To communicate effectively, especially in exams, candidates need to make sure that their language skills are on point. Having a good command of the language can help in expressing thoughts much easily.
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.
Annul (Verb)
Meaning: declare invalid (an official agreement, decision, or result)
Example: The decision was annulled by the courts.
Adumbrate (Verb)
Meaning: represent in outline/indicate faintly/foreshadow (a future event)/
Example: Consciousness does not perspectively adumbrate itself
Also Read: Vocabulary Made Easy series: Polish your language skills to excel in exams
Anodyne (Adjective)
Meaning: not likely to cause offence or disagreement and somewhat dull
Example: The whole film strays dangerously close to anodyne children’s television fare at this stage
Bucolic (Adjective)
Meaning: relating to the pleasant aspects of the countryside and country life
Example: The church is lovely for its bucolic setting
Coda (Noun)
Meaning: the concluding passage of a piece or movement, typically forming an addition to the basic structure
Example: The first movement ends with a fortissimo coda
Contumacious (Adjective)
Meaning: (especially of a defendant’s behaviour) stubbornly or wilfully disobedient to authority
Example: His refusal to make child support payments was contumacious
Disparage (Verb)
Meaning: regard or represent as being of little worth
Example: You disparage a woman’s driving or mock her way of problem-solving
Dissonance (Noun)
Meaning: lack of harmony among musical notes
Example: This leaves the orchestra without a conductor, and a musical cacophony verging on dissonance
Equanimity (Noun)
Meaning: calmness and composure, especially in a difficult situation
Example: No one should ever contemplate the loss of life with equanimity
Effigy (Noun)
Meaning: a sculpture or model of a person
Example: It is ironic that his tomb effigy should show him brandishing an unsheathed sword
Also Read: Vocabulary Made Easy series: Work hard to succeed in improving language skills
Put your thinking cap on and try to answer the following questions to understand how much you have grasped.
- She accepted both the good and the bad with _______________. Which of the following words fits best in the sentence? ( Equanimity, Effigy)
- An unusual degree of _________________ for such choral styles. Which of the following words fits best in the sentence? (Dissonance, Disparage)
- Can you think of some sentences using the words Contumacious, Bucolic and Coda?
- Can you think of some antonyms for the word Anodyne?
- Can you think of some synonyms for the word Adumbrate?
Watch out for this space for your weekly update on improving word power.
(Definitions and examples are from Oxford Languages)
