10th Class English Word Meanings Word Meanings

         Word Meanings

 

Introduction: We come across different words daily. Some words are simple as are normally used regularly, while a few are hard or difficult to understand. Words like, ruin, forecast, principle, etc. are common words. But certain words, like ingenious, adroit, infidel, agnostic, etc. are uncommon words and are difficult to understand. The usage of these words in sentences reduces the chance of easily understanding the text of meaning intended in the sentence. It is therefore very important that you develop a good store of vocabulary which will surely give you a niche in developing your sense of understanding English.  

 

     A List of Few Uncommon word which are Tough to Understand

 

                                                                                        A

Abstain: Keep oneself from doing or enjoying something; refrain. For example: At the last election he abstained from voting.

Absurd: Unreasonable; not sensible; foolish in a funny way; ridiculous. For example: It was absurd of you to suggest such a thing.

Affinity: Structural resemblance or similarity of character; relationship. For example: There is a close affinity between Italian and Spanish.

Aloft: Up in the air; overhead. For example: The balloons were already aloft.

Authentic: Known to be true or genuine; trustworthy; reliable. For example: The court decided to release the culprit basing on authentic evidence.

Amorous: Readily showing or feeling love. For example: He became quite amorous at the office party.

Ardour: Great warmth of feeling; enthusiasm; zeal. For example: His ardour for the cause inspired his followers.

Avail: Make use of something; take advantage of something. For example: You must avail yourself off every opportunity to speak English.

 

                                                                                            B

Bane: Cause of some body's ruin or trouble. For example: Those noisy neighbours are the bane of my life.

Bilk: Avoid paying money to somebody; cheat somebody. He bilked us of allour money.

Blemish: Mark or stain that spoils the beauty or perfection of somebody or something. She has a blemish above her right eye.

Babble: To murmur. Unwanted babbling is an irritating habit.

Baffle: To confuse. The bahaviour of white South Africans towards the coloured people is not only unjust; it also baffles most liberal people.

Barbarian: Uncivilized. Barbarians should have no place in civilized world.

Bashful: Shy. Girls are often bashful in their early youth.

Beguile: To deceive; to while away. The villagers are often beguiled in cities like Delhi and Mumbai.

 

                                                                                            C

Canopy: Over-hanging shelter; an ornamental roof like structure. The hunters use canopy for sleeping while on hunting.

Castigate: Punish. The teacher castigated Sunil for his rude behaviour.

Coincide: Happen together, agree. The views of Russian and Indian leaders coincide on most issues.

Complacent: Satisfied. Indians for long remained complacent with their fate and did not put in their best.

Concubine: A woman living with a man but not actually married. George Eliot, the famous woman novelist of the 19^th century, led the life of a concubine for quite some time.

Confiscate: To seize by authority. During the raid, the CBI has confiscated the property of many politicians.

Cumulative: All together, collected. Can anyone be unaware of the cumulative results of our governmental planning?

Cynic: A philosopher criticizing everyone and everything. W.M. Thackeray, a well known cynic, occupies an important position in English literature.

 

                                                                                                  D

Dearth: Scarcity. There is no dearth of talent in our country.

Debar: Prohibit. The students caught cheating in the examination are debarred by the Delhi University for three years.

Delinquent: To do wrong, violation of law. The government is a bit lenient in dealing with cases of delinquency of young people as it does not want to spoil the career.

Demise: Death. The nation was shocked at the news of sudden demise of its beloved leader Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri.

Deprave: Corrupt. Depraved people should have no place in the political arena.

Denizen: Citizen, inhabitant. The government wants to look after even the denizens of the thick forest.

Discern: make out, find out. Judges can easily discern the truth from the lies.

Dubious: Not clear, occasioning great doubt. The dubious behaviour of Shanti caused doubts in the mind of Rohan.

 

                                                                                                  E
Ebullient: Enthusiastic or full of excitement. The words of Henry pinched George and he was ebullient to take revenge.

Eccentric: Out of the usual course, different from normal people. Most of the intellectuals become a bit eccentric as they fail to make compromises with the practical world.

