Vocabulary Made Easy series: Key to scoring the best in competitive exams

Preparing for competitive exams involves dedication and students need to be consistent with putting forward their best efforts to score well.

Preparing for competitive exams involves dedication and students need to be consistent with putting forward their best efforts to score well. Most of the time, candidates assume it is not important to hone their vocabulary skills and miss out on scoring well in exams which gives importance to the English language skills.

Check out the words for the day and a small quiz to push yourself to improve your word power and language skills. (HT file)

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.

Harried (Adjective)

Meaning: feeling strained as a result of having demands persistently made on one; harassed

Example: The North was harried and the ancient church at Ripon burnt

Hegemony (Noun)

Meaning: Leadership or dominance, especially by one state or social group over others

Example: Under this strategy they are going to bring the whole world under their hegemony

Hermetic (Adjective)

Meaning: (of a seal or closure) complete and airtight / relating to an ancient occult tradition encompassing alchemy, astrology, and theosophy

Example: Of these the Asclepius has some interest as a Latin version of a Hermetic treatise

Heyday (Noun)

Meaning: the period of a person's or thing's greatest success, popularity, activity, or vigour

Example: Each track sounds like it comes from Motown Records in its '70s heyday

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

1. The paper has lost millions of readers since its _______________ in 1964. Which of the following words fits best in the sentence? (Heyday, Hermetic)
2. Siena, Spender believes, is one of the most _________ societies you will find anywhere. Which of the following words fits best in the sentence? (Hermetic, Hegemony)
3. Can you think of some antonyms for the word Hegemony?
4. Can you think of some synonyms for the word Harried?

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

(Definitions and examples are from Oxford Languages)