Example: Mr. Ghani is yet to begin delivering on his promise to streamline governance.
1. Streamline [streem-lahyn]
Noun: a teardrop line of contour offering the least possible resistance to a current of air, water, etc.; the path of a particle that is flowing steadily and without turbulence in a fluid past an object.
Verb: to make streamlined.
Synonyms: consolidate, integrate, rationalize, unify, accumulate, amalgamate, assemble, compact.
Antonyms: divide, separate, disorder, disorganize, disperse, enlarge.
Example: Do you call an ineffectual, hapless person or a schlemiel?
2. Hapless [hap-lis]
Adjective: unlucky; luckless; unfortunate.
Synonyms: unlucky, woeful, behind the eightball, cursed, hexed, ill-fated, ill-, red, infelicitous.
Antonyms: happy, fortuitous, fortunate, lucky, well-off.
3. Schlemiel [shluh-meel]
Noun: an awkward and unlucky person for whom things never turn out right.
Synonyms: blockhead, boob, bungler, dimwit, dope, dork, dumbbell.
Antonyms: brain, genius.
Example: A particular brand of intelligentsia, finding itself marginalised in the national discourse, is visibly uncomfortable with the massive mandate of 2014.
4. Intelligentsia [in-tel-i-jent-see-uh, -gent-]
Noun: intellectuals considered as a group or class, especially as a cultural, social, or political elite.
Synonyms: circle, club, company, degree, family, grade, league, place, position, ancestry, birth.
Antonyms: unemployment, conclusion, consequence, death, effect, end, outgrowth, result.
5. Marginalize [mahr-juh-nl-ahyz]
Verb: to place in a position of marginal importance, influence, or power.
Synonyms: criticize, demean, deprecate, diminish, disparage, belittle, depreciate, dismiss.
Antonyms: elevate, praise, promote, celebrate, value, acclaim, adulate.
6. Discourse [noun dis-kawrs, -kohrs, dis-kawrs, -kohrs; verb dis-kawrs, -kohrs]
Noun: communication of thought by words; talk; conversation; a formal discussion of a subject in speech or writing, as a dissertation, treatise, sermon, etc.
Verb: to communicate thoughts orally; talk; converse.
Synonyms: communication, conversation, discussion, essay, lecture, monologue, rhetoric, speech.
Antonyms: quiet, silence.
7. Mandate [man-deyt]
Noun: a command or authorization to act in a particular way on a public issue given by the electorate to its representative; a command from a superior court or official to a lower one.
Verb: to authorize or decree (a particular action), as by the enactment of law; to order or require; make mandatory; to consign (a territory, colony, etc.) to the charge of a particular nation under a mandate.
Synonyms: authorization, command, decree, directive, injunction, instruction, sanction.
Antonyms: breach, break, denial, question, refusal, request.
Example: Mind the diversity It’s inherent to our nation’s character and defiling it will be counterproductive.
8. Inherent [in-heer-uh nt, -her-]
Adjective: existing in someone or something as a permanent and inseparable element, quality, or attribute; inhering.
Synonyms: built-in, constitutional, deep-rooted, deep-seated, essential, fundamental, genetic, implicit, ingrained.
Antonyms: acquired, auxiliary, extra, extrinsic, learned, minor.
9. Defile [dih-fahyl]
Verb: to make foul, dirty, or unclean; pollute; taint; debase; to violate the chastity of; to make impure for ceremonial use; desecrate; to sully, as a person’s reputation.
Synonyms: besmirch, debase, degrade, desecrate, discolor, dishonor, sully.
Antonyms: elevate, honor, praise, upgrade, assist, clean cleanse.
10. Counterproductive [koun-ter-pruh-duhk-tiv]
Adjective: thwarting the achievement of an intended goal; tending to defeat one’s purpose.
Synonyms: biased, bigoted, damaging, detrimental, disadvantageous, discriminatory, hurtful, inimical.
Antonyms: advantageous, aiding, assisting, beneficial, fair, favorable, friendly.