Important English Vocabulary Words from the Hindu
Abeyance (noun)
Meaning: a state of temporary disuse or suspension.
Synonyms: suspension, a state of suspension, a state of dormancy, a state of latency, a state of uncertainty
Usage: The project was left in abeyance for the time being.
Ambivalent (Adjective)
Meaning: having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about something or someone.
Synonyms: equivocal, uncertain, unsure, doubtful, indecisive, inconclusive, irresolute.
Usage: Some loved her, some hated her, few were ambivalent about her.
Anomalous (adjective)
Meaning: deviating from what is standard, normal, or expected.
Synonyms: abnormal, atypical, non-typical, irregular.
Usage: Nuclear weapons testing may have been responsible for the anomalous weather conditions.
Antipathy (noun)
Meaning: a deep-seated feeling of aversion.
Synonyms: hostility, antagonism, animosity, aversion, animus
Usage: His fundamental antipathy to capitalism.
Apprehension (noun)
Meaning: anxiety or fear that something bad or unpleasant will happen.
Synonyms: alarm, worry, uneasiness, unease, nervousness,
Usage: He had been filled with apprehension at having to report his failure.
Approbation (noun)
Meaning: approval or praise.
Synonyms: acceptance, assent, endorsement, encouragement
Usage: He yearned for popular approbation.
Apropos (adjective)
Meaning: very appropriate to a particular situation
Synonyms: appropriate, pertinent, relevant, apposite, apt
Usage: The song feels apropos to a midnight jaunt.
Ascetic (adjective)
Meaning: characterized by severe self-discipline and abstention from all forms of indulgence, typically for religious reasons.
Synonyms: austere, self-denying, abstinent, abstemious.
Usage: An ascetic life of prayer, fasting, and manual labour.
Assay (noun)
Meaning: the testing of a metal or ore to determine its ingredients and quality
Synonyms: evaluation, assessment, analysis, examination, test
Usage: New plate was taxed when it was brought for assay.
Boisterous (adjective)
Meaning: noisy, energetic, and cheerful
Synonyms: lively, active, animated, exuberant, spirited, bouncy, frisky
Usage: A group of boisterous lads.
Burgeon (verb)
Meaning: begin to grow or increase rapidly; flourish.
Synonyms: grow rapidly, increase rapidly/exponentially, expand.
Usage: Tourism has burgeoned over the last ten years.
Castigate (verb)
Meaning: reprimand (someone) severely.
Synonyms: reprimand, rebuke, admonish, chastise, chide, upbraid, reprove
Usage: He was castigated for not setting a good example.
Contentious (adjective)
Meaning: causing or likely to cause an argument; controversial.
Synonyms: controversial, disputable, debatable, and disputed
Usage: The contentious issue of abortion.
Conundrum (noun)
Meaning: a confusing and difficult problem or question.
Synonyms: problem, difficult question, vexed question, difficulty
Usage: One of the most difficult conundrums for the experts.
Countenance (noun)
Meaning: a person’s face or facial expression
Synonyms: face, features, physiognomy, profile; facial expression
Usage: His impenetrable eyes and inscrutable countenance give little away.
Daunt (verb)
Meaning: make (someone) feel intimidated or apprehensive.
Synonyms: intimidate, abash, take aback, shake, ruffle, throw.
Usage: Some people are daunted by technology.
Delineate (Verb)
Meaning: describe or portray (something) precisely.
Synonyms: describe, set forth, set out, present, outline, depict, portray.
Usage: The law should delineate and prohibit behaviour which is socially abhorrent.
Denouement (noun)
Meaning: The final part of a play, film, or narrative in which the strands of the plot are drawn together and matters are explained or resolved
Synonyms: final scene, final act, last act
Usage: The film’s denouement was unsatisfying and ambiguous.
Diaphanous (adjective)
Meaning: (especially of fabric) light, delicate, and translucent.
Synonyms: sheer, fine, ultra-fine, delicate, light, lightweight, thin
Usage: She wore a diaphanous dress of pale gold.
Diffidence (noun)
Meaning: modesty or shyness resulting from a lack of self-confidence
Synonyms: shyness, bashfulness, unassertiveness, modesty, modestness
Usage: He regretted his diffidence and awkwardness in large groups.
Dilatory (adjective)
Meaning: slow to act
Synonyms: slow, unhurried, tardy, unpunctual, lax, slack
Usage: They were dilatory in providing the researchers with information.
Dissemble (verb)
Meaning: conceal or disguise one’s true feelings or beliefs
Synonyms: dissimulate, pretend, deceive, feign, act
Usage: An honest, sincere person with no need to dissemble.
Dogmatic (adjective)
Meaning: inclined to lay down principles as undeniably true
Synonyms: opinionated, peremptory, assertive, imperative, insistent
Usage: She was not tempted to be dogmatic about what she believed.
Epitome (noun)
Meaning: a person or thing that is a perfect example of a particular quality or type.
Synonyms: personification, embodiment, incarnation, paragon; essence
Usage: She looked the epitome of elegance and good taste.
Erudite (adjective)
Meaning: having or showing great knowledge or learning.
