Select the option that can be used as a one-word substitute for the given group of words. One who speaks less in a forum.

Correct — D. Reticent means reserved and unwilling to say much, someone who holds back rather than speaks out. That is the definition the item gives: one who speaks less in a forum.

The list is built around speech, and the remaining choices either describe someone who talks a great deal or say nothing about talking at all. Option (d) is the word that carries 'says little' inside it.

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Eccentric — Eccentric describes unconventional behaviour or odd habits. It says nothing about how much a person talks, so it cannot substitute for a definition built on speech.
• (b)
  Loquacious — Loquacious means very talkative, the exact reverse of the definition. SSC puts the antonym on the list because a candidate who half-reads the clue matches on the topic of speech alone.
• (c)
  Gabby — Gabby is an informal word for chatty and full of idle talk. Like loquacious it describes someone who speaks a great deal, not someone who holds back.

One-word substitution is definition matching, and the traps are nearly always words from the same topic pointing the wrong way.

Reticent comes from the Latin reticere, to keep silent. It means reserved about what one says, and it is stronger than merely quiet — it implies deliberately holding back.

Fix the neighbours in the same pass. Taciturn is habitually silent by temperament, laconic is using very few words, and loquacious and garrulous are talkative.

Key facts

• Reticent means reserved and unwilling to speak freely.
• Loquacious and garrulous both mean excessively talkative.
• Taciturn means habitually silent by disposition.
• Laconic means expressing much in very few words.

Common traps

• Matching on the topic of speech and taking loquacious without checking the direction.
• Dismissing gabby as too informal to be an SSC option, and eliminating it for the wrong reason.

No directly related past PYQ was found.