Vocabulary Made Easy series: Work hard to succeed in improving language skills

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.

Covet (Verb)

Meaning: yearn to possess (something, especially something belonging to another)

Example: Collectors covet ceramics made by this artist

Credulous (Adjective)

Meaning: having or showing too great a readiness to believe things

Example: They were too credulous in accepting his version of events

Elicit (Verb)

Meaning: evoke or draw out (a reaction, answer, or fact) from someone

Example: Which are more likely to elicit a positive response than direct statements of fact

Also Read: Vocabulary Made Easy series: Improvise your strategy to score well in exams

Explicate (Verb)

Meaning: analyse and develop (an idea or principle) in detail

Example: An attempt to explicate the relationship between crime and economic forces

Glib (Adjective)

Meaning: (of words or a speaker) fluent but insincere and shallow

Example: This scheme finally gives real meaning to the glib phrase ‘low cost housing’

Innocuous (Adjective)

Meaning: not harmful or offensive

Example: Honestly you would think that this would be quite an innocuous activity

Mollify (Verb)

Meaning: appease the anger or anxiety of (someone)

Example: We’ll probably just see a bunch of cosmetic amendments to mollify the rebels

Outstrip (Verb)

Meaning: move faster than and overtake (someone else)

Example: Companies in the Far East now outstrip their Western counterparts in spending on innovation

Pedantic (Adjective)

Meaning: excessively concerned with minor details or rules; overscrupulous

Example: She’s the most pedantic lecturer in the whole faculty

Refute (Verb)

Meaning: prove (a statement or theory) to be wrong or false; disprove

Example: It is for the defence to search for evidence to refute the accusation’s charges

Also Read: Vocabulary Made Easy series: Polish your language skills to excel in exams

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

1. His voice challenging his audience to rise and ____________ him. Which of the following words fits best in the sentence? ( Refute, Pedantic)
2. They put their effort into growth to ____________ competitors. Which of the following words fits best in the sentence? ( Outstrip, Mollify)
3. Can you think of some sentences using the words Innocuous, Glib and Explicate?
4. Can you think of some antonyms for the word Elicit?
5. Can you think of some synonyms for the word Covet?

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

(Definitions and examples are from Oxford Languages)