Select the option that can be used as a one-word substitute for the given group of words. A person who deceives others by pretending to be someone else
- (a)Inaccessible
- (b)Impostor
- (c)Fraud
- (d)Unrecognisable
Answer
Why
Correct — B. The clue has two parts, and both must be met: the answer names a person, and that person deceives by pretending to be someone else.
Apply the first filter and two options go at once — inaccessible and unrecognisable are adjectives, not nouns for people.
Impostor is the word whose definition is exactly the clue: one who deceives by assuming another identity. That is option (b).
Why the others are wrong
- (a)Inaccessible — Inaccessible is an adjective meaning unable to be reached or entered. The clue asks for a person, and this describes a place or a thing.
- (c)Fraud — Fraud names the deception itself first of all, and used of a person it covers any pretender. It misses the clue's defining element, taking on another person's identity.
- (d)Unrecognisable — Unrecognisable is an adjective meaning impossible to identify. Being hard to recognise is not deceiving anyone, and no deceit is claimed by the word.
Concept
A one-word substitute must fit the clue exactly, not approximately, and two filters settle most of these items.
First, part of speech. A clue that begins A person who needs a noun for a person, so every adjective on the list is out before you weigh meaning at all.
Second, the distinguishing element. Strip the clue to what makes it specific — here, pretending to be someone else — and keep only the word that carries it.
Fraud is a real near-miss, not a throwaway option, because a fraud can also mean a person who is not what he claims to be. The clue decides it: it does not say deceives others, full stop, it says deceives others by pretending to be someone else, and that identity-taking is what impostor exists to name.
Key facts
- An impostor is a person who deceives others by pretending to be someone else.
- Fraud names an act of deception intended to gain an unfair or unlawful advantage.
- The paper spells it Impostor, and imposter is a listed variant spelling of the same word.
Study next
Common traps
- Reading only deceives others and stopping at fraud
- Ignoring that two options are adjectives and cannot answer a clue about a person
- Assuming the longest or rarest option must be the intended word
The clue's defining phrase is where the mark sits, so read to the end of it before you weigh any option.
Compare 9 Sep 2024, 09:00, English Q.9 (A person who likes to argue about anything, keyed Contentious) and 9 Sep 2024, 16:00, English Q.6 (Morbid compulsion to consume alcohol continuously, keyed Dipsomania, with Kleptomania and Satyromania on the same list).
Inaccessible, a distractor here, is itself the key at 9 Sep 2024, 16:00, English Q.9, where the underlined words say that the question papers cannot be reached.
This shift runs the same item at English Q.10 (A thing fit to eat, keyed Edible) and Q.14 (Capable of being done, keyed Feasible).
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.