Vocabulary Made Easy series: Hone your language skills to score well in exams

Having a good command of the language can help in expressing thoughts much easily.

To communicate effectively, especially in exams, candidates need to make sure that their language skills are on point. Having a good command of the language can help in expressing thoughts much easily.

To communicate effectively, especially in exams, candidates need to make sure that their language skills are on point. (PTI Photo)

Here's a way to improve your vocabulary and communication skills. Check out the words for the day and a small quiz to push yourself to improve your word power and language skills.

Annul (Verb)

Meaning: declare invalid (an official agreement, decision, or result)

Example: The decision was annulled by the courts.

Adumbrate (Verb)

Meaning: represent in outline/indicate faintly/foreshadow (a future event)/

Example: Consciousness does not perspectively adumbrate itself

Anodyne (Adjective)

Meaning: not likely to cause offence or disagreement and somewhat dull

Example: The whole film strays dangerously close to anodyne children's television fare at this stage

Bucolic (Adjective)

Meaning: relating to the pleasant aspects of the countryside and country life

Example: The church is lovely for its bucolic setting

Coda (Noun)

Meaning: the concluding passage of a piece or movement, typically forming an addition to the basic structure

Example: The first movement ends with a fortissimo coda

Contumacious (Adjective)

Meaning: (especially of a defendant's behaviour) stubbornly or wilfully disobedient to authority

Example: His refusal to make child support payments was contumacious

Disparage (Verb)

Meaning: regard or represent as being of little worth

Example: You disparage a woman's driving or mock her way of problem-solving

Dissonance (Noun)

Meaning: lack of harmony among musical notes

Example: This leaves the orchestra without a conductor, and a musical cacophony verging on dissonance

Equanimity (Noun)

Meaning: calmness and composure, especially in a difficult situation

Example: No one should ever contemplate the loss of life with equanimity

Effigy (Noun)

Meaning: a sculpture or model of a person

Example: It is ironic that his tomb effigy should show him brandishing an unsheathed sword

Put your thinking cap on and try to answer the following questions to understand how much you have grasped.

1. She accepted both the good and the bad with _______________. Which of the following words fits best in the sentence? ( Equanimity, Effigy)
2. An unusual degree of _________________ for such choral styles. Which of the following words fits best in the sentence? (Dissonance, Disparage)
3. Can you think of some sentences using the words Contumacious, Bucolic and Coda?
4. Can you think of some antonyms for the word Anodyne?
5. Can you think of some synonyms for the word Adumbrate?

Watch out for this space for your weekly update on improving word power.

(Definitions and examples are from Oxford Languages)