Daily Vocabulary from Leading Newspapers and Publications: August 16, 2024

Daily Vocabulary Words: Enhance Your Lexicon with Leading Newspapers & Publications
Welcome to the Daily Vocabulary section at Wordpandit!
Our mission is straightforward: to bring you essential vocabulary words featured in top newspapers and publications worldwide. By focusing on words you’ll encounter in renowned sources, we aim to help you enhance your vocabulary effectively and practically.
Our selection includes words from:
– The New York Times
– The Washington Post
– Scientific American
– BBC
– The Guardian
– Psychology Today
– Wall Street Journal
– The Economist
– The Hindu
– The Times of India
– The Economic Times
– Hindustan Times
– Live Mint
– The Indian Express
– And many more.
We are committed to your vocabulary development. Simply visit this section regularly and explore the daily posts. This is your go-to repository for commonly used words, providing significant practical benefits by familiarizing you with vocabulary from the leading publications listed above.
Make it a habit to visit our website daily and expand your lexicon with words from top newspapers and publications.

WORD-1: EXASPERATING
CONTEXT: the exasperating reality along with a majority of the country, struggles to cope with as we enter an election year unlike any in American history.
SOURCE: New York Times
EXPLANATORY PARAGRAPH: Imagine you are trying to tie your shoes, but the laces keep getting tangled no matter how hard you try. After trying again and again, you feel super frustrated because it’s just not working. That feeling of being really annoyed when something doesn’t go your way is what “exasperating” means.
MEANING: Causing strong feelings of irritation or frustration (adjective).
PRONUNCIATION: ig-ZAS-puh-ray-ting
SYNONYMS: frustrating, irritating, annoying, infuriating, maddening, vexing
USAGE EXAMPLES:
1. The exasperating noise from the construction site made it hard to concentrate.
2. It was exasperating to wait in the long line for hours.
3. His exasperating habit of interrupting others annoyed everyone.
4. The broken toy was exasperating to fix.

WORD-2: REVULSION
CONTEXT: Mr. Biden’s address performed a crucial civic service not only by channeling the public’s revulsion at a flagrant narcissist who won’t take no for an answer but also by forthrightly stating just what could happen to the United States if that narcissist wins again.
SOURCE: New York Times
EXPLANATORY PARAGRAPH: Imagine you taste something really yucky, like a rotten apple, and you instantly feel like spitting it out because it’s so gross. That strong feeling of disgust is called “revulsion.”
MEANING: A strong feeling of disgust or dislike (noun).
PRONUNCIATION: ree-VUL-shun
SYNONYMS: disgust, repulsion, abhorrence, loathing, aversion, distaste
USAGE EXAMPLES:
1. She felt a wave of revulsion when she saw the spoiled food.
2. His cruel actions filled her with revulsion.
3. The movie’s gruesome scenes caused revulsion among the audience.
4. He turned away in revulsion from the sight of the insect.

WORD-3: EGREGIOUS
CONTEXT: The framers rejected that vision. For impeachments of “the President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States,” they instead required proof of egregious malfeasance.
SOURCE: Washington Post
EXPLANATORY PARAGRAPH: Imagine someone breaks the rules in a really big and obvious way, like cheating during a game when everyone is watching. That’s what “egregious” means—it’s when something is really, really bad or wrong in a way that’s hard to ignore.
MEANING: Extremely bad in a shocking way (adjective).
PRONUNCIATION: ih-GREE-jus
SYNONYMS: outrageous, shocking, appalling, atrocious, flagrant, heinous
USAGE EXAMPLES:
1. The company’s egregious violation of safety rules caused the accident.
2. His egregious behavior got him suspended from school.
3. The journalist exposed the egregious corruption in the government.
4. The referee’s egregious mistake cost the team the game.

WORD-4: SQUIRMING
CONTEXT: It was only when I attempted to make small talk with my visibly squirming seatmate on a Raleigh-Durham to New York flight that I realized it was me causing that look of horror on his face, rather than the slight turbulence we had been experiencing since takeoff.
SOURCE: New York Times
EXPLANATORY PARAGRAPH: Think about when you sit still for a long time and then start to feel uncomfortable, so you wiggle and move around in your chair. That’s called “squirming.” It’s when you keep moving because you’re feeling uneasy or don’t like how something feels.
MEANING: To twist or wriggle because of discomfort or nervousness (verb).
PRONUNCIATION: SKWUR-ming
SYNONYMS: wriggling, fidgeting, twisting, shifting, writhing, wiggling
USAGE EXAMPLES:
1. The child was squirming in his seat during the long car ride.
2. She started squirming when the teacher asked her a difficult question.
3. The puppy kept squirming in its owner’s arms.
4. He was squirming with embarrassment during the awkward conversation.

