SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 21 September 2025, Shift 3 · English Comprehension · Question 8 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: CONDEMN

(a)Praise
(b)Criticize
(c)Protect
(d)Applaud

Answer

Why

Correct — B. To condemn is to express strong, complete disapproval, typically in public, as when a statement condemns cruelty.

To criticize is to express disapproval by pointing out faults. It is the milder word, but it stands on the same side, disapproval → option (b).

Praise and Applaud are opposites of condemn, and Protect has nothing to do with judging.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Praise — Praise is the direct opposite: to express warm approval or admiration. Condemning and praising sit at the two ends of the approval scale.
(c)
Protect — Protect means to keep safe from harm. It involves no judgement, so it is neither a synonym nor a true antonym of condemn.
(d)
Applaud — Applaud means to show approval, literally by clapping and figuratively by praising. It stands with Praise at the approving end, opposite condemn.

Concept

Condemn belongs to the language of judgement. Its core sense is to declare something wrong or blameworthy, openly and forcefully.

It has two further senses worth knowing: to sentence someone to a punishment, as in condemned to death, and to declare a building unfit for use.

In a synonym set, place each option on the scale first. Praise and Applaud approve, Protect is off the scale, and Criticize stands alone on the disapproving side.

Criticize is weaker than condemn: you can criticize a small flaw, but to condemn is to disapprove completely. It is keyed because it is the lone disapproving word in the set.

Key facts

Condemn means to express complete disapproval of something, typically in public.
It can also mean to sentence someone to a punishment, or to declare a building unfit for use.
Its noun is condemnation.
Censure and denounce are other synonyms of condemn.

Study next

The approval scale: laud, extol and eulogize against censure, denounce and castigateNouns on the same scale: eulogy, encomium, invective, tirade

Common traps

Rejecting Criticize as too mild, when it is the lone option on the disapproving side
Misreading the instruction as antonym and choosing Praise or Applaud

The same approval scale is tested at 17 Sep 2025, 16:00, English Q.2 (synonym of EULOGY, keyed Tribute, with Criticism and Condemnation among the wrong options).

It is tested from the other end at 12 Sep 2025, 16:00, English Q.4 (antonym of Encomium, keyed Castigation).

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

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