Daily Vocab for Various Competitive Exams

Dear Readers,

Vocabulary is an important part of English that helps you deal with all kinds of questions in objective as well as descriptive papers of various exams. You can learn new words daily from our Daily Word List. Learn the words and make your own sentences on the basis of the given word list. Here are a few words and phrases from articles published in a reputed Newspaper.

Recent work by the Mumbai-based artist and curator, one of the founders of the Kochi Biennale, Riyas Komu interrogates our relationship with both the symbols of the state and the values that they are meant to enshrine and invoke. “Holy Shiver”, a series of works including sculptures in metal, wood and terracotta, videos, oil portraits, woodcuts, installations and archival prints, refers to the instinctive response of the body, whether animal or human, when it senses danger and enters a ‘fight or flight’ mode. Horripilation (the hair on the back of the neck standing on end), the trembling of the extremities, the tensing of muscles — these primordial physical reactions to a perceived external threat Komu uses as an allegory for how the body politic responds when confronted with the ‘other’, whoever is identified as an enemy of the ‘self’.

The instinctual biological ‘shiver’ of the title of Komu’s show, that was on view in New Delhi in February and March, captures the aggression encoded deep within the nation-state, which sometimes erupts to split apart the surface of meaning and fracture the coherence of the historical narratives we have fabricated about India. Komu’s work, powerful, engaged and original, literally leaves one shaken.

Here we encounter the pages of the Constitution of India, on the one hand painstakingly illuminated like the manuscript of a holy book in medieval times, and on the other hand made illegible by having the letters inverted in a photographic negative. The charter document of the Republic is lit up and ornate in one rendition, dark and obscure in the other. Both are presented side-by-side, to mirror our contradictory political experience, whereby the Constitutional framework is simultaneously extolled and subverted.

Further along we find the Indian state seal, the Sarnath Lion Capital, twisted and hung up, fired and singed, burnt and blackened, forged and shattered, the invisible fourth lion imagined and materialised even as the visible three are rearranged and interrogated. The words of the state motto “Satyameva Jayate” appear again and again, as though haunting and dogging us with a question about the fate of truth in our political life, regardless of the lofty ideals we may profess. Does truth really prevail in our polity?

1. Enshrine: / ɪnˈʃrʌɪn,ɛnˈʃrʌɪn/ : पवित्र समझ कर सुरक्षित रखना

Meaning: (verb) place (a revered or precious object) in an appropriate receptacle.

Synonyms: cherish, consecrate, preserve, revere, bless, dedicate, embalm, exalt

Antonyms: condemn, desecrate, defile, disrespect

2. Invoke: / ɪnˈvəʊk/ : अभिमंत्रित करना

Meaning: (verb) call on (a deity or spirit) in prayer, as a witness, or for inspiration/ cite or appeal to (someone or something) as an authority for an action or in support of an argument.

Synonyms: conjure, adjure, beg, beseech, crave, entreat, implore, importune, plead, solicit

Antonyms: answer, give, reply

3. Tremble: /ˈtrɛmb(ə)l/ : घबराना

Meaning: (verb) shake involuntarily, typically as a result of anxiety, excitement, or frailty. (Noun) a trembling feeling, movement, or sound.

Synonyms: flutter, quiver, shiver, shudder, wobble, throb, jitter, oscillate, palpitate, quaver

Antonyms: steady, stabilize, calm

4. Allegory: /ˈalɪɡ(ə)ri/ : कहानी

Meaning: (noun) a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.

Synonyms: apologue, emblem, fable, parable, figuration, moral, myth, tale

Antonyms: non-fiction, truth

5. Instinctual: /ɪnˈstɪŋ(k)ʃʊəl/ : सहज वृत्ति

Meaning: (adjective) relating to or denoting an innate, typically fixed pattern of behaviour; based on instinct.

Synonyms: accustomed, habitual, impulsive, inborn, ingrained, innate, intrinsic, intuitive

6. Ornate: /ɔːˈneɪt/ : सुशोभित

Meaning: (adjective) elaborately or highly decorated.

Synonyms: elegant, embroidered, fancy, gaudy, gilded, lavish, magnificent, adorned, aureate, bright, brilliant

Antonyms: dull. Plain, offensive, ugly, unsophisticated

7. Obscure: /əbˈskjʊə/ : समझने में कठिन

Meaning: (adjective) not discovered or known about; uncertain./ (verb) keep from being seen; conceal.

Synonyms: ambiguous, arcane, complicated, confusing, enigmatic, vague, concealed, occult, enigmatical

Antonyms: definite, common, obvious, straightforward, unmysterious, exposed, apparent

8. Extol: /ɪkˈstəʊl,ɛkˈstəʊl/ : सराहना, प्रशंसा करना

Meaning: (Verb) praise enthusiastically.

Synonyms: acclaim, applaud, commend, eulogize, exalt, boost, laud, praise, glorify, exalt

Antonyms: blame, castigate, condemn, censure, debase, denounce, disapprove, humiliate

9. Subvert: /səbˈvəːt/ : तख्ता पलट देना

Meaning: (Verb) undermine the power and authority of (an established system or institution).
Synonyms: corrupt, debase, overthrow, overturn, pervert, sabotage, suppress, topple, undermine, vitiate

Antonyms: aid, help, improve, purify, straighten, build, construct, create, encourage

10. Lofty: /ˈlɒfti/: बुलंद
Meaning: (adjective) of imposing height.
Synonyms: tall, high, giant, towering, sky-high, soaring
Antonyms: low, short

You may also like to Read: