SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 17 September 2025, Shift 2 · English Comprehension · Question 3 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.

Choose the correct meaning of idiom: Not fit to hold a candle to

(a)Excellent in comparison
(b)Similar in ability
(c)Greatly inferior to
(d)Superior to in some aspects

Answer

Why

Correct — C.
The image is of an assistant holding a candle so that a skilled worker can see to do the job.

Someone not fit even to hold the light is far below that worker. So 'X is not fit to hold a candle to Y' means X is greatly inferior to Y.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Excellent in comparison — Excellent in comparison reverses the idiom. The phrase says the subject is not good enough even to assist the other person, let alone outshine them.
(b)
Similar in ability — Similar in ability ignores 'not fit'. The idiom opens a wide gap between the two people; it never describes a match.
(d)
Superior to in some aspects — Superior points the wrong way, and 'in some aspects' softens a sweeping judgement. The idiom rates the subject far below, not partly above.

Concept

The idiom is used in the negative: can't hold a candle to or not fit to hold a candle to. Both mean the subject is nowhere near as good as the person or thing compared.

Watch the direction. In 'the sequel can't hold a candle to the original', the sequel is the weaker one. The subject of the idiom is the inferior party.

The paper prints the idiom without a subject, so test each option by supplying one: 'He is not fit to hold a candle to his teacher' means he is greatly inferior to his teacher.

Key facts

Can't hold a candle to, or not fit to hold a candle to: be far less good than someone or something.
The subject of the idiom is the weaker party.
The image is of an assistant holding a light for a more skilled worker.
Related idioms: no match for, not in the same league as, pale in comparison with.

Study next

Idioms of inferiority: no match for, not in the same league as, play second fiddleIdioms of superiority: head and shoulders above, a cut above

Common traps

Reversing the direction and picking a 'superior' option — the idiom judges its subject, and the subject is the weaker one.
Choosing 'similar in ability' because two people are being compared, without weighing 'not fit'.

The same stem, 'Choose the correct meaning of idiom:', also appears at 20 Sep 2025, 9:00, English Q.4, where 'To bite one's thumb at someone' is keyed To insult someone contemptuously.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Idioms and phrases — all 97 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.