One Word Substitution List

One Word Substitutions form an essential part of vocabulary. As the name suggests, questions based on this concept ask you to replace a given sentence with an appropriate word. Such questions frequently feature in the verbal section of many competitive exams.

Suggested Action:

FREE Live Master Classes by our Star Faculty with 20+ years of experience.
Register Now

In this series of articles, you will be acquainted with the concept of one word substitutions. You are presented with the list of most commonly asked one word substitutions. Each list contains 15-40 words/terms of a particular category. Learn the essential words and enhance your vocabulary.

Things, Events & Places

Food Eaters

Action, Time & Direction

List of One Word Substitutions – 1

Words for various fields of study

Phrase	One Word
Printing using a stone or a metal plate with a completely smooth surface	Lithography
Mapping of earth and its formation	Geography
Art related to ornate, good handwriting	Calligraphy
Scientific study of bodily diseases	Pathology
Study of birds	Ornithology
Study of celestial bodies	Astronomy
Study of collection of coins, tokens, paper money etc.	Numismatics
Study of earth and rocks	Geology
Study of election trends	Psephology
Study of flying aero planes	Aviation
Study of handwriting	Graphology
Study of hereditary, genes and variation in living organisms	Genetics
Study of human development	Anthropology
Study of languages	Philology
Study of living things	Biology
Study of religion	Theology
Study of science of insects	Entomology
Study of sound and sound waves	Acoustics
Study of the influence of planets and stars on human events	Astrology
Study of the law of the flow of water and other liquids	Hydraulics
Study of the relation between the organism and their environment	Ecology
Study of various aspects of aging	Gerontology
The science of time order	Chronology
Study of religion	Theology
The science of human development	Anthropology

List of One Word Substitutions – 2

Words used for experts and people with various qualities, habits and abilities.

Phrase	One Word
One with unlimited power	Autocrat
One who walks on ropes	Funambulist
An expert in writing by hand	Chirographer
The doctor who attends to child delivery	Obstetrician
The doctor who attends to corns in the feet and hands	Chiropodist
The doctor who deals with the female reproductive system	Gynecologist
The doctor who specializes in root canal and nerve treatment	Endodontist
The doctor who straightens teeth	Orthodontist
The doctor who treats bone problems	Orthopedician
The doctor who treats eye diseases	Ophthalmologist
The doctor who treats gums	Peridontist
The doctor who treats heart problems	Cardiologist
The doctor who treats skin diseases	Dermatologist
One who is all powerful	Omnipotent
One who is all knowing	Omniscient
One who is present all over	Omnipresent
One who can throw his voice	Ventriloquist
One who talks while sleeping	Somniloquist
One who takes part in dialogue or conversation	Interlocutor
One who walks in sleep	Somnambulist
One who walks at night	Noctambulist
One who is violently against established beliefs and traditions	Iconoclast
One who turns his thoughts inwards	Introvert
One who turns his thoughts outwards	Extrovert
One who is both inwards and outwards at times	Ambivert
One who demands strict conformity to rules	Martinet
One who believes in ruthless self-aggrandizement	Egoist
One who doesn't consume alcohol	Teetotaler
One who exhibits courage or fearlessness	Intrepid
One who easily believes others	Credulous
One who is capable of using both hands	Ambidextrous
One who knows a lot about good food and wine	Connoisseur
One who is beyond reform	Incorrigible
Well known for bad qualities	Notorious
Perfectly, highly skilled reached the zenith of art	Consummate
A shrewish loud-mouthed female	Virago
One who is extravagantly romantic, chivalrous and impractical	Quixotic

List of One Word Substitutions – 3

Words used for various likes and dislikes.

Phrase	One Word
One who is a boot licker, flatterer	Sycophant
One who has keen interest in food and drinks	Gourmet
Love for mankind	Philanthropy
Someone who loves collecting books	Bibliophile
One who loves and admires the British	Anglophile
One who loves without seriousness	Philanderer
Fondness towards women	Philogyny
One who loves men	Androphile
One who loves wisdom (hence pursues it)	Philosopher
One who hates men	Misandrist
Madness or obsession with males	Andromania
One who hates women	Misogynist
One who hates mankind	Misanthropist
One who loves his country	Patriot
Excessive love for one's country	Super patriotism
One who hates marriage	Misogamist
One who loves to speak	Loquacious
Strong, deep dislike	Antipathy
Simultaneously affected by similar feelings	Sympathy
Mentally identifying oneself with other person or a thing	Empathy
Something or someone makes you feel deep sadness or pity	Pathetic

List of One Word Substitutions – 4

Words used for practices & beliefs related to religion, marriage and family.

Phrase	One Word
Related to marriage	Matrimony
One who believes in the presence of God	Theist
One who doesn't believe in the presence of God	Atheist
One who believes in the theory of only one God	Monotheist
One who believes in many Gods	Polytheist
One who believes that God is union of all forces of the universe	Pantheist
Religious madness	Theomania
Battle among the Gods	Theomachy
Practicing only one marriage (having only one wife)	Monogamy
Practicing two marriages (having two wives)	Bigamy
Practice of several marriages (having many wives)	Polygamy
Self-fertilization especially in plants	Autogamy
Marriage within one's own tribe	Endogamy
Marriage outside one's tribe	Exogamy
Having several husbands	Polyandry
People who have both male and female sexual organs	Hermaphrodite
An inheritance from father	Patrimony
A name framed after father's name	Patronymic
Fatherhood	Paternity
A father-like figure	Patriarch

List of One Word Substitutions – 5

Words used for various systems of governance.

