Shape Up your Vocabulary from Newspaper Wordlist: 5th February, 2021

Vocabulary is an essential tool to ace the English section in competitive examinations. You can score better in the subject if you are able to intensify your command over Vocabulary. A regular reading habit can help you with this. With the exercise, you will come across a number of new words, whose meanings you can look up in the dictionary. This, in turn, will help you understand the context of the piece you are reading.

Reading articles from newspapers helps you in two ways: Memorising Static Facts from the Article & Enhancing your Vocabulary.

In conjunction with the above idea, we bring to you our series ‘Shape up your Vocabulary from Newspaper Wordlist’. This series aims to help you understand the different aspects of the commonly (and not so commonly) used words, ranging from their meaning and pronunciations to proper usage in sentences.

Today's article is from "The Hindu" newspaper. Understand the gist of the article using the meaning of the words given below and practice questions at the end of this article.

All to play for: On England’s tour of India

Important Words from the Article

1. Word: Frenzied (उन्मुक्त)

• Pronunciation: fren-zeed
• Part of Speech: Adjective
• Meaning: wildly excited or uncontrolled.
  
• Synonyms: furious, violent, insane
• Antonyms: calm, peaceful, tranquil
• Usage in a Sentence: The man was beat to death in a frenzied attack.

2. Word: Angst (चिंता)

• Pronunciation: ahngkst
• Part of Speech: Noun
• Meaning: a feeling of deep anxiety or dread, typically an unfocused one about the human condition or the state of the world in general
• Synonyms: anxiety, anguish, fear, distress, dread
• Antonyms: comfort, calmness, assurance, serenity
• Usage in a Sentence: This story lacks the typical angst and desperation characteristic of the genre.

 3. Word: Tussle (कशमकश)

• Pronunciation: tuhs-uh l
• Part of Speech: Noun, Verb
• Meaning: 
  a. a vigorous struggle or scuffle, typically in order to obtain or achieve something. (Noun)
  b. engage in a vigorous struggle or scuffle. (Verb)
• Synonyms: fight, scuffle, struggle, skirmish, brawl
• Antonyms: agreement, consensus, accord
• Usage in a sentence: After quite a tussle, I finally wrenched the letter from him.

4. Word: Unflappable (शांत)

• Pronunciation: uhn-flap-uh-buh l
• Part of Speech: Adjective 
• Meaning: having or showing calmness in a crisis.
• Synonyms: imperturbable, calm, confident, peaceful
• Antonyms: nervous, worried, upset
• Usage in a Sentence: The quiet, efficient and unflappable managed to introduces more patience into his charge.
  
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5. Word: Rankle (भड़कना)

• Pronunciation: rang-kuhl
• Part of Speech: Verb
• Meaning: 
  a. (of a comment or fact) cause continuing annoyance or resentment.
  b. annoy or irritate (someone).
• Synonyms: irritate, vex, annoy, exasperate
• Antonyms: delight, please, appease, comfort
• Usage in a sentence: The joke about her family rankled her.

6. Word: Ambush (घात लगाना)

• Pronunciation: am-boo sh
• Part of Speech: Verb, Noun
• Meaning:
  a. an act or instance of lying concealed so as to attack by surprise (Noun)
  b. an act or instance of attacking unexpectedly from a concealed position (Noun)
  c. the concealed position itself (Noun)
  d. those who attack suddenly and unexpectedly from a concealed position (Noun)
  e. to attack from ambush (Verb)
  f. to suddenly attack someone after hiding and waiting for them (Verb)
• Synonyms: trap, attack, snare, waylay
• Antonyms: retreat, defend, exhibition
• Usage in a sentence: He was ambushed by gunmen on his way to work.

7. Word: Glean (बटोरना)

• Pronunciation: gleen 
• Part of speech: Verb
• Meaning: to gather information in pieces
• Synonyms: gather, obtain, extract, collect, harvest
• Antonyms: apportion, dispose, spread, dispense
• Usage in a sentence: From several library resources, Sara was able to glean enough information to write her research paper.

8. Word: Arsenal (आयुधशाला)

• Pronunciation: ahr-suh-nl
• Part of Speech: Noun
• Meaning: a collection of weapons and military equipment
• Synonyms: armoury, repository, store
• Antonyms: disarmament
• Usage in a Sentence: The country has agreed to reduce its nuclear arsenal.

9. Word: Guile (छल-कपट)

• Pronunciation: gahyl
• Part of Speech: Noun
• Meaning: clever but sometimes dishonest behaviour used to deceive someone
• Synonyms: trickery, cunning, craftiness, slyness
• Antonyms: honesty, truth, integrity, sincerity
• Usage in a sentence: He put his guile to good use and stole a hardworking person's promotion.

10. Word: Troika (नेता के रूप में काम करने वाले तीन जन)

• Pronunciation: troi-kuh
• Part of Speech: Noun 
• Meaning:
  a. a Russian carriage, wagon, or sleigh drawn by a team of three horses abreast
  b. a team of three horses driven abreast
  c. any group of three persons, nations, etc., acting equally in unison to exert influence, control, or the like
• Synonyms: trio, triad, triplet, trinity, triumvirate
• Antonyms: unilateral
• Usage in a sentence: The three friends formed a formidable troika after joining the students' council.

'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!

• frenzied
• angst
• tussle
• unflappable
• rankle

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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