WORD-5: STAMMERED
CONTEXT: I slammed the laptop shut, stammered an apology and mumbled about how these detailed crash reports were, in fact, highly comforting, and it had just slipped my mind where I was, and it hadn’t been my intention to spread worry.
SOURCE: New York Times
EXPLANATORY PARAGRAPH: Imagine you’re nervous about talking in front of a big group, and when you try to speak, your words come out in stops and starts, like “I-I-I can’t t-talk.” That’s called “stammering.” It’s when you have trouble saying words smoothly because you’re nervous or scared.
MEANING: Speaking with sudden involuntary pauses and repetitions of syllables (verb)
PRONUNCIATION: STAM-erd
SYNONYMS: stuttered, hesitated, faltered, mumbled, stumbled, spluttered
USAGE EXAMPLES:
1. He stammered when asked to speak in front of the class.
2. She nervously stammered out her apology.
3. The boy stammered as he tried to explain what happened.
4. He stammered through his speech, clearly anxious.

WORD-6: LIONIZING
CONTEXT: The best reason to vote for Biden is to stave off the calamity of an encore Trump administration, in which a lawless would-be dictator, proclaiming his own immunity from prosecution and lionizing the violent mob that tried to keep him in power, enacts an orgy of retribution against small-d democrats.
SOURCE: New York Times
EXPLANATORY PARAGRAPH: Imagine when someone does something amazing, like winning a big game, and everyone treats them like a hero, giving them lots of attention and praise. That’s what “lionizing” means—it’s when people treat someone as if they are very important or special.
MEANING: Treating a person as a celebrity or with great importance (verb)
PRONUNCIATION: LYE-uh-ny-zing
SYNONYMS: glorifying, idolizing, praising, adoring, celebrating, honoring
USAGE EXAMPLES:
1. The community was lionizing the firefighter who saved lives.
2. The media is often guilty of lionizing celebrities.
3. He was lionized by his fans after the big win.
4. The author was lionized for her groundbreaking work.

WORD-7: OSTENSIBLY
CONTEXT: It was ostensibly about white supremacy, but its real theme was truth, and the way historical fictions from the Lost Cause of the Confederate South to Trump’s big lie about the 2020 election license tyranny and oppression.
SOURCE: New York Times
EXPLANATORY PARAGRAPH: Imagine someone says they’re going to the park to exercise, but you know they really just want to go play. When they give one reason for doing something, but there might be another reason, that’s called “ostensibly.” It means something seems true on the outside, but there might be a different reason behind it.
MEANING: Seemingly or apparently true, but possibly not (adverb).
PRONUNCIATION: ah-STEN-suh-blee
SYNONYMS: apparently, seemingly, supposedly, outwardly, on the surface, allegedly
USAGE EXAMPLES:
1. He went to the meeting ostensibly to gather information, but he had other motives.
2. Ostensibly, she quit her job to spend more time with her family.
3. The trip was ostensibly for business, but they also planned to have fun.
4. The rule was ostensibly to protect people, but it benefited the company.

WORD-8: DWELLING
CONTEXT: Mr. Biden would refer to his predecessor as “the former guy,” and try to switch the conversation to a more promising future rather than dwelling on the past.
SOURCE: New York Times
EXPLANATORY PARAGRAPH: Imagine a house where people live. It could be big or small, but it’s a place where you can eat, sleep, and feel safe. That’s what “dwelling” means—it’s just another word for a place where someone lives.
MEANING: A house, apartment, or other place of residence (noun)
PRONUNCIATION: DWEL-ing
SYNONYMS: residence, home, abode, house, habitation, shelter
USAGE EXAMPLES:
1. The small cottage was a cozy dwelling.
2. He lived in a humble dwelling on the outskirts of town.
3. The ancient ruins showed where people had their dwellings.
4. They built their dwelling near the river.

WORD-9: INDICTMENT
CONTEXT: If he is right, it’s as much an indictment of America — including the American media — as of the Biden campaign.
SOURCE: New York Times
EXPLANATORY PARAGRAPH: Imagine someone breaks a rule, and then they get into big trouble because of it. An “indictment” is when someone is officially told that they did something wrong, especially something against the law.
MEANING: A formal charge or accusation of a serious crime (noun)
PRONUNCIATION: in-DITE-ment
SYNONYMS: accusation, charge, allegation, blame, prosecution, arraignment
USAGE EXAMPLES:
1. The grand jury issued an indictment against the suspect.
2. His indictment shocked the community.
3. The indictment was based on strong evidence.
4. She faced an indictment for fraud.

WORD-10: ABERRANT
CONTEXT: The alternative is to let Trump redefine our sense of what is shocking and aberrant in American politics.
SOURCE: New York Times
EXPLANATORY PARAGRAPH: Imagine a parade where everyone is marching in a straight line, but one person suddenly starts dancing in a different direction. That person is doing something very unusual, different from everyone else. That’s what “aberrant” means—something that is not normal or usual.
MEANING: Deviating from what is normal or expected (adjective)
PRONUNCIATION: uh-BER-unt
SYNONYMS: abnormal, unusual, deviant, irregular, atypical, odd
USAGE EXAMPLES:
1. His aberrant behavior worried his friends.
2. The scientist studied the aberrant results in the experiment.
3. Wearing a coat in summer is considered aberrant.
4. The dog’s aberrant actions puzzled the owner.