VOCABULARY
Improve Your Word Power
1. acuity: (a) sharpness
(b) kindness (c) hopelessness
(d) helplessness.
2. brandish: (a) display
(b) disappear (c) disappoint
(d) drown.
3. cock-sure: (a) certain
(b) conceited (c) control (d)
rough.
4. dilettante: (a)
heavyweight (b) professional
(c) lightweight (d) guilty.
5. empathetic: (a)
suggestive (b) explosive (c)
miserable (d) under-
standable.
6. flaunt: (a) instigate
( b ) display ( c ) sink (d)
blossom.
7. gobbledegook: (a)
irrational approach (b)
meaningless language (c)
inflammatory speech (d)
derogatory remark.
8. hypothesis: (a) theory
(b) experiment (c) conclusion
(d) recommendation.
9. impresario: (a)
director (film) (b) ringmaster
(circus) (c) manager (hotel)
(d) manager (theatre).
10. lap (v): (a) eat fast (b)
speak slow (c) receive eagerly
ANSWERS
1. acuity: (a) sharpness,
keenness.
—The Indian public do
not lack intellectual acuity to
be a toy in the hands of
foreign media.
2. brandish: (a) display,
show.
—She defiantly bran-
dishes her small town
breeding in all her works/
(d) build rapidly.
11. militate: (a) operate
(b) open (c) oppose (d)
propose.
12. obsolescence: (a)
modern (b) outdated (c)
obstinate (d) trouble-
some.
13. panegyric: (a) praise
(b) criticism (c) denial
(d) forgery.
14. rocky: (a) stable (b)
strong (c) simple (d) shaky.
15. stamp (v): (a)
encourage (b) invest (c)
tolerate (d) eliminate.
16. tailspin: (a)
resignation (b) panic (c )
recovery (d) recession.
17. umpteen: (a)
limited (b) informative (c)
glorious (d) numerous.
18. vicarious: (a) felt
indirectly (b) fought bitterly
(c) worked hardly (d) arrived
lately.
19. wheezy: (a) easy (b)
difficult (c) respectable (d)
pleasant.
20. zeitgeist: (a) vague
explanation ( b ) spirited
reply (c) defining mood (d)
ugly situation.
writings.
3. cock-sure: (a) certain.
—He was cock-sure that
the colour of robber’s shirt
was purple.
4. dilettante: (c) light-
weight, amateur.
—The US Adminis-
tration found the Indian
Home Minister the hard-
nosed political practitioner
and not the dilettante
944 ■ MAY 2002 ■ THE COMPETITION MASTER
diplomat.
5. empathetic: (d)
understanding/under-
standable.
—At another level the
book is an empathetic inner
journey.
6. flaunt: (b) display,
flourish.
—The party seems to
have finally rejected the
principle of collective
leadership flaunted earlier
with much fanfare.
7. gobbledegook: (b)
meaningless/pompous
language.
—Technical reports are
generally written in
gobbledegook.
8. hypothesis: (a) theory,
assumption.
—The hypothesis
published in the latest issue
of a science journal says the
body walks a tightrope
between ageing and cancer.
9. impresario: (d)
manager (theatre or opera
company).
—The impresario left no
stone unturned to make the
show a success.
10. lap (v): (c) receive
(news or praise) eagerly.
—He tells her all those
lies and she just laps them up.
11. militate: (a) operate.
—Many factors militated
against the success of our
plan.
12. obsolescence: (b)
outdated, uselessness.
—In 1999 it was found
that the country’s school
education had been stricken
with obsolescence.
13. panegyric: (a) praise
(speech or writing).
—He has made public
panegyrics a habit on Prime
Minister ’s birthday every
year.
14. rocky: (d) shaky,
unsteady.
—Their marriage seems
a bit rocky.
15. stamp (v): (d)
eliminate, destroy, suppress.
—Thousands of citizens
and jawans were killed
before terrorism in Punjab
was finally stamped out.
16. tailspin (b) panic,
chaos.
—Since September 11,
2001, the world has been in a
tailspin with the economy
facing a slowdown.
17. umpteen: (d)
numerous.
—Political parties have
vowed/pledged umpteen
times to root out corruption
from public life.
18. vicarious: (a) felt or
experienced (indirectly).
—The father got a
vicarious thrill out of
watching his son score the
hat-trick in a cricket match.
19. wheezy: (b) difficult,
tricky.
—Researchers in Japan
have come to the conclusion
that a clone’s life is wheezy,
liverish (slightly ill) and
short.
20. zeitgeist: (c) defining
mood or spirit.
—Religious radicalism is
the New Evil and this
position is in tune with the
global zeitgeist.