A

Abatement
[uh-bayt-ment]
[n] the act or state of reduction; decrease; alleviation; mitigation.
There was no abatement in the decibel levels of the teenage party in spite of the late hour.

Aberration
[ab-er-rae-shun]
[n] deviation from the right, normal ordinary or usual course; unacceptable or unusual behaviour
Her social aberrations raised many eyebrows.

Acclivity
[ae-kli-vi-ti]
(n) an upward slope, as of ground; an ascent.
The steep acclivity of the ground made it quite difficult for the old man to walk.

Agnostic
[ag-nos-tik]
(n) a person who believes that it is not possible to know whether God exists or not.
The village chief was an agnostic and that was enough to horrify the pious villagers.

Alacritous
[ae-lak-ri-shes]
[adj.] prompt, ready, willing, lively, brisk.
The alacritous team won the quiz contest quite easily.

Ameliorate
[ae-mil-ye-reit]
(v) to make something better, more bearable or more satisfactory
The new party in power has taken a lot of steps to ameliorate living conditions in the local area.

Anomalous
{ae-nom-ae-les}
(adj.) different from what is normal or expected; deviating from or inconsistent with the common order.
The scientist was so sure about his calculations that he just could not accept the fact that his experiment had given anomalous results.

Appurtenances
[ae-puh-ti-nenses]
usually plural (used humorously)
(n) a thing that forms a part of something larger or more important; a belonging.
Here comes the bag lady with all her appurtenances.

Asseverate
[ae-sev-e-reit]
(v) to declare earnestly or solemnly; affirm positively
The director asseverated that maintaining discipline in the classroom was the responsibility of the teacher.

B

Bellicose
[bel-i-koze]
[adj.] having or showing a desire to fight, inclined or eager to fight
His bellicose and quarrelsome nature was the reason for his isolation and loneliness.

Benefaction
[ben-e-fak-shen]
(n) an act of conferring a benefit; the doing of good; a good deed
J.R.D.Tata was known throughout the country for many of his benefactions.

Blandishment
[blan-dish-ment]
(n) flattering attention; cajolery
The strong-willed lad refused to give in to the blandishment of his peer group and join them in their mischievous acts.

Bonhomie
{bon-emi}
(n) A friendly happy feeling.
A good manager manages with an iron hand but ensures that the bonhomie among team members is maintained.

Bravura
{brae-vyoor-aa}
(adj.)a display of daring, brilliant performance; great skill and enthusiasm in doing something artistic.
In spite of a prosthetic leg, the dancer gave a bravura performance in front of the packed auditorium.

C

Cadaverous
[kae-daev-er-es]
(adj.) haggard and thin; pale and ghastly
It was not very easy to turn away the cadaverous beggar from my door.

Capacious
[ke-pae-shes]
[adj.] having a lot of space to put things in, spacious or roomy
There was an assortment of coins in her large capacious pockets.

Carte blanche
{kaart-blansh}
(n) the complete freedom or authority to do whatever you like; unconditional authority; full discretionary power.
The organisation was different from others as it gave carte blanche to its employees to say what they liked in the meeting.

Cavernous
[kae-ver-nes]
[adj.] very large and often empty or dark like a cave.
The large cavernous rooms of the castle were converted into exhibition halls by the government.

Censorious
[sen-sor-i-es]
(adj.) severely critical; faultfinding; carping
The minister lost her popularity within the party due to her censorious way of talking with colleagues.

Chicanery
{shi-ka-ne-ri-}
(n) the use of complicated plans and clever talk in order to trick people.
It did not take the judge a long time to look through the accuser's talks of sheer flattery and chicanery.

Chivvy
{chiv-vi}
(v.) to try and make somebody hurry or do something quickly, especially when they do not want to do it.
The little boy takes such a long time to get up in the morning and then his mother has to chivvy him to school everyday.

Circumspect
[sur-kem-spekt]
[adj.] watchful and discreet; cautious; prudent; well-considere
He achieved success early in life mainly due to his circumspect disposition.

