Word Substitution, being an important part of English language is a crucial component of competitive exams. It plays an important role in enhancing one’s vocabulary. It is used in the place of a long phrase and makes the sentence clearer and shorter without changing its meaning.
One Word Substitution Questions are a major part of the Verbal Ability section in the competitive examinations. Candidates need to go through the article to clear their doubts and then practice the questions given below for a better understanding of the concepts.
Table of Content
What is a One-word Substitution?
The use of a single word in place of a whole sentence makes the sentence structure simpler and it is known as one-word substitution. With the phrase replaced, the meaning remains the same while the statement becomes shorter.
One Word Substitution is a key component of vocabulary. It requires the replacement of a sentence with an appropriate single word that captures its full meaning. This method of communication is much more succinct and easy to understand, making it widely used in numerous competitive exams. To learn this concept effectively, go through the following article where some examples and sample questions are provided for practice.
List of One Word Substitutions from A to Z
- A: Altruist – A person who is concerned with the welfare of others.
- B: Bibliophile – A person who loves or collects books.
- C: Connoisseur – An expert judge in matters of taste (especially in the fine arts or in matters of taste).
- D: Demagogue – A political leader who seeks support by appealing to the desires and prejudices of ordinary people rather than by using rational arguments.
- E: Ephemeral – Lasting for a very short time.
- F: Filibuster – An action such as a prolonged speech that obstructs progress in a legislative assembly while not technically contravening the required procedures.
- G: Glutton – An excessively greedy eater.
- H: Hedonist – A person who believes that the pursuit of pleasure is the most important thing in life; a pleasure-seeker.
- I: Introvert – A person predominantly concerned with their own thoughts and feelings rather than with external things.
- J: Jingoism – Extreme patriotism, especially in the form of aggressive or warlike foreign policy.
- K: Kleptomaniac – A person who has a compulsive desire to steal.
- L: Luddite – A person opposed to increased industrialization or new technology.
- M: Misogynist – A person who dislikes, despises, or is strongly prejudiced against women.
- N: Narcissist – A person who has an excessive interest in or admiration of themselves.
- O: Omnivore – An animal or person that eats a variety of food of both plant and animal origin.
- P: Philanthropist – A person who seeks to promote the welfare of others, especially by donating money to good causes.
- Q: Quintessential – Representing the most perfect or typical example of a quality or class.
- R: Raconteur – A person who tells anecdotes in a skillful and amusing way.
- S: Sycophant – A person who acts obsequiously toward someone important in order to gain advantage.
- T: Teetotaler – A person who never drinks alcohol.
- U: Utilitarian – Someone who believes that the best action is the one that maximizes utility, usually defined as that which produces the greatest well-being of the greatest number of people.
- V: Voracious – Wanting or devouring great quantities of food; having a very eager approach to an activity.
- W: Wanderlust – A strong desire to travel.
- X: Xenophile – An individual who is attracted to foreign peoples, cultures, or customs.
- Y: Yokel – An uneducated and unsophisticated person from the countryside.
- Z: Zealot – A person who is fanatical and uncompromising in pursuit of their religious, political, or other ideals.
Important One Word Substitutions PDF
- One who is not sure about God’s existence – Agnostic
- A person who deliberately sets fire to a building:- Arsonist
- One who does a thing for pleasure and not as a profession:- Amateur
- One who can use either hand with ease:- Ambidextrous
- One who makes an official examination of accounts:- Auditor
- A person who believes in or tries to bring about a state of lawlessness:- Anarchist
- A person who has changed his faith:- Apostate
- One who does not believe in the existence of God:- Atheist
- A person appointed by two parties to solve a dispute:- Arbitrator
- One who leads an austere life:- Ascetic
- A state of disorder due to the absence or non-recognition of authority or other controlling systems:- Anarchy
- A form of government in which power is held by the nobility:- Aristocracy
- A system of government by one person with absolute power:- Autocracy
- A self-governing country or region:- Autonomy
- A system of government in which most of the important decisions are taken by state officials rather than by elected representatives:- Bureaucracy
- A group of guns or missile launchers operated together in one place:- Battery
- A large bundle bound for storage or transport:- Bale
- A large gathering of people of a particular type:- Bevy
- An arrangement of flowers that is usually given as a present:- Bouquet
- A family of young animals:- Brood
- An unconventional style of living:- Bohemian
- One who is bad in spelling:- Cacographer
- One who feeds on human flesh:- Cannibal
- A person who is blindly devoted to an idea/ a person displaying aggressive or exaggerated patriotism:- Chauvinist
- A critical judge of any art and craft:- Connoisseur
- Persons living at the same time:- Contemporaries
- One who is recovering health after illness:- Convalescent
- A girl/woman who flirts with a man:- Coquette
- A person who regards the whole world as his country:- Cosmopolitan
