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Question

Difficulty: MediumWord Formation: Prefixes, Suffixes, and Roots

During the official audit of the ministry, the panel uncovered an ________ violation of procurement guidelines, where contract figures had been blatantly altered without approval. Which of the following words, formed from a prefix meaning 'out of' and a root meaning 'flock or group', correctly completes the sentence?

  1. egregiousAnswer
  2. B
    aggregate
  3. C
    gregarious
  4. D
    segregate

Answer

The word 'egregious' correctly completes the sentence.
The word 'egregious' is built from the prefix 'e-' (meaning 'out of' or 'away from') and the root 'greg-' (meaning 'flock' or 'herd'). Literally meaning 'standing out from the flock', it is used in contemporary English to describe an action or error that is extraordinarily and conspicuously bad.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the morphological components requested in the question stem
Identify the required prefix meaning 'out of' ('e-' / 'ex-') and root meaning 'flock or group' ('greg-').
Deconstructing the required word into its prefix and root isolates the correct target term.
2
Evaluate the etymology of each option
'e-' (out of) + 'greg-' (flock/group) + '-ious' (adjective suffix) = 'egregious', historically meaning standing out from the flock, now used to denote shockingly bad behavior.
Matching the etymological definitions confirms the correct choice.
3
Verify contextual fit
'An egregious violation' properly expresses a glaring and severe breach of procurement rules in a formal administrative context.
Ensures morphological synthesis aligns with the sentence semantics.

Key Concept

Morphological derivation using classical prefixes (e-/ex-) and roots (greg-)
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Topics

Word Formation: Prefixes, Suffixes, and Roots

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