Shape Up your Vocabulary from Newspaper Wordlist: 17th February, 2021

Over the last couple of years, the English section of the competitive exams has given good surprises. You must have encountered one or more new types of questions in almost every exam you appear for. Many of these questions exclusively check your vocabulary skills. So, apart from enhancing your reading, writing and speaking skills, a sound grip on vocabulary helps you score better in examinations.

Reading is one of the best ways to boost your vocabulary. As you read a piece of writing, you come across new words which you might not have come across before. So, we must always try to inculcate a habit of reading.

Keeping this vision in mind, we bring to you the series, ‘Shape up your Vocabulary from Newspaper Wordlist’. The articles in this series fulfil your daily intake of English words. The series tries to feature words from an article, with their meanings, contextual usage, pronunciation, synonyms, antonyms, proper use in sentences, etc. Given below is an important editorial from the newspaper ‘The Hindu’. Read it, understand the context and go through the meanings of words to boost up your learning.

Happy Reading!

Tolerance deficit: On ‘toolkit conspiracy’ case

Important Words from the Article

1. Word: Deficit (घाटा)

• Pronunciation: def-uh-sit/डेफिसिट
• Part of Speech: Noun
• Meaning:
  a. the amount by which the money that you spend is more than the money that you receive
• Synonyms: shortage, deficiency, shortfall
• Antonyms: plethora, excess, surplus
• Usage in a sentence: There are many priorities, but reducing the fiscal deficit is of paramount importance.

2. Word: Dubious (संदेहात्मक)

• Pronunciation: doo-bee-uhs/ डूबीअस
• Part of Speech: Adjective
• Meaning: hesitating or doubting.
• Synonyms: doubtful, questionable, uncertain, suspicious
• Antonyms: certain, sure, confident
• Usage in a sentence: The firm was accused of dubious accounting practices.

 3. Word: Incitement (उत्तेजना)

• Pronunciation: in-sahyt-muh nt/ इन्साइट्मन्ट
• Part of Speech: Noun
• Meaning: the action of provoking unlawful behaviour or urging someone to behave unlawfully.
• Synonyms: provocation, stimulus, incentive, incitation, impulse
• Antonyms: hindrance, deterrence, impediment
• Usage in a sentence: The rock band's failure to show up incited a riot, as the crowd had waited for hours.

4. Word: Perverse (भ्रष्ट)

• Pronunciation: per-vurs/ पर्वर्स
• Part of Speech: Adjective
• Meaning: showing a deliberate and obstinate desire to behave in a way that is unreasonable or unacceptable.
• Synonyms: stubborn, wayward, obstinate
• Antonyms: agreeable, reasonable, tolerant
• Usage in a Sentence: The war incited a number of perverse practices.
  
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5. Word: Disaffection (असंतोष)

• Pronunciation: dis-uh-fek-shuhn/डिसफेक्शन
• Part of Speech: Noun
• Meaning:
  a. the quality of no longer supporting or being satisfied with a system, organization, or idea
  b. the absence or alienation of affection or goodwill; estrangement; disloyalty
• Synonyms: estrangement, alienation, dissatisfaction
• Antonyms: loyalty, allegiance, attraction
• Usage in a sentence: The disaffection for the new political regime was clear among the citizens.

6. Word: Opprobrium (अनादर)

• Pronunciation: uh-proh-bree-uh m/अप्रोब्रीअम
• Part of Speech: Noun
• Meaning: 
  a. severe criticism and blame
  b. the disgrace or the reproach incurred by conduct considered outrageously shameful; infamy
  c. a cause or object of such disgrace or reproach
• Synonyms: shame, disgrace, infamy, obloquy
• Antonyms: pride, dignity, honor
• Usage in a sentence: International opprobrium has been heaped on the country following its attack on its neighbours.

7. Word: Indiscriminate (अंधाधुंध, अभेदकर)

• Pronunciation: in-di-skrim-uh-nit/ इन्डिस्क्रिमनट
• Part of Speech: Adjective
• Meaning: 
  a. done at random or without careful judgement.
  b. (of a person) not using or exercising discrimination.
• Synonyms: random, haphazard, confused, undiscriminating
• Antonyms: selective, discriminate, definite, specific
• Usage in a sentence: They participated in the indiscriminate slaughter of countless innocent victims.

8. Word: Convergence (अभिसारिता)

• Pronunciation: kuhn-vur-juhns/कन्वर्जन्स
• Part of Speech: Noun
• Meaning: the fact that two or more things, ideas, etc. become similar or come together
• Synonyms: confluence, intersection, overlapping
• Antonyms: polarisation, divergence, isolation
• Usage in a sentence: The conference marked the convergence of few of the greatest minds of the twenty-first century. 

9. Word: Deviant (विपथगामी)

• Pronunciation: dee-vee-uh nt/ डीवीअन्ट
• Part of Speech: Adjective, Noun
• Meaning: 
  a. departing from usual or accepted standards, especially in social or sexual behaviour. (Adjective)
  b. a deviant person or thing. (Noun)
• Synonyms: abnormal, aberrant, pervert, unusual
• Antonyms: normal, usual, regular, standard
• Usage in a Sentence: Some studies show that many violent criminals begin exhibiting deviant behaviour in early childhood.

10. Word: Surfeit (अतिरेक,आधिक्य) 

• Pronunciation: sur-fit/ सर्फिट
• Part of speech: Noun
• Meaning: (an amount that is) more than is needed; an amount of something that is more than necessary, permitted, or desirable/an overabundant supply
• Synonyms: excess, abundant, oversupply
• Antonyms: lack, dearth, scarcity
• Usage in a sentence: When the store manager accidentally ordered a surfeit of pencils and pens, he was unable to sell the extra items and decided to donate them to a local school.

'Writer's Corner'

Based on the description of the words, we have some practice questions for you. Answer these questions in the comments section. Our team will review them at the earliest!

Exercise 1. Make your own Sentences.

Here are some of the words from the above article. Try to frame sentences from them in your own words and share them with us in the comments section!

• deficit
• dubious
• incitement
• perverse 
• disaffection

Exercise 2: Match the columns.

Share your answers in the comment section. 

More from us:

For practice, attempt the quiz based on this daily wordlist from the link below to enhance your exam preparation: Vocabulary Quiz, Click here to attempt!

You can also check the wordlist articles for the previous days from the link below: Shape Up your Vocabulary from Newspaper Wordlist

That was your Vocabulary dose for the day. 

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