- One who is a center of attraction:- Cynosure
- One who sneers at the beliefs of others:- Cynic
- A group of things that have been hidden in a secret place:- Cache
- A group of people, typically with vehicles or animals travelling together:- Caravan
- A closed political meeting:- Caucus
- An exclusive circle of people with a common purpose:- Clique
- A group of followers hired to applaud at a performance:- Claque
- A series of stars:- Constellation
- A funeral procession:- Cortege
- A group of worshippers:- Congregation
- A herd or flock of animals being driven in a body:- Drove
- A system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives:- Democracy
- A leader or orator who espouses the cause of the common people:- Demagogue
- A person having a sophisticated charm:- Debonair
- A leader who sways his followers by his oratory:- Demagogue
- A dabbler (not serious) in art, science and literature:- Dilettante
- One who is for the pleasure of eating and drinking:- Epicure
- One who often talks of his achievements:- Egotist
- Someone who leaves one country to settle in another:- Emigrant
- A man who is womanish in his habits:- Effeminate
- One who is hard to please (very selective in his habits):- Fastidious
- One who runs away from justice:- Fugitive
- One who is filled with excessive enthusiasm in religious matters:- Fanatic
- One who believes in fate:- Fatalist
- A small fleet of ships or boats:- Flotilla
- A small growth of trees without under brush:- Grove
- A state, society, or group governed by old people:- Gerontocracy
- A lover of good food:- Gourmand
- Conferred as an honor:- Honorary
- A person who acts against religion:- Heretic
- A person of intellectual or erudite tastes:- Highbrow
- A patient with imaginary symptoms and ailments:- Hypochondriac
- A person who is controlled by his wife:- Henpeck
- A community of people smaller than a village:- Hamlet
- A group of cattle or sheep or other domestic mammals:- Herd
- A large group of people:- Horde
- One who shows sustained enthusiastic action with unflagging vitality:- Indefatigable
- Someone who attacks cherished ideas or traditional institutions:- Iconoclast
- One who does not express himself freely:- Introvert
- Who behaves without moral principles:- Immoral
- A person who is incapable of being tampered with:- Impregnable
- One who is unable to pay his debts:- Insolvent
- A state or country run by the worst, least qualified, or most unscrupulous citizens:- Kakistocracy
- A person who is mentally ill:- Lunatic
- A form of government with a monarch at the head:- Monarchy
- A person who dislikes humankind and avoids human society:- Misanthrope
- A person who is primarily concerned with making money at the expense of ethics:- Mercenary
- Someone in love with himself:- Narcissist
- One who collects coins as a hobby:- Numismatist
- Government by new or inexperienced hands:- Neocracy
- Government by the populace:- Ochlocracy
- A small group of people having control of a country or organization:- Oligarchy
- Government by the wealthy:- Plutocracy
- A temporary police force:- Posse
- A person who likes or admires women:- Philogynist
- A lover of mankind:- Philanthropist
- A person who speaks more than one language:- Polyglot
- One who lives in solitude:- Recluse
- Someone who walks in sleep:- Somnambulist
- A person who is indifferent to the pains and pleasures of life:- Stoic
- A large number of fish swimming together:- Shoal
- Government not connected with religious or spiritual matters:- Secular
- A strong and fast-moving stream of water or other liquid:- Torrent
- A political system based on the government of men by God:- Thearchy
- A scolding nagging bad-tempered woman:- Termagant
- A person who shows a great or excessive fondness for one’s wife:- Uxorious
- One who possesses outstanding technical ability in a particular art or field:- Virtuoso
Also Check: Idioms and Phrases Questions and Answers
Important One-Word Questions in English
Direction: In the following questions, choose the correct option which can be substituted for the given sentence.
1. One who does not express himself freely.
- Ambivert
- Extrovert
- Introvert
- Vertebrate
Answer: 2 Introvert
2. A person who hates and avoids human society
- Misogynist
- Misanthrope
- Anthropologist
-
Archaeologist
Answer: 2 Misanthrope
3. A person who shows a great or excessive fondness for one’s wife
- Henpeck
- Virtuoso
- Uxorious
- Impregnable
Answer: 3 Uxorious
4. An unconventional style of living
- Cacography
- Bohemian
- Contemporaries
- Hypochondriac
Answer: 2 Bohemian
5. A self-governing country or region
- Autonomy
- Autocracy
- Anarchy
- Ethnology
Answer: 1 Autonomy
6. A political system based on the government of men by God
- Thearchy
- Monarchy
- Oligarchy
- Plutocracy
Answer: 1 Thearchy
8. That which cannot be corrected
- Indelible
- Inflammable
- Illegible
- Incorrigible
Answer: 4 Incorrigible
9. One who is unable to pay his debts
- Insolvent
- Lunatic
- Amateur
- Arbitrator
Answer: 1 Insolvent
10. The killing of a large group of people
- Genocide
- Foeticide
- Interment
- Matricide
Answer: 1 Genocide
11. One who is hard to please.
- Fastidious
- Fugitive
- Fanatic
- Fatalist
Answer: 1 Fastidious
12. A person who is primarily concerned with making money at the expense of ethics
- Mercenary
- Narcissist
- Numismatist
- Termagant
Answer: 1 Mercenary
13. A person who speaks two languages fluently
- Monolingual
- Bilingual
- Trilingual
- Multilingual
Answer: 2 Bilingual
14. A person who is able to use both hands with equal ease
- Ambidextrous
- Left-handed
- Right-handed
- Unilateral
Answer: 1 Ambidextrous
15. A person who is extremely knowledgeable about a particular subject
- Expert
- Novice
- Specialist
- Rookie
Answer: 1 Expert