SSC CGL 2025 Tier-II · Paper-I, 19 January 2026 · English Language and Comprehension · Question 16 of 150

We transcribed this text from the pictures of a candidate's response sheet for this paper; the answer is the key SSC marked with a green tick 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. This paper reaches us as a candidate's response sheet saved as pictures, so we transcribed the text from those pictures, and a second reader checked every question against them; where the layout carries meaning, we show the picture too. Each answer is the key SSC marked with a green tick 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. UnlockIAS wrote the solutions.

Select the correctly spelt word out of the four alternatives.

(a)Grosteasque
(b)Grostasque
(c)Growtesque
(d)Grotesque

Answer

Why

Correct — D. Grotesque is spelt G-R-O-T-E-S-Q-U-E: the stem grot-, with no s or w in it, then the suffix -esque.

The word comes, through French, from Italian grottesca, from grotta, 'grotto', which is why it starts grot- like grotto. It means strangely or repulsively ugly or distorted → option (d).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Grosteasque — Grosteasque has two stray letters: an s in grost- and an a in -easque. The stem is grot- and the suffix is -esque.
(b)
Grostasque — Grostasque adds an s (grost-) and turns the suffix into -asque. The ending is -esque, as in picturesque.
(c)
Growtesque — Growtesque spells the start like the verb grow. The -esque ending is right, but the stem is grot-, as in grotto, with no w.

Concept

The suffix -esque means 'in the style of' or 'resembling': picturesque (like a picture), statuesque (like a statue), Kafkaesque (like Kafka's fiction).

Grotesque is built the same way, on grot-. Split an -esque word into stem + suffix and the misspellings stand out: each wrong option here damages the stem, the suffix, or both.

The link to grotto is historical: the word first named a style of fanciful wall decoration found in excavated rooms of ancient Rome, rooms Italians called grotte.

Key facts

Grotesque is spelt G-R-O-T-E-S-Q-U-E.
Grotesque means comically or repulsively ugly or distorted.
The suffix -esque means 'in the style of' or 'resembling': picturesque, statuesque.
Grotesque comes, through French, from Italian grottesca, from grotta, 'grotto'.

Study next

Other -esque adjectives: picturesque, statuesque, burlesque, arabesqueWords ending -que for a k sound: antique, unique, techniqueSynonyms of grotesque: hideous, deformed, monstrous

Common traps

Spelling the start by sound as grow- — the stem is grot-, as in grotto
Writing the ending as -asque or -easque, when it is -esque

The same word is a synonym item at 24 Sep 2024, 16:00, English Q.2, where grotesque is keyed Ugly.

The reverse format, pick the wrongly spelt word, is 19 Jan 2026, 11:00 AM, English Q.9 (keyed Impetunent), and the plain 'Select the correctly spelt word' form is also 10 Sep 2024, 12:30, English Q.4 (keyed Privilege).

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Spelling — all 86 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.