Vocabulary Made Easy series: Prepare to crack exams with strong word power

You can score better in competitive exams, impress your peers at the workplace and more with strong language skills.

What's the key to improving oneself to achieve what one desires? Determination, commitment and constant hard work to reach where you aim to be. The same goes for improving your vocabulary and communication skills. You can score better in competitive exams, impress your peers at the workplace and more with strong language skills.

What's the key to improving oneself to achieve what one desires? Determination, commitment and constant hard work to reach where you aim to be. (Shutterstock)

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.

Mosaic (Noun)

Meaning: a picture or pattern produced by arranging together small pieces of stone, tile, glass, etc.

Example: However, its high susceptibility to sugar cane mosaic virus precludes its agronomical use

Mollycoddle (Verb)

Meaning: treat (someone) in an indulgent or overprotective way

Example: I found school very difficult, and realized I'd been mollycoddled at home

Mend (Verb)

Meaning: repair (something that is broken or damaged)

Example: It's the council's job to mend holes in the roads

Matron (Noun)

Meaning: a woman in charge of domestic and medical arrangements at a boarding school or other institution

Example: She died in America in 1773, a respectable matron aged thirty-eight

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

1. The bird's plumage was a _________________ of slate-grey, blue, and brown. Which of the following words fits best in the sentence? (Mosaic, Matron)
2. Can you think of some antonyms for the word Mend?
3. Can you think of some synonyms for the word Mollycoddle?

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

(Definitions and examples are from Oxford Languages)