Vocabulary from Newspaper Wordlist: 25th July 2020

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 Indian Express’.

Read it, understand the context and go through the meanings of words to boost up your learning.

Watch it!

Important Words from the Article

1. Word: Insistent (आग्रही)

• Pronunciation: in-sis-tuh nt/इन्सिस्टन्ट
• Part of Speech: Adjective
• Meaning: 
  a. earnest or emphatic in dwelling upon, maintaining, or demanding something; persistent; pertinacious
  b. compelling attention or notice
• Synonyms: determined, stubborn, resolute, firm
• Antonyms: tolerant, beseeching, halfhearted
• Usage in a sentence: The teacher is insistent that the school is not to blame for the situation.

2. Word: Documentary (प्रमाणविषयक/प्रलेखी)

• Pronunciation: dok-yuh-men-tuh-ree/डाक्यमेन्टरी
• Part of Speech: Noun, Adjective
• Meaning:
  a. (Movies, Television) a documentary film, radio or television program, etc. (Noun)
  b. in the form of documents (Adjective)
• Synonyms: factual, historical, literal, matter-of-fact
• Antonyms: fictional, nonfactual,  unhistorical
• Usage in a sentence: The documentary took a fresh look at the life of Darwin.

 3. Word: Hostage (बंधक)

• Pronunciation: hos-tij/हास्टिज
• Part of Speech: Noun
• Meaning: 
  a. a person given or held as security for the fulfillment of certain conditions or terms, promises, etc., by another
• Synonyms: prisoner, captive
• Antonyms: free man
• Usage in a sentence: She was taken/held hostage by the gunmen.

4. Word: Earthling (पृथ्वीवासी)

• Pronunciation: urth-ling /अर्थ्लिंग
• Part of Speech: Noun
• Meaning:
  a. an inhabitant of earth; mortal
• Synonyms: human
• Antonyms: alien, zombie, vampire
• Usage in a sentence: The disguise could be a way to try to communicate more easily with the earthlings.
  
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5. Word: Endangered (विलुप्तप्रायः)

• Pronunciation: en-deyn-jerd/इन्डैन्जर्ड
• Part of Speech: Adjective
• Meaning:
  a. threatened with a danger
  b. generally perceived as threatened with extinction
• Synonyms: at risk, threatened, in danger
• Antonyms: protected, safe, guarded
• Usage in a sentence: Social workers who look after abused or endangered children often have stressful days at work.

6. Word: Edify (सदुदाहरण देना)

• Pronunciation: ed-uh-fahy/एडफाइ
• Part of Speech: Verb
• Meaning:
  a. to instruct or benefit, especially morally or spiritually; uplift
• Synonyms: enlighten, instruct, educate
• Antonyms: discourage, corrode
• Usage in a sentence: The religious paintings edified the viewer.

7. Word: Surreal (अवास्तविक)

• Pronunciation: suh-ree-uh l/सरीअल
• Part of Speech: Adjective
• Meaning:
  a. of, relating to, or characteristic of surrealism, an artistic and literary style; surrealistic
  b. having the disorienting, hallucinatory quality of a dream; unreal; fantastic
• Synonyms:  odd, peculiar, strange, unusual, weird
• Antonyms:  sane, sensible, sober, wise, enlightened
• Usage in a sentence: Driving through the total darkness was a slightly surreal experience.

8. Word: Abyss (अतल समुद्र)

• Pronunciation: uh-bis/अबिस
• Part of Speech: Noun
• Meaning:
  a. a deep, immeasurable space, gulf, or cavity; vast chasm.
  b. anything profound, unfathomable, or infinite:
  c. a difficult situation that brings trouble or destruction
• Synonyms: gulf, ocean, chasm, pit
• Usage in a sentence: She found herself on the edge of an abyss.

9. Word: Genre (प्रकार/शैलीश़ान्र)

• Pronunciation: zhahn-ruh/श़ान्र
• Part of Speech: Noun, Adjective
• Meaning:
  a. a style, especially in the arts, that involves a particular set of characteristics (Noun)
  b. produced according to a particular model or style (Adjective)
• Synonyms: variety, style, grade, group, category
• Usage in a sentence: What genre does the book fall into - comedy or tragedy?

10. Word: Sawn-off (अकार में छोटा )

• Pronunciation: sawn-off/सौन ऑफ़ 
• Part of Speech: Adjective
• Meaning:
  a. (prenominal) (of a shotgun) having the barrel cut short, mainly to facilitate concealment of the weapon
  b. informal (of a person) small in stature
• Synonyms: short, small, tiny
• Antonyms: long, big
• Usage in a sentence: He was hauling a sawn-off over his shoulder.

11. Word: Cradle (पालन पोषण करना)

• Pronunciation: kreyd-l/क्रैडल
• Part of Speech: 
• Meaning:
  a. a small bed for an infant, usually on rockers (Noun)
  b. any of various supports for objects set horizontally, as the support for the handset of a telephone (noun)
  c. to hold gently or protectively (verb)
  d. to place or rock in or as in an infant's cradle (Verb)
  e. to lie in or as if in a cradle (Verb)
• Synonyms: hold, embrace, support, protect
• Antonyms: drop, abandon
• Usage in a sentence: Joe cradled his cup of coffee and began to speak.

'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!

• Hostage
• Earthling
• Endangered
• Edify
• Surreal

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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