Vocabulary is one of the most important topics in the English Language section of almost every competitive and government exam like- SEBI Grade A, IBPS PO, IBPS SO, SSC CGL, SSC CHSL, SBI PO, SBI Clerk and many others.
Vocabulary can be defined as a set of familiar words within a person's language. Vocabulary serves as a useful tool for communication and acquiring knowledge. Therefore, understanding the vocabulary words is important to understand where to put the words accurately.
Although it will not be possible to cover all the existing words, let's go through a list of some words that are most commonly used.
| Words | Meaning | Sentence |
|---|---|---|
| Absence | lack, unavailability | Absence makes the heart grow fonder. |
| Ascetic | one who practices self-denial as part of spiritual discipline | She has adopted an ascetic life of prayer, fasting, and manual labour. |
| Beguile | influence someone in a deceptive way | He beguiled the voters with his good looks. |
| Brevity | concise, short | She explained the whole situation in brevity. |
| Cajole | persuade by flattery or coaxing | He hoped to cajole her into selling the house. |
| Callous | disregard for others | Her callous comments about the murder made me shiver. |
| Dauntless | bold | Hilter was a dauntless and cruel ruler. |
| Dogmatic | Thrusting one’s opinion or beliefs while reluctant to accept those of others. | The leader seems quite dogmatic. |
| Eclectic | deriving the best ideas and styles from a diverse range of sources | My university is offering an eclectic mix of courses. |
| Egregious | reprehensible or outrageously bad | It is an egregious abuse of copyright. |
| Feud | major argument | The feud between the two brothers lasted for one hour. |
| Fluster | upset | There is a great fluster in the atmosphere due to increasing pollution. |
| Gingerly | carefully | One should gingerly check their details. |
| Grotesque | ugly | His grotesque appearance makes him less popular. |
| Incumbent | something that is morally binding | The government realized that it was incumbent on them to act. |
| Impeach | denounce, censure | He impeached the actress in front of everyone for her wrong deeds. |
| Jumble | disturb | My life gets jumbled everyday because of new obstacles. |
| Lavish | wasteful | He came to grief because of his lavish dating habits. |
| Meddlesome | interfering | She made a meddlesome statement. |
| Multifarious | multifaceted or diverse | The university offers multifarious activities. |
| Noxious | harmful | Emission from petrol cars generating noxious gases causes pollution. |
| Nimble | quick or agile in movement. | The youth was smaller and nimble , accustomed to navigating the forest |
| Opulence | wealth | His opulence made him have many fake friends. |
| Overt | obvious | Your dog must not display any overt signs of aggression. |
| Promulgate | to broadcast or announce | These objectives have to be promulgated within the organization. |
| Pernicious | destructive | Aria’s approach is self-pernicious; she needs to expand a lot. |
| Quip | a clever remark | I usually make a quip when I pass by creative people. |
| Quandary | dilemma | Yesterday I saw my teacher in a quandary. |
| Refurbish | repair, renovate | An individual can refurbish his/her image by discipline. |
| Rapt | fully attentive | She listened to the lecturer with rapt interest. |
| Stupefy | stun | She was stupied to her spot, when she saw an accident |
| Smear | to make something blurred | She painted a beautiful floral painting but, because of the rain it smeared. |
| Tepid | mild | The cheering from the balcony was tepid. |
| Travesty | distorting facts or imitation | The absurdly lenient sentence is a travesty of justice. |
| Ubiquitous | omnipresent or existing everywhere | His ubiquitous influence was felt by the whole family. |
| Uncanny | Strange or mysterious. | The portrait’s appearance was uncanny. |
| Vociferous | something or someone who is offensively/ conspicuously loud. | He was a vociferous opponent of the takeover. |
| Varnish | add a layer to; embellish | The painter varnished the windows. |
| Wreathe | envelope or surround. | The cops wreathed the crime site immediately. |
| Yonder | referring to something far away. | Consider the yonder side of any issue before deciding. |
| Zilch | nil | Environmental concern is zilch these days. |
Q1) The prince abdicated the crown and returned to his castle. Abdicated means…
Answer: Option 1
Explanation:
To abdicate means to relinquish or give up a throne, power, right, or responsibility.
Q2) The convicted criminal absconded prior to the sentencing phase of the trial. Absconded means…
Answer: Option 4
Explanation:
To abscond means to flee or escape secretly and hide. It can also mean taking off with something (e.g. “He absconded with the treasure.”)
Q3) The old man was benevolent with his fortune. Benevolent means…
Answer: Option 3
Explanation:
Benevolent means kind or good. It does not mean secretive (1), i.e. keeping secret. In this sentence, stingy (2) is an antonym for “benevolent with his fortune.” Benevolent does not mean careful (4) or cautious.
Q4) The attorney accused the witness of defaming the defendant. Defaming means…
Answer: Option 4
Explanation:
To defame means to slander, libel, or otherwise disparage the reputation or actions of another. It does not mean to kill (1), badger (2) or harass; or to suffocate (3) or smother.
Q5) The winning team of the World Series often has a jovial attitude. Jovial means…
Answer: Option 1
Explanation:
Jovial means happy or merry, the opposite of sad (2) and somber (3). It does not mean laborious (4), i.e. effortful, difficult, or painstaking.
Having a good knowledge of vocabulary plays a very important role in answering questions in various competitive exams accurately. A good vocabulary will help you in solving questions on cloze test, error spotting, reading comprehension, etc. Therefore, it is advised that candidates must focus on their vocabulary to score well in the English Language section. You can expect around 4 to 5 questions in the exam.
