SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 12 September 2025, Shift 3 · English Comprehension · Question 6 of 100

We transcribed this text from the pictures on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; the answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 11 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. From 2025 the candidate response sheet prints every question and option as a picture, so the text here is transcribed from those pictures for this shift and checked against them independently; where the layout carries meaning, the picture is shown as well. Each answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. SSC released a tentative key for challenge and later its final one, both only to candidates behind a login, and the sheet does not say which of the two it carries. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

Choose the correct one-word substitute for: 'A state of disuse or inactivity'.

(a)Hiatus
(b)Oblivion
(c)Interregnum
(d)Desuetude

Answer

Why

Correct — D. Desuetude is the state of no longer being used or practised, said of a law, custom or word that has lapsed.

It appears in the phrase fall into desuetude: 'the old rule had fallen into desuetude'. That is the definition's 'state of disuse' → option (d).

The word comes from Latin desuetudo, 'disuse'.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Hiatus — Hiatus means a pause or gap in a sequence or activity, as when a series goes on hiatus. It names the interruption itself, not the condition of having fallen out of use.
(b)
Oblivion — Oblivion is the state of being forgotten, or of being unaware of one's surroundings. It concerns memory or consciousness, not whether a thing is still in use.
(c)
Interregnum — Interregnum is the period between two reigns or governments, when normal rule is suspended. It names a gap in authority, not a state of general disuse.

Concept

A one-word substitute must match the whole definition, not one word of it. This definition has two parts: a state, and that state is disuse or inactivity.

The near-misses each share one part. Hiatus and interregnum are gaps, intervals within a run of activity or rule. Oblivion is a state, but of being forgotten or unaware.

Desuetude is the word that names the lasting condition of not being used.

Interregnum also has a looser sense, 'an interval or pause', which brushes against 'inactivity'. It still names a gap between two periods, while the definition asks for a state of disuse.

Key facts

Desuetude means a state of disuse, especially of a law or custom.
It appears in the phrase 'fall into desuetude'.
A hiatus is a pause or gap in a sequence, series or process.
An interregnum is a period between two reigns or regimes, when normal government is suspended.

Study next

Words for things that have lapsed: obsolete, defunct, archaic, outmodedWords for pauses: hiatus, lull, respite, interlude

Common traps

Choosing Hiatus because a pause sounds like inactivity, when the definition asks for disuse
Choosing Oblivion because a disused thing may also be forgotten, when oblivion names the forgetting, not the disuse

A 'state of' definition with close near-misses is also set at 15 Sep 2025, 16:00, English Q.6: 'A state of mental weariness and lack of enthusiasm', keyed Ennui against Languor, Torpor and Tedium.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: One-word substitution — all 91 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.