Cogent
{ko-jent}
(adj.) strongly and clearly expressed in a way that influences what people believe.
The night watchman had some cogent reasons for calling the abandoned bungalow haunted.

Cognizance
[kog-ni-zens]
(n) knowledge or awareness; understanding of something
The lawyer needed complete cognizance of the case before accepting it.

Conglomerateur
[ken-glom-er-e-tur]
(n) a person who forms a corporation consisting of a number of subsidiary companies or divisions in a variety of unrelated industries.
The conglomerateur achieved phenomenal success in each of his enterprises due to his diligent efforts and business acumen.

Contentious
[ken-ten-shes]
[adj.] causing, involving or characterized by argument or controversy; likely to
cause disagreement between people
The two political parties avoided discussion of the contentious issue during the meeting.

Contiguous
{ken-tig-yoo-es}
(adj.) In close proximity, touching; next to something.
Nepal, India and Pakistan are contiguous countries with touching borders.

D

Daft
[daft, dahft]
adj. senseless, stupid, or foolish. insane; crazy.
Can people be so daft as to believe that stone statues suck milk and shed tears?

Dapper
[dap-er]
n. neat and precise
Executives look dapper in their tuxedos; no doubt it is the preferred sartorial style of the corporate world.

Decouple
[di-kap-el]
(v) to end the connection or relationship between two things
The period of long absences from each other served to decouple the two.

Deleterious
[del-i-ter-e-es]
(adj.) harmful and damaging; injurious to health.
It is important to sleep well because lack of sleep has a deleterious effect on health and its repercussions are seen in a number of ways.

Delft
[delft]
n. type of glazed earthenware
Artefacts made of delft, though they need care, are in vogue as people are tiring of things made of synthetic materials.

Deliquesce
[del-i-kwes]
v. become liquid, dissolve in moisture from the air
The moment ice-cream is kept at room temperature it begins to deliquesce.

Deluge
{del-yooj}
(n) A great flood. A lot of things all happening or arriving at the same time, especially if they are hard to deal with.
The deluge of July'05 still haunts the Mumbaiities.

Demagogue
[dem-uh-gog, -gawg]
n. political agitator
In a country with vote-bank politics, it is easier for a demagogue to be popular amongst the masses than it is for a leader who is a visionary.

Demesne
[di-meyn, -meen]
n. landed property, estate, possession of land as one's own
In big cities like Mumbai, it is practically impossible for an individual to hold a demesne.

Demulcent
[di-mul-sent]
[adj.] soothing or mollifying, as a medical substance.
The counsellor's soothing voice acted as a demulcent balm on her troubled mind.

Denature
[dee-ney-cher]
v. change properties, make unfit for drinking
Rising pollution levels are denaturing the water sources to such an extent that large tracts of water may become unusable.

Denizen
[den-uh-zuhn]
n. inhabitant or occupant
Denizens of the virtual world sometimes find it difficult to develop relationships in the real world.

Denouement
[dey-noo-mahn]
n. final resolution in a play or a novel
Though the film is a remake of an old classic, its denouement is different.

Depredation
[dep-ri-dey-shuhn]
n. despoiling, ravaging
The depredation of the mangroves along the coast of Mumbai will have a negative influence on its environment, in the future.

Deracinate
[di-ras-uh-neyt]
v. tear up by roots, obliterate
Globalisation that is too rapid deracinates people from their moorings and can lead to the 'clash of civilisations'.

Descry
[di-skrahy]
v. catch sight of, discern
As she stood in the queue at the bus stop, she descried him on the opposite end of the road but was not able to catch up with him.

Dilettante
[dil-i-tahnt, dil-i-tahnt, -tahn-tey, -tan-tee]
n. dabble in a subject
Serious classical singers are very exacting when they choose students, as they do not want to waste their energy and talent on teaching dilettantes.

Diminuendo
[di-min-yoo-en-doh]
n. gradual decrease in loudness, decrescendo
It was an unusual piece of music as the composition ended in a diminuendo rather than the traditional crescendo.

Dirigible
[dir-i-juh-buhl]
n. that which can be steered or directed, an airship
Since the new machine is dirigible it makes everyday life easy for the visually impaired.

