Select the correctly spelt English word from the following options.

Difficulty: Easy

Correct Answer: nihilism

Explanation:


Introduction / Context:
This spelling question evaluates your ability to recognise the standard form of a philosophical term among several incorrect variants. Many exam papers include such questions to test familiarity with words appearing in literature, philosophy, and current affairs. Out of the four options given, only one is accurately spelt and widely accepted in dictionaries.

Given Data / Assumptions:

  • Options: prophesey, nihilism, aesthet, avulusion.
  • Exactly one option is the correct spelling of a recognised English word.
  • The others are either misspelt forms or incomplete words.

Concept / Approach:
The strategy is to identify which option corresponds to a known word. Nihilism is a well known philosophical doctrine that denies meaningfulness or value in life or rejects established moral principles. The other options resemble real words but are incorrect: prophesy or prophecy, aesthetic, and avulsion are the correct forms you may have seen before. Recognising these base words helps you spot the misspellings.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Examine nihilism. This word refers to a belief that life is meaningless or that values and institutions lack foundation. Step 2: Check the spelling of nihilism. It is correctly spelt n i h i l i s m and appears like this in philosophical and literary discussions. Step 3: Examine prophesey. There are two related correct forms: the noun prophecy and the verb prophesy. The spelling prophesey, with e y at the end, is wrong. Step 4: Examine aesthet. The correct adjective is aesthetic and the noun is aesthetician or aesthete. The form aesthet is incomplete and not standard. Step 5: Examine avulusion. The related medical term is avulsion, which refers to tearing away. Avulusion is a misspelling. Step 6: Since nihilism is the only correctly spelt and complete English word in the list, it is the correct answer.
Verification / Alternative check:
Search your memory for where you may have seen these words. Newspaper articles and academic essays often mention nihilism when discussing extreme pessimism or rejection of social norms. Dictionaries confirm its spelling. In contrast, checking prophesey, aesthet, and avulusion will either suggest corrections to prophesy, aesthetic, and avulsion, or show that the words are not recognised at all. This comparison confirms nihilism as the correct option.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
  • prophesey: Incorrect, because the verb is prophesy and the noun is prophecy, both with different endings.
  • aesthet: Incorrect and incomplete form; the proper word is aesthetic or the noun aesthete.
  • avulusion: Incorrect; the accurate medical term is avulsion.

Common Pitfalls:
Candidates sometimes assume that the longest or most complicated looking word must be correct. Others may partly recognise the base word but not recall the exact spelling. To avoid such errors, it helps to read widely and pay attention to how words are written in reliable sources. Building a mental dictionary of common academic words like nihilism can significantly improve performance in spelling questions.

Final Answer:
The correctly spelt English word is nihilism.

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