SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 13 September 2024, Shift 3 · English Comprehension · Question 2 of 98

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.

Give one word substitution for : A person who is unsure about God’s existence

(a)Agnostic
(b)Atheist
(c)Ignorant
(d)Theist

Answer

Why

Correct — A. The stem decides this one. Agnostic is a- (without) plus gnosis (knowledge), so it is a claim about what can be known, not about what is believed.

A person who is unsure about God's existence is withholding a knowledge-claim, which is exactly what the word names.

Belief words are built on theos and end in -theist. Knowledge words are built on gnosis and end in -gnostic. The definition says unsure, so option (a).

Why the others are wrong

(b)
Atheist — Atheist is a- plus theos: one who holds that no God exists. That is a settled negative position, not the uncertainty the definition describes.
(c)
Ignorant — Ignorant means lacking knowledge in general, of anything at all. It names no stance on God, while the definition is about one specific question.
(d)
Theist — A theist believes God exists. It is the positive belief, the far pole from atheist, and it leaves no room for the word unsure.

Concept

Two different axes are at work in this option set, and separating them settles the question.

One axis is belief, carried by the Greek theos, god: a theist believes, an atheist does not.

The other is knowledge, carried by gnosis: a gnostic claims the matter is known, an agnostic holds that it is not known or not knowable.

Because the axes are separate, a person can sit on both at once — someone may not believe and still say the question cannot be settled. SSC only needs the first step from you: unsure points to knowledge, so it points to the -gnostic family.

The wrong options here are the near neighbours of the right one rather than random vocabulary, which is the usual shape of a one-word-substitution item. Read the definition for its exact hinge — here, the single word unsure.

Key facts

Agnostic is a- (without) plus gnosis (knowledge): the existence of God is held to be unknown or unknowable.
Atheist is a- (without) plus theos (god): the position that no God exists.
Theist takes the same theos stem with no negative prefix, meaning one who believes God exists.
The word agnostic was coined by the biologist T. H. Huxley.

Study next

One-word substitutions built on the Greek stem gnosis: diagnosis, prognosis, agnosticBelief-and-worship vocabulary: theist, atheist, polytheist, monotheist, hereticPeople defined by something they lack: illiterate, anonymous, apathetic

Common traps

Reading unsure as does not believe and choosing atheist
Treating ignorant as a synonym of agnostic because both involve not knowing
Skimming past the negative prefix a- and picking theist

SSC gives the definition and asks for the word, and the deciding evidence is a single qualifier inside the definition.

Atheist itself is tested at 12 Sep 2024, 09:00, English Q.14, where the underlined word is atheist and the key reads One who does not believe in God.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.