SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 17 September 2025, Shift 2 · English Comprehension · Question 2 of 99

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 antonym of the given word. Reverence

(a)Respect
(b)Devotion
(c)Contempt
(d)Worship

Answer

Why

Correct — C.
Reverence is deep respect mixed with awe, the feeling for something held sacred or far above you.

Contempt is the feeling that someone or something is worthless or beneath consideration. Reverence looks up; contempt looks down, so contempt is the opposite.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Respect — Respect is the milder core of reverence, not its opposite. Reverence is respect raised to awe.
(b)
Devotion — Devotion is love, loyalty or commitment to a person, cause or faith. It sits on the same side as reverence.
(d)
Worship — Worship is reverence shown to a deity, or extreme admiration. It is a stronger synonym, not an antonym.

Concept

Sort antonym options by direction before choosing. Place each word on a scale of regard, from looking up at someone to looking down on them.

Respect, devotion and worship all sit at the high end with reverence. Contempt is the one option at the low end.

Irreverence, a lack of proper respect, is also an opposite of reverence, but a milder one. Contempt goes further, from missing respect to active scorn.

Key facts

Reverence: deep respect, often mixed with awe.
Contempt: the feeling that someone or something is worthless or beneath consideration.
Reverence comes from Latin revereri, 'to stand in awe of'.
Near-synonyms of contempt: scorn, disdain, derision.

Study next

Reverent, reverend and irreverent comparedWords of scorn: disdain, derision, disparagementIdioms that express contempt, such as turn up one's nose at

Common traps

Choosing respect as the 'opposite' because it is weaker than reverence — a weaker synonym is still a synonym.
Missing 'antonym' in the stem — three options are synonyms of reverence, so a synonym reading lands on a wrong answer.

Contempt is also tested through idioms. 25 Sep 2024, 16:00, English Q.17 keys Turned up their nose at her for relatives who 'treated her with contempt'.

20 Sep 2025, 9:00, English Q.4 keys 'To bite one's thumb at someone' as To insult someone contemptuously.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Antonyms — all 137 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.