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Vocabulary - Exceptional English Words With Meanings 15 June 2020

Here some exceptional English words from the newspaper ‘The Hindu’ are given with their synonyms/antonyms and usage. Hopefully, this will help you improve your vocabulary.

1. PRUNE (verb) – छाँटना, काटना
Pronunciation: proon
Meaning: trim (a tree, shrub, or bush) by cutting away dead or overgrown branches or stems, especially to encourage growth
Synonyms: cut back, trim, pinch back, crop, clip, shear
Usage: Now is the time to prune roses.

2. MISCONSTRUE (verb) – गलत अर्थ निकालना
Pronunciation: mis-kun-stroo
Meaning: interpret (a person's words or actions) wrongly
Synonyms: misunderstand, misinterpret, misconceive, misapprehend
Usage: You have completely misconstrued what I said.

3. DOWNCAST (adjective) – नीचे की ओर देखना; मायूस होना
Pronunciation: daun-kaast
Meaning: (of a person's eyes) looking downwards; (of a person) in low spirits from loss of hope or courage
Synonyms: despondent, disheartened, discouraged, dispirited, downhearted, low-spirited, hopeless
Antonym: elated
Usage:
• Ashamed of his mistake, he stood with downcast eyes.
• I felt very downcast at the news.

4. PRISSY (adjective) – व्यवहार-कुशल; पाखंडी
Pronunciation: prisi
Meaning: caring too much about behaving and dressing in a way that is considered correct and that does not shock; excessively respectable
Synonyms: prudish, priggish, prim, niminy-piminy, strait-laced, formal
Antonym: broad-minded
Usage: I met a middle-class family with two prissy children.

5. SOLECISM (noun) – व्याकरण का अशुद्ध प्रयोग; गलत व्यवहार
Pronunciation: soli-sizm
Meaning: a grammatical mistake in speech or writing; an instance of incorrect behaviour
Synonyms: error, blunder, howler; faux pas, gaffe, impropriety
Usage:
• Let me pick out a couple of other solecisms from the report.
• The soldier committed a solecism of protocol when he neglected to salute his commanding officer.

6. GAY (adjective) – प्रसन्नचित; जीवंत; रंगीला
Pronunciation: gei
Meaning: light-hearted and carefree; brightly coloured
Synonyms: cheerful, cheery, merry, jolly, light-hearted, mirthful, jovial, glad, happy; bright, vivid, brilliant, rich, vibrant
Antonyms: gloomy; drab
Usage:
• When I was young, I used to be happy, free, in good health, and gay.
• The garden was gay with red flowers.

7. SHRIVEL (verb) – सूखना, मुरझाना, सिकुड़ना
Pronunciation: shri-v(u)l
Meaning: wrinkle and contract or cause to wrinkle and contract, especially due to loss of moisture
Synonyms: wither, wrinkle, shrink, wilt, dry up, desiccate, dehydrate
Antonyms: fresh, plump, juicy
Usage: Under the direct sunlight young plants will shrivel up.

8. CONTRIVE (verb) – आविष्कार करना, योजना करना, उपाय निकालना
Pronunciation: kun-traiv
Meaning: create an object or bring about a situation by deliberate use of skill
Synonyms: engineer, manufacture, orchestrate, stage-manage, create, devise, concoct, construct, design, formulate
Usage:
• I must contrive a new career.
• I decided to contrive a meeting between the two of them.

9. PENITENT (adjective, noun) – पश्चातापी, अपराधी
Pronunciation: peni-t(u)nt
Meaning: feeling or showing sorrow and regret for having done wrong; a person who repents their sins and (in the Christian Church) seeks forgiveness from God
Synonyms: repentant, contrite, regretful, remorseful, sorry, apologetic, conscience-stricken
Antonyms: impenitent, unrepentant
Usage:
• To be forgiven for committing a sin, one must be extremely penitent. (adjective)
• Exomologesis was a ritual of recognizing oneself as a sinner and penitent. (noun)

10. WRANGLE (verb) – तकरार
Pronunciation: rang(u)l
Meaning: have a long, complicated dispute or argument
Synonyms: argue, quarrel, row, bicker, squabble
Antonym: agree
Usage: The wrangle was finally resolved in January last year.

Now, choose any 2 or 3 words and try to use them in your own sentences, this way you can retain the learnt words in your memory for long time. You can share your sentences in the comment section.