Eazyprep brings to you ‘Words in News’, an easy and interesting way to learn vocabulary important for your exam. Now discover new meanings while also going through current affairs articles at the same time!
Today’s article talks about how there is a need to take adequate steps by Indian government against Chinese aggression.
The article title is: ‘Stand up, speak up’.
Did you find words that were absolutely new? Great! Below are the explanations given for some of those difficult words you found. Go through them slowly and don’t forget to do the exercises at the end.
Important words and idioms from the article
CREDIBLE
Pronunciation: kreh-duh-bl
Part of Speech: adjective
Meaning: something that is convincing
Synonyms: believable, conceivable, sincere, plausible
Antonyms: deceptive, implausible, unreasonable
Usage: The story that he narrated was not credible.
Forms: credibility(noun)
COALITION
Pronunciation: kow-uh-li-shn
Part of Speech: noun
Meaning: when two different parties form a group, especially political
Synonyms: affiliation, alliance, bloc, amalgamation
Antonyms: division, disunion
Usage: The two opposition parties formed a coalition against the third.
Forms: coalesce(verb)
AGGRESSIVENESS
Pronunciation: uh-gres-uhv-nuhs
Part of Speech: noun
Meaning: hostile behaviour
Synonyms: hostility, militance, combativeness
Antonyms: calmness, serenity
Usage: His aggressiveness in the play field was terrific.
Forms: aggressive(adjective), aggression(noun)
ASYMMETRY
Pronunciation: ei-si-muh-tree
Part of Speech: noun
Meaning: not having equivalence between the different parts of a structure
Synonyms: imbalance, inequality, unevenness
Antonyms: symmetry, evenness
Usage: The different parts of the sculpture were in asymmetry.
Forms: asymmetrical(adjective), asymmetric(adjective)
DIVERSITY
Pronunciation: dai-vuhs-uh-tee
Part of Speech: noun
Meaning: a range of different things
Synonyms: variety, difference, assortment, medley
Antonyms: identical, similarity, uniformity
Usage: There was a diversity of people from all cultural backgrounds at the function.
Forms: diverse(adjective)
BELLIGERENCE
Pronunciation: buh-li-juh-ruhns
Part of Speech: noun
Meaning: violent or war like behaviour
Synonyms: aggressiveness, antagonism, combativeness
Antonyms: meekness, timidity
Usage: Ashoka went to the battle with sheer belligerence and emerged victorious.
Forms: belligerent(adjective, noun), belligerency(noun)
PROVOKE
Pronunciation: pruh-vowk
Part of Speech: verb
Meaning: stimulate someone to do something
Synonyms: evoke, arouse, elicit, incite
Antonyms: halt, dissuade, demote
Usage: He was provoked by his friend to have acted in that manner
Forms: provocative(adjective)
REDEEM
Pronunciation: uhm-pyoo-nuh-tee
Part of Speech: noun
Meaning: regain possession of something
Synonyms: recover, recoup, reclaim
Antonyms: forfeit, lose
Usage: He went to the store and redeemed the value of his coupons.
Forms: redemption(noun)
PARAGON
Pronunciation: pa-ruh-gn
Part of Speech: noun
Meaning: a person who is considered as the best in the field
Synonyms: epitome, exemplar, outstanding, apotheosis
Usage: She is a paragon in her department of research.
CONDESCENSION
Pronunciation:kawn-duh-sen-shn
Part of Speech: noun
Meaning: considering oneself superior from others
Synonyms: disdain, superiority, haughtiness
Antonyms: humility, modest
Usage: The manager’s condescension toward his employees was rude.
Forms: condescend(verb), condescending(adjective)
Practice Questions
Q1) If the words ‘coalition’ and ‘union’ make a perfect pair, select the correct pair from the following set of words following the same logic:
- Aggressiveness-Calmness
- Diversity-Similarity
- Redeem-Regain
- Asymmetry-Unevenness
Q2) Create sentences of your own with the following words:
- Condescension
- Belligerence
- Provoke
- Credible
- Paragon
Tell us your answers in the comments below.
