the vocab weekly_issue _40

7/31/2019 The Vocab Weekly_Issue _40

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The Vocab Weekly

1 www.wordpandit.com July 24-June 31| Issue 40

Arachnophobia

Arachnophobia

Phobias are unnecessary for people who do not have it and scary for people who have it. You are an

arachnophobic, if you are scared of eight legged creatures strolling around on your wall. Arachnophobia is a

Noun. Arachnophobia has been derived from the union of two Greek words arachne, meaning spider and

phobia, meaning fear.

Pronunciation: ə-ˌrak -nə-ˈfō- bē-ə

The dictionary definitions of arachnophobia are as follows:

1) An abnormal fear of spiders

2) Pathological fear or loathing of spiders.

Master tip to learn arachnophobia:

Ronald Weasely, a famous character from Harry Potter series was scared of spiders. The word can also be learnt

easily by associating the first half .i.e. arachno with the imagery of spiders on the wall.

Arachnophobia can e used in following ways:

1) Swati is an arachnophobic. (Adjective)

2) Arachnophobia is one of the most common phobias that people acquire. (Noun)

3) The movie Spiderman would have been disastrous if spiderman was an arachnophobe (Noun)

http://wordpandit.com/2012/arachnophobia/



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Misery

Misery

Misery is nothing else but your bad luck or misfortune.

Tough luck, isn’t it? The guy really had his cup of misery full to end up like that.

Meaning of Misery

1. The state of suffering and want as a result of physical circumstances or extreme poverty.

2. Mental or emotional unhappiness or distress: "Our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions, and not

on our circumstances" (Martha Washington).

3. A cause or source of suffering.

Pronunciation: miz-uh-ree

http://wordpandit.com/2012/misery/



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Mastiff

Mastiff

In simple words, these are big furry dogs: as simple as that.

Word origin :1300–50; Middle English mastif, perhaps extracted from Anglo-French masti ( n ) s (taken as

*mastifs ), plural of Old French mastin< Vulgar Latin ( canis ) *ma ( n ) suētīnus, derivative of

Latinmansuētus tame, mild

Pronunciation: mas-tif, mah-stif

Meanings of Mastiff

1. Any of a breed of large, powerful dog with hanging lips and drooping ears and having a short, thick, often

fawn-colored coat, dark 2. on the muzzle, nose, and ears: formerly used for hunting, now often a watchdog and

guard dog An old breed of large powerful short-haired dog, usually fawn or brindle with a dark mask

Master’s tip to learn Mastiff

The best way to learn this word can be through it’s pronunciation “ mah- stiff” , now “ mah” can be thought as

the hindi word “maha” which means very and “stiff” can be thought to be something that is strong. Hence

mastiff can be something that is very strong and powerful but in context to dogs.

Sentences example for Mastiff

1. One of my clients has a bull mastiff, its a boy and about the size of a lab and weighs 43kg.

2. At one time he possessed a large mastiff named lion, which he disposed of to a stranger.

http://wordpandit.com/2012/mastiff/



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Octogenarian

Octogenarian

Octogenarian is a little confusing when it comes to using its form. It can be used both as an adjective and as a

noun. So one needs to be very careful as to which form should be used. But it is an extremely easy to word to

remember, when it comes to its meaning.

Pronunciation: ok-tuh-juh-nair-ee-uhn

Meaning of Octogenarian:

1. Between the age of 80 – 90 years (adjective)

2. Someone who is in between the age of 80 – 90 years (noun)

Master’s tip to learn the word:It’s very simple to learn the word octogenarian. For the word one must remember that “octo” means eight.

Now take the other part of the word “gen”. So octogenarian is a generation that is in its 80’s. You could

probably keep into mind the picture of your grandfather or great grandfather when thinking of this word.

Usage Examples:

1. Our nation is full of octogenarian leaders who are absolutely incapable of bringing about any radical change

in the society (noun).

