Vocabulary In News

swivel: (v) revolve, rotate, swing around

An owl swivels his head to visualize the surroundings.

spurn: (v) reject, contemn, despise, rebuff, reprobate
Investors have plenty of reasons to spurn PIA.

denigrate: (v) belittle, malign, asperse, defame
He has been known to both praise and denigrate “talent” equally.

implacable: (adj.) merciless, grim, inflexible, rancorous, vindictive
An officer with a face of implacable opacity sent us packing.

beleaguered: (adj.) troubled, tormented, hassled, persecuted, vexed
Army barricades may give beleaguered communities a breathing space.

adamant: (adj.) inflexible, intransigent, obdurate, unswayable
PPP is trying to bypass adamant Ch Nisar on caretaker PM issue.

farce: (n) nonsense, absurdity, buffoonery, mockery, slapstick, travesty
Tragic history, when repeated, becomes farce.

mayhem: (n) chaos, commotion, fracas, pandemonium
To stop the mayhem, hundreds of extra police officers were sent to the city.

scuttle: (v) destroy, ruin, overthrow, foil, arrest
Joint sitting scuttled Malik’s plan to brief the Senate in-camera.

detente: (n) amity, truce, agreement, cordiality, reconcilement
Detente between rival Arab states has eased political pressures in Lebanon.

egress: (n) departure, doorway, exit, opening,
They would shoot and run and `always have an egress set up so they can get out.

finesse: (n) acumen, adroitness, competence, discernment
As Internet search engines grow in speed and finesse, surfers question their usefulness.

wry: (adj.) sarcastic, distorted, askew, crooked, mocking, sardonic
Even though covered with a wry smile, the words weren’t idle.

emasculate: (v) weaken, cripple, impoverish, debilitate, enfeeble, enervate
Roosevelt’s attempt to emasculate the post made Churchill more determined.

foray: (n) sally, assault, invasion, swoop, sortie, irruption
A spy returning from an out-front foray brought news of a positive response.

puerile: (adj.) silly, childish, naive, foolish, trivial, immature, inane
She told the teenagers that such puerile behaviour would not be tolerated again.

audacious: (adj.) daring, courageous, intrepid, daredevil, dauntless
Boonen announced last week his audacious bid to go for Olympic glory.

trivialise: (v) babble, blurt, gibber, gossip, jabber, mumble, prate, tattle
Geo Television aired a special chat-show which managed to trivialise the issue.

boozer: (n) alcoholic, inebriate, lush, sot, sponge, toper, wino
I wouldn’t call myself a boozer, but when I hear of a new drink, I’m normally game.

apparition: (n) ghost, bogeyman, chimera, phantom, spectre, spirit
She was standing with her back to the window, gazing at her as if she had seen an apparition.

prying: (adj.) inquisitive, spying, curious, intrusive, snoopy
A cordon of security men made sure there were no prying eyes.

camaraderie: (n) friendship, conviviality, esprit de corps, gregariousness, sociability
However, relationships on board are frowned on, despite the strong camaraderie.

pro bono: (adj.) for public good
In legal education, the attraction of pro bono activity for students is immense.

snide: (adj.) malicious, cynical, sarcastic, spiteful, snarky
Collins spent the afternoon giving snide little clips to those within reach.

Idioms

nip in the bud: abort, stymie, arrest, obviate
Health dept. was directed to nip dengue in the bud.

shot in the arm: support, encouragement, assistance, pat on the head
Interferon project got a shot in the arm yesterday.

smell a rat: disbelieve, discredit, doubt, query, cast doubt on
I don’t think this was an accident. I smell a rat.

on song: blooming, thriving, victorious
Pakistan are on song as Saeed Ajmal bowled six batsmen.

stick to one’s guns: persist, endure, stand one’s ground
Prime Minister Pervaiz Ashraf sticks to his guns on financial issues.

on same page: agreeing, compatible, harmonious, like-minded, on the same wavelength
KP coalition partners are not on same page as far as operation in Waziristan is concerned.

as old as Aristotle: existed for a very long time, hoary, primordial,
The robots are new, but the anxiety over automation is as old as Aristotle