Editorials English Vocabulary Words Set 16

The following vocabulary words are taken from The Editorials of Newspapres which are important for the upcoming exams. Add some more words to your English vocabulary list.

1. Embezzle – steal or misappropriate

   • Synonyms: defalcate, misapply, peculate, abstract, purloin
   • Antonyms: reimburse, compensate, receive
   • Usage: Four Mysore Sugar employees accused of embezzlement.
     

2. Venal – showing or motivated by susceptibility to bribery; corrupt.
   

   • Synonyms: amoral, dishonourable, unscrupulous, mercenary
   • Antonyms: ethical, upright, truthful, scrupulous
   • Usage: Because the mayor was a venal man, he had no problem accepting bribes from real estate developers.

3. Agape – (of a person’s mouth) wide open in surprise or wonder.
   

   • Synonyms: astonished, awestruck, confounded, overwhelmed
   • Antonyms: apathetic, indifferent, unconcerned, unimpressed, unmoved
   • Usage: Results of assembly elections from Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand left millions of Indians agape

4. Extol – praise enthusiastically.
   

   • Synonyms: acclaim, commend, eulogize, exalt, glorify
   • Antonyms: castigate, denounce, humiliate, debase
   • Usage: I got angry when my mother would extol my brother’s accomplishments and ignore all the good things I did.

5. Enfeeble – make weak or feeble.
   

   • Synonyms: debilitate, incapacitate, indispose, prostrate, immobilize
   • Antonyms: invigorate, refresh, energize, 
   • Usage: Trade unions are in an enfeebled state.

6. Profligacy – reckless extravagance or wastefulness in the use of resources.
   

   • Synonyms: absurdity, amenity, dissipation, exaggeration, exorbitance
   • Antonyms: economy, frugality, lack
   • Usage: After the millionaire saw evidence of his new wife’s profligate spending, he quickly filed for a divorce.

7. Delinquent – tending to commit crime, particularly minor crime.
   

   • Synonyms: tardy, derelict, slack, blameworthy, censurable, culpable
   • Antonyms: behaving, careful, responsible
   • Usage: Minister orders action against `delinquent’ doctors.

8. Semblance – the outward appearance or apparent form of something, especially when the reality is different.
   

   • Synonyms: pretence, facade, front, veneer, guise
   • Antonyms: concrete, difference, dissimilarity
   • Usage: Even though I was nervous during my presentation, I tried to project a semblance of calmness while speaking.

9. Conundrum – a confusing and difficult problem or question.
   

   • Synonyms: enigma, mystery, puzzlement
   • Antonyms: axiom, explanation, proposition, solution
   • Usage: Trying to solve this conundrum is really making my head hurt.

10. Crescendo – Gradually increasing in volume, grow louder.

    • Synonyms: escalation, apex, ascension, crest, culmination
    • Antonyms: base ,bottom, decline, nadir
    • Usage: When the man’s pain hit a crescendo, he passed into unconsciousness.