One Word Substitution
🔒 Log in to trackOne word for people: traits, trades and types
🔒 Log in to trackThe largest OWS category names a person by what they do, feel or suffer. Four sub-buckets organise the bank:
1. Trades and professions (learn with the tool or object of the trade): cobbler–shoes, plumber–pipes, cartographer–maps, lexicographer–dictionaries, obstetrician–childbirth, astronomer–stars (science), astrologer–stars (prediction).
2. Character and conduct: miser (hoards money), spendthrift (wastes it), teetotaller (never drinks), glutton (overeats), garrulous (overtalkative), taciturn (speaks little), gullible (believes easily), sceptic (doubts), novice (beginner), veteran (long-experienced).
3. Loyalty and betrayal: patriot/traitor, martyr (dies for a cause), apostate (abandons his religion), vandal (destroys property for pleasure), firebrand (stirs up unrest).
4. Omnipotence set: omnipotent (all-powerful), omniscient (all-knowing), omnipresent (present everywhere) — three words, one prefix, endlessly reused.
People bank (revise in five-word batches)
| One-word substitution | Meaning |
|---|---|
| One who talks in sleep | Somniloquist |
| One who walks in sleep | Somnambulist |
| One who cannot read or write | Illiterate |
| One who knows many languages | Polyglot |
| One who lives shut off from the world | Recluse (or Hermit) |
| One who spends beyond his means to impress | Extravagant (a spendthrift) |
| One who is extremely careful with money | Miser |
| One who never drinks alcohol | Teetotaller |
| One who deals in cattle | Drover |
| One who mends shoes | Cobbler |
| One who cuts and sells men's clothing | Tailor (a men's outfitter) |
| One who sells medicines and prepares them | Pharmacist (or Chemist) |
| One who performs surgical operations | Surgeon |
| One who fits and repairs water pipes | Plumber |
| One who makes maps | Cartographer |
| One who compiles a dictionary | Lexicographer |
| One who writes the life history of another | Biographer |
| One who writes his own life story | Autobiographer |
| One who studies the human mind | Psychologist |
| One who treats eye disorders | Oculist (or Optometrist) |
| One who treats teeth | Dentist |
| One who foretells events by the stars | Astrologer |
| One who studies the stars scientifically | Astronomer |
| One who travels in space | Astronaut (or Cosmonaut) |
| One who is new to a profession | Novice (or Tyro) |
| One who has long experience of a field | Veteran |
| A person appointed to hear and decide a dispute | Arbitrator |
| One who deliberately damages property | Vandal |
| One who incites others to violence | Firebrand |
| A person who loves his country deeply | Patriot |
| One who betrays his country | Traitor |
| A person of great courage | Valiant (a gallant) |
| One unable to speak | Dumb (speech-impaired) |
| One unable to hear | Deaf |
| One who is present everywhere | Omnipresent |
| One who knows everything | Omniscient |
| One with unlimited power | Omnipotent |
| A woman whose husband has died | Widow |
| A man whose wife has died | Widower |
| One who has just been married | Newly-wed (bride/groom) |
| One who eats too much | Glutton |
| One who talks too much | Garrulous (or Loquacious) |
| One who speaks little | Taciturn (or Reserved) |
| One who believes everything easily | Gullible |
| One who doubts everything | Sceptic |
| One who hates humankind | Misanthrope |
| One who sacrifices life for a cause | Martyr |
| One who deserts his religion | Apostate |
| One who avoids company and merriment | Introvert (a recluse) |
| One who shows off his learning | Pedant |
Sensory and status pairs are quick marks: dumb/speech-impaired, deaf, widow/widower, newly-wed. Note the gender-symmetric pairs — SSC loves the widow/widower switch under time pressure.
The biggest group: words for people
The most common one-word-substitution stem begins with 'One who ...' or 'A person who ...'. These words name a person by their job, habit, feeling or situation.
Four boxes to sort people words
1. Jobs (trades and professions). Learn each with the object of the job.
| Word | Job |
|---|---|
| cartographer | makes maps |
| lexicographer | writes dictionaries |
| cobbler | mends shoes |
| plumber | fits and repairs water pipes |
| paediatrician | doctor for children |
| dermatologist | doctor for the skin |
| astronomer | studies stars scientifically |
| astrologer | predicts the future from stars |
2. Habits and character.
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| teetotaller | never drinks alcohol |
