In the following spelling question, four variants of a word are given. You must select the correctly spelt word that matches the standard English spelling of the person who puts another into a hypnotic state. Which of the following spellings is correct?

Introduction / Context:
This question checks your spelling ability, focusing on a word borrowed from medical and psychological contexts. The word refers to a person who uses hypnosis to put someone into a trance like state. Competitive exams regularly test such words because they combine silent letters and uncommon letter sequences. Recognising the correct pattern also improves your reading comprehension when you encounter this term in articles or textbooks.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The task is to choose the correct spelling of the word meaning a person who hypnotises others.
• The options are hypnotyst, hipnotyst, hipnotist and hypnotist.
• The standard English spelling includes the root hypnot, from hypnosis, and the suffix ist for a person who performs an action.
• The letter y appears only once in the correct form, within the root.

Concept / Approach:
The correct root for the process is hypnosis, which begins with the letters h y p n o t. When converting this to the agent noun, we remove the final s and add ist, resulting in hypnotist. Therefore, the sequence hypno is preserved, and the initial h and internal y are retained. Any option that alters this root to hipno or changes ist to yst breaks the standard spelling pattern. Using your knowledge of related words like hypnotic and hypnosis helps confirm the correct form.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Recall the base noun hypnosis, which is spelt h y p n o s i s, and the adjective hypnotic, spelt h y p n o t i c. Step 2: Understand that adding ist to a root word often forms the noun for a person, as in artist, guitarist or dentist. Step 3: Apply this pattern: hypnosis minus s plus ist gives hypnotist, preserving the letters h y p n o t i s t. Step 4: Compare this with option D, hypnotist, which matches the expected pattern letter by letter. Step 5: Notice that options A, B and C alter the root to hipnot and replace ist with yst in some cases, which do not align with the standard spelling rules. Therefore, option D is correct.

Verification / Alternative check:
You can verify by checking related forms in your memory. The adjective is hypnotic, not hipnotic, and the noun is hypnosis, not hipnosis. Since English tends to preserve the root across related words, the agent noun should also retain hypn rather than hipn. Reading the word aloud, hypnotist sounds like hip no tist but the spelling follows the Greek origin hypnos, meaning sleep. Remembering that y often appears after h in such borrowed forms, as in hymn or hyper, further supports the spelling with h y p n o t i s t.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Hypnotyst incorrectly replaces the standard suffix ist with yst, which is not the usual ending for such professional nouns. Hipnotyst and hipnotist remove the letter y after h and break the link with the root hypnosis, producing nonstandard spellings that you will not find in dictionaries. These forms may look similar but do not conform to accepted English spelling. Only hypnotist maintains both the correct root and the correct suffix.

Common Pitfalls:
Many learners rely heavily on pronunciation and may not realise that the y in hypnotist is not strongly heard. This can tempt them to choose hipnotist. Others may think that yst is a legitimate variant of ist because of words like analyst, not noticing the different pattern. The best strategy is to learn words in families: if you know hypnosis and hypnotic, it is natural to form hypnotist from the same root. Building small word families in your notes is a powerful way to strengthen spelling skills for competitive exams.

Final Answer:
The correctly spelt word for a person who conducts hypnosis is hypnotist.