Select the option that can be used as a one-word substitute for the given…
2026
Select the option that can be used as a one-word substitute for the given group of words.
A man who dislikes women in particular
Answer: A. Misogynist — Concept: A one-word substitute replaces a descriptive phrase with a single word whose own word-parts already carry that meaning. A large family of English…
- A.
Misogynist
- B.
Mishandle
- C.
Misologist
- D.
Misogamist
Attempted by 86 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Concept: A one-word substitute replaces a descriptive phrase with a single word whose own word-parts already carry that meaning. A large family of English nouns meaning “a hater of something” is built on the Greek root misos (“hatred”), shortened to mis- / miso-, followed by a second root that names what is hated, and closed by the person-forming suffix -ist. So the phrase itself tells you which word to build: find the object of the dislike, then take the Greek root for that object.
Application to this phrase:
The feeling named is dislike or hatred, so the first element is miso- from Greek misos (“hatred”).
The object of that dislike named in the phrase is women, and the Greek root for “woman” is gynē (gyno-).
The phrase asks for a person (“a man who…”), so the noun takes the agent suffix -ist.
miso- + gyn- + -ist = Misogynist, “a person who dislikes or hates women” — the required one-word substitute.
Contrast with the other words offered:
Word | Second element | What it denotes |
|---|---|---|
Misogynist | Greek gynē = woman | a person who dislikes women |
Misogamist | Greek gamos = marriage | a person who dislikes marriage |
Misologist | Greek logos = reason, argument | a person who dislikes reasoning or learning |
Mishandle | English handle, with mis- = badly | a verb: to treat or manage something badly |
Cross-check: the phrase restricts the dislike to women in particular. A hater of humankind in general would be a misanthrope (Greek anthrōpos, “human being”), so that qualifier is what fixes the second root as gynē rather than anthrōpos. Reading the built word back — miso- (hatred) + gyn- (woman) + -ist (person) — returns exactly the sense of the given phrase, which confirms Misogynist.