English Vocabulary MCQs for PPSC, FPSC & CSS — Synonyms & Antonyms That Repeat in One-Paper Tests

English vocabulary MCQs for PPSC, FPSC and CSS — most repeated synonyms and antonyms, tricky word pairs, practice questions and a 2-week revision plan.

By Muhammad Younus · Updated 04 Nov 2026 · 11 min read

English vocabulary is the quiet mark-earner of a one-paper test. In PPSC and FPSC screening papers, a handful of questions almost always ask for the synonym or the antonym of a common English word, and these are among the fastest marks in the whole paper — if you know the word, the answer takes five seconds; if you do not, no amount of reasoning will rescue it. This post collects the synonyms and antonyms that repeat most often in PPSC, FPSC and CSS screening tests, explains how examiners frame these questions, and ends with practice questions and a revision plan that actually sticks.

This post is for candidates preparing for PPSC one-paper tests, FPSC screening tests, and the CSS MPT screening stage. You do not need advanced English for these marks. You need a working stock of everyday words, their nearest meanings, and their opposites — plus the habit of spotting the examiner's traps, which are the same traps every year.

How examiners ask vocabulary questions

Vocabulary questions in one-paper tests follow a small set of patterns, and knowing the pattern is half the preparation:

• Direct synonym: "Choose the word nearest in meaning to ABANDON." Four options are given; one is a true synonym and the rest are related but wrong.
• Direct antonym: "Choose the word opposite in meaning to ANCIENT." The trap option is often a word that is merely different, not opposite.
• Antonym of a synonym: The question word is unfamiliar, so the candidate must first guess its sense from the options. For example, if you do not know "diligent", the options "lazy", "hardworking", "careless" and "slow" still tell you the answer is about work ethic.
• Word in a sentence: The word is used in a short sentence, and the meaning must fit that context. Always read the sentence before the options — a word can carry two senses, and only one fits.
• The near-miss trap: Examiners love options that look or sound like the answer. "Eminent" and "imminent" are different words; "stationary" and "stationery" are different words. A candidate who reads fast picks the familiar-looking one and loses the mark.

A useful rule: eliminate first, choose second. In a four-option question, two options are usually plainly wrong. Cross them out mentally, then decide between the remaining two. That alone lifts a candidate from guessing to a genuine fifty-fifty — and with a little vocabulary stock, far better.

Synonyms that repeat most often

Learn each word with its synonym as a pair, and say the pair aloud once. Reading a list silently is the weakest way to learn vocabulary; speaking it, even quietly, doubles retention.

1. Abandon — give up, desert
2. Abundant — plentiful, ample
3. Accurate — exact, precise
4. Adversity — hardship, misfortune
5. Ancient — old, antique
6. Brave — courageous, fearless
7. Brief — short, concise
8. Candid — frank, honest
9. Compassion — sympathy, kindness
10. Courage — bravery, boldness
11. Deceive — cheat, mislead
12. Diligent — hardworking, industrious
13. Eloquent — fluent, expressive
14. Enormous — huge, immense
15. Faithful — loyal, devoted
16. Feeble — weak, frail
17. Generous — giving, kind-hearted
18. Genuine — real, authentic
19. Humble — modest, meek
20. Idle — lazy, inactive
21. Joy — happiness, delight
22. Obedient — dutiful, compliant
23. Prosperous — wealthy, flourishing
24. Rapid — fast, swift
25. Transparent — clear, see-through
26. Victory — triumph, success
27. Wisdom — insight, good judgement
28. Zeal — enthusiasm, passion
29. Vacant — empty, unoccupied
30. Adversary — opponent, enemy

Notice how many of these words describe character, quantity, or size. Examiners return to those themes again and again because they are easy to test fairly: a brave person is courageous in every context, and an enormous building is huge in every context.

Antonyms that repeat most often

Antonym questions punish vague knowledge. Knowing that "generous" is a good quality is not enough; you must know its opposite is miserly or stingy. Learn antonyms as strict pairs, not as loose impressions.

1. Ancient — modern
2. Brave — cowardly
3. Victory — defeat
4. Generous — miserly, stingy
5. Honest — dishonest
6. Include — exclude
7. Knowledge — ignorance
8. Permanent — temporary
9. Remember — forget
10. Success — failure
11. Transparent — opaque
12. Arrive — depart
13. Expand — contract
14. Guilty — innocent
15. Harsh — gentle
16. Legal — illegal
17. Major — minor
18. Noble — base, ignoble
19. Optimistic — pessimistic
20. Rigid — flexible
21. Scarce — abundant
22. Superior — inferior
23. Truth — falsehood
24. Unity — division
25. Visible — invisible
26. Wealth — poverty
27. Wisdom — folly
28. Zeal — apathy, indifference
29. Courage — cowardice
30. Diligent — lazy, idle

A common trap deserves a special warning: the opposite of a word is not the same as a word you dislike. The opposite of "rigid" is "flexible", not "bad"; the opposite of "scarce" is "abundant", not "cheap". If your chosen opposite does not sit on the same scale as the question word, it is almost certainly wrong.

Tricky word pairs examiners love

Some marks are lost not on hard words but on pairs that look alike. Examiners reuse these pairs because they separate careful readers from fast readers. Learn each pair as a contrast, not as two separate facts.

