SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 26 September 2024, Shift 3 · English Comprehension · Question 16 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 10 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 ANTONYM of the given word. Coy

(a)Recent
(b)Extroverted
(c)Uptight
(d)Shy

Answer

Why

Correct — B. Coy means shy and reserved, often in a deliberate, teasing way — a coy smile holds back as much as it offers.

The reverse of reserved is outgoing, and extroverted is the word for someone who turns outward, drawn to company and attention. That is a true reversal on the scale coy sits on, which makes option (b) the answer.

The stem says ANTONYM in capitals for a reason: one of the four words on the list means much the same as coy, and it is there to catch a fast reader.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Recent — Recent means having happened a short while ago. It is a time word, while coy describes manner, so there is no scale on which the two can be opposites.
(c)
Uptight — Uptight means tense, anxious or rigidly inhibited. That runs alongside coy rather than against it — an uptight person is holding back, not opening up.
(d)
Shy — Shy is the synonym trap: it means very nearly what coy means. An antonym stem rewards the reverse, and reaching for the closest match in meaning is the quickest way to lose the mark.

Concept

In an ANTONYM item the nearest synonym is the most dangerous word on the page, because it is what the eye reaches for when you read the word and skim the instruction.

Coy sits on a scale of reserve against outgoingness: coy, shy and reticent at one end, extroverted, gregarious and forward at the other.

Coy carries one shade the others do not — it suggests reserve that is put on, a modesty performed for effect. That shade colours the word but does not change the direction of its opposite.

The capitalised ANTONYM in the stem is the whole instruction. Read it twice whenever one option repeats the meaning of the given word.

Key facts

Coy means shy or reserved, often affectedly so.
Extroverted describes an outgoing person who is energised by company.
Uptight means tense and inhibited, which is not the opposite of coy.
Shy is a synonym of coy, not an antonym.

Study next

Personality-scale antonyms, such as reticent and forthcoming, gregarious and solitaryWords carrying a performed shade of meaning, such as coy and demureSpotting the synonym decoy inside an ANTONYM option set

Common traps

Picking shy, which is a synonym of coy rather than its opposite
Reading uptight as outgoing because it sounds energetic
Skimming the stem and answering the synonym question that was not asked

SSC prints the bare word under an ANTONYM instruction, and here one of the four options is a synonym instead of an opposite.

The same bare-word frame appears at 12 Sep 2024, 16:00, English Q.9 (Monotonous, answer Engrossing) and at 11 Sep 2024, 16:00, English Q.14 (Brittle, answer Resilient).

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.