Select the option that can be used as a one-word substitute for the given group of words. A person who does not believe in God

Correct — A. An atheist is a person who holds that no God exists. The word is built from a-, meaning without, and the Greek theos, god.

The stem asks for a person, so the answer has to be a noun that names somebody, not the name of a condition or a system.

That test removes anarchy on its own, and plain meaning removes the rest. Option (a) is the substitute.

Why the others are wrong

• (b)
  Amateur — An amateur does something for pleasure rather than for pay, or does it without skill. The word carries no claim about belief of any kind.
• (c)
  Anarchy — Anarchy names a state of affairs — the absence of government or order. It is not a person, and the person-word from the same root is anarchist.
• (d)
  Autocrat — An autocrat is a ruler who holds absolute power. The word describes political authority, not what somebody believes about God.

One-word substitution rewards word-building more than recall. Split the word and the meaning usually falls out.

a- / an- means without: atheist, amoral, anonymous. theos gives theist, monotheism, polytheism.

Two further tests settle most items. Does the word name a person or a thing — anarchist against anarchy? And does it cover the whole phrase you were given, or only half of it?

Key facts

• Atheist: a person who believes that God does not exist.
• Agnostic: a person who holds that God's existence can never be known either way.
• Anarchy names the absence of government, while anarchist names the person.
• Amateur means non-professional, from the Latin amator, a lover of the activity.

Common traps

• Choosing anarchy for a stem that asks for a person
• Confusing atheist, who denies God, with agnostic, who says the question cannot be settled
• Picking by first letter when every option starts with a

No directly related past PYQ was found.