Shape Up your Vocabulary from Newspaper Wordlist: 26th December 2020

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!

Message much-needed

Important Words from the Article

1. Word: Heed (सावधानी)

• Pronunciation: heed/हीड
• Part of Speech: Noun, Verb
• Meaning:
  a. pay attention to; take notice of. [Verb]
  b. careful attention [Noun]
• Synonyms: notice, regard, caution
• Antonyms: neglect, ignore, disregard
• Usage in a Sentence: He failed to heed the exercises of social science.

2. Word: Emphatic (प्रभावी)

• Pronunciation: em-fat-ik/ एम्फैटिक
• Part of Speech: Adjective
• Meaning:
  a. expressing something forcibly and clearly.
  b. (of an action or its result) definite and clear.
• Synonyms: forceful, assertive, insistent
• Antonyms: forceless, insignificant, unassertive
• Usage in a sentence: Sehaj was equally emphatic about the importance of control.

 3. Word: Pursuit (लक्ष्य , पीछा)

• Pronunciation: per-soot/पर्सूट
• Part of Speech: Noun
• Meaning - The action of going after something or someone
• Synonyms- an aspiration for, quest for, search for.
• Antonyms - Ignore,  neglect, avoid
• Usage in a sentence - The police officer is in pursuit of the escaped prisoner.

4. Word: Temper (ग़ुस्सा)

• Pronunciation: tem-paar/टेम्पर
• Part of Speech: Noun
• Meaning - an uncontrolled outburst of anger and frustration
• Synonyms - tantrum, anger
• Antonyms - calm, peace
• Example - He has a temper of a volcano if he can't get his own way.
  
  Tired up of Purchasing Different Mock Tests? Try Test Series Now! 

5. Word: Scepticism (संशयवाद)

• Pronunciation: skep-tuh-siz-uh m/स्केप्टिसिज़म
• Part of Speech: Noun
• Meaning: 
  a. a sceptical attitude; doubt as to the truth of something
  b. the theory that certain knowledge is impossible.
• Synonyms: suspicion, mistrust, misgiving
• Antonyms: credence, trust
• Usage in a Sentence: She has a healthy scepticism towards the requirements in the organization's report.

6. Word: Divisive (विभाजनात्मक)

• Pronunciation: dih-vahy-siv/ डिवाइसिव 
• Part of Speech: Adjective
• Meaning: tending to cause disagreement or hostility between people.
• Synonyms: dividing, splitting, disruptive, inharmonious
• Antonym: unifying
• Usage in a Sentence: The divisive issue has divided families and friends, but demonstrations had largely been peaceful until this week.

7. Word: Partisan (कट्टर)

• Pronunciation: pahr-tuh-zuhn/पार्टिज़न
• Part of Speech: Noun, Adjective
• Meaning:
  a. a strong supporter of a party, cause, or person. [Noun]
  b. prejudiced in favour of a particular cause. [Adjective]
• Synonyms: supporter, biased
• Antonyms: opponent, unbiased
• Usage in a Sentence: You must listen to both points of view and try not to be partisan.

8. Phrase: Strike a note (अभिव्यक्त करना)

• Pronunciation: स्ट्राइक अ नोट
• Part of Speech: Phrase
• Meaning: to express and communicate a particular opinion or feeling about something; be relevant or familiar to
• Synonyms: bethink, call to mind, cite
• Antonyms: calm, disregard, forget
• Usage in a Sentence: Let me strike a note of hopefulness: this job will not be as hard as you think.

9. Word: Reliance (भरोसा)

• Pronunciation: रिलाइअन्स/reeh-uh-lyan0-sh
• Parts of speech: Noun
• Meaning - dependence on or trust in someone or something
• Synonyms - dependence, dependency, confidence, assuredness, trust
• Antonyms - doubt, disbelief, distrust, autonomy
• Usage in a sentence - India is planning to lessen its pharmaceutical products' reliance on China.

10. Word: Coercion (ज़बरदस्ती)

• Pronunciation: koh-ur-shun/कोअर्शन
• Part of Speech: Noun
• Meaning - the action or practice of persuading someone to do something by using force or threats.
• Synonyms -   force, compulsion, constraint, duress, oppression
• Antonyms -  liberty , option , choice
• Usage in a sentence -The restaurant owner said that it wasn't slavery by the little boy because no coercion was used.

'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!

• Coercion
• Reliance
• Heed
• Temper
• Scepticism

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. 

The Most Comprehensive Exam Prep App!