Vocabulary Made Easy series: Improve your word power to crack competitive exams

To score well in competitive exams, candidates need to put in their best efforts. Most of the competitive exams have questions that test the candidates' proficiency in the English language.

To score well in the verbal sections, aspirants need to consistently work hard to improve their word power. Here's a way to improve your vocabulary. (Shutterstock)

To score well in the verbal sections, aspirants need to consistently work hard to improve their word power. Here's a way to improve your vocabulary. Check out the words for the day and a small quiz to push yourself to improve your word power.

Pungent (Adjective)

Meaning: having a sharply strong taste or smell

Example: I could smell the pungent flavours coming from the kitchen

Putrefy (Verb)

Meaning: decay or rot and produce a fetid smell

Example: The body was beginning to putrefy

Prudent (Adjective)

Meaning: acting with or showing care and thought for the future

Example: It is prudent to book well in advance

Prosaic (Adjective)

Meaning: lacking imaginativeness or originality

Example: The truth is more prosaic, but also more disturbing

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

1. There's probably a more ______________ explanation of how it got its name. Which of the following words fits best in the sentence? (Prosaic, Putrefy)
2. Can you think of some synonyms for the word Prudent?

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

(Definitions and examples are from Oxford Languages)