Daily Star Vocab - 16/08/25

 

30 Tough Words — Meanings, Synonyms, Antonyms & Example Sentences

Word	Part of Speech	Meaning (Simple)	Synonyms (4)	Antonyms (4)	Example Sentence
Transition	Noun	Change from one stage to another	change, shift, transformation, passage	stability, stagnation, permanence, constancy	The nation is preparing for a major political transition.
Graduation	Noun	Moving from one level/status to another	completion, advancement, promotion, progress	drop, failure, setback, decline	Bangladesh prepares for graduation from LDC status.
Interim	Adjective	Temporary, in the meantime	temporary, provisional, short-term, stopgap	permanent, lasting, fixed, enduring	An interim government was formed after the election.
Sovereign	Adjective	Independent, self-ruling	autonomous, independent, supreme, self-governing	dependent, subordinate, colonial, subject	Each sovereign country decides its own laws.
Stakeholders	Noun	People/groups affected by an action	participants, investors, partners, shareholders	outsiders, bystanders, nonparticipants, strangers	The project was discussed with all key stakeholders.
Devaluation	Noun	Drop in value of currency	depreciation, reduction, decline, weakening	appreciation, increase, strengthening, rise	The devaluation of the currency hurt importers.
Preferential	Adjective	Giving special advantage	special, favored, privileged, advantageous	equal, impartial, fair, neutral	Exporters enjoyed preferential trade benefits.
Vigorous	Adjective	Strong, energetic	strong, forceful, dynamic, robust	weak, feeble, sluggish, frail	He launched a vigorous campaign for reforms.
Summit	Noun	Meeting of leaders	conference, meeting, gathering, convention	separation, division, dispersal, disbanding	The leaders met at an international summit.
Reprisal	Noun	Revenge, retaliation	retaliation, revenge, payback, retribution	forgiveness, pardon, mercy, peace	The villagers feared reprisal from the rebels.
Effectiveness	Noun	Ability to achieve goals	efficiency, productivity, capability, power	ineffectiveness, weakness, failure, inability	The policy’s effectiveness is still debated.
Hesitant	Adjective	Unsure, unwilling	uncertain, doubtful, reluctant, wary	confident, willing, certain, decisive	He was hesitant to accept the risky offer.
Enforcement	Noun	Making people obey rules	implementation, execution, application, policing	neglect, disregard, abandonment, tolerance	Law enforcement is crucial for security.
Visible	Adjective	Can be clearly seen	clear, obvious, apparent, noticeable	hidden, invisible, unseen, obscure	No visible progress was made on the project.
Compromised	Adjective	Weakened, unsafe	endangered, undermined, damaged, impaired	secure, safe, strong, protected	The system’s security was compromised.
Choreographed	Adjective	Carefully planned	arranged, directed, staged, organized	spontaneous, random, unplanned, natural	The event looked natural but was choreographed.
Mobilising	Verb (gerund)	Organizing for action	assembling, rallying, gathering, deploying	dispersing, scattering, disbanding, dismissing	The party was mobilising its supporters.
Dimension	Noun	Aspect, feature	aspect, element, side, component	whole, entirety, unity, totality	The crisis has an economic dimension.
Overt	Adjective	Open, not hidden	open, obvious, explicit, apparent	hidden, covert, secret, concealed	His overt criticism angered the officials.
Dilemma	Noun	A difficult choice	problem, predicament, puzzle, conflict	solution, answer, certainty, clarity	The students faced a moral dilemma.
Proxy	Noun	Substitute or representative	delegate, agent, substitute, representative	original, principal, leader, self	He voted by proxy at the meeting.
Uncanny	Adjective	Strange, mysterious	eerie, weird, odd, strange	normal, natural, usual, ordinary	She has an uncanny sense of direction.
Conflicted	Adjective	Emotionally uncertain	unsure, doubtful, torn, divided	certain, confident, decided, resolute	He felt conflicted about his decision.
Revival	Noun	Return to life or strength	renewal, rebirth, restoration, resurgence	decline, collapse, downfall, extinction	The festival led to a cultural revival.
Contradictory	Adjective	Opposite, inconsistent	conflicting, opposing, inconsistent, contrary	consistent, compatible, harmonious, agreeing	His contradictory statements confused the audience.
Volatile	Adjective	Unstable, likely to change suddenly	unstable, unpredictable, explosive, erratic	stable, steady, calm, constant	The situation remains highly volatile.
Orchestrated	Verb (past)	Carefully arranged or controlled	arranged, organized, coordinated, managed	random, chaotic, unplanned, disordered	The protests were orchestrated by activists.
Capacity-building	Noun	Developing skills or abilities	training, strengthening, empowering, educating	weakening, destruction, neglect, reduction	Workshops support capacity-building of youth.
Demographic	Adjective	Related to population statistics	statistical, social, population-based, census	individual, singular, personal, unique	The demographic shift will affect policy.
Autocratic	Adjective	Ruling with absolute power	dictatorial, absolute, tyrannical, authoritarian	democratic, free, liberal, representative	Citizens protested against the autocratic rule.