Shape Up your Vocabulary from Newspaper Wordlist: 22nd May 2021

Vocabulary plays a very important role in enhancing your communication skills, be it written or spoken. As you glance through the newspaper every day, you come across a number of new words. Your reading exercise is impeded if you do not understand the meaning of a word, or its meaning in a given context. Such challenges could be overcome by inculcating a sound habit of reading. The habit lets you encounter something new every day in the form of words, the meaning of which you were unaware of.

In keeping with the idea of learning and scoring better in English, we bring to you our series, ‘Shape up your Vocabulary from Newspaper Wordlist’. A daily dose of this article acquaints you with commonly (and not so commonly) used English words. The series tries to feature every such word, with its meaning, contextual usage, pronunciation, synonym, antonym, proper use in sentences, etc., that could save you from sitting with a dictionary while reading. Ultimately, it facilitates smooth reading and better intake of the newspaper article.

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.

Balancing act: On India's stand in Israel-Palestine conflict

Important Words from the Article

1. Word: Unilateral (एकतरफ़ा)

• Pronunciation: yoo-nuh-lat-er-uhl/ यूनिलैटरल
• Part of Speech: Adjective
• Meaning: 
  a. relating to, occurring on, or involving one side only:
  b. undertaken or done by or on behalf of one side, party, or faction only; not mutual:
  c. having only one side or surface; without a reverse side or inside, as a Möbius strip.
• Synonyms: lopsided, partial, skewed
• Antonyms: bilateral, mutual, united
• Usage in a sentence: The decision needs to be unilateral within the company.

2. Word: Status Quo (यथा स्थिति)

• Pronunciation: kwoh/ स्टेटस क्वो
• Part of Speech: Noun
• Meaning:
  a. the existing state or condition.
• Synonyms: state of affairs, current situation,  
• Antonyms: lapse, reverse, former 
• Usage in a sentence: The recent trends suggest that the status quo will not improve till the 2nd wave of the pandemic subsides. 

 3. Word: Unwavering (अटल)

• Pronunciation: uhn·vei·vuh·ruhng /अन्वैवरिंग
• Part of Speech: Adjective
• Meaning: 
  a. marked by firm determination or resolution; not shakable
  b. not showing abrupt variations
• Synonyms: firm resolute, steadfast
• Antonyms: irresolute, wavering, fickle
• Usage in a sentence: The unwavering stance of the employee saw him losing his job. 

4. Word: Disproportionate (असम)

• Pronunciation: dis-pruh-pawr-shuh-nit/ डिस्प्रपोर्शनिट
• Part of Speech: Adjective
• Meaning:
  a. not proportionate; out of proportion, as in size or number.
• Synonyms: excessive, inordinate, unequal
• Antonyms: equal, proportionate, commensurate
• Usage in a sentence: The rise in the number of cases in the 2nd wave is quite disproportionate to the estimates. 
  
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5. Word: Impoverish (गरीब करना)

• Pronunciation: im-pov-er-ish/ इम्पाव्रिश
• Part of Speech: Verb
• Meaning:
  a. to reduce to poverty:
  b. to make poor in quality, productiveness, etc.; exhaust the strength or richness of:
• Synonyms: bankrupt, ruin, deplete
• Antonyms: enrich, empower, adorn
• Usage in a sentence: Bad farming practices impoverished the soil.

6. Word: Sovereign (महाराज)

• Pronunciation: sov-rin/ साव्रिन
• Part of Speech: Noun
• Meaning:
  a. a monarch; a king, queen, or other supreme ruler.
  b. a person who has supreme power or authority.
  c. belonging to or characteristic of a sovereign or sovereign authority; royal.
  d. having supreme rank, power, or authority.
• Synonyms: supreme, emperor, chief
• Antonyms: subservient, servant, conquered 
• Usage in a sentence: The sovereign state of Kashmir was ruled by a king during the independence struggle. 

7. Word: Rapport (घनिष्ठता)

• Pronunciation: ra-pawr/ रैपोर
• Part of Speech: Noun
• Meaning:
  a. relation; connection, especially harmonious or sympathetic relation:
• Synonyms: affinity, harmony, accord
• Antonyms: violence, atrocity, unfriendliness 
• Usage in a sentence: A teacher trying to establish close rapport with students.

8. Word: Underpinning (नया आधार लगाना)

• Pronunciation: uhn-der-pin-ing/अंडरपिनिंग  
• Part of Speech: Noun
• Meaning:
  a. a system of supports beneath a wall or the like.
  b. to uncover the emotional underpinnings of an illness.
• Synonyms: foundation, base, groundwork 
• Antonyms: acme, maintenance, preservation
• Usage in a sentence: The underpinnings of the building are strong enough to hold off minor earthquakes. 

9. Word: Realist (यथार्थवादी)

• Pronunciation: ree-uh-list/ रीअलिस्ट
• Part of Speech: Noun
• Meaning:
  a. a person who tends to view or represent things as they really are.
  b. an artist or a writer whose work is characterized by realism.
• Synonyms: pragmatic, practical, utilitarian
• Antonyms: idealist, imaginative, daydreamer
• Usage in a sentence: A realist does not involve in getting his/her hopes too high.  

10. Word: Emphatic (ज़ोरदार)

• Pronunciation: em-fat-ik/ एम्फैटिक
• Part of Speech: Adjective
• Meaning:
  a. uttered, or to be uttered, with emphasis; strongly expressive.
  b. using emphasis in speech or action.
  c. forceful; insistent:
  d. very impressive or significant; strongly marked; striking:
• Synonyms: assertive, insistent, firm
• Antonyms: ambiguous, faint, doubtful
• Usage in a sentence: India registered an emphatic win against Pakistan in the opening match of the world cup. 

'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.

• Unilateral
• Status Quo
• Unwavering
• Disproportionate
• Impoverish

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!

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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