SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 23 September 2025, Shift 1 · English Comprehension · Question 7 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 13 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.

Choose the correct one-word substitute for: 'A person who always looks at the negative side of things.'

(a)Optimist
(b)Determinist
(c)Pessimist
(d)Realist

Answer

Why

Correct — C. The trigger is negative side, and always makes it a fixed habit: this person expects or sees the worst. That is a pessimist.

The word is built on Latin pessimus, 'worst', as optimist is built on optimus, 'best' → option (c).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Optimist — Optimist is the exact opposite: someone who looks on the bright side and expects the best. It is the antonym of the keyed word.
(b)
Determinist — Determinist is someone who holds that every event is fixed by prior causes. That is a view about causation, not a habit of seeing the bad side.
(d)
Realist — Realist is someone who sees things as they are and deals with them practically. The definition's always rules it out: a realist does not lean towards the bad by habit.

Concept

Optimist and pessimist are a matched pair of outlook words, and this item sets both. Negative side decides between them.

Determinist and Realist are -ist words for a way of seeing the world, which is why they look plausible. But determinism is a claim about causes, and a realist is defined by accepting things as they are, not by leaning towards the bad.

Read the whole definition: always makes the negative view a settled habit.

Keep pessimist apart from cynic. A pessimist expects the worst to happen. A cynic distrusts people's motives and doubts their sincerity.

Key facts

Pessimist: a person who tends to see the worst aspect of things or expect the worst outcome.
Pessimist is built on Latin pessimus, 'worst', and optimist on optimus, 'best'.
A determinist holds that all events are fixed by prior causes.
A cynic doubts the sincerity or goodness of other people's motives.

Study next

Outlook words compared: pessimist, cynic, misanthrope, skepticBelief nouns ending in -ist: determinist, fatalist, nihilist, idealist

Common traps

Choosing Realist because a gloomy view can pass for a realistic one, when the definition says always
Confusing pessimist with cynic, who doubts people's sincerity rather than expecting bad outcomes

The same idea is keyed Pessimist at 19 Sep 2024, 12:30, English Q.13 ('One who tends to look at the dark side of things') and 17 Sep 2024, 09:00, English Q.15.

23 Sep 2025, 16:00, English Q.7 keys Cynic for 'a person who doubts the sincerity or goodness of others', with Pessimist among the options.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: One-word substitution — all 125 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.