SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 17 September 2025, Shift 1 · English Comprehension · Question 2 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 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.

Select the most appropriate synonym of the given word: EXIGUOUS

(a)Scanty
(b)Huge
(c)Excessive
(d)Abundant

Answer

Why

Correct — A. Exiguous means very small in size or amount, barely enough. It comes from Latin exiguus, 'scanty' or 'small'.

Scanty means small or insufficient in quantity, as in a scanty meal. Both words describe too little.

So the synonym is Scanty → option (a).

Why the others are wrong

(b)
Huge — Huge means extremely large, the opposite of exiguous. A word for too little cannot match a word for great size.
(c)
Excessive — Excessive means more than is needed. Exiguous means less than enough, so it points the wrong way. Its ex- start is no link in meaning.
(d)
Abundant — Abundant means existing in large quantities, plentiful. It is a direct antonym of exiguous.

Concept

A synonym item turns on knowing the given word. Here huge, excessive and abundant all mean a lot, and scanty means too little.

Once you place exiguous on the too-little side, the answer is the option standing alone there.

Its near-synonyms are meagre, scant and sparse. Its antonyms include ample, plentiful and copious.

Keep exiguous apart from its lookalike exigent, which means urgent or demanding, as in exigent circumstances. The two share a start, not a meaning.

Key facts

Exiguous = very small in amount, barely sufficient.
Synonyms: scanty, meagre, scant, sparse.
Antonyms: abundant, ample, plentiful, copious.
Exigent (urgent, demanding) is a different word.

Study next

Scarcity words: meagre, paltry, sparse, scantPlenty words: copious, ample, profuse, abundantLookalike pairs: exiguous and exigent, ingenious and ingenuous

Common traps

Linking exiguous to excessive because both begin with ex-.
Confusing exiguous with exigent, which means urgent or pressing.

Asked here as a bare synonym: one capitalised word, four one-word options. The lookalike exigencies (pressing needs) appears in the stem of 12 Sep 2025, 16:00, English Q.9, a reminder to keep exigent and exiguous apart.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Synonyms — all 129 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.