Discordant
{dis-kor-dent}
(adj.) not in agreement; combining with other things in a way that is strange or unpleasant.
The trendy and modern set of people struck a discordant note amid the old-fashioned group.

Discursive
[di-skur-siv]
adj. rambling, tending to digress
It is the discursive nature of the written word that makes reading a long novel a great pleasure.

Disingenuous
{dis-in-jen-yoo-es}
(adj.) not sincere, especially when you pretend to know less about something than you really do.
It was disingenuous of her to claim that she had no knowledge of the theft in the office.

Disparate
{dis-pae-rit}
(adj.) made up of parts or people that are very different from each other; distinct in kind
They were a disparate set of individuals who held very different values from one another therefore it was difficult for them to work together.

Disquiet
[dis-kwahy-it]
v. and n. make anxious, uneasiness
A sense of disquiet pervaded the office after the news of the chief being fired reached everyone.

Dogmatic
[dog-mae-tic]
[n] a person who asserts his or her
opinions in an unduly assertive or arrogant manner, despite evidence to the contrary.
The professor's dogmatic stance created more doubters than believers.

Domiciliate
[dom-e-sil-e-at]
(v) to establish a residence for oneself or one's family
The group of the students were anxious to domiciliate in the foreign country.

Drivel
[dri-vel]
[n] silly nonsense; meaningless talk or thinking.
Despite his magnificent academic credentials, most of what he said was pure drivel.

Dulcet
[duhl-sit]
adj. sweet-sounding
Lounge music ought to have dulcet sounds rather than strong rhythms, to create a relaxing ambience.

E

Ebullient
[i-buhl-yuhnt]
adj. exuberant, excitable and friendly
Because of her ebullient nature she is always surrounded by friends and so she finds it difficult to focus on work.

Ebullient
[i-bul-yent]
(adj.) full of confidence, energy and good humour.
He did not find the cynical remarks offensive because he put them down to the speaker's ebullient mood.

echelon
[esh-uh-lon]
n. level in an organisation or society
After his promotion he began moving in the upper echelons of the management and suddenly became very supercilious towards his former colleagues.

éclat
[ey-klah]
n. brilliant display, conspicuous success, prestige
The classical dancer moved around the stage with such éclat that the audience were mesmerised.

Edict
[e-dikt]
[n] any authoritative issue or command;
an official order or statement given by authority
The edict issued by the government forbade the school authorities from cancelling the examinations.

edifice
[ed-uh-fis]
n. an imposing building
As an architect he is better at creating edifices for the rich and powerful rather than at creating small simple houses for the general population.

edify
[ed-uh-fahy]
v. improve morally
It was very edifying to read the book on how he recovered from a stroke, as it made me appreciate the gift of life better.

Egotistic
[e-go-tis-tik]
(adj.) pertaining to or characterised by excessive and objectionable reference to oneself in conversation or writing; conceit; boastfulness
The success of his films soon turned him into an egotistic person.

Eleemosynary
{el-e-mos-e-ner-i}
(adj.) Pertaining to alms; charitable
Politicians usually display a lot of eleemosynary characteristics at the onset of elections.

Elide
[i-lahyd]
v. omit in pronunciation
While uttering the word honest, you must elide the letter 'h'.

Embargo
{im-ba-go}
(n) An official government order to stop trade with another country
The dealer's contract with the merchants across the border was nullified by the embargo.

emblazon
[em-bley-zuhn]
v. portray or adorn conspicuously
As a protest against the proposed reservation policy students carried posters emblazoned with slogans demanding justice.

Emendation
[e-men-dae-shen]
[n] a correction or a change in text, the act of making changes to a text
Her documents were rejected on the grounds of requiring foundational emendations.

Endemic
[en-dem-ik]
[adj.] natural to or characteristic of a particular place or a particular group of people and difficult to get rid of
Unemployment and poverty is endemic in a highly populated country like India.

endue
[en-doo, -dyoo]
v. provide with quality
She endues her singing with such smoothness and grace that listening to her is not only an aesthetic experience but also a spiritual one.

