The Hindu Editorial Based Vocab for Competitive Exams : 4th September

If athletics and the (1) diasporas of the “other sports” ever needed a glowing advertisement, then the Asian games 2018 can serve as the perfect example. The Indian athletes showed grit and (2) gumption, which resulted deservedly in gold. But most importantly, and as the saying rightly goes, it is not where they reached but how they got there which is cause for celebration and frustration.

India came 8th in the final standings — our best showing since 1951 — was all down to the will to succeed.  While India could easily rank among the best if medals were given out for determination, it comes to down to how they trained, how were they helped and most importantly, will they be trained and helped. Swapna Barman broke new ground with her achievements in Indonesia, but she comes from a home which is plagued with poverty. Swapna trained in conditions unheard of, not out of competitive (3) ingenuity, but out of sheer dedication and the will to achieve. Hima Das’ story is no different. Even as her opponents trained under state of the art conditions, she had a muddy football field to (4) contend with, not a muddy track, a football field. The Indian athlete is forever stuck between a rock and a hard place. Suffer defeat, and soon, whatever little resources our (5) hapless athletics federation does (6) expend go away, leaving behind a ruined athlete. Win and the (7) top brass start expecting miracles with no added incentives. The two athletes mentioned above will get a hefty reward and the promise of a government job to (8) make ends meet, but what of those who did not make it to the podium? Well for them, the journey against all odds continues. A lot look for a government job to help with survival and hopefully nourishment.

While the chance of a (9) feasible and visible career attracts kids from (10) affluent backgrounds, it is also an evident lack of attention from the state and that does not go unnoticed for a young student in a private school whose parents know better when it comes to making a sporting decision about their future. The Asian Games will come again, so will the Commonwealth and soon enough the Olympics. The athlete and the sport in this country will still live the same life — the same struggles, the same odds.

1. DIASPORA (noun)  प्रवासी
Meaning: the scattering of people from their original country to other places.
Synonyms: exodus, expatriation, transfer, shift, resettlement, displacement, relocation, movement, extradition, dispersion.
Antonyms: concentration.

2. GUMPTION (noun)  तर्कशीलता
Meaning: shrewd or spirited initiative and resourcefulness.
Synonyms: enterprise, inventiveness, astuteness, shrewdness, acumen, discernment, wisdom, sagacity, wit, practicality, spirit, pluck, mettle.
Antonyms: shortsightedness, foolishness, idiocy, senselessness, stupidity, heedlessness,
unreasonableness, imprudence, indiscretion.

3. INGENUITY (noun)  प्रतिभा
Meaning: the quality of being clever, original, and inventive.
Synonyms: creativity, originality, insight, inspiration, perceptiveness, intuition, flair, artistry, genius, cleverness, intelligence, brilliance, quickness, sophistication.
Antonyms: ineptitude, inability, incompetence, facileness, ineffectiveness, futility, cumbersomeness, tactlessness, gaucherie, stiffness, vanity.

4. CONTEND (verb)  संघर्ष करना
Meaning: struggle to surmount (a difficulty).
Synonyms: resist, withstand, battle, compete, face off, fight, race, rival, vie, challenge, engage,
wrangle, wrestle, grapple.
Antonyms: surrender, negate, elude, abandon, renounce, collaborate, concede, agree.

5. HAPLESS (adjective)  अभागी
Meaning: (especially of a person) unfortunate.
Synonyms: unlucky, ill-starred, ill-fated, jinxed, cursed, doomed, unhappy, forlorn, wretched, miserable, woebegone, adverse, inauspicious, unfavorable, unpromising, catastrophic.
Antonyms: blessed, favored, gifted, privileged, auspicious, fair, favorable, golden, promising, propitious, fortunate, happy, lucky.

6. EXPEND (verb)  व्यय करना
Meaning: to use (time, energy, effort, etc.) for a particular purpose.
Synonyms: absorb, consume, deplete, devour, drain, exhaust, spend, abate, de-escalate, diminish, downsize, dwindle, impoverish.
Antonyms: augment, enlarge, fortify, reinforce, strengthen, repair, restore, revive, conserve, preserve, save, renew, replace.

7. TOP BRASS (idiom)  प्रमुख अधिकारी
Meaning: The person or people with the most authority, power, or influence in a group or organization.
Usage: When I was the top brass of the business, I used to charge the most outrageous things to the company credit card.

8. MAKE ENDS MEET (idiom)  आजीविका कमाना
Meaning: To manage so that one’s means are sufficient for one’s needs.
Usage: To make ends meet, Phil picked up a second job delivering pizzas.

9. FEASIBLE (adjective)  साध्य
Meaning: possible and practical to do easily or conveniently.
Synonyms: practicable, achievable, attainable, realizable, viable, reasonable, expedient, constructive, possible, likely, conceivable, accomplishable.
Antonyms: futile, useless, vain, absurd, outlandish, preposterous, ridiculous, unthinkable, impossible, impracticable, unfeasible, unrealizable, unviable, unworkable.

10. AFFLUENT (adjective)  समृद्ध
Meaning: having a great deal of money; wealthy.
Synonyms: rich, prosperous, opulent, rich, propertied, substantial, flush, flourishing, prospering, thriving, advantaged, blessed, privileged.
Antonyms: broke, indebted, insolvent, pauperized, ruined, destitute, impecunious, impoverished, indigent, penniless, penurious.