SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 14 September 2025, Shift 2 · English Comprehension · Question 1 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.

Select the most appropriate synonym of the given word: CALLOW

(a)Inexperienced
(b)Experienced
(c)Wise
(d)Mature

Answer

Why

Correct — A. Callow describes someone young and inexperienced, not yet used to the ways of the adult world: a callow youth, a callow recruit.

Inexperienced carries that sense of not yet knowing how things work, so it is the synonym → option (a).

The other three options point the opposite way, towards experience and maturity.

Why the others are wrong

(b)
Experienced — Experienced is the direct antonym of callow: it means having the knowledge or skill that comes with time, the very thing a callow person lacks.
(c)
Wise — Wise means having good judgement built on knowledge and experience. A callow person has not yet gained that, so wise leans towards the antonym.
(d)
Mature — Mature means fully developed in outlook and behaviour. Callow means not yet developed in that way, so mature is an antonym, not a synonym.

Concept

Callow (adjective) means young and inexperienced, often with a touch of naivety: 'a callow young officer who trusted every rumour'.

It comes from Old English calu, 'bald', and was later used of young birds that had not yet grown their feathers. That image of an unfledged bird is the key to the meaning.

Synonyms: green, raw, unfledged, inexperienced. Antonyms: experienced, mature, seasoned, worldly.

Key facts

Callow means young and inexperienced: a callow youth.
Callow comes from Old English calu, 'bald', and was later used of young birds without feathers.
Synonyms of callow: green, raw, unfledged, inexperienced.
Antonyms of callow: experienced, mature, seasoned, worldly.

Study next

Inexperience words: green, raw, unfledged, fledgling, noviceExperience words: seasoned, veteran, worldly, sophisticated

Common traps

Confusing callow with callous, which looks similar but means unkind and unfeeling
Misreading 'synonym' as 'antonym' and choosing experienced, callow's exact opposite

The word is printed alone, with no sentence to lean on, so only its meaning helps. Age-and-experience vocabulary in the same bare format appears at 14 Sep 2025, 09:00, English Q.1, where JUVENILE is keyed Childish, and Wise and Mature again sit among the wrong options.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Synonyms — all 112 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.