Synonyms: learned, scholarly, well educated, knowledgeable
Usage: He was so erudite that only men who were his equals in scholarship could understand him.
Forsake (Verb)
Meaning: abandon or leave.
Synonyms: abandon, desert, leave, quit, depart from, leave behind
Usage: She forsook her child, giving him up for adoption.
Friable (adjective)
Meaning: easily crumbled.
Synonyms: crumbly, easily crumbled, powdery, dusty.
Usage: The soil was friable between her fingers.
Fulminate (verb)
Meaning: express vehement protest
Synonyms: protest, rail, rage, rant, thunder, storm, declaim, inveigh
Usage: Ministers and preachers fulminated against the new curriculum.
Garner (Verb)
Meaning: gather or collect (something, especially information or approval)
Synonyms: accumulate, amass, assemble; store
Usage: The police struggled to garner sufficient evidence.
Idyllic (adjective)
Meaning: like an idyll; extremely happy, peaceful, or picturesque.
Synonyms: perfect, ideal, idealized, wonderful, blissful.
Usage: An attractive hotel in an idyllic setting.
Impudent (Adjective)
Meaning: not showing due respect for another person; impertinent.
Synonyms: impertinent, insolent, cheeky, audacious, brazen
Usage: He could have strangled this impudent upstart.
Inept (Adjective)
Meaning: having or showing no skill; clumsy.
Synonyms: incompetent, unskillful, unskilled, inexpert, amateurish
Usage: My attempts at baking were inept but I fumbled on.
Intractable (adjective)
Meaning: hard to control or deal with.
Synonyms: unmanageable, uncontrollable, ungovernable, out of control.
Usage: Their problems have become more acute and intractable.
Inveigle (verb)
Meaning: persuade (someone) to do something by means of deception or flattery
Synonyms: cajole, wheedle, coax, persuade, convince, talk
Usage: He was attempting to inveigle them into doing his will.
Novice (Verb)
Meaning: a person new to and inexperienced in a job or situation.
Synonyms: beginner, learner, inexperienced person
Usage: He was a complete novice in foreign affairs.
Perfidious (adjective)
Meaning: deceitful and untrustworthy
Synonyms: treacherous, duplicitous, deceitful, disloyal, faithless
Usage: It is highly risk to hire a perfidious labour.
Protean (adjective)
Meaning: tending or able to change frequently or easily.
Synonyms: ever-changing, variable, changeable, mutable, kaleidoscopic.
Usage: The diverse and protean nature of mental disorders.
Quaint (Adjective)
Meaning: attractively unusual or old-fashioned.
Synonyms: picturesque, charming, sweet, attractive, pleasantly old-fashioned
Usage: Narrow streets lead to a quaint bridge over the river.
Raffish (adjective)
Meaning: unconventional and slightly disreputable, especially in an attractive way
Synonyms: rakish, jaunty, dapper, dashing, sporty, flashy; unconventional
Usage: His cosmopolitan, raffish air.
Recondite (adjective)
Meaning: (of a subject or knowledge) little known; abstruse.
Synonyms: obscure, abstruse, arcane, esoteric, little known.
Usage: The book is full of recondite information.
Refractory (adjective)
Meaning: stubborn or unmanageable.
Synonyms: obstinate, mulish, bull-headed, intractable
Usage: The refractory students spend a great deal of time in the detention room.
Salient (Adjective)
Meaning: most noticeable or important.
Synonyms: important, main, principal, major, chief, primary, notable
Usage: The salient points stuck out clearly in her mind.
Saturnine (adjective)
Meaning: (of a person or their manner) gloomy.
Synonyms: sombre, melancholy, melancholic, moody, miserable
Usage: He was a rather saturnine individual who never spoke an unnecessary word.
Serendipity (Noun)
Meaning: the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.
Synonyms: chance, happy chance, accident, happy accident, fluke
Usage: Technical innovation may be the result of pure serendipity.
Sodden (adjective)
Meaning: saturated with liquid, especially water; soaked through.
Synonyms: soaking, soaking wet, soaked, soaked through, wet through
Usage: His clothes were sodden.
Stolid (adjective)
Meaning: calm, dependable, and showing little emotion or animation
Synonyms: impassive, phlegmatic, unemotional, calm
Usage: A stolid, slow-speaking man.
Truculent (Adjective)
Meaning: eager or quick to argue or fight; aggressively defiant.
Synonyms: defiant, aggressive, antagonistic, belligerent, pugnacious, bellicose
Usage: The truculent attitude of farmers to cheaper imports.
Turbid (adjective)
Meaning: (of a liquid) cloudy, opaque, or thick with suspended matter
Synonyms: murky, muddy, thick; opaque, cloudy
Usage: The turbid waters of the river.
Umbrage (Noun)
Meaning: offence or annoyance.
Synonyms: take offence, be offended, take exception, bridle, take something personally
Usage: She took umbrage at his remarks.
Vituperate (verb)
Meaning: blame or insult (someone) in strong or violent language
Synonyms: revile, rail against, inveigh against, fulminate against
Usage: He vituperated against all presidents with equal gusto.