SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 15 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: IMPLACABLE

(a)Soft
(b)Unyielding
(c)Flexible
(d)Gentle

Answer

Why

Correct — B. Implacable means impossible to appease: an implacable enemy cannot be calmed, bought off or talked round.

Unyielding means refusing to give way under pressure. Someone who will not be placated will not yield, so the two share a core sense → option (b).

The word splits cleanly: im-, 'not', plus placable, 'able to be appeased', from Latin placare, 'to appease'.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Soft — Soft describes someone lenient or easily moved, which is exactly what an implacable person is not. It sits on the yielding side of the scale.
(c)
Flexible — Flexible means ready to bend or adapt, the direct opposite of the keyed Unyielding. An implacable opponent does not bend, so this points the wrong way.
(d)
Gentle — Gentle means mild and kind in manner. Implacable describes hostility that cannot be softened, so Gentle is nearer an antonym than a synonym.

Concept

A synonym item is decided by the word's core sense. For implacable that sense is refusal: anger or opposition that cannot be appeased or relaxed.

Look at how the options divide. Soft, Flexible and Gentle all describe someone who gives way. Unyielding stands alone on the other side, with implacable.

When the word is unfamiliar, split it. im- negates, as in impossible, and placable means 'able to be appeased'. 'Not able to be appeased' leads straight to unyielding.

Implacable can describe a force as well as a person, as in an implacable advance, meaning relentless and unstoppable. The sense is the same, something that will not relent, and it still matches Unyielding.

Key facts

Implacable means unable to be appeased or placated.
It comes from Latin implacabilis: in- 'not' plus placabilis, from placare 'to appease'.
Placate, to make someone less angry, comes from the same Latin verb.
Unyielding means not giving way to pressure or persuasion.

Study next

Words built on Latin placare, 'to appease': placate, placatory, implacableNear-synonyms of unyielding: relentless, inexorable, obdurate, intransigentThe prefix in- written as im- before p, as in implacable, impassable and impeccable

Common traps

Seeing the plac- root, thinking of calm, and missing that im- turns the meaning round
Confusing implacable with the look-alike impeccable, 'flawless'

Here the word is printed in capitals and three of the four options sit on the yielding side.

The same Latin root drives 14 Sep 2025, 12:30, English Q.2, which asks the antonym of Placatory and keys Aggravating. The unyielding sense is keyed at 24 Sep 2024, 12:30, English Q.4 (obdurate, keyed obstinate).

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

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