Vocabulary Made Easy series: Improve your language skills without much hassle

It is not that hard to have great language skills and vocabulary. With a proper plan and dedication, everyone can improve their vocabulary.

There is a chance that we know someone in our peer group with impeccable communication and language skills. Well, it is not that hard to have great language skills and vocabulary. With a proper plan and dedication, everyone can improve their vocabulary.

Here's a way to improve your vocabulary and communication skills. (Shutterstock)

Here's a way to improve your vocabulary and communication skills. Check out the words for the day and a small quiz to push yourself to improve your word power and language skills.

Ponderous (Adjective)

Meaning: slow and clumsy because of great weight

Example: The Nissan Patrol drives as it looks - heavy and a little ponderous

Polyglot (Adjective)

Meaning: knowing or using several languages

Example: The polyglot Pope, at intervals, addressed the crowd in Romanian, Serbian, Croatian, Czech, and Polish

Perfidious (Adjective)

Meaning: deceitful and untrustworthy

Example: A perfidious lover

Quandary (Noun)

Meaning: a state of perplexity or uncertainty over what to do in a difficult situation

Example: I’m in a bit of a quandary about what I should do next

Repose (Noun)

Meaning: a state of rest, sleep, or tranquillity

Example: He had lost none of his grace or his repose

Recluse (Noun)

Meaning: a person who lives a solitary life and tends to avoid other people

Example: She has turned into a virtual recluse

Restive (Adjective)

Meaning: (of a person) unable to remain still, silent, or submissive, especially because of boredom or dissatisfaction

Example: Their people cannot be kept entirely ignorant of this situation, and become restive

Rife (Adjective)

Meaning: (especially of something undesirable) of common occurrence; widespread

Example: Speculation ran rife that he was an arms dealer

Slander (Verb)

Meaning: make false and damaging statements about (someone)

Example: The law relating to libel and slander prevents people saying such things

Put your thinking cap on and try to answer the following questions to understand how much you have grasped.

1. The streets were __________ with rumour and fear. Which of the following words fits best in the sentence? (Rife, Slander)
2. Here is an impoverished country with a _____________ population demanding improvements to their lives. (Restive, Recluse)
3. Can you think of some antonyms for the word Repose?
4. Can you think of some synonyms for the word Quandary?

Watch out for this space for your weekly update on improving word power.

(Definitions and examples are from Oxford Languages)