• Accept / Except: Accept means to receive or agree to something; except means leaving something out. "All candidates except Ali were accepted."
• Affect / Effect: Affect is usually the verb (to influence); effect is usually the noun (the result). "The rain affected the match; the effect was a delay."
• Eminent / Imminent: Eminent means famous and respected; imminent means about to happen. "An eminent judge warned that a crisis was imminent."
• Principal / Principle: Principal means main or chief (also the head of a school); principle means a rule or belief. "The principal reason was a matter of principle."
• Stationary / Stationery: Stationary means not moving; stationery means writing materials. "The stationary bus was loaded with stationery."
• Complement / Compliment: Complement means to complete or go well with something; compliment means praise. "Her scarf complemented her dress, and everyone complimented her on it."
• Lose / Loose: Lose means to misplace or fail to win; loose means not tight. "Do not lose the loose screw."
• Advice / Advise: Advice is the noun (the suggestion); advise is the verb (to give the suggestion). "My advice is to advise him early."
• Desert / Dessert: Desert is dry land (and also means to abandon); dessert is the sweet course after a meal. The sweet one has two s's because you want seconds.
• Practice / Practise: In standard usage, practice is the noun and practise the verb. "Practice makes perfect, so practise daily."

If you master only this section, you will save marks that most candidates throw away — because these questions appear simple, candidates answer them in a hurry, and hurry is exactly what the trap is designed for.

Smart ways to learn vocabulary for a test

Vocabulary cannot be crammed the night before a test, but it can be built steadily with small daily habits. These methods work for working candidates with limited study time:

• Learn ten words a day, no more. Ten words learned properly beat fifty words skimmed. Write each word, its synonym, and its antonym in one line, and cover the answers when you revise.
• Use word roots. Many English words share roots, and one root unlocks a family. "Bene" means good (benefit, benevolent); "mal" means bad (malice, malfunction); "dict" means say (predict, verdict); "port" means carry (transport, import). When an unknown word appears in the paper, its root often gives the answer away.
• Use prefixes for antonyms. The prefixes un-, in-, im-, dis- and non- reverse a meaning: legal becomes illegal, visible becomes invisible, honest becomes dishonest, agree becomes disagree. If you know the base word, you can often build or recognise its opposite.
• Read the options before panicking. In a synonym question, the correct option is in front of you. Often one option is a word you already know well — test whether it fits the question word before worrying about the options you do not know.
• Revise in three passes. Learn a list today, revise it tomorrow, and revise it again after a week. Three short passes beat one long sitting, because memory strengthens when you almost forget and then recall.
• Keep a personal notebook. Every time a past paper or a practice test shows you a word you did not know, add it to your notebook with its synonym and antonym. After a month, that notebook is a better revision source than any book, because it holds exactly the words you personally miss.

Practice MCQs — test yourself

Cover the answers, attempt each question, and only then check. If you score below seven, revise the lists above once more before moving on.

1. Choose the synonym of ABANDON. — Give up (desert)
2. Choose the antonym of ANCIENT. — Modern
3. Choose the synonym of DILIGENT. — Hardworking
4. Choose the antonym of TRANSPARENT. — Opaque
5. Choose the synonym of ELOQUENT. — Fluent (expressive)
6. Choose the antonym of GENEROUS. — Miserly (stingy)
7. Choose the synonym of FEEBLE. — Weak (frail)
8. Choose the antonym of PERMANENT. — Temporary
9. Which word means "about to happen": eminent or imminent? — Imminent
10. Choose the antonym of OPTIMISTIC. — Pessimistic

Notice the pattern in these practice questions: the examiners' favourites are ordinary words, not rare ones. That is good news. It means the vocabulary section rewards steady, ordinary preparation — not genius, and not luck.

A realistic 2-week vocabulary plan

• Days 1–3: Learn the 30 synonyms above, ten per day, with the three-pass method.
• Days 4–6: Learn the 30 antonyms above, ten per day, and mix them with the synonyms in revision.
• Days 7–9: Master the tricky pairs section and attempt one past paper's vocabulary questions daily.
• Days 10–12: Revise only the words you got wrong, and add every new word from past papers to your notebook.
• Days 13–14: Full mixed revision — synonyms, antonyms, tricky pairs, and the practice questions above — under timed conditions, five seconds per question.

Two weeks of this plan, at twenty minutes a day, will cover more vocabulary marks than most candidates earn from months of casual reading.

FAQs

How many vocabulary questions come in a PPSC one-paper test?

It varies by paper, but candidates should expect a small cluster of English questions in every one-paper test, of which synonyms and antonyms form a regular part. Because each question carries the same mark as a hard general-knowledge question but takes far less time, vocabulary is one of the best returns on study time in the whole paper.

Should I memorise long vocabulary lists from books?

No. Long lists look impressive and teach little. The words that repeat in PPSC and FPSC papers are mostly common words used in slightly formal senses. A short list learned properly — like the lists in this post — plus every word you personally meet in past papers will serve you better than a thousand-word list you never revise.

What is the difference between a synonym and a near-synonym?

A synonym means nearly the same thing, but words are rarely identical in every context. "Brave" and "courageous" are synonyms; "brave" and "strong" are not, even though brave people are often strong. In a test, pick the option closest in meaning, and reject options that are merely related or merely positive.

How do I handle a vocabulary question when I do not know the word at all?

Eliminate first. Two options are usually plainly wrong. Then use roots and prefixes: a word starting with "bene" is probably positive, and a word starting with "mal" is probably negative. If you still cannot decide, pick the most neutral, most common option and move on — never spend two minutes on one vocabulary mark.

Is English vocabulary also tested in the CSS MPT?

Yes, in the sense that the MPT screens general ability including English comprehension, and vocabulary strength supports every English section. The synonym and antonym lists in this post are equally useful for FPSC screening tests and for any one-paper test that includes an English portion.

English vocabulary rewards the candidate who prepares a little every day, not the candidate who panics at the end. Learn the pairs in this post, keep your notebook, attempt past papers, and the vocabulary section will quietly become one of your safest sources of marks.