SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 18 September 2025, Shift 2 · English Comprehension · Question 3 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 antonym of the given word. Sagacious

(a)Insightful
(b)Wise
(c)Foolish
(d)Prudent

Answer

Why

Correct — C. Sagacious means having keen discernment and sound judgement: wise and shrewd.

The antonym must sit at the other end of that scale, poor judgement. Foolish means lacking good sense or judgement → option (c).

Insightful, Wise and Prudent all mean much the same as sagacious, so the set is three synonyms built around one antonym.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Insightful — Insightful means having a deep, accurate understanding of people or situations. That is part of being sagacious, so it is a synonym, not an antonym.
(b)
Wise — Wise is the plainest synonym of sagacious. It stands at the same end of the judgement scale, so it cannot be the opposite.
(d)
Prudent — Prudent means acting with care and thought for the future. Farsighted judgement is part of what sagacious means, so this is a synonym.

Concept

An antonym item asks for the word at the opposite pole of the same scale. Sagacious sits on the judgement scale, at the wise end.

The options split three to one. Insightful, Wise and Prudent stand beside sagacious. Foolish is the lone word at the other end.

The word comes from Latin sagax, 'of quick perception'. Its noun is sagacity.

Key facts

Sagacious means having keen discernment, sound judgement and farsightedness.
It comes from Latin sagax, 'of quick perception'.
The noun is sagacity.
Insightful, wise and prudent are synonyms of sagacious, not antonyms.

Study next

Near-synonyms of sagacious, such as astute, shrewd, judicious and perspicaciousAntonyms at the foolish end, such as imprudent, injudicious and obtuseNouns of good judgement, such as sagacity, prudence and acumen

Common traps

Missing the word antonym in the stem and picking Wise, the most familiar synonym
Treating Prudent as an opposite because it is about caution rather than intellect, when farsighted care is part of sagacity

The same judgement scale is tested at 26 Sep 2024, 16:00, English Q.14, where the antonym of Astute is keyed Stupid.

An antonym set built the same way, three synonyms around one antonym, appears at 12 Sep 2025, 09:00, English Q.3: Perfidious, keyed Loyal, against Betraying, Faithless and Treacherous.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Antonyms — all 114 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.