Effrontery: Shameless boldness. The government of Pakistan is showing an attitude that is nothing short of effrontery and deserves general condemnation.

Elapse: To pass silently. One rarely realizes that youth is transitory and is bound to elapse.

Elegant: Pleasing, of good taste. Swapnil is an elegant young boy and reveals the nobility of his blood.

Elegy: A poem or song written on death. Many important and well known poets of English literature have written elegies.

Elixir: A liquor thought to have the power of prolonging life. Water has rightly been called the elixir of life.

Embark: To start a work or go on board a ship. One must embark upon a plan or project after considerable thought.

 

                                                                                                  F

Fabricate: To devise falsely. Students often fabricate stories about late classes, etc. to convince their parents and go to movies.

Fallible: Liable to commit mistake or error. No human being can claim to be infallible, because nature has made man fallible.

Fanatic: Unreasonably zealous. Aurangzeb has been called fanatic by all historians.

Fantasy: Fancy, imagination. The ghost of Hamlet has been called nothing but the fantasy of Prince Hamlet.

Fend: To keep off. In heavily populated areas one has to provide adequate arrangements in the house to fend the mice from destroying household items.

Fiasco: A failure. The cricket match ended in a fiasco as one of the teams backed out at the last moment.

Flatulent: Empty, vain. Flatulent talk cut no ice with anyone in this realistic world.

Flirt: To trifle with love, to throw with a jerk. Flirting has become a hobby and a pastime with the modern youth.

 

                                                                                                 G

Genial: Cordial. India wants to maintain genial relations with all its neighbouring countries.

Gestation: Carrying of youth in womb, pregnancy. Men can at best imagine the difficulties in the gestation period.

Gesticulate: Use the movement of hand and feet when speaking. A lot of people have the habit of gesticulating while speaking.

Giddy: Dizzy. 1 am feeling giddy because of working continuously for three days and two nights.

Glum: Sullen, sad, moody, gloomy. Please wipe the glum look of your face and try and look cheerful.

Grasp: Understand. Raj always finds it hard to grasp the mathematical problems.

Gratify: Satisfy, delight. Many men and women seek gratification outside their wedlock.

Grudge: III will. One must not bear grudge again anyone in life.

 

                                                                                                 H

Haggle: Dispute on terms or rate. Certain shopkeepers do not entertain any haggling on the prices.

Hanky-panky: Deceptive behaviour. Lot of hanky-panky smuggling goes on in coastal towns.

Harass: Worry, trouble. The P' year students are often harassed by their seniors on their arrival in the college.

Harlot: Prostitute. The government has officially restricted the harlots to the red-light areas.

Hearth: Part of room meant for making fire. Every old English home has a hearth.

Haze: Mist. One must drive slowly when it is haze all around during winter season.

Heathen: Not adhering to any religion. Wordsworth stated in the poem: The world is too much with us, that he would prefer to become a heathen because that way he will be in a closer touch with nature.

Hideous: Repulsive, morally detestable. Hideous crimes were meted out to the people of Bangladesh by the Yahya Khan's regime.

 

                                                                                                    I

Idiosyncratic: Having peculiar temper. Idiosyncratic people either reach the top in life or find it difficult to make two ends meet.

lllusion: Unreal or misleading image presented to the vision, a deceptive appearance. The people who live under illusions often face disappointment in life.

Imbibe: To absorb, to saturate, soak, steep. We must try to imbibe the spirit of teachings provided by great men of our country.

Immigrate: To come into a country of which one is not a native. Lot of Indians immigrate to America and Australia every year.

Immune: Exempt from tax, protected against disease as by inoculation, enjoying immunity. When a disease threatens to spread one must get himself injected and become immune to the disease.

Impeach: To accuse. Our Constitution provides the liberty to the Parliament to impeach the President in case of grave charges against him or her.

Impede: To slow in progress, obstruct, hinder. No forces should be allowed to impede the progress of the country.

Impetus: Driving or moving force. Our ambition in life to do something always acts as an impetus for working hard in life.

 

                                                                                                    J

Jargon: Unintelligible speech. Arun claims himself to be great orator but the speech that he gave the other day was all jargon.