Ennui
[aan-wi]
(n) feeling of boredom and dissatisfaction because nothing interesting is happening
Long and humid summer afternoons usually filled the little girl with a feeling of ennui.

entrée
[ahn-trey]
n. main dish of a meal
While planning the menu for a formal dinner, care must be taken that the entrée is not only tasty but nutritious too.

epistolary
[i-pis-tl-er-ee]
adj. of or in form of a letter
The earliest of novels were written in an epistolary mode, as it was easier to portray inner feelings of characters in the form of letters.

ersatz
[er-zahts, -sahts]
adj. n. substitute imitation
He looks exactly like his father but in temperament he is a poor ersatz.

erstwhile
[urst-hwahyl]
adj. Former
The erstwhile Maharani of Jaipur has now decided to stand for elections and ensure that she continues to rule the state.

Erudition
{er-yoo-dish-en}
(n) great academic knowledge; knowledge acquired by study, research, etc.
Chanakya is not only known for his sharp wisdom but also as a scholar of undoubted erudition.

escritoire
[es-kri-twahr]
n. writing desk with drawers
He inherited the elegant escritoire from his grandfather and he used it occasionally to write letters.

esplanade
[es-pluh-nahd, -neyd]
n. level space, esp. used as public promenade
Mumbai has a grand coastline and it must make the most of its beauty by creating esplanades wherever possible.

ethnological
[eth-nuh-loj-i-kuhl]
adj. a comparative study of peoples
Verrier Elwin came to India for an ethnological study of the various social groups in India's North Eastern region but in the process he became one of them.

etiolation
[ee-tee-uh-ley -shun]
n. make pale by excluding light, paleness caused by deprivation of light
Her etiolation indicated that she had been kept in captivity for a very long time.

Euphony
[yoo-fe-ni]
[n] agreeableness of sound; pleasing effect to the ear.
The melodious euphony of her voice added great value to her speech.

Expurgate
[ek-sper-geyt]
v. remove matter considered objectionable
Indian society is getting increasingly intolerant and it is now common for different social groups to demand that sections of books be expurgated if they do not coincide with their notion of truth.

extirpate
[ek-ster-peyt]
v. destroy, rule out
The administration must extirpate every possibility of the bird flu epidemic breaking out again.

F

Fabular
{fab-yuh-ler}
(adj.) pertaining to a story or a novel, written in the form of a fable
Though the setting of Rushdie's novels is the contemporary world, they are fabular in style.

Faconne
{fas-uh-ney}
(adj.) of a fabric having a small and elaborate pattern
His designs are inspired from the miniature paintings of yore and so he makes faconne garments.

Factoid
{fak-toid}
(n.) something fictitious or unsubstantiated that is presented as a fact, devised esp. to gain publicity, a trivial or insignificant fact
'The boss had resigned' was a factoid that was making the rounds of the office grapevine.

Facultative
{fak-uhl-tey-tiv}
(adj.) conferring a faculty, privileged permission or the power of doing or not doing something
Though business families are increasingly letting their managers take important decisions most of them do not give them complete facultative power, so they still have to consult the owners.

Fallow
{fae-lo}
(adj.) Ploughed but left unseeded during a growing season; characterised by inactivity; unproductive
The fallow gold market is not a cause for concern, as it will pick up during the marriage season.

Famacide
{fey-muh-sahyd}
(n.) the act of destroying another's reputation, a defamer or slanderer
It is common for the tabloid press to commit famacide and tarnish reputations of well-known people.

Familism
{fam-uh-liz-uh-m}
(n.) a subordination of personal interests and prerogatives of an individual to the values and demands of the family
Familism is the accepted and common way of life in India, unlike the West where individual desires hold supreme.

Farrago
{fae-ra-go}
(n) a confused mixture of different things; hotchpotch.
The film is a farrago of trite emotions, stereotyped acting and embarrassing lines.

Feline
[fi-line]
(adj.) like a cat; refers to animals of the cat family
She walked with an amazing feline grace on the ramp.

Fetish
[fet-ish]
[n] any object, idea, etc. eliciting unquestioning reverence, respect or devotion.
The English usually have a fetish about pet animals.

