Vocabulary Made Easy series: Upgrade your language skills to score well in exams

Check out the words and solve the quiz to push yourself to improve your word power and language skills.

To be able to express yourself better in exams, students need to improve their language skills. With good communication skills and vocabulary, students can score better in their exams.

With good communication skills and vocabulary, students can score better in their exams. (File photo)

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.

Wan (Adjective)

Meaning: (of a person's complexion or appearance) pale and giving the impression of illness or exhaustion

Example: I was shocked at how pale and wan my friend looked

Vestige (Noun)

Meaning: a trace or remnant of something that is disappearing or no longer exists

Example: He waited patiently, but without a vestige of sympathy

Wizened (Adjective)

Meaning: shrivelled or wrinkled with age

Example: Gnarled and wizened but full of life, they light every page on which they appear

Wanton (Adjective)

Meaning: (of a cruel or violent action) deliberate and unprovoked

Example: The wanton destruction of the forests must be stopped

Vociferous (Adjective)

Meaning: expressing or characterized by vehement opinions; loud and forceful

Example: Those who call themselves left wing are among the most vociferous opponents of change today

Voluble (Adjective)

Meaning: (of a person) talking fluently, readily, or incessantly

Example: I think I upheld the honour of Scotland by making a voluble speech of thanks

Untempered (Adjective)

Meaning: not moderated or lessened by anything

Example: The products of a technological mastery untempered by political imagination

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

1. An excited and ___________ discussion. Which of the following words fits best in the sentence? (Voluble, Untempered)
2. More ____________ opponents of the ID card may wish to sign this pledge also. Which of the following words fits best in the sentence? (vociferous, wanton)
3. Can you think of some antonyms for the word Wizened?
4. Can you think of some synonyms for the word Vestige?

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

(Definitions and examples are from Oxford Languages)