Jaunty: Showy. Young boys and girls have craze for jaunty dresses. Judicious: Prudent. He is always judicious in his selection of clothes.

Juno: A very beautiful woman. Some junos like Helen and Cleopatra occupy an immortal place in the history of the world.

Jettison: Throw overboard. In order to enable the ship to ride safely through the strom, the captain had to jettison much of his cargo.

Jostle: Push roughly against somebody in crowd. The youths jostled an old lady on the pavement.

Jocund: Merry, cheerful. The girl looked jocund in the company of her father who was taken a prisoner and was released after long seven years.

Jeopardy: In danger of harm, loss or destruction. A fall in demand for oil tankers has put / placed thousands of jobs in the shipbuilding industry in jeopardy.

 

                                                                                                   K

Kaleidoscope: Optical toy in which a whole lot of coloured designs can be seen. Children have a great craze for kaleidoscope.

Knack: Dexterity, aptitude. One must have the knack of becoming popular to achieve success in politics.

Knave: Villain, rogue. A knave and a jester is almost a must in every Indian film.

Kudos: Honour, glory, praise. The singer complacently received kudos from his entourage on his performance.

Kindle: Catch fire. The sparks kindled the dry grass.

Kingpin: Essential person or thing. He is the kingpin of the whole team.

Knead: Press and stretch with the hands to form a firm smooth paste. Knead the dough.

Keynote: Central theme of a speech, book, etc. Unemployment has been the keynote of the conference.

  

                                                                                                     H

Languish: Become weak or faint. I have seen people languishing in love only on the screen.

Laud: Praise. The boy deserves laud for his unimaginable performance in the competition.

Lethargy: Laziness, drowsiness. One is bound to feel lethargic at times, sinceall human beings are bound by natural laws.

Licentious: Sexually immoral. The extremely poor and the rich are found to belicentious.

Lieu: Instead of. The court ordered all the people staying in the industrial area to leave in lieu of the government's allotment of plot to them in residential areas.

Loathe: Hate. Pakistan instead of appreciating the rapid strides made by India in the field of science simply loathes them.

Loggerhead: Engaged in quarrel. Once the two of them used to boast of their friendship, today, they are at loggerheads with each other.

Loquacious: Given to talking, garrulous. Most women are known to be loquacious.

 

                                                                                                     M

Madden: To make or become mad. Constant driving in Delhi is so taxing that it bound to madden a person.

Malnutrition: Unsuitable or insufficient feeding. According to the United Nations finding, majority of the Indians suffer from malnutrition.

Mammoth: Very large. Election meetings are attended by mammoth crowds.

Mandate: An authoritative command or order. In democracy, it is the people's mandate that ultimately matters.

Manifest: Clear, evident to the senses, up to the sight. It is more than manifest that Indian democracy is the most successful democracy.

Meager: Destitute of riches, strength or the like. The poor people have to make their two ends meet with the meager resources at their disposal.

Mendicancy: Beggary. Shri Sainath Maharaj of Shirdi lived his whole life by means of mendicancy.

Mundane: Of or pertaining to earth, worldly. We must learn the mundane wisdom if we want to be a success.

 

                                                                                                   N

Nagging: Constantly finding fault. If an employer constantly nags his employees they are bound to lose interest in the job.

Nausea: Inclination to vomit. When one travels for the first time by ship he is bound to experience nausea.

Nibble: To keep on eating a little more or less constantly. Women mostly have the habit of nibbling between meals.

Nestle: To settle comfortably. Mothers always care to nestle their young ones.

Nightmare: Dreadful dream. Guilty people often experience nightmare.

Novice: A beginner, every professional expert must have been a novice once.

Nurture: Nursing or nourishing. I do not believe in nurturing a grudge against anyone.

Nymph: Young and beautiful semi-divine maiden. Almost all poets talk of nymphs in their poems.

 

                                                                                                   O

Oasis: Green spot in a desert, any place of rest or pleasure in the midst of toil and gloom. Thomas Hardy, the 19^th century novelist, who is known for hispessimism believed that man's life was a big desert with a few oasis in it.

