Dictionary order — also called lexicographic order — is simply the rule that dictionaries use to list words. You compare words letter by letter from left to right, and whichever word has the smaller (earlier in the alphabet) letter at the first position of difference comes first.
Think of it like a race where all runners start at the same line. You check the first lane — if someone is ahead, the race is decided. Only if runners are tied in lane one do you check lane two. And so on.
Here is the alphabet row you need burned into memory:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
The concept sounds trivial, but SSC MTS makes it tricky in two ways. First, they group five words that share the first two or three letters — so you are forced to go deep into the word. Second, one or two words in the set are very close cousins (like DAISY vs DAIS, or FOREGO vs FOREVER), designed to trip up anyone who stops comparing too early.
The good news: this topic is fully mechanical. There is no logic to "figure out." If you have a clean method and you know the alphabet positions, you will get this correct every single time.
Compare words at position 1. If they differ, stop — you have your order. If they are the same, move to position 2. Repeat until you find a difference or one word ends.
Critical edge case — word ending early: If one word is a prefix of another, the shorter word comes first. Example: FORE comes before FOREGO in a dictionary, because after F-O-R-E, FORE has no more letters while FOREGO continues with G. The shorter word is "smaller."
Look — here is the exact process to use in the exam hall.
Step 1 — Identify the point of divergence.
Write the words in a column. Mark which letter position is the first one where any two words differ. Everything before that column is identical and irrelevant.
Step 2 — Read off only the diverging letter from each word.
You now have a mini-alphabet ranking problem. Sort those single letters. Done.
Step 3 — Handle ties by going one position deeper.
If two words share the same letter at the divergence point, compare them at the next position. Keep pushing right until they differ or one ends.
Words: Viper, Vapour, Victory, Vacuum, Visit
Write them and look at each position:
Position: 1 2 3 4 5 6
Viper V I P E R
Vapour V A P O U R
Victory V I C T O R Y
Vacuum V A C U U M
Visit V I S I T
Position 1: All are V. No divergence.
Position 2: We see A (Vapour, Vacuum) and I (Viper, Victory, Visit). A < I, so Vapour and Vacuum come before Viper, Victory, Visit.
Now sort the A-group (Vapour, Vacuum) at position 3: Vapour has P, Vacuum has C. C < P, so Vacuum (4) comes before Vapour (2).
Now sort the I-group (Viper, Victory, Visit) at position 3: Viper has P, Victory has C, Visit has S. C < P < S, so the order is Victory (3), Viper (1), Visit (5).
Final order: 4 → 2 → 3 → 1 → 5, which gives 42315.
Consider DAIS (5 letters) and DAISY (5 letters + Y). After comparing D-A-I-S, DAIS has ended. DAISY still has Y. The shorter word — DAIS — comes first. Many candidates incorrectly put DAISY first because Y feels like "it has more, it goes further." Reverse that instinct: running out of letters sooner means you come first.
Group the alphabet in blocks of five — this is faster to recall than individual numbers:
When comparing two letters, you often just need to know which block they belong to, not the exact number. C (block 1) is clearly less than P (block 4) without counting.
Write all words vertically aligned. Draw a vertical line at the first column where any two words differ. You only need to read letters in that column (and columns to the right for ties). Everything to the left is irrelevant noise. This cuts your scanning work by 50–70% on words with long shared prefixes. Standard method (scanning full words): ~40s per set. Column scan: ~15s per set.
Memorise five alphabet blocks: ABCDE / FGHIJ / KLMNO / PQRST / UVWXYZ. When comparing two letters, decide which block each belongs to. Different blocks — earlier block wins, done. Same block — then count within that block (at most 4 steps). This eliminates the need to recite A=1, B=2, C=3... for most comparisons. Speed gain: block comparison takes 2 seconds; full sequential counting takes 6–8 seconds per letter pair.
When one word is a prefix of another (DAIS vs DAISY, FORE vs FOREGO), the shorter word always comes first — no further comparison needed. Write "shorter = smaller" on your rough sheet as a reminder before you start. This eliminates a two-step comparison and removes a classic error. Catches one trap per question set on average.
With five words, instead of sorting all five at once, eliminate in pairs. First pass: compare word 1 vs word 2 — pick the earlier one. Second pass: compare winner vs word 3. Third: winner vs word 4. Fourth: winner vs word 5. The final survivor is word #1 in the dictionary. Then repeat to find word #2 among the remaining four. For 5 words this takes 4+3+2+1 = 10 comparisons maximum, but in practice you often shortcut because ties resolve quickly. Standard "eyeball and guess" approach leads to errors; this structured pass is slower but accurate — worth it for the guaranteed mark.
