This is our first post towards building vocabulary for any type of competitive exam. This will help you not just to crack the exam but also boost your confidence in English as a language. In this post we will discuss about one word substitution.
Root word form the basis of new words by adding prefix or suffix. Idea of root word can be little helpful in guessing meaning of unknown.
Ambi – both
ambivalent – one who has contradictory view
ambidextrous – one who can use both hands efficiently
ambiguous – statement which is contradictory to itself
ambivert – one who has both extrovert and introvert personality traits
Ami/o – love
amiable – friendly, pleasant, lovable
amity – friendly and peaceful relations
amorous – showing romantic love
Andr/o – man, male, husband
androgynous – being both male and female
android – resembling a human
misandry – hatred towards men
monoandry/ monandry – the possession by a woman of only one husband at one time.
biandry – the possession by a woman of two husband at one time
polyandry – the possession by a woman of multiple husbands at one time
Anim – life, spirit
animal – a living organism
animate – to make alive
animus – hostility
equanimity – of balanced spirit
Ann/enn – year
anniversary – a date observed once a year
annual – happening once a year
biennial – occurring every second year
millennium – 1,000 years
Antrop/o – human
anthropology – the study of mankind
anthropomorphism – giving human form to non-human things
philanthropy – the love to mankind (expressed through good deeds)
Cide – killing/murdering
suicide – killing of self
amicide – killing of friend
deicide – killing of deity or god
ethnocide – killing of human race
filicide – killing of own child
foeticide – killing of foetus
fratricide – killing of brother
genocide – killing of a race or community
homicide – killing of a human being
infanticide – killing of an infant/ new-born baby
mariticide – killing of one’s husband
matricide – killing of one’s mother
parricide – murder of parents either father or mother or both
patricide – killing of one’s father
regicide – killing of king
senicide/ geronticide – killing of the elderly, or their abandonment to death (senile intends to old)
sororicide [sometimes sorocide] – killing of one’s sister
uxoricide – killing of one’s wife
Gamy – female || marriage
Gamy is related to female marriage. Gamist will be adjective form of gamy.
misogamist – one who hate marriage
misogyny (n) [adj: misogynous/misogynist] – dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women
monogamy – the practice of marrying or state of being married to one person at a time.
bigamy (n) – the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another
bigyny – the state of having two wives simultaneously.
polygamy – the practice of marrying multiple spouses (>2)
Mania – obsession in something
ablutomania – irresistible impulse to cleanliness [ablution means washing one’s body]
callomania – unrealistic attraction to something only because of its beauty
capnomania/ fumimania – obsessive or uncontrollable desires or habits of smoking one or more tobacco products (especially cigarettes; but they may include cigars, pipes, etc.)
dipsomania – irresistible craving for alcoholic drinks
egomania – intense love for oneself
homicidomania – irresistible impulse to commit murder
kleptomania – someone desperate to steal something without economic motive
mythomania – an excessive or abnormal propensity for lying and exaggerating
netomania – irresistible impulse for internet
poriomania – a morbid impulse to wander or journey away from home
pyromania – obsession for playing with fire (pyro means fire as in pyrometer, pyrotechnics)
Miso – hater
misogamist – one who hates marriage
misogynist – one who hates women
misanthrope – one who hates mankind
misocapnist – one who hates smoking
Some closely related words Feminist – one who helps women Effeminate (adj) – (of a man) having characteristics regarded as typical of a woman; unmanly.
Omni – all, of all things
omnipotent – one who is all powerful [e.g. – an omnipotent despot.]
omnipresent – one who is present everywhere
omniscient – one who has knowledge of everything
omnivorous – one who eats everything (both veg and non-veg)
omnibus – a volume containing several books previously published separately [e.g. – an omnibus of her first trilogy.]
omnichannel – a multichannel approach for selling goods or services
Phile – lover of something
bibliophile – a person who loves books
ergophile – a person who loves to work
pluviophile – a person who loves rainy day
stigmatophile – a person who loves tattoos/branding
Phobia – fear of something
achluophobia/ nyctophobia – fear of darkness or of the night
acrophobia – fear of great heights
androphobia – fear of men
arachnophobia – fear of spider
brontophobia – fear of thunder
chromophobia (also known as chromatophobia or chrematophobia) – fear of both color and light
claustrophobia – fear of closed place
gynophobia – dislike or fear of women
heliophobia – fear of the sun, sunlight, or any bright light
hydrophobia – fear of water
iatrophobia – fear of doctors or going to the doctor
logophobia – fear or words/studies/languages
mythophobia – fear of telling a lie
neophobia (also called cainotophobia or cainophobia) – fear of change
ochlophobia – fear of crowds
ophidiophobia – fear of snakes
phasmophobia – fear of ghost
photophobia – fear of light
spectrophobia – fear of mirrors, reflections and sometimes ghosts
thanatophobia – fear of death
trichophobia – fear of hair (in greek ‘trichos’ means hair)
xenophobia – fear of foreigner/stranger
Vorous/phagous – eater
anthropophagous – that eat human flesh (also called cannibal)
calcivorus – that eats limestone
carpophagous – that eats fruits
cepivorous – that eats onions
coprophagous – that eats dung [rabbit is a coprophagous animal.]
creophagous – flesh-eating (also called carnivorous)
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