Daily Vocabulary Words: List of Daily Used Words
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Our endeavour here is straightforward: highlighting important daily vocabulary words, you would encounter in The Hindu. This is your repository of commonly used words; essentially, we are posting a list of daily used words. Hence, this has significant practical application as it teaches you words that are commonly used in a leading publication such as The Hindu.
Visit the website daily to learn words from The Hindu.
WORD-1: HARDSHIP
CONTEXT: An implication of continuing high food-price inflation is that a section of the population could be facing hardship in consuming food of adequate nutritional value.
SOURCE: The Hindu
EXPLANATORY PARAGRAPH: Imagine you have a big heavy backpack on, and you have to carry it while walking a really long distance. It would be tough, right? That heavy feeling and tiredness you feel is like what we call “hardship.” It means something is really challenging or difficult.
MEANING: A difficult or unpleasant situation or condition (noun).
PRONUNCIATION: hard-ship
SYNONYMS: difficulty, adversity, affliction, suffering, distress, trouble.
USAGE EXAMPLE:
1. Many people faced hardships during the economic crisis.
2. Climbing the mountain was a great hardship for the team.
3. Despite the hardships, she remained hopeful and strong.
4. The story is about a family’s hardship during wartime.
WORD-2: DEVASTATING
CONTEXT: We now have some evidence to this effect. The ‘State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World’ of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates the proportion of the population across countries unable to afford a healthy diet (reported in this newspaper on August 31, 2023, under a datapoint). The figure for India in 2021 is devastating to note — an estimated 74% of the population cannot afford a healthy diet.
SOURCE: The Hindu
EXPLANATORY PARAGRAPH: Imagine your favorite toy breaks, and you feel really, really sad. That very strong sad feeling is similar to “devastating.” It means something is extremely upsetting or damaging.
MEANING: Causing severe shock, distress, or destruction (adjective).
PRONUNCIATION: dev-uh-stay-ting
SYNONYMS: disastrous, shattering, traumatic, crushing, heartbreaking, ruinous.
USAGE EXAMPLE:
1. The news of his passing was devastating to the family.
2. The city faced a devastating flood last year.
3. The loss in the championship was devastating for the team.
4. His critique was so harsh, it felt devastating.
WORD-3: IMPLIED
CONTEXT: A study reported in this daily (August 30, 2023 under a datapoint), of the trend in the price of food in Mumbai city over 2018-2023 found that while the cost of preparing a thaali at home has risen by 65%, in this period, the average wage of a manual worker rose by 38% and that of a salaried worker by 28%. The implied reduction in purchasing power is considerable, and it would be reasonable to expect that food consumption has been impacted.
SOURCE: The Hindu
EXPLANATORY PARAGRAPH: Let’s say your friend gives you a sneaky smile when you ask if they took your cookie. They didn’t say they did, but their smile kind of says it all. That’s what “implied” means. It’s when something is suggested without being directly said.
MEANING: Suggested without being directly expressed (verb).
PRONUNCIATION: im-plied
SYNONYMS: insinuated, hinted, inferred, suggested, indicated, alluded.
USAGE EXAMPLE:
1. Her tone implied that she was upset.
2. The letter implied a threat, but it wasn’t clear.
3. His silence implied agreement.
4. The movie implied a sequel with its ending.
WORD-4: QUEST
CONTEXT: If there was a single event that aided India’s quest to be self-reliant in the highly polarised climate of the Cold War, it was this. Western economists have pointed to the success of the United States’ mission to land a human on the moon as an example of an entrepreneurial state. However, to have engineered the Green Revolution in India at a time when it was a desperately poor country challenged by having to ensure food security to a staggeringly large number is perhaps more significant.
SOURCE: The Hindu
EXPLANATORY PARAGRAPH: Think of a big adventure where someone is looking for a hidden treasure. That big adventure is called a “quest.” It’s like a special mission or search for something important.
MEANING: A long search for something, often of great importance (noun).
PRONUNCIATION: kwest
SYNONYMS: journey, expedition, adventure, pilgrimage, mission, voyage.
USAGE EXAMPLE:
1. The knights went on a quest to find the holy grail.
2. Her life’s quest was to find a cure for the disease.
3. The video game revolves around a quest for lost treasure.
4. The young prince embarked on a quest to find his lost sister.
WORD-5: POLARISED
CONTEXT: If there was a single event that aided India’s quest to be self-reliant in the highly polarised climate of the Cold War, it was this. Western economists have pointed to the success of the United States’ mission to land a human on the moon as an example of an entrepreneurial state. However, to have engineered the Green Revolution in India at a time when it was a desperately poor country challenged by having to ensure food security to a staggeringly large number is perhaps more significant.
SOURCE: The Hindu
EXPLANATORY PARAGRAPH: Imagine you have two magnets. If you try to put the same sides together, they push away from each other. That’s kind of like “polarised.” It means people or things are split into two very different groups that might not agree.
MEANING: Divided into sharply opposing groups (verb).
PRONUNCIATION: po-luh-rized
SYNONYMS: divided, split, opposed, dichotomized, partitioned, segregated.
