SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 14 September 2025, Shift 3 · General Intelligence and Reasoning · Question 14 of 95

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 13 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.

Find the word that does not fit in the series: Silent, Muted, Tranquil, Clamorous, Calm

(a)Silent
(b)Muted
(c)Tranquil
(d)clamorous

Answer

Why

Correct — D. Sort the five words by meaning, then find the one that points the other way.

Rule: four words mean quiet or peaceful; one means loud.

Silent and Muted: little or no sound.
Tranquil and Calm: peaceful, free from disturbance.
Clamorous: making a loud, confused noise.

Clamorous runs against the whole group, so it does not fit: option (d).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Silent — Silent means making no sound at all. It is the strongest of the quiet words, so it belongs with the group.
(b)
Muted — Muted means softened or quieter than usual, as in a muted voice. It sits with the quiet words, not against them.
(c)
Tranquil — Tranquil means calm and peaceful. It is a near-synonym of Calm, the fifth word in the list, so it fits the group.

Concept

An odd-one-out word list hides a shared meaning. Name it in a word or two, then test each word against it.

Here the shared meaning is quiet or peace: silent, muted, tranquil, calm. Clamorous does more than differ from them. It is their antonym, which makes the choice clean.

The list has five words and the options four. Calm is left out of the options, but it belongs to the quiet group, so its absence changes nothing.

Key facts

Clamorous means making a loud, confused noise.
Muted means softened or subdued in sound.
Tranquil means calm and peaceful, free from disturbance.

Study next

Word lists where the odd word is from another category, not an antonymAntonym analogies of the Growth : Stagnation :: Success : ? typeSynonym and antonym items in the English section

Common traps

Picking Tranquil because it is about peace rather than sound. The group covers both, and Tranquil sits beside Calm.
Looking for an order in the 'series': nothing here is a sequence, it is an odd-one-out on meaning.

The same build, near-synonyms and one antonym, is at 16 Sep 2025, 12:30, Reasoning Q.13: Complex, Intricate, Sophisticated, Simple, Elaborate, where Simple is out.

At 18 Sep 2025, 09:00, Reasoning Q.10 the odd word is a different category instead: Oak, a tree, among four flowers.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Number Series — all 178 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.