SSC Selection Post 2025 PYQ — Question 56

Correct Answer

Mischievous

Explanation

Meaning: The word 'Mischievous' describes someone or something that causes or shows a fondness for causing trouble in a playful way. To solve this quickly for an exam, look out for the common pronunciation trap that adds an extra "ee" sound toward the end. Many people incorrectly say "mis-chee-vee-ous," which leads to the wrong spellings seen in Options 2 and 3. The correct spelling contains only three syllables (mis-chie-vous) and strictly follows the "i before e except after c" rule in its second syllable. This makes Option 1 (M-i-s-c-h-i-e-v-o-u-s) the only accurate choice.

Key Points

Definition: Identifying correct spellings involves isolating phonetic misconceptions and verifying structural letter placement against standard orthographic rules.

Grammatical Role: Selecting a correctly structured descriptive adjective that adheres to conventional spelling guidelines.