USAGE EXAMPLE:
1. The issue polarised the community into two distinct groups.
2. Social media has polarised opinions on many topics.
3. The debate topic was so controversial that it polarised the audience.
4. The election results showed how polarised the nation had become.
Sure, based on your format, here are the entries for the words you mentioned:
WORD-6: SELF-RELIANT
CONTEXT: If there was a single event that aided India’s quest to be self-reliant in the highly polarised climate of the Cold War, it was this. Western economists have pointed to the success of the United States’ mission to land a human on the moon as an example of an entrepreneurial state. However, to have engineered the Green Revolution in India at a time when it was a desperately poor country challenged by having to ensure food security to a staggeringly large number is perhaps more significant.
SOURCE: The Hindu
EXPLANATORY PARAGRAPH: Remember how you learned to tie your shoelaces by yourself? When you can do things on your own without anyone’s help, that’s being “self-reliant.” It’s like being your own superhero!
MEANING: Depending on oneself for things rather than relying on others (adjective).
PRONUNCIATION: self-reh-lye-ant
SYNONYMS: independent, self-sufficient, self-contained, self-supporting, self-sustaining.
USAGE EXAMPLE:
1. Living alone taught him to be self-reliant.
2. She’s a self-reliant woman who manages her business well.
3. Kids need to be taught to be more self-reliant from a young age.
4. Camping in the wilderness requires one to be self-reliant.
WORD-7: ENGINEERED
CONTEXT: If there was a single event that aided India’s quest to be self-reliant in the highly polarised climate of the Cold War, it was this. Western economists have pointed to the success of the United States’ mission to land a human on the moon as an example of an entrepreneurial state. However, to have engineered the Green Revolution in India at a time when it was a desperately poor country challenged by having to ensure food security to a staggeringly large number is perhaps more significant.
SOURCE: The Hindu
EXPLANATORY PARAGRAPH: You know how you build a tower with blocks? “Engineered” is kind of like that. It means something has been designed or built in a special way.
MEANING: Designed and built using scientific principles (verb).
PRONUNCIATION: en-jin-eerd
SYNONYMS: designed, constructed, built, crafted, fabricated, devised.
USAGE EXAMPLE:
1. The bridge was engineered to withstand strong winds.
2. The new software was engineered for maximum efficiency.
3. The car was engineered with the latest safety features.
4. The team engineered a solution to the water crisis.
WORD-8: STAGGERINGLY
CONTEXT: If there was a single event that aided India’s quest to be self-reliant in the highly polarised climate of the Cold War, it was this. Western economists have pointed to the success of the United States’ mission to land a human on the moon as an example of an entrepreneurial state. However, to have engineered the Green Revolution in India at a time when it was a desperately poor country challenged by having to ensure food security to a staggeringly large number is perhaps more significant.
SOURCE: The Hindu
EXPLANATORY PARAGRAPH: Imagine you see a really big cake, bigger than you’ve ever seen! You’d be so surprised you might even say “wow!” a lot. “Staggeringly” is a word we use to talk about something that’s so amazing or surprising that it almost makes us wobble like we’re about to fall.
MEANING: To an astonishing or shocking degree (adverb).
PRONUNCIATION: stag-er-ing-lee
SYNONYMS: amazingly, incredibly, astoundingly, shockingly, surprisingly, breathtakingly.
USAGE EXAMPLE:
1. She was staggeringly talented at such a young age.
2. The view from the mountain top was staggeringly beautiful.
3. The company made a staggeringly high profit this year.
4. The amount of data they collected was staggeringly large.
WORD-9: HINDSIGHT
CONTEXT: With hindsight, we can see that mistakes were made, among them the rampant use of chemical fertilizer, fuelled by subsidy, which degraded the soil. There was also the reliance on procurement prices rather than productivity increase to ensure farm incomes, which fuelled inflation.
SOURCE: The Hindu
EXPLANATORY PARAGRAPH: Imagine you play a game and then later, you think of a better move you could have made. “Hindsight” is like that. It’s when you look back and think about what you could’ve done differently.
MEANING: Understanding of a situation or event after it has happened (noun).
PRONUNCIATION: hind-sight
SYNONYMS: retrospection, afterthought, looking back, reflection, review.
USAGE EXAMPLE:
1. In hindsight, I should have studied more for the test.
2. With the benefit of hindsight, we can see the errors more clearly.
3. Hindsight is 20/20, meaning it’s easier to see things clearly after they happen.
4. He realized in hindsight that he missed a great opportunity.
WORD-10: DEGRADED
CONTEXT: With hindsight, we can see that mistakes were made, among them the rampant use of chemical fertilizer, fuelled by subsidy, which degraded the soil. There was also the reliance on procurement prices rather than productivity increase to ensure farm incomes, which fuelled inflation.
SOURCE: The Hindu
EXPLANATORY PARAGRAPH: Imagine you have a bright, colorful drawing, but over time, it starts to fade. That fading is kind of like “degraded.” It means something has gotten worse or isn’t as good as before.
MEANING: Reduced in quality or value (verb).
PRONUNCIATION: deh-graded
SYNONYMS: deteriorated, worsened, declined, decayed, diminished, lessened.
USAGE EXAMPLE:
1. The environment has degraded due to pollution.
2. The old building degraded over time and became unsafe.
3. The quality of the product has degraded over the years.
4. The once-clear lake has now degraded due to waste dumping.
