IPMAT Indore 2026 · Verbal Ability · Question 20

IPMAT Indore 2026 previous year question on Commonly Confused Words, with the answer and a step-by-step solution.

Commonly Confused WordsVocabularyMultiple choiceMedium

Complete the following sentence by choosing the most appropriate word/phrase from the options given below.

The journal published unverified details about the company’s lack of business_________.

  1. A

    and this report on the business was calamitous

  2. B

    and this report on the business was careless

  3. C

    and this report on the business was callous

  4. D

    and this report on the business was calumnious

Pick an option, then check.
Answer & solution

Answer: Option D

What the sentence needs. The journal published unverified — that is, unsubstantiated and damaging — claims about a company. The precise word for a false and defamatory statement is needed.

The word set:

Word

Meaning

calumnious

slanderous; making false and damaging statements ✓

calamitous

disastrous, causing great harm

callous

emotionally insensitive, unfeeling

careless

negligent, inattentive

Why the others fail. Careless and calamitous are both defensible in a loose sense, but neither captures the key fact that the details were unverified — that is, potentially false and defamatory. Callous describes a lack of feeling, which is not what publishing false claims about a company amounts to.

Answer: Option 4 — calumnious

Shortcut. Four near-homophones beginning cal-/car- — the discriminator is the word unverified in the stem. Unverified damaging claims = slander = calumnious. Pick the option that responds to the stem’s own signal word.

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