It is important for candidates appearing for competitive exams to polish their language skills to score well in exams as it gives them an edge over other candidates. Improving your vocabulary skills is not that difficult if you decide to put in the hard work and stay focused.
Here’s a way to improve your vocabulary and communication skills. Check out the words for the day and a small quiz to push yourself to improve your word power and language skills.
Analogous (Adjective)
Meaning: comparable in certain respects, typically in a way which makes clearer the nature of the things compared
Example: Paint, ink, paper and canvas are transformed by faith into something analogous to living creatures
Admonish (Verb)
Meaning: warn or reprimand someone firmly
Example: She admonished me for appearing at breakfast unshaven
Also Read: Vocabulary Made Easy series: Work hard to taste success in competitive exams
Antedate (Verb)
Meaning: precede in time; come before (something) in date
Example: A civilization that antedated the Roman Empire
Castigate (Verb)
Meaning: reprimand (someone) severely
Example: He was castigated for not setting a good example
Cupidity (Noun)
Meaning: greed for money or possessions
Example: New wealth, however tainted by cupidity and egoism, tends to be favourable for the arts
Cosset (Verb)
Meaning: care for and protect in an overindulgent way
Example: All her life she’d been cosseted by her family
Diatribe (Noun)
Meaning: a forceful and bitter verbal attack against someone or something
Example: A diatribe against consumerism
Dirge (Noun)
Meaning: a lament for the dead, especially one forming part of a funeral rite
Example: I’m not sure what melancholy instrument it is that carries this ponderous, mournful dirge
Exacting (Adjective)
Meaning: making great demands on one’s skill, attention, or other resources
Example: We adhered to the exacting standards laid down by the organic food industry
Fathom (Verb)
Meaning: understand (a difficult problem or an enigmatic person) after much thought
Example: The locals could not fathom out the reason behind his new-found prosperity
Also Read: Vocabulary Made Easy series: Improve language skills to excel in your career
Put your thinking cap on and try to answer the following questions to understand how much you have grasped.
- The _____________________ standards laid down by the organic food industry. Which of the following words fits best in the sentence? (Fathom, Exacting)
- He sang a melancholy __________. Which of the following words fits best in the sentence? ( Dirge, Diatribe, Cosset)
- Can you think of some antonyms for the word Cupidity?
- Can you think of some synonyms for the word Castigate?
Watch out for this space for your weekly update on improving word power.
(Definitions and examples are from Oxford Languages)