Oblivion: Act of forgetting, official ignorance of offences. After excessive drinking one does reach a state of oblivion.

Occult: Hidden, mystical, crossing the bounds of natural knowledge, magic. Indians have firm faith in the occult powers.

Odyssey: Greek epic written by Homer, a long wandering, or series of travels. Odyssey is really one of the very few epics that have been penned down in the world literature.

Ogle: To look fondly, amorously. People are often seen ogling frustrated men and women at railway stations when they had to wait long for trains.

Opera: Musical drama. Operas have all along been very popular in our country.

Ordeal: A difficult thing. One has to pass through many ordeals in life to attain success.

Overrack: To torture or trouble beyond bearing. Many a time the seniors over rack the freshers which is not at all a good practice.

  

                                                                                                  P

Pacify: To tranquilise, calm. Whenever my friends get heated upon any issue, I have to pacify them.

Pamper: Overindulge, fiatter. Everyone likes to be pampered, though all seem to speak against it.

Paragon: A model, a type of perfection. Everyone believes himself to be aparag on of virtues.

Parlance: Formal conversation, discourse. Parlance is an art at which very few people are good.

Perpetual: Lasting forever, continuous. Some people have perpetual head ache and they just do not know how to get rid of it.

Perspicuous: Lucid, plain. Some Indian writers have perspicuous expression in English language.

Pertinacious: Persistent, adhering resolutely to an opinion. Pertinacious efforts are bound to bear fruit.

Plebiscite: Decision by direct voting. Pakistan has never allowed its own people to exercise free franchise but it has always been demanding a plebiscite in Kashmir.

Pliable: Easily influenced. Rajesh has such a pliable nature that almost anyone can convince him.

 

                                                                                                Q

Quaint: Old, curious, whimsical. Some people have a craze for quaint things.

Quaver: Tremble. When a novice starts speaking understandably his voice is Bound to quaver.

Queer: Odd, strange. Charles Dickens, the famous Victorian novelist, loved to delineate the queer characters.

Quibble: Play on words, evasion. Some people can never think logically to give a valid suggestion but love to quibble and delay the proceedings.

Quagmire: Soft wet boggy land, complex or dangerous situation from which it is difficult to fee oneself. Up to her knees in mud, Myra wondered how unearth she was going to extricate herself from his quagmire.

Qualms: Misgivings, uneasy fears, especially about matters of conscience. I have no qualms about giving this assignment to Rekha; I know she sill handle' it admirably.

Quirk: Startling twist, caprice. B the quirk of fate, he found himself working for the man whom he had discharged years before.

Quizzical: teasing, bantering, mocking, curious. When the skinny teenager tripped over his own feet stepping into the bullpen, Coach raised one quizzical eyebrow, shook his head, and said, 'Okay, kid. You're her, let's see what you've got;

 

                                                                                                 R

Rabid: Headstrong. The Stuart kings are known in history as rabids.

Radical: Essential, thorough. Radical changes are required in the basic structure of our education system.

Ransack: To make a thorough search. The thirst for knowledge makes a man ransack a number of books.

Rapport: Relationship, communication. A good speaker easily establishes rapport with his audience.

Rebellion: Revolt. All the Mughal kings had to face rebellions from their own successors.

Recede: To shrink back. Pakistan receded its army from Indian territory when it was given a befitting reply.

Reciprocate: To give and take mutually. Most of the visits of State heads are based on reciprocal basis.

Recuperate: Recover from illness. A man is both physically and mentally weak when he is recuperating.

 

                                                                                               S

Salvation: State of being saved from sin. Indians of yesteryears were more bothered about the salvation of their soul than anything else.

Sarcasm: Bitter remarks. 18^th century English literature is full of sarcasm.

Scavenger: Sweeper of a person allowed to clean streets. The government is serious about improving the lot of scavengers in the country.

Scoff: Taunt, mocking. People remain on the lookout of an opportunity to scoff at others.

Scramble: Struggle with others. A couple of years back people had to scramble for obtaining essential commodities.

Scribble: write carelessly as one feels. People who scribble create problems for readers.

