SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 17 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: REBELLIOUS

(a)Submissive
(b)Obedient
(c)Disobedient
(d)Agreeable

Answer

Why

Correct — C. Rebellious describes someone who shows a desire to resist authority, control or convention.

Disobedient means refusing to obey rules or someone in authority. Same sense, same part of speech, both adjectives → option (c).

The root is a useful check. Rebel goes back to Latin rebellis, built on bellum, 'war', the root also seen in belligerent.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Submissive — Submissive means ready to yield to the authority or will of others. That is the rebel's opposite, so it is an antonym, not a synonym.
(b)
Obedient — Obedient means willing to follow orders or rules. It is the direct opposite of rebellious, and the prefix dis- in the key reverses exactly this word.
(d)
Agreeable — Agreeable means pleasant, or willing to go along with something. Neither sense describes a person who pushes back against authority.

Concept

A synonym item is decided by the word's core sense, and rebellious has one: resisting authority.

Look at how the options split. Submissive, Obedient and Agreeable all describe going along with authority, so they stand at the opposite pole. Disobedient is the lone option on the resisting side.

The prefix does the work. Dis- reverses obedient, and the reversed word lands on the rebel's side of the scale.

Rebellious also has a political sense: taking part in a rebellion against a government or ruler. Both senses rest on the same idea, resisting authority, so the key fits either.

Key facts

Rebellious means showing a desire to resist authority, control or convention.
Disobedient means refusing to obey rules or someone in authority.
Rebel goes back to Latin rebellis, built on bellum, 'war'.
Submissive, obedient and agreeable all describe compliance, the opposite of rebellion.

Study next

Words built on Latin bellum, 'war', such as rebellion, belligerent and bellicoseNear-synonyms of rebellious, such as defiant, insubordinate, mutinous and unrulyAdjectives negated with dis-, such as disobedient, disloyal and dishonest

Common traps

Losing the instruction under time pressure: Submissive or Obedient would fit an antonym item on this word, not a synonym item

Here three of the four options describe compliance and one describes resistance.

The same two wrong options, Submissive and Obedient, appear in the synonym item on Obstinate at 23 Sep 2024, 12:30, English Q.1, keyed Stubborn. Submissive is also a wrong option at 15 Sep 2025, 12:30, English Q.2, the antonym of Obsequious, keyed Assertive.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

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