What does systematic mean?
Word: Systematic
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Systematic means done carefully according to a fixed plan or order.
Synonyms: methodical
How do you spell systematic?
Syllables: sys - tem - at - ic
Tricky part: The letter after the opening s is a y. The sound leads many students to write an i.
Watch out for: sistematic, cistematic, sestematic
Memory tip: Y stands for "yes, there is a plan": that y goes straight after the s.
Systematic in a sentence
Example 1: Nisha took a systematic approach to revision, one chapter each evening.
Example 2: Engineers made a systematic check of the bridge before it opened.
Example 3: Systematic watering helped the farmers bring in a good crop.
Fun Fact
The Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus gave the world a systematic way of naming living things. His two-part Latin names, such as Canis lupus for the wolf, are still in use today.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word systematic as used in the sentence:
A systematic search of the library shelves soon turned up the missing atlas.
a) orderly
b) haphazard
c) thorough
d) careful
Show answer
b) haphazard. A haphazard search has no plan at all, so it is the reverse of this one.
Word Makeup
Like the page word, three of these words take the suffix atic. Choose the one that does not.
atic
a) method
b) idiom
c) problem
d) emblem
Show answer
a) method. Idiom, problem and emblem take this ending; method takes ical instead.
Mingle-Mangle
Rearrange the jumbled letters in the sentence to form the right word.
Our hockey coach follows a ttsimsycae plan that builds stamina week by week.
a) diplomatic
b) sympathetic
c) dramatic
d) systematic
Show answer
d) systematic. With no p or h among the letters, sympathetic is out, and neither dramatic nor diplomatic has a y.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
Before the inter-school science exhibition, our group made a systamatic record of rainfall in the district and displayed the measurements on colourful charts beside the model.
a) systamatic
b) exhibition
c) colourful
d) measurements
Show answer
a) systamatic. The vowel before the m is an e, the same as in stem.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which pupil is working in a systematic way?
a) Tara, who revises only when she feels like it
b) Omar, who opens any book that comes to hand
c) Leela, who ticks off each topic on a timetable
d) Vivek, who leaves everything to the night before
Show answer
c) Leela, who ticks off each topic on a timetable
2. A systematic error in a science experiment is one that ____.
a) occurs only on very rainy days
b) happens just once by pure chance
c) affects only the very last reading
d) repeats in the same way every time
Show answer
d) repeats in the same way every time
