Shape Up your Vocabulary from Newspaper Wordlist: 4th June, 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. 

Exam fear: On Class XII exam cancellation

Important Words from the Article

1. Word: Carnage (नाश)

• Pronunciation: kahr-nij/ कार्निज
• Part of Speech: Noun
• Meaning: the killing of a large number of people.
• Synonyms: slaughter, massacre, butchery
• Antonyms: friendliness, hospitality, civility
• Usage in a Sentence: Refugees crossed the border to escape the carnage in their homeland.

2. Word: Proxy (ऐवजी करने वाला)

• Pronunciation: prok-see/प्राक्सी
• Part of Speech: Noun
• Meaning:
  a. the agency, function, or power of a person authorized to act as the deputy or substitute for another.
  b. the person so authorized; substitute; agent.
  c. a written authorization empowering another person to vote or act for the signer, as at a meeting of stockholders.
  d. an ally or confederate who can be relied upon to speak or act in one's behalf.
• Synonyms: substitute, surrogate, representative
• Usage in a sentence: My brother's voting for me by proxy in the club elections.

 3. Word: Robust (मजबूत)

• Pronunciation: roh-buhst/रोबस्ट
• Part of Speech: Adjective
• Meaning: 
  a. strong and healthy; vigorous.
• Synonyms: powerful, persistent
• Antonyms: weak, feeble
• Usage in a Sentence: The organization is taking a more robust approach to management.

4.  Word: Hobble (लड़खड़ाना)

• Pronunciation: hob-uhl/ हाबल 
• Part of Speech: Verb
• Meaning:
  a. to walk lamely; limp.
  b. to proceed irregularly and haltingly:
• Synonyms: limp, fetter, falter
• Antonyms: stride, accelerate, advance
• Usage in a sentence: The old woman hobbles down to the store every day. 

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5. Phrase: Trickle-down (प्रसारित हो जाना)

• Pronunciation: trik-uhl-doun/ट्रिक्ल डाउन 
• Meaning: 
  a. used to refer to a situation in which something that starts in the high parts of a system spreads to the whole of the system
• Synonyms: percolate, trickle, seepage
• Usage in a sentence: The supposed trickle-down effect of lower taxes for the rich has not yet resulted in greater prosperity for society as a whole.

6. Word: Mutation (परिवर्तन)

• Pronunciation: myoo-tey-shun
• Part of Speech: Noun
• Meaning: a significant genetic change
• Synonyms: modification, variation, alteration
• Antonyms: uniformity, sameness, regularity
• Usage in a sentence: A mutation in the virus was the cause of several new cases of Measles.

7. Word: Dither (दुविधा में होना)

• Pronunciation: dith-er/डिदर
• Part of Speech: Verb
• Meaning:
  a. to be unable to make a decision about doing something
• Synonyms: hesitate, vacillate, flap
• Antonyms: conclude, decide, resolve
• Usage in a sentence: He accused the government of dithering over the deal.

8. Word: Prickly (कँटीला)

• Pronunciation: prik-lee/प्रिक्ली
• Part of Speech: Adjective
• Meaning:
  a. full of troublesome points
  b. covered with prickles
• Synonyms: thorny, bristly, spiny
• Antonyms: smooth, comfortable
• Usage in a sentence: Chestnuts had burst out of their prickly green husks.

9. Word: Plight (हालत/प्रतिज्ञा)

• Pronunciation: plahyt/प्लाइट
• Part of Speech: Noun
• Meaning:
  a. a condition, state, or situation, especially an unfavorable or unfortunate one
• Synonyms: predicament, quandary, difficulty
• Antonyms: good fortune, solution, advantage
• Usage in a sentence: Few of us can be unmoved by the plight of the refugees.

10. Word: Interminable (अनन्त)

• Pronunciation: in-tur-muh-nuh-buhl/इन्टर्मनबल
• Part of Speech: Adjective
• Meaning:
  a. incapable of being terminated; unending
  b. monotonously or annoyingly protracted or continued; unceasing; incessant
• Synonyms: endless, eternal, incessant
• Antonyms:  finite, brief, short
• Usage in a sentence: After an interminable wait a human voice interrupted.

'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!

• trickle down
• interminable 
• dither
• plight
• mutation

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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