Vocabulary Made Easy series: Improve your word skills to score well in exams

Hard work and strong will can help students go a long way in achieving their goals.

Hard work and strong will can help students go a long way in achieving their goals. It is important for candidates to work on their word skills to help them score better in competitive exams.

It is important for candidates to work on their word skills to help them score better in competitive exams. (Diwakar Prasad/ Hindustan Times)

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.

Irksome (Adjective)

Meaning: irritating; annoying

Example: Clearly, this is an irksome fact to someone whose ambitions extend beyond maximising profit

Irresolute (Adjective)

Meaning: showing or feeling hesitancy; uncertain

Example: After previous outrages we had been irresolute and appeared unwilling to defend ourselves

Interminable (Adjective)

Meaning: endless or apparently endless (often used hyperbolically)

Example: There was the usual interminable discussion about it at half time and afterwards

Impending (Adjective)

Meaning: (of an event regarded as threatening or significant) about to happen; forthcoming

Example: And that is before some impending high-profile closures cause even bigger problems

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

1. We notice that we have now drawn attention to the album's ___________ arrival. Which of the following words fits best in the sentence? (Impending, Interminable)
2. Having navigated those hurdles we then have the _____________ drive South. Which of the following words fits best in the sentence? (Interminable, Irresolute)
3. Can you think of some antonyms for the word Interminable?
4. Can you think of some synonyms for the word Irresolute?

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

(Definitions and examples are from Oxford Languages)