Tackling Vocabulary
Tackling Vocabulary
The vocabulary of a person is defined either as the set of all words that are understood by that
person or the set of all words likely to be used by that person when constructing new sentences.
Increasing the size of one's vocabulary, also called vocabulary building, is generally considered
to be an important part of both learning a language and improving one's skills in a language in
which one is already proficient. In GP, vocabulary is tested to ensure that you truly comprehend
the ideas and issues presented in the passages and you do not merely rehash words & phrases
used in the passage without any real comprehension and understanding. Your performance in
the vocabulary component also reveals your grasp and command of the English Language.
1. Using Contextual Clues - Scanning Up, Down, Sideways…
What? Make use of words you do know to make sense of words you do not know. Look at the
words that appear before, after, to the left and to the right of the word for clues that can help
you derive at the answer.
Consider the following worked examples –
1st Contextual Clue:
The word acrimonious precedes the noun ‘remarks’; thus we can guess that it must be an
adjective that tells us something about the type of remarks being made.
2nd Contextual Clue:
Tom Cruise made acrimonious remarks because someone describes his work as ‘sheer rubbish’ –
what type of comments would you make if someone described your work as ‘sheer rubbish’ –
would you say something positive? Or negative?
3rd Contextual clue:
Tom Cruise made acrimonious remarks in response to someone denouncing his work; how would
a person’s general tone and demeanor be when reacting to criticism?
Can you now guess from the contextual clues what acrimonious might mean?
Answer: Acrimonious means to be bitter and sharp in language or tone
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ZENITH May 2008
1st Contextual Clue: From the use of the word ‘by’; we can guess that the word castigated must
be a verb that tells us what action the coach took against the team after the humiliating defeat.
2nd Contextual Clue: From our real-world knowledge, we know that during post-match meetings,
coaches usually talk to their teams to review strengths and weaknesses of the game; thus,
castigated must be a way of speaking
3rd Contextual Clue: Since we know the coach spoke about the team’s shortcomings [as
opposed to strengths], it must have been something harsh and negative.
4th Contextual Clue: Since we know that a score of 6-0 is such a humiliating defeat in soccer
circles, the coach must have been infuriated and vexed when speaking to the team.
Can you now guess from the contextual clues what castigated might mean?
Answer: Castigated means to give severe criticism
2. Using Contextual Clues - Deducing from Examples & Explanation
What? Sometimes, a writer will explain the meaning of a difficult word for you. The writer may
do this by giving either an explanation of the word or a clear example.
Consider the following worked examples –
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Contextual Clue: The phrase ‘could never adjust to the modern world’ indicates that this is
someone who is averse to modernity and instead harbors worldviews that are outdated and not
in-sync with current modern views
Answer: Old-fashioned, outmoded, obsolete or archaic
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Contextual Clue: Mrs. Ng’s attitude when giving money to charity is likened to the behavior of a
young child who is forced to give away his sweets. How would a small child give away his
precious sweets? He will do so with much reluctance and resentment. Such comparison gives us
a clue about Mrs. Ng’s attitude when giving to charity.
Answer: Resent, dislike, hate, detest or abhor
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Contextual Clue: A comparison is made to a plant without water – what will happen to a plant
that is impoverished of water? – It will wilt, deteriorate and degenerate over time. Likening a
child’s desire to learn [without good teaching] to this degenerative phenomena gives us a clue
that atrophy must be related/similar to the notion of degeneration.
ZENITH May 2008
Answer: Waste away, deteriorate or weaken
3. Using Contextual Clues – Inferring from Antonyms & Contrasts
What? Sometimes we can tell the meaning of an unfamiliar word because its opposite
meaning is given in the sentence.
Consider the following worked examples –
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1st Contextual Clue: The syllogism ‘but’ is usually used to indicate something ‘to the contrary’ of
what is already mentioned. In this case, this gives us a clue that people’s demeanor toward Mr.
Arul is now contrary to being friendly.
2nd Contextual Clue: The past tense indicator ‘was’ indicates that ‘friendliness’ was something
shown before Mr. Arul went to prison. Thus, their behavior in the present must be something
contrary to friendliness.
Answer: Because of the antonym/contrast presented in the context, we can guess at the
meaning of ‘ostracized’ – to exclude from a group.
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1st Contextual Clue: The adjective ‘suspicious’ indicates that something queer and shady is
going on that is out of sync with regular, expected behavior – hence Wendy's behavior must be
in contrary to her usual manner of speaking straight to the point.
2nd Contextual Clue The past tense verb ‘usually spoke’ is indicative that now her behavior is
unusual / contrary to her habitual tendency of speaking straight to the point.
Answer: From the clues that indicate some sort of antonym/opposite meaning, we can guess
that to ‘prevaricate’ means to stray from the issue / equivocate or quibble.
4. Breaking Up a Complex Word into its Constituent Parts
What? Many English words are complex words – i.e. not just merely root words – they are an
amalgamation of prefixes, suffixes and one or more root words fused together. ‘Defragmenting’
a complex word can sometimes give us clues to its meaning.
Consider the following worked examples –
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Step 1: Break up the word ‘debilitate’ into its constituent parts - De + Ability.
ZENITH May 2008
Step 2: Figure out the independent meanings of the word parts, then try stringing the meanings
together. ‘De’ is a prefix that indicates doing or making the opposite of something – as used in
words like ‘deconstruct’ [to undo what you have constructed], ‘Decongest’ [to un-congest
something]. Ability refers to having the mental and physical power to be able to do something.
Answer: Debilitate means to impair the strength of the body.
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Step 1: Break up the word ‘maladjusted’ into its constituent parts - Mal + Adjusted.
Step 2: Figure out the independent meanings of the word parts, then try stringing the meanings
together. ‘Mal’ is a prefix to indicate something going wrong – as used in words like malfunction
or malnutrition [something going wrong with one’s nourishment]. To be ‘adjusted’ refers to being
‘in tune’ or ‘in step’ or ‘in the swing of things’.
Answer: Maladjusted means to be disturbed, neurotic, unstable or estranged.
5. Looking for Clues Out of Context
What? Sometimes when the passage offers no or little contextual clues, we need to consider if
we have seen the word out of the passage’s context. This involves thinking about other familiar
real-world usage of the term and trying to guess if that meaning aptly fits in the context of the
passage.
Consider the following worked examples –
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Step 1: Think in what context outside of the passage have you heard this word before? – You
have probably heard of a duty roster, attendance roster or team roster. In these occasions, roster
usually refers a list of names.
Step 2: Thus we can deduce that in this case roster refers to a list of physical deformities.
Answer: Roster refers to a listing or catalogue.
Dos & Don’ts of Vocabulary!
Do use a short phrase if you do not know a synonym.
Do check if the word you have given makes sense in the context of the passage.
Do NOT give a string of multiple answers.
Do NOT change the tense or grammatical form of the word – e.g. from a noun to verb
form.
Do NOT merely replicate the same word in your answer – e.g. inevitable; something that
is not evitable.
