This is the Vocab24 daily quiz of 8 August 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.
Obdurate
Explanation: Obdurate describes someone who stubbornly refuses to change an opinion, decision, or course of action. Inflexible expresses this meaning most precisely because it indicates an unwillingness to bend or reconsider. Amenable, yielding, and compliant convey willingness to cooperate or change and are therefore antonyms rather than synonyms. Hence, inflexible is the most appropriate answer.
Out of the given alternatives select the alternative which best expresses the meaning of given word.
Assuage
Explanation: Assuage means to make an unpleasant feeling, fear, pain, or difficulty less intense. Mitigate carries the same sense of reducing the severity of something. Intensify and aggravate mean to make something more severe, while provoke means to stimulate or cause a reaction. These three alternatives express ideas opposite to assuaging something.
Out of the given alternatives select the alternative which best expresses the meaning of given word.
Chicanery
Explanation: Chicanery refers to deception, trickery, or the use of dishonest methods to achieve a purpose. Duplicity is the closest synonym because it denotes deliberate deceitfulness or double-dealing. Candour, fairness, sincerity, and honesty all suggest openness or ethical conduct. They are therefore conceptually opposite to the deceptive conduct conveyed by chicanery.
Out of the given alternatives select the alternative which best expresses the meaning of given word.
Lugubrious
Explanation: Lugubrious means looking or sounding extremely sad, gloomy, or mournful. Doleful most closely expresses the same shade of sorrow and melancholy. Joyful, lighthearted, and cheerful describe positive or happy emotional states and are direct opposites of lugubrious. Therefore, doleful is the most accurate synonym in the given context.
Out of the given alternatives select the word opposite in meaning to the given word.
Alacrity
Explanation: Alacrity denotes cheerful readiness and eagerness to perform an action. Reluctance is its most precise opposite because it indicates hesitation or unwillingness to act. Eagerness, promptness, and readiness are closely associated with alacrity and reinforce its positive sense of willing and energetic action. Thus, they cannot function as antonyms.
Out of the given alternatives select the word opposite in meaning to the given word.
Pernicious
Explanation: Pernicious describes something that causes serious harm or destruction, often gradually and without being immediately noticed. Benign means harmless or not damaging and is therefore the best antonym. Harmful, noxious, deleterious, and destructive all convey damaging effects and are synonyms or closely related expressions rather than opposites.
Out of the given alternatives select the word opposite in meaning to the given word.
Venerable
Explanation: Venerable refers to a person accorded great respect because of age, wisdom, character, or achievement. Contemptible expresses the opposite idea because it describes someone deserving scorn rather than respect. Esteemed, revered, and honoured are all close synonyms of venerable and indicate admiration or high regard. Therefore, contemptible is the correct antonym.
Out of the given alternatives select the word opposite in meaning to the given word.
Bolster
Explanation: Bolster means to support, reinforce, or strengthen something. Undermine is the most suitable antonym because it means to weaken something gradually or reduce its effectiveness. Reinforce, fortify, and strengthen all express the same supportive sense as bolster. Consequently, they cannot represent its opposite meaning.
Out of given alternatives, choose the word which can be substituted for the given words/ sentence.
A person who praises powerful individuals excessively in order to obtain personal advantage.
Explanation: A sycophant is a person who uses excessive praise or flattery, especially towards powerful individuals, to secure favour or personal benefit. A critic evaluates or points out faults, while a rebel resists authority. An independent person acts without improper dependence on others. Therefore, none of these alternatives except sycophant captures the complete meaning.
Out of given alternatives, choose the word which can be substituted for the given words/ sentence.
Cheerful readiness and eagerness to perform a task.
Explanation: Alacrity precisely denotes cheerful willingness, eagerness, and prompt readiness to act. Apathy signifies a lack of interest, hesitation indicates uncertainty or delay, and sluggishness refers to slow or inactive behaviour. All three distractors oppose the energetic readiness contained in the definition. Thus, alacrity is the correct one-word substitution.
Out of given alternatives, choose the word which can be substituted for the given words/ sentence.
The use of deception or dishonest methods to achieve a particular purpose.
Explanation: Chicanery means the deliberate use of deception, trickery, fraud, or dishonest methods to obtain an objective. Candour refers to openness, sincerity indicates genuineness, and fairness signifies just treatment. These alternatives describe honest conduct and are therefore opposite to the definition. Hence, chicanery is the precise substitution.
Out of given alternatives, choose the word which can be substituted for the given words/ sentence.
To cause a person to become weak or deprived of energy.
Explanation: Enervate means to weaken, exhaust, debilitate, or drain someone of energy. Bolster and fortify mean to support or strengthen, while invigorate means to energize. These alternatives express the reverse of the required meaning. Therefore, enervate is the only word that accurately substitutes the given sentence.