Fixate
{fik-seyt}
(v.) cause to become abnormally attached to a person or thing, make stable or stationary
After meeting her only once, he was fixated on her and insisted that he wished to spend his life with her.

Flagrant
{fley-gruhnt}
(adj.) shockingly noticeable, blatant, scandalous
It was the flagrant defiance of company rules that finally resulted in the termination of his job.

Foible
[foi-bil]
[n] a minor weakness or failing of character; slight flaw or defect.
We must learn to tolerate each other's little foibles in order to live harmoniously.

Foliaceous
{foh-lee-ey-shuh-s}
(adj.) of, like, or of the nature of a plant leaf; leaflike.
The foliaceous pattern on the wall gives the room a serene ambience.

Folksy
{fok-se}
(adj.)- - simple, friendly and informal; very informal
The restaurant, which boasted of a folksy image, was very popular among the collegians.

Forbearance
{fawr-bair-uhns}
(n.) patient self-control, tolerance
Many people mistook her forbearance for a sign of weakness and insisted that she was the wrong person for a position that required leadership.

Fortissimo
{fawr-tis-uh-moh}
(adj.) very loud singing or playing of a music passage
The fortissimo, at the opera can sometimes seem jarring to those uninitiated in western classical music.

Fracas
[frae-ka]
(n) noisy argument, fight or quarrel, usually involving many people
The noisy fracas in the street outside diverted the student's attention from the lecture.

Fraudulent
{fraw-juh-luhnt}
(adj.) involving guilt or fraud, deception
It is not only important for businesses to make profits but to do it without adopting fraudulent ways.

Fricative
{frik-uh-tiv}
(adj.) speech or sound characterised by audible friction of the breath in a narrow opening, consonants like th, v or h
After his vocal chords were damaged, he could not enunciate his fricatives properly.

Fugue
{fyoog}
(n.) piece of music in which a short melody or phrase is introduced by one part and developed by the other
The fugue as a composition is a challenge to play, as it requires complete co-ordination and understanding between the members of the quartet.

Fulminate
{fuhl-muh-neyt}
(v.) to explode with a loud noise, denunciate, condemn
Her Monday morning fulminating had become such a routine affair that her co-workers had grown indifferent to it.

Fulminate
{ful-me-nat}
(v.)- to criticize somebody/something angrily; to issue or pronounce with vehement condemnation.
The yoga instructor fulminated about the toxic effects of cold drinks to his class of fitness enthusiasts.

Fulsome
{fool-suhm}
(adj.) excessive, cloying, insincere
The fulsome praise that she received from her boss everyday made her doubt his sincerity.

Funereal
{fyoo-neer-ee-uhl}
(adj.) Of or appropriate to a funeral, dismal and dark, mournful
After India lost its match to Pakistan, a funereal atmosphere hung over the neighbourhood for the next few days.

Fusillade
{fyoo-suh-leyd}
(n.) continuous discharge of firearms or outburst of criticism or a general discharge or outpouring of anything
When irritated, the old aunt would let loose a fusillade of angry words all day.

G

Gauche
[gosh]
[adj.] lacking social grace, sensitivity or acuteness; awkward, crude, tactless
Seated between the two illustrious guests, she felt quite out-of-place and gauche.

Guttural
[gat-er-el]
(adj.) throaty, harsh-sounding sound seeming to be made at the back of the throat
The caged tiger emanated a low guttural growl that scared the visitors away

H

Hackneyed
{haek-ned}
(adj.) used too often and therefore boring; made commonplace.
The film bombed at the box office due to its hackneyed plot and predictable dialogues.

Harbinger
[har-bin-jer]
[n] a person who goes ahead and makes known the approach of another; herald; foreshadow
Very few people know that the butterfly is a harbinger of rains.

Harried
[hae-reed]
[v] harassed, annoyed or upset
Reporters harried the victorious cricket team after the press conference.

Highfalutin
{hai-fel-yoo-tin}
(adj.) trying to be serious or important that often appears silly and unnecessary; pretentious
The actor's highfalutin language and mannerisms were often the subject of ridicule amongst his so-called fans.

