Chagrin: Disappointment |
She again emerged as the topper, despite all efforts by her rivals, much to their chagrin and her delight. |
Disparage: Belittle |
Calling this swank five-star hotel a dhaba is nothing but a vicious attempt to disparage its status as a prominent eating joint. |
Domicile: Home |
Which state are you domiciled in, Punjab, Haryana or Himachal? |
Foible: Weakness |
All humans have some foibles, which ought to be overlooked in the interest of mutual social relationships; it is only the bigger mistakes which should command our attention. |
Galore: In abundance |
With problems galore and few solutions in sight, it is indeed a tough situation for Rinu. |
Geniality: Warmth and kindliness of disposition |
He is appreciated for his geniality towards others. |
Gesticulate: To gesture with the arms |
Since he could not speak during the chairman’s speech, he gesticulated to me by hand, indicating me to come in the front row for some consultation. |
Ghastly: Hideous |
His room was a ghastly mess. |
Giddy: Dizzy |
Ah! The giddy feeling you experience when you stand on the top floor of a 110-storeyed building. |
Indolent: Disinclined to work, habitually lazy |
He is indolent and loves to sleep rather than work. |
Innate: From birth |
Most psychologists now agree that a person's personality is shaped by an interplay of innate traits and environmental factors. |
Intangible: Cannot be touched, impalpable, indefinable |
Many accounting firms opine that many intangible corporate assets like company goodwill, brand recognition etc., though not easily measurable, must be considered while evaluating the worth of a company. |
Naïve: Unsophisticated, inexperienced |
Only the naïve would vote for such a crooked fellow in elections, whose infamous stories are rampant everywhere in the constituency. |
Prodigal: Recklessly wasteful, extravagant, profuse, lavish |
The prodigal municipality was busy in decorating the city, be damned with the economy drive, while what was required was a better sanitation system in anticipation of the minister’s visit. |
Proffer: Offer |
The doctor shook the hand proffered by the visiting patient. |
Proficient: Expert ability |
Hoshiar Singh has considerable proficiency in Mathematics apart from English, which is his pet subject. |
Rarefied: Made less dense (of a gas) |
The amount of oxygen in the atmosphere goes on decreasing sharply as we move up; it becomes so rarefied in the upper reaches that we are forced to use an oxygen cylinder to breathe. |
Ruse: Trick |
I could see through the trickster's ruse, leading me to call his bluff. |
Spinster: A woman who has never been married |
To ensure her parent’s care, she decided to remain a spinster. |
Surfeit: Excess |
The surfeit of political parties in India tends to confuse the voter, leading many to suggest that more stringent criteria should be applied so that there are very few parties around. |
Surmount: To conquer |
With perseverance and patience, a man can surmount probably any kind of difficulty in life. |
Surrogate: Substitute |
Though nothing can act as a surrogate for a real space flight, yet this simulation exercise is the closest in terms of the "real" experience. |
Sustenance: Support, livelihood, living |
The kidnapped policeman had to sustain himself on whatever little food was provided to him by his captors. |
Tenable: Defendable |
Since the theory was not tenable on the basis of scientific evidence, it could not enjoy much acceptance. |
Unwieldy: Awkward |
The apparent reason given by the British for the partition of Bengal was that the province had become too unwieldy for effective governance. |
Whittle: Reduce slowly |
Originally, the government had planned to spend Rs. 500 Crore on this scheme, but because of other pressing reasons, the allocation has now been whittled down to only Rs. 300 Crore. |