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: Stalled
CONTEXT: The Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court has passed an order saying that just because of some law and order situation, a film cannot be stalled from release,” Justice Colabawalla said, taking Mr. Dhond’s submission.
SOURCE: The Hindu
EXPLANATORY PARAGRAPH: Imagine you’re playing with a toy car, and suddenly it stops moving in the middle of your race track. This is similar to something being “stalled.” It means it has stopped and isn’t moving forward, just like your toy car.
MEANING: To come to a standstill; to stop making progress (verb).
PRONUNCIATION: STAWLD
SYNONYMS: stopped, halted, frozen, immobilized, paused
USAGE EXAMPLE:
1. The car stalled in the middle of the road.
2. Talks between the companies stalled over financial disagreements.
3. The project stalled due to lack of funding.
4. He stalled the engine during his driving test.
WORD 2: Stratified
CONTEXT: Pre-industrial economic systems do not generate a very big surplus. In highly stratified ancient republics, citizenship was often reserved for the rich and powerful.
SOURCE: Aeon
EXPLANATORY PARAGRAPH: Think about when you sort your building blocks by color or size into different groups. “Stratified” is a word we use when things are divided into layers or groups, just like your blocks.
MEANING: Arranged in layers or classes (verb).
PRONUNCIATION: STRA-tuh-fyd
SYNONYMS: layered, ranked, classified, segmented, tiered
USAGE EXAMPLE:
1. The society was stratified into upper, middle, and lower classes.
2. The data was stratified by age and gender for the study.
3. Rock formations are often naturally stratified.
4. Educational systems are stratified into different levels.
WORD 3: Asceticism
CONTEXT: This does not necessarily mean that the ascetic can never have had a spouse or children, provided that when the ascetic embraces asceticism, appropriate provisions have been made.
SOURCE: Aeon
EXPLANATORY PARAGRAPH: Imagine if someone decided not to eat their favorite candy or play with toys because they wanted to learn how to be really patient and disciplined. “Asceticism” is when people live without many things that are fun or comfortable on purpose to learn better self-control.
MEANING: A way of living that avoids physical pleasures and comforts, often for religious or spiritual reasons (noun).
PRONUNCIATION: uh-SET-uh-siz-uhm
SYNONYMS: self-denial, austerity, frugality, abstention, renunciation
USAGE EXAMPLE:
1. The monk’s life of asceticism included many hours of prayer and very simple living.
2. Asceticism is practiced by some people to focus more on their spiritual growth.
3. She chose a path of asceticism after retiring from public life.
4. Asceticism often involves fasting and meditating.
WORD 4: Frivolous
CONTEXT: We are deeply troubled that you proceeded to act in undue haste based on frivolous petitions while granting sanction in the case of Mr Siddaramaiah whereas, proceeded to keep in cold storage, the request for sanction of prosecution of H.D. Kumaraswamy.”
SOURCE: The Hindu
EXPLANATORY PARAGRAPH: When you play with bubbles, you’re just having fun, and it’s not really important for any big reason—it’s just for enjoyment. “Frivolous” is when something is like those bubbles: fun or silly and not serious or important.
MEANING: Not having any serious purpose or value (adjective).
PRONUNCIATION: FRIH-vuh-luhs
SYNONYMS: trivial, petty, superficial, silly, inconsequential
USAGE EXAMPLE:
1. The teacher warned the student not to ask frivolous questions during the lecture.
2. They spent a frivolous day at the beach, playing in the sand.
3. He made a frivolous purchase, buying a toy instead of something he really needed.
4. Her frivolous attitude was not suited for the solemn occasion.
WORD 5: Malafide
CONTEXT: “Your (the Governor) actions are not only unconstitutional and illegal, but reek of factual and legal malafide,” the Congress alleged.
SOURCE: The Hindu
EXPLANATORY PARAGRAPH: If someone says they didn’t take your toy but you see it hidden behind them, they might be lying. “Malafide” is a word used when someone does something but is being dishonest or not truthful about it.
MEANING: In bad faith; with intent to deceive (adjective).