Homiletic
[hom-i-let-ik]
[adj.] pertaining to preaching or to sermons or discourses
The local clergy were quite used to the homiletic dialogues of their parish priest.

I

Incapacitate
[in-kae-pas-i-teit]
(v) to deprive of ability; qualification or strength
The tragic accident incapacitated the teenager and he could not realise his dream of becoming a pilot.

Incertitude
[in-sur-ti-tood]
(n) uncertainty or doubtfulness; instability or insecurity
As the Libran scales are not in balance, incertitude is a typical trait of people born under this sign.

Incognito
[in-kog-ni-to]
(adj. & adv.) having one's name or identity concealed to avoid notice or formal attentions
Movie stars often travel incognito to avoid intrusions into their privacy.

Incongruous
[in-kong-groo-es]
[adj.] strange; out-of-place; inappropriate; unbecoming; not harmonious in character
Her boisterous behaviour was incongruous with the sedate country town.

Inexorable
[in-ek-sor-ae-bil]
[adj.] unalterable; that which cannot be stopped or changed.
The inexorable rise in inflation has adversely affected the common man.

Internecine
{in-ter-ne-sen/in-ter-ni-sain}
(adj.) Conflict or struggle within a group; mutually destructive
The peaceful and tranquil atmosphere of Nepal has been marred by its internecine feuds.

Inure
{in-yoor}
(v) to get used to something unpleasant so that you are no longer strongly affected by it.
The refugees, quickly inured themselves to the harsh conditions of the camp.

J

Jettison
{jet-i-son}
(v) To get rid of something that is not successful or useful; discard
He was jettisoned as team coach after their defeat in the cricket match.

K

Kaput
[ke-poot]
(adj.) not working properly or ruined
The air-conditioner went kaput adding to the discomfiture of the hot and humid afternoon.

L

Linchpin
[linch-pin]
(n) person or thing vital to organisation.
Even though all the employees dreaded his acerbic tongue, they put up with him as they knew that he was the linchpin of the firm and hence, indispensable.

Lobbyist
{lob-ei-ist}
(n) a person who tries to influence legislation on behalf of a special interest; a member of a lobby or a group
The judge did not alter his decision in spite of the repeated warnings and threats of the lobbyist.

Locust years
[lo-kuhst yeerz]
(n) a period of economic hardship
The President's numerous foreign trips have been rationalised on account of rebuilding the country's global image, dented during the country's locust years of military dictatorship.

M

Machinations
{mak-ae-nae-shens}
(n)- an act or instance of plotting artfully especially with evil purpose.
Bhupesh is caught between the machinations of the opposition party and sniping from within.

Melange
{mei-lanj}
(adj.) a mixture or variety of different things; a medley.
A melange of different cultures gathered at the youth festival to witness the beauty pageant.

Meretricious
[mer-i-trish-es]
[adj.] seeming attractive but, in fact, having no real value; based on pretence, deception or insincerity.
Tourists are warned from time to time to guard against the meretricious claims of the local hawkers.

Mnemonics
[ni-mon-iks]
[n] the process or technique of improving or developing memory.
The teacher taught the spellings of gnat and gnu to the class by using mnemonics as a device.

Munificent
{myoo-ni-fi-cent}
(adj.)- extremely liberal in giving; very generous.
The young minister was forced to become munificent in order to fulfill a longstanding demand of his political mentor.

N

Nebulous
[neb-yoo-les]
(adj.) not clear; indistinct; vague; hazy
The nebulous description of the burglar given by the old woman, the only witness in the robbery case, made it difficult for the police to nab him.

Nom de guerre
{nom-de-gear}
(n) a false name that is used, for example, by somebody who belongs to a military organisation that is not official; an assumed name.
It was not very easy for the police to catch the elusive terrorist as he was better known by his nom de guerre that helped him to mask his identity.

O

Obsequies
{ob-se-kwees}
(n) funeral rites or ceremonies.
The U.N. representatives attended the state obsequies for the late princess Diana.

