Vocabulary is part and parcel of many competitive exams like SSC, Banks, Railways, GRE, GMAT etc. Here we have tried to showcase the most useful English vocabulary words from competitive exam perspective. So let’s dive into that.
Abbreviations used in this blog are as follows: –
n – noun
v – verb
adv – adverb
adj – adjective
prep – preposition
int – interjection
sb – somebody
sth – something
Syn – Synonyms
Ant – Antonyms
Righteousness (n) – morally right behaviour
# Religions always teach the path of righteousness.
Syn: Uprightness, goodness
Ant: Ungodliness, dishonesty
Note: Righteous (adj)
Amicable (adj) – characterized by friendliness and absence of discord
# An amicable settlement of the dispute.
Syn: friendly, cordial, genial
Ant: unfriendly, cold
Steadfast (adj) – hard and fast
Syn: Fixed, established
Ant: Unfix, unsteady
Fetter (v) – 1. to keep sb within limits or stop him/her from making progress
2. restrain sb by putting chain in his/her ankles
# Bablu felt fettered by a 7am to 8 pm tuition activity.
Syn: bind, clog, hinder, hobble, manacle, repress
Ant: Unfetter, free, release
Equivocal (adj) – doubtful, uncertain
Syn: ambiguous, dubious, oblique, obscure, tenebrous
Ant: Unequivocal, clear, obvious
Note: ambiguous is vague by accident or intent; equivocal is vague by intent
Tantamount (adj) – being almost the same or having the same effect as something, usually something bad
# Indeed, to fail to adopt such a system would be tantamount to mass murder.
Syn: equal, equivalent
Ant: Unequal, non-equivalent
Commensurate (adj) – suitable in amount or quality compared to something else; matching in degree
# Your salary is not commensurate with the work you do.
Syn: equal, equivalent, tantamount, synonymous, appropriate, coextensive
Ant: unequal, incommensurate, inadequate, opposed, antonymous
Dogmatic (adj) – 1. If one is dogmatic, he is the only right person and everyone else is wrong
2. (of a person or a group) strongly expressing your beliefs as if they were facts
# Don’t be dogmatic in saying what you think.
# It’s futile to change a person like him with dogmatic mind.
Syn: overbearing, opinionated, peremptory, dictatorial, doctrinaire, pontifical
Ant: undogmatic, vague, latitudinarian, pragmatic
Inundate (v) – 1. To overwhelm with things or people to deal with
2. to flood an area with water
# After appearing on TV show she was inundated with messages on her social media at least for a week.
# Floods inundated various Indian communities.
Syn: Deluge, submerge, swamp, whelm
Ant: Underwhelm
Note: Inundation (n)
Hyperbole (n) – a way of speaking or writing that makes someone or something sound bigger, better, more, etc. than they are
Syn: exaggeration, overstatement
Ant: understatement
Note: Hyperbolic (adj)
Illuminate (v) – 1. to light on sth to make it brighter
2. to explain in lucid manner
# This bulb can illuminate colorful light.
# This article illuminates the basic principles of economics
Syn: Illumine, throw light on, illustrate, embellish
Ant: understate, puzzle, darken, dim, confuse
Note: Illumination (n) — Illuminati (n)
Ceremonious (adj) – ceremonious behavior is very or too formal or polite
# a ceremonious occasion
Syn: formal, solemn, courtly, ritual
Ant: unceremonious, informal, undignified, haphazard
Note: Ceremony (n)
Prejudiced (adj) – biased
# Still people are prejudiced due to their caste and color.
Syn: slanted, subjective
Ant: Unbiased, disinterested, objective
Note: Prejudice (n) — Prejudicial (adj)
Uproarious (adj) – 1. characterized by or provoking loud noise or uproar
2. provoking loud laughter; very funny
# An uproarious party
# An uproarious humor
Syn: hilarious; hysterical
Ant: unagitated, serious, earnest
Askance (adv) – to look at or think about someone or something with doubt, disapproval, or no trust
# They looked askance at the forged signature.
# They looked askance at our scruffy clothes.
Syn: distrustfully, doubtfully, doubtingly, dubiously, mistrustfully, sideways, skeptically, suspiciously
Ant: trustfully, trustingly
Fictitious (adj) – unreal and made-up
# This movie is full of fictitious character.
Syn: fabricated, untrue
Ant: true, genuine, actual
Fabulous (adj) – 1. very good; excellent
2. literary imaginary, not existing in real life
3. great in size or amount
# Fabulous profits
# The unicorn is a fabulous creature.
Syn: factious, mythical, fictitious, tremendous, stupendous, prodigious, phenomenal, astounding, astonishing, breath-taking, overwhelming
Ant: true, based on fact
Note: Fabulousness/ fabulosity (n) — fable (n)
Legend (n) – 1. key to map
2. myth or story
3. someone very famous and admired, usually because of their ability in a particular area
# Amitabh Bachchan is a legend of Bollywood.
Syn: Myth, fable, tradition, epic, folk-tale, saga
Ant: True story, fact, reality
Note: Legendary (adj)
Venerable (adj) – deserving respect because of age, high position, or religious or historical importance
# A venerable leader.
Syn: Reverend, grave [degree: grave–graver–gravest]
Ant: Trifling, light
Indomitable (adj) – stubborn in determination; not to be subdued
# Indomitable courage.
Syn: insuperable, irrepressible, invincible, unyielding
Ant: tractable, amenable, docile, submissive