SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 15 September 2025, Shift 3 · 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: PROPITIOUS

(a)Doubtful
(b)Harmful
(c)Favorable
(d)Unlucky

Answer

Why

Correct — C. Propitious means favourable: conditions or signs that promise success, as in a propitious moment to launch a plan.

Favorable carries the same sense, and both words are adjectives → option (c).

The root helps if the word is new to you. It comes from Latin propitius, 'favourable, gracious', and the verb propitiate, 'to win someone's favour', shares it.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Doubtful — Doubtful means uncertain. A propitious moment is not in doubt; the conditions clearly favour what you plan to do.
(b)
Harmful — Harmful points the opposite way. It describes something that causes damage, while propitious describes conditions that help.
(d)
Unlucky — Unlucky is close to an antonym. Propitious also means auspicious, a good omen, so an unlucky sign is exactly what it is not.

Concept

A synonym item turns on the word's core sense. Propitious has one: circumstances that favour you, as in a propitious time, propitious weather or a propitious sign.

Sort the options by direction. Harmful and Unlucky sit on the unfavourable side, and Doubtful is merely uncertain. Favorable is the lone option on the positive side, which is where propitious belongs.

The option prints the American spelling Favorable. The British spelling is favourable; the meaning is the same.

Key facts

Propitious means favourable, giving a good chance of success.
It comes from Latin propitius, 'favourable, gracious'.
Propitiate, 'to win or regain someone's favour', shares the same root.
Inauspicious and unpropitious are antonyms of propitious.

Study next

Near-synonyms of propitious, such as auspicious, opportune and advantageousThe verb propitiate and its noun propitiationAntonyms on the same scale, such as inauspicious, ominous and adverse

Common traps

Picking Doubtful because a propitious moment feels like a gamble, when the word says the odds favour you
Confusing propitious with the look-alike precipitous, which means steep or sudden

Here the word is printed in capitals and the synonym is the lone option on the favourable side.

The same stem, with the word in capitals, is asked at 12 Sep 2025, 09:00, English Q.1 (PERFIDIOUS, keyed Treacherous) and 19 Sep 2025, 09:00, English Q.1 (FELICITOUS, keyed Appropriate).

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

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