SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 11 September 2024, Shift 3 · English Comprehension · Question 10 of 100

Text as printed on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; answer per SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 6 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. The questions and options here are reproduced as printed on a candidate's own response sheet for this shift — the Commission's text, unchanged. Each answer is SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet; SSC allowed challenges to it and never publishes a final key. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

Select the most appropriate synonym of the bold word in the following sentence. His eloquent speech always persuades people to work for their betterment.

(a)Articulate
(b)Vague
(c)Inarticulate
(d)Short

Answer

Why

Correct — A. The bold word is eloquent — speech that is fluent, expressive and persuasive.

Articulate names the same quality: able to put thoughts into clear, effective words.

The sentence supplies its own evidence. The speech "always persuades people", and persuading an audience is what eloquence does. The other three options describe either a failure to express or a length.

Why the others are wrong

(b)
Vague — Vague means unclear, imprecise, short on detail. It sits at the opposite pole from eloquent, and a speech that reliably persuades people is not a vague one.
(c)
Inarticulate — Inarticulate is the direct antonym of articulate — the negative prefix in- reverses it. It describes someone who cannot get the words out at all.
(d)
Short — Short measures length, not quality of expression. A speech can be short and eloquent in the same breath, so the two words are not exchangeable.

Concept

Eloquent comes from Latin eloqui, "to speak out" (ex- + loqui, to speak) — the same loqui root behind loquacious, colloquial and elocution.

Articulate comes from Latin articulare, "to divide into joints", hence to utter distinctly, joint by joint. Both words are about speech that arrives in clear pieces a listener can follow.

That shared idea of clarity in delivery is what makes them synonyms, and it is why words about volume, length or charm are not.

Articulate is an adjective here (ar-TIK-yuh-lit). The same spelling is a verb with a different final vowel sound (ar-TIK-yuh-late), meaning to express something clearly.

Key facts

Eloquent means fluent, expressive and persuasive in speech or writing.
Articulate, as an adjective, means able to express thoughts clearly and effectively.
Inarticulate carries the negative prefix in-, so it reverses articulate.
Eloquent traces to Latin eloqui, "to speak out", the loqui root shared with loquacious and colloquial.

Study next

The loqui / locut- root family: loquacious, colloquial, elocution, circumlocutionReading the carrier sentence for evidence before choosing between two close synonymsAdjective pairs about clarity of expression: lucid and obscure, coherent and rambling

Common traps

Marking Inarticulate because it looks like the most technical word on the list.
Reading Short as "crisp and to the point", which is a compliment the word does not carry here.
Ignoring "persuades people" — the clue that fixes eloquent as a positive word.

SSC sets a synonym either bare or inside a carrier sentence. Here both Vague and Inarticulate pull the other way.

An antonym is not guaranteed, though. English Q.7 of this shift offers essence, etiquette, proposal and draft for crux, and not one of the wrong words opposes it, so build the filter on meaning rather than on polarity.

This shift also asks for synonyms at English Q.3 (Expertise, keyed Proficiency), Q.7 (crux, keyed essence) and Q.19 (Paramount, keyed supreme).

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.