This is the Vocab24 daily quiz of 14 July 2026, the same 26 questions the app served that day, on the day's vocabulary and editorial. One mark for a right answer, minus 0.25 for a wrong one; the explanation opens as soon as you tap.
Out of the given alternatives select the alternative which best expresses the meaning of given word.
SCIOLIST
Explanation: A sciolist is a person who possesses only superficial knowledge but pretends to understand a subject thoroughly. Smatterer conveys this precise meaning. An authority, specialist, or scholar possesses substantial knowledge and expertise, so these options express ideas contrary to the target word.
Out of the given alternatives select the alternative which best expresses the meaning of given word.
FLUVIAL
Explanation: Fluvial refers to something relating to rivers or produced by the action of flowing water. Riverine is therefore the closest synonym. Marine relates to the sea, aerial relates to the air, and terrestrial primarily relates to land rather than river processes.
Out of the given alternatives select the alternative which best expresses the meaning of given word.
VATIC
Explanation: Vatic describes speech, writing, or a person that predicts future events and is therefore synonymous with oracular. Retrospective concerns the past, mundane means ordinary, and nonpredictive directly contradicts the prophetic sense of the given word.
Out of the given alternatives select the alternative which best expresses the meaning of given word.
TREACLY
Explanation: Treacly describes something excessively sweet or sentimental in an artificial and unpleasant manner. Cloying expresses the same idea of excessive sweetness that becomes disagreeable. Austere and restrained indicate simplicity or moderation, while bitter conveys an opposite emotional or sensory quality.
Out of the given alternatives select the word opposite in meaning to the given word.
DESCANT
Explanation: To descant is to speak or write at considerable length about a subject. Condense means to express something in a shorter and more compact form and is therefore the best antonym. Elaborate, expatiate, and discourse all suggest extended explanation, while declaim refers to formal or dramatic speaking.
Out of the given alternatives select the word opposite in meaning to the given word.
DONNYBROOK
Explanation: A donnybrook is a noisy and uncontrolled fight involving several people. Harmony denotes peaceful agreement and cooperation and is therefore its opposite. Brawl, fracas, ruckus, and melee all describe disorder, conflict, or physical confrontation and are close in meaning to the given word.
Out of the given alternatives select the word opposite in meaning to the given word.
ABLATE
Explanation: Ablate means to remove or destroy tissue or material through cutting, heat, erosion, or evaporation. Add expresses the opposite action of introducing or attaching something. Excise, vaporize, remove, and eradicate all involve eliminating or destroying material and therefore support rather than oppose the meaning.
Out of the given alternatives select the word opposite in meaning to the given word.
DEBAUCH
Explanation: To debauch someone is to corrupt or degrade that person morally through excessive indulgence. Purify means to remove corruption or impurity and is therefore the most appropriate antonym. Corrupt, deprave, debase, and pervert all indicate moral deterioration and are synonyms of the given word.
Out of given alternatives, choose the word which can be substituted for the given words/ sentence.
A person who pretends to possess extensive knowledge but has only a superficial understanding of the subject.
Explanation: A sciolist is someone whose learning is superficial but who presents himself or herself as knowledgeable. A henchman is a subordinate carrying out questionable tasks, a vaticinator predicts future events, and a declaimer delivers words loudly or dramatically.
Out of given alternatives, choose the word which can be substituted for the given words/ sentence.
A loyal subordinate who carries out dishonest, unpleasant, or illegal assignments for a powerful person.
Explanation: A henchman is a loyal follower or underling who performs objectionable tasks for a powerful individual. A sciolist possesses shallow knowledge, a debauchee is associated with excessive indulgence, and a vaticinator is one who predicts future events.
Out of given alternatives, choose the word which can be substituted for the given words/ sentence.
A noisy and uncontrolled public fight involving several participants.
Explanation: A donnybrook is a disorderly brawl or public quarrel involving several people. Descant means extended discussion, declamation refers to loud and formal delivery, and ablation is the process of removing or destroying tissue or material.
Out of given alternatives, choose the word which can be substituted for the given words/ sentence.
To remove or destroy tissue or material through cutting, heat, erosion, or evaporation.
Explanation: Ablate precisely means to remove or destroy tissue or material by surgical, thermal, erosive, or evaporative processes. Debauch means morally to corrupt, declaim means to speak dramatically, and descant means to discuss a subject at length.
A statement with one blank is given below. Choose the set of words from the given options which can be used to fill the given blank.
The poet’s ______ warning about political unrest appeared prophetic when the government collapsed several months later.