Odyssey
{uh-de-si}
(n) An extended adventurous voyage or trip, an intellectual or spiritual quest: an odyssey of discovery.
Gautam Buddha's odyssey from being a prince to becoming the enlightened one is indeed remarkable.

Officiant
{ah-fish-e-ant}
(n) One who performs a religious rite or presides over a religious service or ceremony.
The wedding was delayed by an hour, as the officiant was held-up in traffic.

Oleaginous
[o-li-aej-e-nes]
(adj.) having the nature or qualities of oil; producing oil
The oleaginous quality of the olive makes it a very valuable fruit.

P

Panache
{puh-nash}
(n) The quality of being able to do things in a confident and elegant way that other people find attractive; flair; style:
She carried off her debut performance with lot of panache.

Pecuniary
[pi-kyoo-ni-ree]
(adj.) pertaining to or related or connected with money
The business deal was lost because of its pecuniary disadvantage.

Pedigree
{ped-i-gree}
(adj.) a person's family history or the background of something especially that is impressive.
She was proud of her long pedigree and impressive family tree.

Pejorative
[pi-jo-rae-tiv]
(adj.) derogatory; belittling; expressing disapproval or criticism
The teacher's sarcastic and pejorative remarks seemed to have little or no effect on the stubborn teenager.

Polarise
{po-le-raiz}
(v) to separate or divide, opinion or people into two groups with completely opposite points of view.
The raging controversy on caste-based reservations has polarised students into two different groups.

Potatory
{poh-tuh-tor-ee}
(adj.) pertaining to or given to drinking.
He offered his expert guidance about the potatory pleasures of port, sherry, tequila and red wine.

Precipice
{pres-e-pis}
(n) a situation of great peril; a very steep side of a high cliff, mountain or rock.
The country is now on the edge of a precipice after all the internal strife that it is facing.

Prequel
[pri-kwel]
[n] a book or a movie about events that happened before those in a popular
book or movie.
The prequel to the sci-fi movie was more interesting than the movie itself.

Presumptuous
{pri-zump-choo-es}
(adj.) too confident, in a way that shows a lack of respect for other people.
He was so presumptuous that he did not feel guilty at all after damaging the car that he had borrowed from his friend.

Prognosticate
[prog-nos-ti-kayt]
(v) to forecast or predict something from present indications or signs.
The loud croak of frogs usually prognosticates a heavy downpour.

Prowess
[prow-es]
(n) great skill at doing something; expertise
The newspapers regularly carried stories of his prowess as a public speaker.

Pusillanimous
{pyoo-se-lan-e-mes}
(adj.) - frightened to take risks; cowardly; lacking courage or resolution.
The pusillanimous general abdicated to another country as soon as the enemy country surrounded his kingdom.

Q

Quarantine
[kwar-en-tin]
(n) a period of time when an animal or a person that has or may have a disease is kept away from others in order to prevent the disease from spreading
The patient suffering from tuberculosis was kept in strict quarantine for a period of three months.

Quixotic
[kwik-sot-ik]
(adj.) having or involving ideas or plans that show imagination but are usually not practical
The story did not go down well with mature intellectual readers because of its quixotic theme.

Quorum
[kwo-rem]
(n) minimum number of members who must be at a meeting before it can begin or decisions can be made
The meeting was called off due to insufficient quorum.

R

Ramifications
[raem-i-fi-ke-shen]
(n) consequence; implication
The government should have examined the possible social and communal ramifications of the Bill before passing it for implementation.

Reprieve
{ri-preev}
(n) A decision to stop or delay something bad that was going to happen, to postpone or cancel the punishment of, to bring relief to.
The campaigners won the case and gained a reprieve for the hospital that was threatened with closure.

S

Slugfest
{slug-fest}
(n) - an intense conflict or combat.
Slugfests between the captain and the minister have become the butt of political jokes.

Statutory
{stach-oo-tor-ee}
(adj.) fixed by law; that must be done by law.
People who smoke usually do not heed the statutory warning given at the base of the cigarette carton.

Stolid
{stol-id}
(adj.) not showing much emotion or interest; remaining always the same and not reacting or changing; impassive.
The old man sat stolid throughout the entire high-drama performance.

