Vocabulary Made Easy series: Improve your language skills step by step

Take time to learn a new skill in a step-by-step manner so that your foundation is strong.

When we are learning a new skill or subject, we need to have patience throughout the learning journey. Take time to learn a new skill or upgrade your language skills in a step-by-step manner so that your foundation is strong.

When we are learning a new skill or subject, we need to have patience throughout the learning journey. (Shutterstock)

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.

Trifling (Adjective)

Meaning: unimportant or trivial

Example: What seems to many a trifling matter of wording could have profound consequences

Travesty (Noun)

Meaning: a false, absurd, or distorted representation of something

Example: The absurdly lenient sentence is a travesty of justice

Trenchant (Adjective)

Meaning: vigorous or incisive in expression or style

Example: The White Paper makes trenchant criticisms of health authorities

Trite (Adjective)

Example: Sadly the rest of the second half was trite to the point of boredom

Syntax (Noun)

Meaning: the arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language

Example: The document should at least demonstrate correct use of syntax and grammar

Truculent (Adjective)

Meaning: eager or quick to argue or fight; aggressively defiant

Example: So how did this truculent loner become one of our best loved national mascots?

Turgid (Adjective)

Meaning: swollen and distended or congested

Example: The river is a brown, turgid worm as broad as a peaty salmon-spawn stream

Ubiquitous (Adjective)

Meaning: present, appearing, or found everywhere

Example: In five years how close will we be to ubiquitous or pervasive computing?

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

1. It's impossible not to be influenced by Leone because his work is ______________. Which of the following words fits best in the sentence? (ubiquitous, Turgid)
2. She gave a ___________ speech on taxation. Which of the following words fits best in the sentence? (Turgid, Truculent)
3. Can you think of some antonyms for the word Syntax?
4. Can you think of some synonyms for the word Trite?

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

(Definitions and examples are from Oxford Languages)