Explanation: Vatic means prophetic or concerned with predicting future events, which suits a warning that later appeared to foresee political unrest. Mundane means ordinary, retrospective looks backward, nonpredictive denies prediction, and fluvial relates to rivers.
A statement with one blank is given below. Choose the set of words from the given options which can be used to fill the given blank.
The conclusion of the drama was so ______ that its exaggerated sentimentality weakened an otherwise powerful performance.
Explanation: Treacly describes something excessively sweet or sentimental in an artificial and unpleasant way, making it appropriate for an exaggeratedly emotional conclusion. Austere and restrained imply emotional control, while fluvial and vatic relate respectively to rivers and prophecy.
A statement with one blank is given below. Choose the set of words from the given options which can be used to fill the given blank.
The fertile deposits found across the valley were primarily ______ in origin, having been laid down by flowing river water.
Explanation: Deposits created or transported by the action of a river are described as fluvial. Marine refers to the sea, aerial relates to the air, vatic means prophetic, and treacly describes excessive sweetness or sentimentality.
Out of given alternatives select the option which best expresses the meaning of given idiom/ phrase.
To descant on a subject
Explanation: The phrase to descant on a subject means to speak or write extensively and elaborately about it. It does not imply shortening, whispering, predicting, or removing the topic; rather, it suggests sustained and detailed discussion.
Out of given alternatives select the option which best expresses the meaning of given idiom/ phrase.
The powerful man’s helping hand in dishonest work
Explanation: The phrase refers to a henchman, a loyal subordinate who performs unpleasant or dishonest tasks for a powerful person. A scholar or specialist is defined by knowledge, an opponent resists the powerful person, and a leader directs rather than merely carries out such assignments.
Out of given alternatives select the option which best expresses the meaning of given idiom/ phrase.
A saccharine ending
Explanation: Saccharine in this context means excessively sweet or sentimental, closely corresponding to treacly. It does not indicate restraint, severity, prophecy, or any relationship with rivers.
Which of phrases given below each sentence should replace the phrase printed in bold type to make the grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is, mark 'd' as the answer.
The surgeon planned to ablation the abnormal tissue with a carefully controlled laser.
Explanation: The verb planned is correctly followed by the infinitive to ablate. Ablation is a noun and cannot function as the main verb after to, while ablative is an adjective. Planned ablating is also unsuitable in this construction because the standard pattern is planned to perform an action.
Which of phrases given below each sentence should replace the phrase printed in bold type to make the grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is, mark 'd' as the answer.
The professor began to descant on the significance of classical literature during the seminar.
Explanation: The original expression is grammatically correct because began may be followed by the infinitive to descant, and descant on correctly means to speak at length about a subject. The other alternatives use an incorrect verb form, an unsuitable past participle, or omit the required infinitive marker.
Which of phrases given below each sentence should replace the phrase printed in bold type to make the grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is, mark 'd' as the answer.
The actor’s declamatory was delivered with such passion that the audience remained silent.
Explanation: Declamation is the noun required to refer to the actor’s formal and dramatic recitation. Declamatory is an adjective, declaimer refers to the person delivering the speech, and declaim is a verb, so none of them can correctly function as the subject intended in the sentence.
DIRECTIONS: Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below. Certain words/phrases are printed in bold to help you to locate them while answering some of the questions. <br><br><br> After repeated floods, a committee examined a fluvial plain where river deposits had made agriculture prosperous, but continued erosion had weakened several embankments. A self-styled expert, who was in reality a sciolist, began to declaim before the villagers. He issued vatic warnings that the entire valley would soon become uninhabitable, although he had studied neither the engineering surveys nor the soil records. <br><br> His employer’s henchman encouraged the crowd to interrupt the engineers, and the meeting nearly became a donnybrook. The senior specialist refused to respond with treacly reassurances. Instead, she descanted on the available evidence and explained that damaged material could be ablated from selected sections of the barrier before the structure was restored. Her measured account did not deny the danger; rather, it distinguished a manageable risk from theatrical alarm.
What does the word fluvial mean in the context of the passage?
Explanation: The plain is described as fluvial because river deposits and flowing water shaped it. The context explicitly refers to floods, river deposits, erosion, and embankments. The word therefore cannot mean oceanic, aerial, or unrelated to water.