Phrase	One Word
Government by one person (royal)	Monarchy
Government by two agencies	Diarchy
Government by a few powerful people	Oligarchy
Government by military class	Stratocracy
Government by divine guidance	Theocracy
Government by departments of state	Bureaucracy
Government by nobility	Aristocracy
Government by wealthy	Plutocracy
Government by the people	Democracy
A system of governing a country suggesting a father-child relation	Paternalism
Government by one absolutely	Autocracy
Absence of government	Anarchy
A system ruled or controlled by men	Patriarchy
The rule or control of mother	Matriarchy
Self-rule or control	Autonomy

List of One Word Substitutions – 6

Words used for various kinds of killings and manias.

Phrase	One Word
The killing of one's husband	Mariticide
The killing of parents	Parricide
The killing of a whole race	Genocide
The killing of a new born child	Infanticide
The killing of a king	Regicide
The killing of a human being	Homicide
The killing of oneself	Suicide
The killing of a father	Patricide
The killing of a mother	Matricide
The killing of one's brother	Fratricide
The killing of one's sister	Sororicide
The killing of one's wife	Uxoricide
Morbid compulsion to keep on consuming alcohol	Dipsomania
Morbid compulsion to steal	Kleptomania
Morbid compulsion to steal books	Bibliokleptomania
Morbid compulsion to start a fire	Pyromania
Morbid delusion of power, importance or godliness	Megalomania
Morbid, uncontrollable desire on the part of a woman	Nymphomania
Morbid, uncontrollable desire on the part of a man	Satyromania
Person with one-track mind	Monomania
Compulsion to tell lies	Mythomania
Madness with obsession with something	Mania

List of One Word Substitutions – 7

Words related to speech and written works.

Phrase	One Word
Book containing all the published work of an author	Omnibus
A written message from far off place	Telegraph
Informal, less grammatically rigid language	Colloquial
Talking around, a method of talking indirectly	Circumlocution
Generous, forgiving talk	Magniloquent
Expressive in the use of words	Eloquent
High sounding pompous speech or writing	Grandiloquent
A signature of a celebrity (signature of oneself)	Autograph
Walk before hand or an introductory statement	Preamble
Writing of one's life story	Biography
Writing of one's own life story	Autobiography
Written by light	Photograph
Few words packed with meaning, concise	Laconic
A speech to oneself, alone	Soliloquy

List of One Word Substitutions – 8

Words related to specific type of things, events and places.

Phrase	One Word
A place for sun to enter where one can sunbath	Solarium
A glass container in which fish and other water animals can be kept	Aquarium
A place for feet or speaker's platform	Podium
The part of a theatre where people who are watching and listening sit	Auditorium
An optical device for projecting various celestial images and effects	Planetarium
An establishment for the treatment of the chronically ill	Sanatorium
A place where objects are exhibited	Museum
Trees whose leaves fall every autumn	Deciduous
That which falls upon, befalls, happens	Incident
That which falls to someone or something	Accident
That which falls on the western countries	Occidental
The school or college one attends	Alma Mater
A self-moving vehicle	Automobile
A machine that functions by itself	Automatic
A baby carriage	Perambulator
A carriage for sick people	Ambulance

List of One Word Substitutions – 9

Words used for various kinds of food eaters and eating habits.

Phrase	One Word
Living on all	Omnivorous
Living on fruits	Frugivorous
One who eat only fruits	Fruitarian
One who eats no animal flesh	Vegetarian
One who feeds on human flesh	Cannibal
One who enjoys food with a sensual pleasure	Gourmand
One whose eating habit is repulsive	Glutton
Living on flesh	Carnivorous
Living on grass	Herbivorous
Living on fish	Piscivorous
One who eats all kinds of food	Omnivorous

Suggested Action:

Kick start Your Preparations with FREE access to 25+ Mocks, 75+ Videos & 100+ Chapterwise Tests.
Sign Up Now

List of One Word Substitutions – 10

Words related to certain actions, time and direction.

Phrase	One Word
A backward look or a view into the past	Retrospect
A forward look or a view into future	Prospect
Examine one's motives or look inwards	Introspect
To examine carefully	Inspect
A doubtful look or examination of one's motives	Suspect
Careful, cautious watch on surroundings	Circumspect
To walk aimlessly	Amble
When two things befall together	Coincident
A thing occurring again and again for a long time	Chronic
Someone or something out of time	Anachronism
To send out of one's native country	Expatriate
To walk around a place especially in a ritual fashion	Circumambulate
A highly accurate timepiece	Chronometer
Make to happen at the same time	Synchronize
An instrument which records short intervals of time	Chronograph
Capable of moving in all directions	Omnidirectional