Sedative: Soothing. In the present day world, which is really full of tensions, sedatives are a whole lot in demand.

Sedulous: Diligent. Sedulous people always are in a position to climb the ladder of success in life.

 

                                                                                            T

Tantalize: To torment. People who build castles in the air often have to undergo tantalization.

Tavern: Public house where liquor is sold. English for ages has been known for it taverns the world over.

Tedious: Wearisome, tiresome. Ajob involving mere formal paper work appears very tedious tome.

Teetotaler: One who does not use any intoxicants. Among my friends, know of now who is a teetotaler.

Temerity: Rashness. Young boys who are full of temerity, often land in problems.

Tenacity: persistency, adhesiveness in life. Tenacity often proves akey to success in life.

Thematic: Belonging to a theme. In the civil service examination, candidates are expected to find out the thematic unity in a passage.

Throng: Crowd. People thronged the wrestling arena to see the bouts between world famous wrestlers.

 

                                                                                           U

Unequivocal: Explicit, unambiguous. I prefer people whose talks are clear and unequivocal.

Unilateral: One sided contract. India has unilaterally decided to export sugar to the Middle East in the lean months.

Usury: Lending of money at exorbitant rates. The government has recently taken a series of steps to curb the practise of usury.

Unanimity: Complete agreement. We were surprised by the unanimity with which members of both parties accepted our proposals.

Unpalatable: Distasteful, disagreeable. I refuse to swallow your conclusion, said she, finding his logic unpalatable.

Urbane: Suave, refined, elegant. The courtier was urbane and sophisticated.

Uncanny: Unnatural. I had an uncanny feeling of being watched.

Unabated: As strong, violent, serious, etc. as before. Our enthusiasm remained unabated.

 

                                                                                           V

Vacillate: Waver, move to and fro. The management keeps on vacillating and never takes a firm stand on any issue.

Valediction: Farewell. At valedictory functions many students and teachers come very close to weeping.

Vanquish: Conquer, overcome. Alexander the Great vanquished all his opponents.

Vengeance: Revenge. We must not allow the spirit of vengeance to grow within us.

Veracious: Truthful, honest. His statements are so convincing and veracious that not iota of doubt is left in anyone's mind after hearing him.

Vicissitude: Unexpected change of fortune, irregular change. Vicissitudes and ups and down are part of life and should be taken in that spirit.

Voracious: Greedy, excessively eager, immoderate, insatiable. When parents want to marry their sons for dowry they act in a voracious manner.

Vulnerable: Weaker sections of society, not proof against wounds, our government is doing a lot for the upliftment of the vulnerable sections of the society.

 

                                                                                               W

Waive: Renounce intentionally, to defer. Delhi University did ot waive off the minimum attendance restriction this year.

Wangle: Manipulate. Our principal is so good at administration that he can wangle through all problems.

Wilt: To limp, to lose strength. The young men must not wilt under pressure of any sort, they should rather be prepared to meet all eventualities.

Wizard: Magician, genius. The wizards of Bengal are known for their magical deeds throughout the country.

Wrath: Anger. The show of wrath can never solve any problem.

Wreck: Destruction (especially of ships). Earthquake wrecked lot of old buildings in the city.

Wallow: Roll in, indulge in, become helpless. The hippopotamus loves to wallow In the mud.

Wince: Shrink back, flinch. The screech of the chalk on the blackboard made her wince.

 

                                                                                          X Y Z

Xenophobia: Intense dislike or fear of foreigners or strangers. Excessive patriotism can lead to xenophobia.

Yammer: Talk noisily and continuously complain or speak in a whining, grumbling manner. 1 do wish they would stop yammering on about the size of the bill.

Yearn: Desire strongly or with compassion or tenderness, be filled with longing. She yearned to return to her native country.

Yield: Bear, produce or provide. Building societies' investment accounts yield high interest.

Yob: Aggressive, ill-tempered and ill-mannered young person, lout. A yob came to the party and spoilt the temperament of the environment.

Zeal: Eager enthusiasm. Sheela's zeal was contagious; soon all her fellow students were busily making posters, inspired by her ardent enthusiasm for the cause.

