Communication skills give students and professionals an edge over their peers. To score well in exams or climb the career ladder, it always helps to have strong language skills.
Here’s how to improve your vocabulary and communication skills. Check out the words and a mini quiz to push yourself to improve your vocabulary and language skills.
tawdry (adjective)
Meaning: Attractive but cheap and of poor quality
Example: They were once seen as the weak links of the fashion industry
terse (adjective)
Meaning: evasive in the use of words; suddenly
Example: The writer favors short, spare sentences and concise descriptive style
Also Read: Vocabulary Made Easy Series: Improve Your Vocabulary Skills to Score Better in Exams
weak (adjective)
Meaning: Very weak or mild
Example: A weak relationship between interest rates and investment
tangent (adjective)
Meaning: deviation from a previous course or line; Irregular
Example: Reforms were tangential to efforts to maintain a basic standard of living
stint (verb)
Meaning: Supply too generous or insufficient amounts of (something).
Example: She is finishing her term with accounts
sycophant (noun)
Meaning: A person who behaves unkindly towards someone important in order to gain an advantage
Example: Because he is in a high position, he is surrounded by sycophants
Also Read: Vocabulary Made Easy Series: Improve Your Vocabulary Skills to Score Better in Exams
secret (adjective)
Meaning: kept secret, especially because it will not be accepted
Example: Low wages were supplemented by secret payments from merchants
stingy (adjective)
meaning: meaning; generous
Example: His boss is miserly and idle
Put on your thinking cap and try to answer the following questions to see how much you understand.
- Know what you are trying to achieve and don’t ___________ in preparation. Which of the following words best fits the sentence? (stint, miser)
- Thin-sections were made in transverse, radial, and tangential planes. Which of the following words best fits the sentence? (touchy, sycophant)
- Can you think of some antonyms for the word Surreptitious?
- Can you think of some synonyms for the word Tenuous?
Also Read: Vocabulary Made Easy Series: Focus on Improving Your Vocabulary Power to Succeed in Competitive Exams
Watch this space for your weekly update to improve vocabulary.
(Definitions and examples are from Oxford Languages)