Look at the answer options first. They often differ only in positions 1–2 of the sequence. Identify which word is listed first in options A and B (or C and D). Your only job initially is: which of those two words comes first in the dictionary? That single comparison eliminates two options immediately, halving your work. In the 2017 Viper/Vacuum question, options start with 4 or 2 — just decide: Vacuum vs Vapour at position 3 gives Vacuum first. Options starting with 2 are eliminated instantly. Standard approach: 50s. Option-filter approach: 20s.
Here is your decision tree for the exam hall — run through this in order, don't skip steps.
Step 1 — Glance at options. What number (which word) appears in position 1 of the options? Usually two candidates. Decide which word comes first in the dictionary. Eliminate options that contradict this.
Step 2 — Find the divergence column. Visually scan all five words and mark where they first differ. Write only those letters on your rough sheet (e.g., A, A, I, I, I for the Va-Va-Vi-Vi-Vi set).
Step 3 — Sort diverging letters. Use block-alphabet. Earlier block wins. If tied in block, count within block.
Step 4 — Handle ties one position deeper. For words tied at the divergence column, move one column right and repeat Step 3.
Step 5 — Apply prefix rule last. After all letter comparisons, check: does any word end before another at the same sequence of letters? If yes, shorter word ranks first.
Step 6 — Match to options. Read off the sequence you built. It should match exactly one option. If two options look close, verify only the position(s) where they differ.
Target time per question: under 60 seconds.
Why this question (2017): This question tests whether you can handle five words that all start with V — a one-letter shared prefix forces you to compare at position 2, and two sub-groups (Va- and Vi-) form, each requiring a further split.
Solving path: All words begin with V. At position 2: Vacuum and Vapour have A; Viper, Victory, Visit have I. A < I, so the Va-group comes first.
Within Va-group at position 3: Vacuum → C, Vapour → P. C < P, so order is Vacuum (4), Vapour (2).
Within Vi-group at position 3: Victory → C, Viper → P, Visit → S. C < P < S, so order is Victory (3), Viper (1), Visit (5).
Final sequence: 4, 2, 3, 1, 5 → 42315. Answer: Option A.
Why this question (2025): The Dairy/Daily/Daintly/Daisy/Dais set is a precision trap. All words share D-A-I. You must go to position 4 and navigate the DAIS vs DAISY prefix case.
Solving path: Position 1–3 (D-A-I) identical for all five.
Position 4: Daily → L, Daintly → N, Dairy → R, Daisy → S, Dais → S. So the order at position 4 is L < N < R < S.
Daily (2) and Daintly (3) come first (L and N). Dairy (1) comes next (R). Daisy (4) and Dais (5) are tied with S — go to position 5.
Position 5: Daisy → Y, Dais → (word ends). Dais is a prefix of Daisy, so Dais (5) comes before Daisy (4).
Final sequence: 2, 3, 1, 5, 4 → 23154. Answer: Option D.
Why this question (2025): The Forest/Foreign/Forego/Forever/Foretaste set looks intimidating because FORE- is a common prefix across multiple words. You need position 5 comparisons and one more level for FOREST vs FORETASTE vs FOREVER.
Solving path: Position 1–4 (F-O-R-E) identical for all five.
Position 5: Forego → G, Foreign → I, Forest → S, Forever → V, Foretaste → T. Sort: G < I < S < T < V.
Forego (3): G — first. Foreign (2): I — second. Forest (1): S — third. Foretaste (5): T — fourth. Forever (4): V — fifth.
Final sequence: 3, 2, 1, 5, 4 → 32154. Answer: Option A.
Stopping comparison too early. Candidates see that two words share a long prefix and assume they're similar enough to place arbitrarily. Always compare until you find a genuine difference or one word ends.
Confusing shorter prefix with later position. DAIS comes before DAISY, not after. The prefix rule is counterintuitive — "less letters" means "comes first," not "comes last." Burn this in before the exam.
Misreading letters under time pressure. FOREGO vs FOREIGN — the fifth letter is G vs I, but candidates sometimes misread FOREIGN as FOREGO because the words look alike. Write the diverging letters explicitly on your rough sheet; don't compare in your head.
Skipping the rough-work column alignment. Trying to solve this entirely mentally costs accuracy. The 15 seconds spent writing a vertical alignment saves you from a wrong answer. Rough work is not wasted time here.
Treating I as less than G. Alphabet block check: G is in block FGHIJ (position 7), I is also in FGHIJ (position 9). G < I. Some candidates, in a hurry, reverse this because the letter I looks "simpler." When two letters are in the same block, count carefully within the block.
Ignoring that options can be a filter. Many candidates sort all five words first and then match options. This wastes time. Check which first-position word is contested across options — often you only need to decide between two words to eliminate half the options immediately.