Zenity: Point directly overhead in the sky, summit. When the sun was at its zenith, the glare was not as strong as a sunrise and sunset.

Zoom: Move very quickly with a buzzing or humming noise. The jet zoomed low over our head.

  

 

 

 

Choose the correct option for the word underlined in each sentence.  

 

  Although the situation is bad there is no cause for concern.

(a) Caution                                                         

(b) Desire                           

(c) Attention                                                     

(d) Anxiety

(e) None of these

 

Answer: (d)

Explanation: (D)

The correct option in regard to the sentence will be 'anxiety'. Concern means 'to affect or worry somebody with some cause or thing or consequence'. Hence, 'anxiety' is the correct meaning.  

 

 

  We gave him assurance regarding the safety of his things.

(a) Decision                                                       

(b) Payment                      

(c) Permission                                  

(d) Promise

(e) None of these

 

Answer: (d)

Explanation: (D)

In context to the sentence, the correct option will be 'promise', which says about assurance regarding the safety of something.  

 

 

  He is considered by everyone as a man of virtues.

(a) Power                                                           

(b) Dishonesty                 

(c) Goodness                                                   

(d) Responsibility

(e) None of these

 

Answer: (c)

Explanation: (C)

'Man of virtues' means 'man of goodness'. Hence, the correct option will be 'goodness'.  

 

 

  It is very rare for him to arrive late in office.

(a) Different                                      

(b) Regular                         

(c) Unusual                                                        

(d) Possible

(e) None of these

 

Answer: (c)

Explanation: (C)

Normally, he arrives in time in the office. But his rare practice of going to office is unusual, means beyond his regular practice. Hence, the correct option will be 'unusual' here.

 

 

  She could not remember the incident due to the long lapse of time.

(a) Period                                                           

(b) Memory                      

(c) Delay                                                             

(d) Error

(e) None of these

 

Answer: (a)

Explanation: (A)

'Lapse' means 'gap of time or a period'. Therefore, in context to the sentence, the correct synonym will be 'period' which can be many days, months or year.  

 

 

  The bird flew from one tree to another.

(a) Flitted                                                           

(b) Moved                         

(c) Darted                                                           

(d) Whizzed

(e) None of these

 

Answer: (a)

Explanation: (A)

The appropriate synonym to replace 'flew' in the sentence will be 'flitted'.  

 

 

  Because he refused to marry the girl his parent had chosen for him, everyone scolded Mahesh and called him a foolish headstrong man.

(a) Impulsive                                                     

(b) Imperative                  

(c) Stubborn                                                      

(d) Reckless

(e) None of these

 

Answer: (c)

Explanation: (C)

Headstrong means 'willful' or 'determined'. The correct option could replace 'headstrong' in the sentence is 'stubborn'.    

 

 

  He incurred the animosity of the ruling class because he doctrine limitations of their power.

(a) Objection                                    

(b) Hatred                          

(c) Delight                                                          

(d) Approval

(e) None of these

 

Answer: (b)

Explanation: (B)

The correct option which could replace 'animosity' 'in the sentence is 'hatred'.  

 

 

  Rakesh retained some of the things and gave me the rest.

(a) Kept                                                               

(b) Sold                               

(c) Separated                                    

(d) Removed

(e) None of these

 

Answer: (a)

Explanation: (A)

'Retain' means 'to keep back'. Hence, the correct option will be 'kept'.  

 

 

  Sagar ran the marathon race in less than two race.

(a) Completed                                                  

(b) Succeeded                  

(c) Stopped                                                       

(d) Scored

(e) None of these

 

Answer: (a)

Explanation: (A)

Here the correct option is 'completed'.  

 

 

  Rajiv could not recollect the incident that had happened in childhood.

(a) Assemble                                                   

(b) Memorise                   

(c) Recall                                                             

(d) Realise

(e) None of these

 

Answer: (c)

Explanation: (C)

'Recollect' means to 'remember back the past memory'. Hence, recollect the incident that had happened in the childhood means to bring back the memory of childhood for which the correct option will be 'recall'.