AESTHETIC
Adjective. Related to beauty and appreciation of beauty
“The aesthetic value of the cinematography of Mughl-e-Azam, makes it a classic.”
- The word aesthetic comes in handy when you talk about art, painting, cinema. Next time, compliment a beautiful piece of art as aesthetic.
PENURIOUS
Adjective. Extremely poor
“The people in the slums of Mumbai live under penurious conditions.”
- Penurious means someone who is extremely poor or someone who does not spend a single cowrie on anybody. Both ways, a penurious person is just flat broke!
SEMBLANCE
Noun. To give an outward appearance but might be very different from inside.
“Every face puts on a semblance of happiness when among strangers.”
- When you are told to clean your room, don’t you just stuff all the clothes together in the cupboard, to give the semblance of a clean room? Think of it this way, semblance=false appearance.
INADVERTENT
Adjective. Something happening by chance or by mistake
“Due to an inadvertent technical error, the site became non-functional for a while.”
- Inadvertent means something that happens by mistake or accident. So, if you left the fans switched on, you inadvertently forgot to switch it off.
MALFEASANCE
Noun. Wrongful conduct by a public official
“The moment one sees malfeasance on part of judges, citizens lose faith in the justice system of the country.”
- Whenever you see the prefix “Mal- “, you should know that it’s not good. So Malfeasance means to do something bad especially when a government official.
GRANDIOSE
Adjective. Impressive because or largeness or being grand
“Ganesh Chaturthi is a grandiose festival in Mumbai.”
- Think of big Indian wedding, aren’t they grandiose? So always remember grandiose=grand!
BENIGN
Adjective. Something that is gentle, kind, mild or not harmful
“The doctor found a benign tumor, that can be easily operated.”
- Benign is usually a medical word, used for any ailment or symptom that does not cause any bodily problem to the patient.
INFEASIBLE
Adjective. Too difficult or complicated to be done
“Growing lush crops on a barren land is an infeasible proposition.”
- Think about solving the most complicated trigonometry problem, infeasible, isn’t it?
INTRANSIGENCE
Noun. Stubborn refusal to change your views
“The terrorist cells are intransigent as they simply refuse to respect human life.”
- The word intransigence comes from the Latin word trandigere which means to come to an understanding. Intransigence is just the opposite of that.
DITHER
Verb. Having hard time to decide about something
“I am always late since I dither about what to wear!”
- When you can’t decide between gol gappas and pav bhaji, you are dithering about what to eat!
VIABLE
Adjective. Something where life is possible
“Clear blue sky with black soil provide viable weather condition for cotton plantation.”
- Viable comes from the Latin root word vita meaning life. So, Viable means, possible or feasible. For instance, scientist say Mars has viable conditions for human life, meaning life might be possible on Mars!
MANEOUVER
Noun. A movement or series of movement of moves requiring skill and care
“The driver made a quick maneouver with the car to escape the red light and the traffic.”
- If you have seen Virat Kohli make a brilliant maneouver with his bat to hit a six, you will know what I am talking about!
PRUDENCE
Adjective. The quality of being sensible in decision and action
“A good politician must value prudence over impulsive action.”
- Not just for a politician, but for everyone, prudence is a necessary quality to have. Prudence comes from the Latin word, prudentio meaning sensible foresight.
BANAL
Adjective. Boring and unoriginal
“We must travel once in a while to escape our banal life in the city.”
- Banal. Doesn’t that sound so boring and uninteresting? So always remember, banal is as boring as it sounds.
ARBITRARY
Noun. Something based on a person’s decision or impulse
“The decision of the judge to release the thief was very arbitrary.”
- Think of something that doesn’t make sense but you have to follow it because it is decided by someone, like “an arbitrary decision”, “arbitrary choice”.
COLLABORATE
Verb. Work together on a common project
“I and my best friend collaborated to do a group project but ended up watching TV instead.”
- Do you see how singers collaborate with other singers to make a new song? Exactly.
ASSASSINATION
Noun. Murder of a public figure by surprise attack
“The assassination of the Mahatma Gandhi was absolutely shocking in the history of India.”
- The Assassination has an interesting history. The word seemed to have come from the Arabic word hashshashin. Later in 1605, William Shakespeare used the word “assassination” in his play Macbeth.
PRAGMATISM
Noun. The practice of being practical in life
“To lead a successful life one must have the quality of pragmatisms in them.”
- If you are realistic, logical and know how to get things done, you have the quality of pragmatism in you.
CULPABILITY
Noun. The state of being guilty or responsible
“The people and the government both must hold culpability if a nation fails, not just the government.”
- The easiest way to understand this word is, culpability=guilt. So, if you leave the milk on the stove and it burn, the culpability lies in you.
QUINTESSENTIAL
Adjective. Embodying or being the essence of something
“Rekha is the quintessential Indian beauty, in terms of grace and talent.”
- For instance, if you ask for a free gol gappa after eating all the gol gappas, then you are quintessentially desi!
EXCERPT
Noun. A small passage from a larger written piece
- “Our teacher read to us an excerpt from the book “Discovery of India” by Jawaharlal Nehru.”
PARADIGM
Noun. A typical standard example of something
“Smart phones brought a new paradigm in the world of technology.”
- The word paradigm is mostly used in academic, scientific and business world. Such as, hard work and regularity is the paradigm for excellence in academics.
OBEISANCE
Noun. Bending the head or body as a sign of respect for someone or something
“We show our obeisance in the temple to pay our respect to the God.”
- Not just in temples, but we show obeisance when we touch our parent’s feet for blessings.
DENUNCIATION
Noun. A public criticism in which you are told you have done something wrong
“Indira Gandhi received a lot of denunciation for her decision to call an Emergency.”
- Denunciation comes from the Latin word denuntiare meaning to announce, proclaim or command.”
BELEAGUER
Verb. Annoy continuously
- “My little brother is always beleaguering everyone in the house.”
