SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 19 September 2025, Shift 3 · 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. Pusillanimous

(a)Timid
(b)Brave
(c)Cowardly
(d)Faint-hearted

Answer

Why

Correct — B. Pusillanimous means lacking courage: timid, cowardly. It comes from Latin pusillus, very small, and animus, spirit, so a small-spirited person.

The item asks for the antonym, so you need the word for having courage. That is Brave → option (b).

Timid, Cowardly and Faint-hearted are all synonyms of pusillanimous, set for a candidate who loses the instruction.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Timid — Timid means lacking courage or confidence. It is a synonym of pusillanimous, so it would answer a synonym item, not this antonym item.
(c)
Cowardly — Cowardly means lacking courage in the face of danger. It restates pusillanimous rather than opposing it, so it fails the antonym instruction.
(d)
Faint-hearted — Faint-hearted means lacking courage or resolve. It says what pusillanimous says in plainer words, so it is a synonym and cannot be the antonym.

Concept

Pusillanimous means showing a lack of courage or determination. Its noun is pusillanimity.

Its mirror word is magnanimous, from Latin magnus, great, with the same animus. In current use magnanimous mostly means generous and forgiving.

Antonyms of pusillanimous are courage words: brave, courageous, bold, valiant, intrepid and dauntless.

Here three of the four options mean the same as the prompt word, and Brave is the odd one out in meaning. Once you know what pusillanimous means, the instruction does the rest.

Key facts

Pusillanimous means lacking courage, timid or cowardly.
It comes from Latin pusillus, very small, and animus, spirit.
Its noun is pusillanimity.
Its antonyms include brave, courageous, valiant and intrepid.

Study next

Courage words: valiant, intrepid, dauntless and audaciousWords built on Latin animus: magnanimous, unanimous and animosityCowardice words: craven, timorous and spineless

Common traps

Losing the word antonym under time pressure and picking the first option that means the same, Timid
Treating the options as a scale and choosing Faint-hearted as the least cowardly, when it is a plain synonym

The word is given bare and three options restate it, so the item tests whether you keep hold of the instruction.

The same courage-versus-timidity pair is also asked at 10 Sep 2024, 9:00, English Q.15, an antonym item on Timid keyed Daring.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.