PRONUNCIATION: MAH-luh-fyd
SYNONYMS: dishonest, deceitful, fraudulent, insincere, untrustworthy
USAGE EXAMPLE:
1. The company’s malafide intentions were exposed when the documents were leaked.
2. He entered into the agreement in a malafide manner, planning to break it later.
3. The malafide conduct of the lawyer led to his disbarment.
4. Any malafide claims will be rigorously investigated.
WORD 6: Reek
CONTEXT: Your (the Governor) actions are not only unconstitutional and illegal, but reek of factual and legal malafide,” the Congress alleged.
SOURCE: The Hindu
EXPLANATORY PARAGRAPH: When you forget your wet towel in your bag for days, it starts to smell really bad. That strong, unpleasant smell is what we call a “reek.” It’s the kind of smell that makes you want to hold your nose!
MEANING: To give off a strong, unpleasant odor (verb).
PRONUNCIATION: REEK
SYNONYMS: stink, smell, odorize, emit, fume
USAGE EXAMPLE:
1. The room reeked of stale smoke.
2. He reeked of garlic, making it difficult to stand close to him.
3. The garbage reeked in the summer heat.
4. As they entered the abandoned house, it reeked of mold and decay.
WORD 7: Propulsion
CONTEXT: The missile’s unique propulsion system, which uses a miniature nuclear reactor, theoretically gives it the ability to fly for incredibly long distances, staying under the radar.
SOURCE: Money control
EXPLANATORY PARAGRAPH: Think about how a boat moves in water using a motor to push it forward. “Propulsion” is a word we use to describe the action of driving or pushing something forward.
MEANING: The action or process of driving or pushing forward (noun).
PRONUNCIATION: pruh-PUL-shuhn
SYNONYMS: thrust, drive, impulsion, momentum, force
USAGE EXAMPLE:
1. Jet engines provide the propulsion for the airplane.
2. Rocket propulsion is necessary to get astronauts into space.
3. The boat’s propulsion system was damaged by debris.
4. New technologies are being developed for cleaner propulsion in cars.
WORD 8: Bidding
CONTEXT: The airline is being merged with Air India on November 11, bidding goodbye to its many patrons and admirers
SOURCE: Money control
EXPLANATORY PARAGRAPH: Imagine you really want a toy at the store, and you say, “Please, can I have it?” That’s a bit like “bidding.” It means asking for something or telling someone to do something in a way that shows you really want it to happen.
MEANING: The act of offering a certain price for something, especially at an auction, or giving orders or instructions (noun).
PRONUNCIATION: BID-ing
SYNONYMS: command, order, bid, direction, instruction
USAGE EXAMPLE:
1. The painting went to the highest bidder at the auction bidding.
2. They were at his bidding, ready to do whatever he asked.
3. Online bidding allows you to buy things from auctions on the internet.
4. The project was completed at the manager’s bidding.
WORD 9: Frayed
CONTEXT: Here we have a really popular and liked brand being sacrificed at the altar of another, which is old, frayed around the edges, and one that is difficult to change quickly.
SOURCE: Money control
EXPLANATORY PARAGRAPH: Imagine your favorite blanket getting old and the edges starting to look all worn and stringy. When something gets like that, we say it is “frayed.” It means it’s a bit worn out and has rough or torn edges.
MEANING: Worn at the edges, typically through constant rubbing or use (adjective).
PRONUNCIATION: FRAYD
SYNONYMS: tattered, worn, ragged, unraveling, threadbare
USAGE EXAMPLE:
1. His jeans were frayed at the cuffs from being too long.
2. She trimmed the frayed edges of the fabric before sewing.
3. The old flag was frayed after years of flying on the pole.
4. The book’s cover was frayed from being read so many times.
WORD 10: Incumbent
CONTEXT: While India voted the incumbent regime back to power, a new government has been elected in the UK.
SOURCE: Money control
EXPLANATORY PARAGRAPH: When someone has a very important job or role that they are currently doing, like being the president or a teacher, we use the word “incumbent” to talk about them. It means they are the ones holding the job right now.
MEANING: Currently holding a specified office or position (adjective).
PRONUNCIATION: in-KUM-buhnt
SYNONYMS: current, existing, present, reigning, sitting
USAGE EXAMPLE:
1. The incumbent mayor faced tough competition in the election.
2. It is incumbent upon us to follow the safety rules.
3. The responsibilities of the incumbent are vast and varied.
4. She is the incumbent director of the organization.
