Choose the correct one-word substitute for: 'A person who opposes war or use of violence'.

Correct — A. A pacifist is a person who believes that war and violence are unjustifiable.

The definition turns on the verb opposes and on its two objects, war and the use of violence. Pacifist covers both → option (a).

The root is Latin pax, pac-, 'peace', which also gives pacify and the adjective pacific, 'peaceful'.

Why the others are wrong

• (b)
  Terrorist — Terrorist is the reverse: a person who uses unlawful violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, for political aims.
• (c)
  Militant — Militant describes someone combative in support of a cause, typically favouring confrontational or violent methods. It leans towards violence rather than against it.
• (d)
  Revolutionary — Revolutionary names a person working for political revolution, the overthrow of an established order. Nothing in it rejects violence, so it misses the definition's verb, opposes.

A one-word substitution item gives a definition and asks for the word that fits every part of it.

Here the deciding part is direction: the person opposes war or violence. Terrorist and Militant name people who use or favour violence, so they point the wrong way. Revolutionary names a political goal, and nothing in it opposes violence.

Pacifist is the lone option that opposes war and violence as a matter of principle.

Key facts

• A pacifist is a person who believes that war and violence are unjustifiable.
• Pacifism is the belief, and a pacifist is the person who holds it.
• The root is Latin pax, pac-, 'peace', as in pacify and pacific.
• Militant means combative in support of a cause, typically favouring confrontational or violent methods.

Common traps

• Picking Revolutionary because it sounds like someone who stands against the system, without checking the war-and-violence part of the definition
• Reading opposes loosely and picking Militant because militants oppose something too

No directly related past PYQ was found.