Shape Up your Vocabulary from Newspaper Wordlist: 8th February, 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.

An inevitable showdown: On government’s notice to Twitter

Important Words from the Article

1. Word: Genocide (जातिसंहार)

• Pronunciation: jen-uh-sahyd
• Part of Speech: Noun
• Meaning: the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular nation or ethnic group.
• Synonyms: mass murder, extermination, annihilation, massacre
• Antonyms: peace, toleration, amity, endurance
• Usage in a Sentence: Lawmakers passed a motion recognising the Ottoman slaughter of Armenians in 1915 as a genocide.

2. Word: Sovereignty (सत्ता)

• Pronunciation: sov-rin-tee/साव्रिन्टी
• Part of Speech: Noun
• Meaning:
  a. supreme power or authority
  b. the authority of a state to govern itself or another state
  c. a self-governing state.
• Synonyms: freedom, democracy
• Antonyms: retention, belief
• Usage in a Sentence: The people embrace their independence and sovereignty.

 3. Word: Integrity (अखंडता)

• Pronunciation: in-teg-ri-tee
• Part of Speech: Noun
• Meaning:
  a. the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.
  b. the state of being whole and undivided.
• Synonyms: honesty, uprightness, morality
• Antonyms: dishonesty, deception, unfairness
• Usage in a sentence: Separatist movements are a threat to the integrity of the nation.

4. Word: Incitement (उत्तेजना)

• Pronunciation: in-sahyt-muh nt
• 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.
  
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5. Word: Cognisable (संज्ञेय)

• Pronunciation: kog-nuh-zuh-buh l
• Part of Speech: Adjective
• Meaning:
  a. perceptible; clearly identifiable.
  b. within the jurisdiction of a court.
• Synonyms: perceptible, indicated, evident, likely, comprehensible
• Antonym: obscure, inscrutable, incomprehensible
• Usage in a Sentence: A hieroglyph is an emblem of something not cognizable to the modern crowd.

6. Word: Unequivocal (असंदिग्ध)

• Pronunciation: uhn-i-kwiv-uh-kuhl
• Part of Speech: Adjective
• Meaning: leaving no doubt; unambiguous
• Synonyms: clear, unambiguous, unmistakable, indisputable, incontrovertible
• Antonyms: equivocal, ambiguous, vague
• Usage in a Sentence: His views turned out to be staunch and unequivocal.

7. Word:  Hashtag (#) (हैशटैग)

• Pronunciation: hash-tag
• Part of Speech: Noun/ Verb
• Meaning:
  a. (on social media websites): a word or phrase preceded by a hash mark (#), used within a message to identify a keyword or topic of interest and facilitate a search for it (Noun)
  b. a word or phrase preceded by a hash mark (#) or by the word hashtag, used to add wit or emphasis to a spoken or written statement.
  c. to add a hashtag to (a word, topic, or message) [verb (used with or without object)]
• Synonyms: label, tag, symbol, topic, sticker, keyword
• Usage in a sentence: Hashtagging a topic will increase its visibility.

8. Word: Indefensible (असमर्थनीय)

• Pronunciation: in-di-fen-suh-buhl
• Part of Speech: Adjective
• Meaning:
  a. not justifiable; inexcusable
  b. incapable of being protected or defended against attack
  c. incapable of being defended against criticism or denial; untenable
• Synonyms: unjustifiable, untenable, inexcusable
• Antonyms: defensible, excusable, reasonable
• Usage in a sentence: The argument proved to be indefensible in court.

9. Word: Simmering (सिमसिमाना)

• Pronunciation: si-mer-ing
• Part of Speech: Verb, Noun
• Meaning:
  (a) stay just below boiling point while bubbling gently (verb)
  (b) a state or temperature just below boiling point (noun)
• Synonyms: stewing, seething, bubbling, parboiled
• Antonyms: erupt, burst, freeze
• Usage in a Sentence: He had long been simmering, till he finally burst into an angry attack one day.

10. Word: Face-off ( सामना करना)

• Pronunciation: feys-awf
• Part of Speech: Verb
• Meaning: take up an attitude of confrontation, especially at the start of a fight or game.
• Synonyms: take a stand, dare, confrontation
• Antonyms: agree, decide, reconcile
• Usage in a Sentence: The boxers have been scheduled for a face-off this afternoon.

'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!

• genocide
• sovereignty 
• integrity
• incitement 
• cognizable 

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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