DIRECTIONS: Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below. Certain words/phrases are printed in bold to help you to locate them while answering some of the questions. <br><br><br> After repeated floods, a committee examined a fluvial plain where river deposits had made agriculture prosperous, but continued erosion had weakened several embankments. A self-styled expert, who was in reality a sciolist, began to declaim before the villagers. He issued vatic warnings that the entire valley would soon become uninhabitable, although he had studied neither the engineering surveys nor the soil records. <br><br> His employer’s henchman encouraged the crowd to interrupt the engineers, and the meeting nearly became a donnybrook. The senior specialist refused to respond with treacly reassurances. Instead, she descanted on the available evidence and explained that damaged material could be ablated from selected sections of the barrier before the structure was restored. Her measured account did not deny the danger; rather, it distinguished a manageable risk from theatrical alarm.
Why is the self-styled expert described as a sciolist?
Explanation: The speaker is called a sciolist because he confidently issued alarming predictions without examining the engineering surveys or soil records. The passage therefore presents him as a pretender with shallow understanding rather than as a genuine specialist or careful investigator.
DIRECTIONS: Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below. Certain words/phrases are printed in bold to help you to locate them while answering some of the questions. <br><br><br> After repeated floods, a committee examined a fluvial plain where river deposits had made agriculture prosperous, but continued erosion had weakened several embankments. A self-styled expert, who was in reality a sciolist, began to declaim before the villagers. He issued vatic warnings that the entire valley would soon become uninhabitable, although he had studied neither the engineering surveys nor the soil records. <br><br> His employer’s henchman encouraged the crowd to interrupt the engineers, and the meeting nearly became a donnybrook. The senior specialist refused to respond with treacly reassurances. Instead, she descanted on the available evidence and explained that damaged material could be ablated from selected sections of the barrier before the structure was restored. Her measured account did not deny the danger; rather, it distinguished a manageable risk from theatrical alarm.
Which of the following is the closest synonym of vatic as used in the passage?
Explanation: The warnings are called vatic because they predict that the valley will become uninhabitable. Prophetic is therefore the closest synonym. Retrospective concerns past events, mundane means ordinary, restrained concerns moderation, and terrestrial relates to land.
DIRECTIONS: Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below. Certain words/phrases are printed in bold to help you to locate them while answering some of the questions. <br><br><br> After repeated floods, a committee examined a fluvial plain where river deposits had made agriculture prosperous, but continued erosion had weakened several embankments. A self-styled expert, who was in reality a sciolist, began to declaim before the villagers. He issued vatic warnings that the entire valley would soon become uninhabitable, although he had studied neither the engineering surveys nor the soil records. <br><br> His employer’s henchman encouraged the crowd to interrupt the engineers, and the meeting nearly became a donnybrook. The senior specialist refused to respond with treacly reassurances. Instead, she descanted on the available evidence and explained that damaged material could be ablated from selected sections of the barrier before the structure was restored. Her measured account did not deny the danger; rather, it distinguished a manageable risk from theatrical alarm.
Which word is the most appropriate antonym of declaim as used in the passage?
Explanation: Declaim means to speak loudly, formally, and dramatically. Whisper is its most appropriate opposite because it means to speak very softly. Harangue, proclaim, recite, and orate all involve forms of deliberate or elevated speech and do not express the required contrast.
DIRECTIONS: Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below. Certain words/phrases are printed in bold to help you to locate them while answering some of the questions. <br><br><br> After repeated floods, a committee examined a fluvial plain where river deposits had made agriculture prosperous, but continued erosion had weakened several embankments. A self-styled expert, who was in reality a sciolist, began to declaim before the villagers. He issued vatic warnings that the entire valley would soon become uninhabitable, although he had studied neither the engineering surveys nor the soil records. <br><br> His employer’s henchman encouraged the crowd to interrupt the engineers, and the meeting nearly became a donnybrook. The senior specialist refused to respond with treacly reassurances. Instead, she descanted on the available evidence and explained that damaged material could be ablated from selected sections of the barrier before the structure was restored. Her measured account did not deny the danger; rather, it distinguished a manageable risk from theatrical alarm.
Consider the following statements: <br><br> I. The senior specialist completely denied that the valley faced any danger. <br><br> II. The self-styled expert based his warnings on complete engineering and soil records. <br><br> III. The meeting nearly developed into a noisy and uncontrolled fight. <br><br> IV. The specialist distinguished manageable risk from exaggerated alarm. <br><br> Which of the statements given above are correct? <br><br>
Explanation: Statement III is correct because the meeting nearly became a donnybrook, meaning a noisy and uncontrolled fight. Statement IV is also correct because the specialist separated manageable risk from theatrical alarm. Statement I is false because she did not deny the danger, and Statement II is false because the sciolist had examined neither the engineering surveys nor the soil records.
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