. synonyms

d. beside

77. Words more or less opposite in meanings

a. synonyms. 

b. metonym 

c. analogue

d. antonyms

78. Specialist of diseases of infants

a. pediatrician 

b. preterition

c. penetration

d. protrusion

79. Murder of an infant or a new-born baby

a. infinities 

b. infanticide

c. infinitude

d. incorrigible

80. Very pleasing to eat

a. toothsome

b. tasteless

c. disgusting

d. inedible

81. Act of ending one's life

a. suicide

b. dangerous

c. encouraged

d. assisting

82. Systematic extermination of a race or community

a. decimation 

b. devastation 

c. ethnic

d. genocide

83. A child born after the death of its father

a. posterior 

b. fluvial

c. posthumous

d. obituary

84. Marrying one person while still legally married to another

a. bigamy 

b. prerogative 

c. ballot 

d. thesaurus

85. Study of the origin and history of words

a. eugenic 

b. etymology 

c. eucharist

d. euglena

86. Woman having many husbands at the same time

a. polygraph 

b. polymorphic 

c. polyp

d. polyandry

87. Plurality of wives

a. Exogamy

b. polygyny

c. polyphony

d. polphagia

88. A hater of women

a. misogynist

b. misproportion

c. carper

d. misreckon

89. A sleeping room for a number of people 

a. office 

b. dump

c. fireside 

d. dormitory

90. The day of Last Judgment or end of the world 

a. knocker

b. doomsday 

c. adaptation

d. Enthusiasm

91. To surround on all sides 

a. buyoff

b. fleece

c. envelope

d. Enthusiasm

92. A person who believes in going out naked 

a. weird

b. dangerous

c. nudist

d. nuttiest

93. Something very ancient

a. entitling 

b. mischievous

c. momentum

d. antedilurian

94. Woman whose husband has died and who has not remarried

a. wiener

b. widower

c. wield

d. widow

95. Man whose wife has died and who has not remarried 

a. dower

b. widower 

c. widget

d. woodier

96. Medicine used to calm or pacify

a. hypnotic 

b. antidepressant

c. tranquilizer

d. fusion

97. Murder of a king

a. butchery 

b. regicide 

c. slaughter

d. infanticide

98. Hater of learning and knowledge

a. misologist 

b. posologist

c. syllogist

d. zoologist

99. The intentional destruction of a human foetus in the uterus (infant in womb) 

a. noticed 

b. fortitude

c. poetized

d. foeticide

100. Account of a person's life written by himself

a. confession 

b. autobiography 

c. adventures

d. portrayal