Stymy
[stai-mi]
(v) To stop someone from achieving an aim or stop some process from continuing; obstruct
The US stymied India's bid for the UNSC seat as expected.

Suborn
[se-born]
[v] to persuade, bribe, pay or induce someone to do something illegal or to tell lies in court.
The victim suborned the witness to speak in his favour in the court.

T

Tabled
{tei-beld}
(V) to present a plan formally for discussion
We plan to table this idea for debate.
(British English)
(v) to delay dealing with someone or something such as a proposal until a future time. To postpone consideration of, to shelve.
The bill on dance bars was tabled indefinitely.
(American English)

Totemic
{to-tem-ik}
(adj.) Symbolic; representative of a group.
The movie was totemic of the animals native to the wild jungle region.

V

Vituperative
{vit-yu-pe-rae-tiv}
(adj.) Full of cruel and angry criticism
The actor was unprepared for the vituperative attack by the film critics on his performance in a much hyped film.

Volitant
{vol-i-tuhnt}
(adj.) engaged in or capable of flight; active; moving about rapidly.
The hunter overlooked the volitant movements of the bird and this allowed it to escape his net.

W

Waft
(v) carry lightly and smoothly through the air or over water.
The smell of coffee wafted through the corridor and distracted the students from their studies.

Wanton
{won-ten}
(adj.) playful, irresponsible, capricious, wilful, serving no purpose.
It was only after the motorbike crash that nearly killed him, did the young boy realise that he must give up his wanton behaviour.

Wheedle
{weed-el}
(v) to make one pleasant to others, flatter or coax to get what one wants.
Though he had wheedled his way into the prestigious committee by befriending the senior management, his lack of merit prevented him from making the most of it.

Whet
{wet}
(v) sharpen or excite an appetite or desire.
Reading Orhan Pamuk's novel for the first time has whetted my appetite for more of his works.

Whiff
{wif}
(n) slight puff of air or breath.
A whiff of tobacco from the murderer's breath led the mastiff to him.

Whiz-kid
(n) bright, inventive young person with progressive ideas who achieves rapid success.
At twenty-five, she was seen as the whiz-kid who would one day head the company.

Whodunit
{huu-dan-it}
(n) detective or mystery story.
Agatha Christie has been the all-time popular writer of whodunits.

Whoop
{wuup}
(v) loud cry of joy.
There was a whoop in the crowd when, at the last minute, the ball hit the post for a winning goal.

Whop
{wop}
(v) beat, defeat.
They were whopped by a formidable score of 6-0 and lost all chances of making a comeback.

Wilful
(adj.) an obstinate person, determined to have one's own way.
Her wilful attitude made it difficult for us to arrive at a consensus on any issue.

Will-o-the-wisp
(np) person or thing one pursues unsuccessfully because it is difficult to reach or grasp.
His desire to make it as a movie star proved to be a will-o-the-wisp and he had to give up the dream in his middle age.

Willy-nilly
(adv.) willingly or unwillingly whether wanted or unwanted.
He had to willy-nilly accept the team's point of view, even though he personally held a different opinion.

Wince
{wins}
(v) facial expression showing bodily or mental pain or distress.
Just seeing the terrible accident on TV made us wince in pain.

Winsome
{winsem}
(adj.) attractive, pleasing, bright personality.
Her winsome ways not only made her the most popular boss but also helped greatly in her career growth.

Wrack
{rack}
(n) seaweed thrown upon the shore by the waves; a mass of thick high fast-moving cloud.
The wrack littering the beach made it nearly impossible for people to enjoy a relaxing walk along the seashore.

Wraith
{raith}
(n) apparition of a person seen shortly before or after his death.
She was sure that what she had seen was the wraith of her now deceased teacher, though not many were ready to believe her.

Wreak
{rek}
(v) give expression to, give effect to, in a damaging and harmful way.
She had decided to wreak vengeance on those who had caused her downfall.

Wry
{rai}
(adj.) to pull a face to show disappointment or ironic amusement.
He pulled a wry smile to acknowledge that the team he supported had lost the match.