Daily Star Vocab 26/08/25

 

Join Whatsapp group for Job preparation. Click

Join FB group for Job Preparation. Click

Featuring 30 relatively tough words from the Today's Daily Star articles:

No.	Word	Part of Speech	Meaning (simple English)	4 Synonyms	4 Antonyms	Example Sentence
1	abrogate	verb	to officially end a law or agreement	repeal, revoke, annul, cancel	enact, approve, validate, uphold	The court abrogated the outdated statute.
2	acrimonious	adjective	full of bitter anger	hostile, rancorous, caustic, spiteful	amicable, friendly, gentle, civil	The acrimonious debate stalled the meeting.
3	ambivalent	adjective	having mixed or unsure feelings	uncertain, torn, conflicted, hesitant	decided, certain, resolute, sure	She felt ambivalent about moving abroad.
4	apocryphal	adjective	probably not true; of doubtful truth	dubious, spurious, mythical, fabricated	authentic, verified, genuine, factual	The apocryphal story spread online.
5	appease	verb	to calm someone by giving what they want	pacify, mollify, soothe, placate	provoke, enrage, anger, inflame	The manager appeased customers with refunds.
6	arbitrary	adjective	based on personal choice, not reason	capricious, random, whimsical, subjective	rational, fair, consistent, systematic	Workers disliked the arbitrary rules.
7	assuage	verb	to make less severe	alleviate, ease, mitigate, relieve	aggravate, worsen, intensify, heighten	Clear data assuaged investor fears.
8	attenuate	verb	to make weaker or thinner	reduce, weaken, lessen, dilute	strengthen, amplify, boost, intensify	Trees can attenuate city noise.
9	beleaguer	verb	to surround or trouble constantly	besiege, harass, pester, plague	aid, assist, comfort, relieve	The start-up was beleaguered by lawsuits.
10	bombastic	adjective	using big words with little meaning	pompous, grandiose, inflated, pretentious	modest, simple, plain, restrained	His bombastic speech impressed few.
11	circumspect	adjective	careful and unwilling to take risks	cautious, wary, prudent, vigilant	reckless, careless, rash, daring	Auditors are circumspect with expenses.
12	conflate	verb	to mix different things into one	merge, combine, fuse, blend	separate, distinguish, divide, split	Do not conflate opinion with fact.
13	contravene	verb	to go against a rule or law	violate, breach, defy, infringe	comply, obey, follow, observe	The ad contravened safety standards.
14	deride	verb	to mock or make fun of	ridicule, sneer, scorn, taunt	praise, applaud, respect, admire	Critics derided the low-budget film.
15	despot	noun	a ruler with cruel absolute power	tyrant, autocrat, dictator, oppressor	liberator, democrat, reformer, representative	The despot silenced all dissent.
16	dichotomy	noun	a clear split between two things	division, duality, split, contrast	unity, harmony, integration, union	The report shows a rural–urban dichotomy.
17	dissonance	noun	disagreement or harsh mix of sounds/ideas	conflict, discord, disparity, clashing	harmony, accord, agreement, unity	There is dissonance between words and actions.
18	eclectic	adjective	choosing from many styles or ideas	mixed, diverse, varied, wide-ranging	uniform, narrow, limited, exclusive	The café has an eclectic menu.
19	egregious	adjective	very bad and obvious	outrageous, flagrant, shocking, glaring	minor, trivial, slight, subtle	An egregious error cost the team the match.
20	enervate	verb	to drain energy or strength	weaken, debilitate, exhaust, sap	energize, strengthen, invigorate, fortify	The heat enervated the hikers.
21	entrench	verb	to establish firmly so it’s hard to change	embed, cement, root, secure	loosen, weaken, uproot, dislodge	Old habits are deeply entrenched here.
22	equivocate	verb	to avoid giving a clear answer	hedge, dodge, waffle, prevaricate	clarify, state, assert, affirm	The spokesperson equivocated on the issue.
23	exculpate	verb	to show someone is not guilty	absolve, acquit, clear, vindicate	blame, convict, condemn, implicate	New evidence exculpated the driver.
24	fractious	adjective	hard to control; easily annoyed	irritable, unruly, quarrelsome, testy	agreeable, calm, docile, patient	The fractious crowd shouted at officials.
25	gratuitous	adjective	unnecessary; without good reason	unwarranted, needless, unjustified, superfluous	necessary, justified, warranted, essential	The film had gratuitous violence.
26	iconoclast	noun	a person who attacks common beliefs	rebel, heretic, nonconformist, dissenter	traditionalist, conformist, loyalist, believer	The iconoclast challenged academic norms.
27	impetuous	adjective	acting quickly without thinking	rash, hasty, impulsive, reckless	cautious, deliberate, careful, measured	His impetuous tweet sparked backlash.
28	ineluctable	adjective	impossible to avoid	inevitable, inescapable, unavoidable, certain	avoidable, preventable, escapable, uncertain	Change is ineluctable in technology.
29	insidious	adjective	spreading harm slowly and secretly	stealthy, subtle, treacherous, sly	harmless, open, benign, overt	The malware posed an insidious threat.
30	intrepid	adjective	very brave and bold	fearless, daring, courageous, valiant	cowardly, timid, fearful, fainthearted	The intrepid reporter entered the war zone.

```