| glutton | eats too much |
| miser | hoards money and hates spending |
| spendthrift | wastes money |
| gullible | easily deceived |
| sceptic | doubts everything |
| garrulous | talks too much |
| taciturn | speaks very little |
3. Pairs and opposites. Examiners love to put the partner word as a wrong option.
- widow (woman whose husband has died) / widower (man whose wife has died)
- novice (beginner) / veteran (very experienced)
- miser / spendthrift
- optimist (hopes for the best) / pessimist (expects the worst)
4. Words built from roots.
| Word | Parts | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| polyglot | poly (many) + glot (tongue) | knows many languages |
| misanthrope | mis (hate) + anthrope (man) | hates mankind |
| philanthropist | phil (love) + anthrop (man) | loves mankind, gives to charity |
| misogynist | mis (hate) + gyn (woman) | hates women |
| somnambulist | somn (sleep) + ambul (walk) | walks in sleep |
| omniscient | omni (all) + scient (knowing) | knows everything |
Worked examples
One who studies the stars scientifically → the word 'scientifically' decides → astronomer, not astrologer.
A man whose wife has died → widower. 'Widow' is the partner word planted as a trap.
One who knows many languages → poly = many → polyglot. 'Polymath' (knows many subjects) is the look-alike.
How to answer
- Underline the key detail: the object (maps, children, shoes), the habit (drinks, talks, spends), or the gender.
- Put the stem into its box: job, habit, pair or root-word.
- Choose the option that matches the detail exactly. Reject the partner word and the look-alike.
Question types you will see
Each type: how to recognise it, the method step by step, and one question to try.
Person by job or profession
Stem: 'One who makes/repairs/treats/studies ...' naming an object or a field.
Underline the object (maps, dictionaries, children, skin).
Recall the job word linked to that object.
Reject words from nearby jobs (cartographer vs calligrapher).
Why it works: job words are defined by their object, so the object decides.
A doctor who treats skin diseases — (a) dermatologist (b) paediatrician (c) cardiologist (d) neurologist
Show solutionHide solution
derma = skin → (a) dermatologist.
Person by habit or character
Stem describes a habit or nature: never drinks, overeats, easily fooled, talks too much.
Name the habit in one word (drinking, eating, trusting, talking).
Recall the pair of words on that habit (glutton/abstemious, garrulous/taciturn).
Pick the side the stem describes.
Why it works: options often include the opposite habit word as a trap.
One who speaks very little — (a) taciturn (b) garrulous (c) eloquent (d) loquacious
Show solutionHide solution
Speaks little → (a) taciturn. Garrulous and loquacious mean the opposite.
Partner-word trap (gender or opposite pairs)
The options contain both members of a pair: widow/widower, miser/spendthrift, novice/veteran.
Find the deciding detail (man or woman? saves or wastes? new or old?).
Choose the member of the pair that matches it.
Do not pick the familiar-looking partner.
Why it works: the examiner adds the partner so a hurried reader picks it.
One who has long experience in a field — (a) veteran (b) novice (c) amateur (d) apprentice
Show solutionHide solution
Long experience → (a) veteran. Novice is the opposite partner.
Root-built person words
The answer is a Greek or Latin-built word: poly-, mis-, phil-, omni-, somn-.
Split each option into prefix + root.
Match the parts to the stem (many + tongue = many languages).
Reject the option with a similar prefix but a different root.
Why it works: rare person words are almost always transparent root stacks.
One who walks in sleep — (a) somnambulist (b) somniloquist (c) insomniac (d) pedestrian
Show solutionHide solution
somn (sleep) + ambul (walk) → (a) somnambulist. Somniloquist talks in sleep.
Shortcuts that save time
Never learn 'cobbler' alone — learn 'cobbler → shoes'. Stems name the object ('one who repairs shoes'), and your anchor matches it instantly.
Store opposites and neighbours in one card: garrulous ↔ taciturn; miser ↔ spendthrift; novice ↔ veteran. The stem often points to one side of a pair.
One prefix (omni- = all), three endings: -potent (power), -scient (knowing), -present (place). One card covers all three SSC favourites.
Mistakes to avoid
Where most students lose marks on this subtopic.
Swapping astrologer and astronomer — decide by 'scientific' or 'prediction' in the stem.
Using 'mediator' where the stem demands an authorised decider — arbitrator decides, a mediator facilitates.
Mixing spendthrift (wastes) with miser (hoards).
Answering with an adjective when the stem's pattern expects the person-word.
Quick revision
Read this the night before the exam.
Learn job words with their object: cartographer–maps, lexicographer–dictionary, paediatrician–children.
Habit words come in opposite pairs: miser/spendthrift, garrulous/taciturn, gullible/sceptic.
Gender pairs: widow/widower.
Roots: poly (many), mis (hate), phil (love), omni (all), somn (sleep).
Practice: 13 questions
Sets of 10, mixed across the question types above. Every answer has a step-by-step explanation.
Topic test · 13 questions
Suggested time 5 min · wrong answers go to your mistake notebook automatically.