Vocab 74

1.       Dignify (v): To cause something to be valued and respected when that is not deserved.

E.g: I’m not even going to dignify that stupid question with an answer.

2.       Revert (v): While revert means to return to something earlier or to go back, it’s often used wrongly in combination. If you’re buying the older version of the game, you might say you’re reverting back”, which is like saying “go back back”.

You can revert to a simpler way of life or revert to bad behavior. Though rare in modern use, some international English speakers do use revert back for reply in writing and e-mail, but most of the time, using revert with back is redundant, or repetitive.

E.g: Why does the conversation have to revert to money every five minutes?

3.       Evasive (1) (adj): Answering questions in a way that is not direct or clear, especially because you do not want to give an honest answer.

E.g: When Tony was caught by police, he started giving evasive answers to addle them.

(2): Done to avoid something bad happening.

E.g: By the time the pilot realized how close the plane was to the building, it was too late to take evasive action.

4.       Imperative (adj): When something absolutely has to be done and cannot be put off, use this word.

“Do it” is an imperative statement. It’s till used that way, but it’s more commonly applied to something so pressing it cannot be put off. “Hiring new workers has become imperative”. In short, it is extremely important or urgent.

E.g: The president said it was imperative that the release of all hostages be secured.

5.       Pachyderm (n): A pachyderm is a really big animal with really thick skin, like an elephant, hippo, or rhino.

If you break this word to its parts, you see pachy which means thick and derm which means skin. It is believed that thick skinned animals all belonged to the same family and categorized them together. We now know to classify them according to different features.

6.       Erstwhile (adj): If your dad used to play in a punk band, but is now a computer programmer, you could call him an erstwhile punk rocker. Erstwhile means previous or former.

You can go to your class reunion 20 years after you graduate high school and see your erstwhile friends. That means that they had been your friends, but you lost touch with them, so that they weren’t friends of yours anymore. Can you think of some people that you wish were erstwhile classmates of yours?

7.       Raucous (adj): It means unpleasantly loud, or behaving in a noisy and disorderly way. It can be hard to give an oral report in the front of a classroom when the kids in the back are being raucous.

Raucous is often used to refer to loud laughter, loud voices, or a loud party, all of which can be harsh or unpleasant. Near synonyms are strident and rowdy.

8.       Premises (n): The land and buildings owned by someone, especially by a company or organization.

E.g: The company is relocating to new premises.

9.       Conspiracy (n): When people secretly plan together to do something bad or illegal.

E.g: The three men are accused of conspiracy.

10.   Hue (n): Green, orange, yellow, and blue – each of these is a hue, a color or a shade that’s true. A rainbow shows the melting of one hue to into another, from red to violet, and all shades in between.

The noun hue means both a color and a shade of a color. Green is a hue and turquoise is a hue of both green and blue.

E.g: The speech had a hue of politics – disguised with humor – that turned the mayor’s face from pale hue to red as he laughed.

11.   Indulge (v): To allow yourself or another person to have something enjoyable, especially more than is good for you. (to enjoy freely).

E.g: I love champagne but I don’t often indulge myself.

12.   Wail (v): To wail is to let loose a long loud cry. When it comes to expressing unhappiness, wailing lies at the extreme end of the spectrum. So, it’s best to save the response for life’s most unpleasant moments.

E.g: The women gathered around the coffin and began to wail, as was the custom in the region.

13.   Brood (n): A brood is a group of young born (mostly birds) at the same time – like a brood of chicks – but your parents might use the word for you and your siblings: “We are taking the whole brood to the movies tonight”.

14.   Stupefied (v): If something leaves you stupefied it has made you so astonished you can’t speak or even really think.

E.g: After seeing Jayesh dancing on the stage, who used to get gullible easily, we were stupefied.

15.   Howl (v): If a dog or wolf howls, it makes a long, sad sound.

E.g: In the silence of the night, a lone wolf howled.

Compiled By: Chaudhary Amit V.

Source: Vocabulary.com, Cambridge Dictionary