2. The family celebrated the octogenarian’s 81st birthday (adjective).

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Stymie

Stymie

A stymie sounds something really tiny, but taking into consideration it hinders, stymie can be really big for

some people. It is a Noun and a Verb. Its first usage dates back to 1855-60.

Pronunciation: stahy-mee

Meanings of Stymie

1) An impediment or stumbling block as in a difficulty in form of an irresolvable situation. (Noun)

2) To block/hinder something e.g. growth or fulfilment of a goal due to an obstacle. (Verb)

3) Stymie is also a situation in golf where opponent’s ball hinders the line of play of one’s own ball.

Master’s tip to learn Stymie

Stymie can be easily learnt with the help of the word tiny, as these two words rhyme. Also, to associate the

words further, we can say it was a tiny stymie, but he could not overcome it in anyway.

Sentences examples for Stymie

1) It was his innate fear of failure that did not let him overcome the stymie. (Noun)

2) The problem in his life stymied his confidence. (Verb)

3) His mental growth was stymied due to an irresolvable situation. (Noun)

http://wordpandit.com/2012/stymie/



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Tangible

Tangible

Tangible is something that can be touched, something that your senses can feel. It is not something that

cannot be described, in fact, it is something can be described, either in words on in action.

Pronunciation :tan-juh-buhl

Meanings of Tangible

1. Capable of being touched; discernible by the touch; material or substantial.

2. Real or actual, rather than imaginary or visionary

3. Definite; not vague or elusive.

4. Of an asset: having actual physical existence, as real estate or chattels, and therefore capable of being

assigned a value in monetary terms.

Master’s tip to learn Tangible

Tangible or say Physical - something that can be sensed or felt by touch. So you can learn the word tangible

by remembering the word touch and then connecting both of them via their literal meanings.

Sentence example for Tangible

1. The school authorities could not find any tangible reasons for suspension.

2. There was tangible evidence linking him to the murder.

3. Nowhere in the world is ancient history so visible, so tangible and so dramatic as in Egypt.

http://wordpandit.com/2012/tangible/



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Voluble

Voluble

Some people are gifted with words, they have a way with words that never fails to convince anyone about the

subject that they are talking about. Well, volubility is nothing, but this ability to be fluent with words. Its first

known usage dates back to 1565-75. It is used as an adjective.

Pronunciation: vol-yuh-buhl

The dictionary definitions for voluble are as follows:

1) Someone characterised by a prepared and incessant flow of speech

2) Someone fluent/smooth with words

3) Loquacious/talkative person

4) Something turning easily on axis (old usage)

Master tip to learn voluble:

Voluble can be learnt by associating it with the word volume, as the first half of both the words .i.e. ‘volu’ is

similar. Also, person having a huge volume of words in his/her repertoire is voluble.

Voluble can be used in the following ways:

1) He is a voluble man. (Adjective)

2) His volubility makes him the right man for this job. (Noun)

3) Volubleness in a person is always required when dealing with people. (Noun)

http://wordpandit.com/2012/voluble/



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Work Out Zone

Work Out 1: Match the following words with their respective meanings or synonyms.

Word Meaning or Synonym

1 Arachnophobia A chatty

2 Misery B elderly3 Mastiff C block

4 Octogenarian D despair

5 Stymie E Fear of spiders

6 Tangible F watchdog

7 Voluble G perceptible

Work Out 2: Did you really understand the word?

1. A lot of children suffer from arachnophobia yes no

2. Misery is a state of happiness. yes no

3. Mastiffs make good guards. yes no

4. Octogenarians are full of energy yes no

5. Fears hinder the overcoming stymies. yes no

6. Feelings are tangible yes no

7. Shy people are always voluble yes no



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Answers: Work Out Zone

Work Out 1

1-E, 2-D, 3-F, 4-B, 5-C, 6-G, 7-A

Work Out 2

1-yes, 2-no, 3-yes, 4-no, 5-yes, 6-no, 7-no

the vocab weekly_issue _40

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