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.
Despite repeated requests, the __________ official refused to reconsider the decision.
Explanation: The official’s refusal to reconsider despite repeated requests shows stubbornness and unwillingness to change. Obdurate expresses precisely this quality. Compliant, yielding, and amenable describe a person who is cooperative or willing to be influenced. These alternatives contradict the official’s behaviour and therefore cannot complete the sentence appropriately.
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 manager attempted to __________ the employees’ fears about possible job losses.
Explanation: The sentence requires a verb meaning to reduce or calm the employees’ fears. Assuage means to make an unpleasant feeling less intense and therefore fits perfectly. Intensify and aggravate would increase the fear, while provoke would stimulate or produce a stronger reaction. These choices contradict the manager’s intended reassuring action.
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.
Corruption may exercise a __________ influence on public institutions even when its damage is not immediately visible.
Explanation: Pernicious is appropriate because it describes a harmful or destructive influence that may operate gradually. The reference to damage that is not immediately visible reinforces this meaning. Benign, wholesome, and harmless all suggest a beneficial or non-damaging effect, which is inconsistent with the destructive institutional consequences of corruption.
Out of given alternatives select the option which best expresses the meaning of given idiom/ phrase.
She accepted the challenging assignment with alacrity.
Explanation: The phrase with alacrity means with cheerful readiness, eagerness, and prompt willingness. It indicates that the person accepted the assignment enthusiastically rather than unwillingly. Hesitation, apathy, and sluggishness convey delay, indifference, or lack of energy and are therefore inconsistent with the positive and energetic sense of the phrase.
Out of given alternatives select the option which best expresses the meaning of given idiom/ phrase.
The reforms were designed to bolster the rural economy.
Explanation: In the sentence, to bolster the rural economy means to support, strengthen, or reinforce it. The reforms are intended to improve its capacity rather than reduce it. Weaken, impair, and discourage describe negative effects and are antonyms of bolster. Therefore, option (a) correctly conveys the meaning of the phrase.
Out of given alternatives select the option which best expresses the meaning of given idiom/ phrase.
The businessman relied on legal chicanery to avoid the penalty.
Explanation: Legal chicanery refers to the use of deceptive, tricky, or dishonest legal methods to achieve an objective. In this sentence, those methods were used to avoid a penalty. Fairness, candour, and sincerity denote honest and open conduct and therefore contradict the intended meaning. Option (d) accurately captures both the deception and the legal context.
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 minister surrounded himself with sycophants who agrees with every decision.
Explanation: The principal verb surrounded places the sentence in the simple past tense. Therefore, the relative clause describing the sycophants should also naturally use the past-tense verb agreed. Whom cannot serve as the subject of agreed, while has agreeing is grammatically incorrect. The original phrase contains the singular verb agrees, which does not agree with the plural noun sycophants.
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 new policy is expected to bolster the rural economy.
Explanation: The phrase is expected to bolster is grammatically correct. The passive construction is expected is properly followed by the infinitive to bolster. Option (a) incorrectly removes to, option (b) changes the passive structure into an unsuitable active construction, and option (c) unnecessarily uses for before a gerund. Therefore, no correction is required.
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 intense heat began to enervated the workers by noon.
Explanation: The verb begin may be followed by an infinitive, but the infinitive marker to must be followed by the base form of the verb. Therefore, to enervate is correct, whereas to enervated and to enervating are incorrect. Began enervated is also grammatically unsuitable because enervated cannot directly follow began in this structure.
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> A rural development board announced an ambitious programme intended to improve the functioning of local institutions. A <strong> venerable </strong> scholar was appointed to chair an independent review of the programme. Several younger officers accepted their responsibilities with <strong>alacrity</strong>, believing that energetic administration could produce immediate results. Their enthusiasm, however, concealed weaknesses that had developed gradually within the organisation. <br><br> The minister responsible for the programme had surrounded himself with <strong> sycophants </strong> who praised every proposal and avoided offering independent criticism. At the same time, an <strong> obdurate </strong> senior official rejected objections without examining their merit. Certain contractors exploited legal <strong> chicanery </strong> to conceal questionable claims and escape responsibility. The scholar warned that such conduct could have a <strong> pernicious </strong> influence on the institution because gradual damage to trust might prove more serious than an immediately visible financial loss. <br><br> To restore confidence, she attempted to <strong> assuage </strong> the employees’ fears by assuring them that sincere criticism would not be punished. She also recommended safeguards that could <strong> bolster </strong> transparency, fairness, and administrative independence. Nevertheless, weeks of demanding work began to <strong> enervate </strong> the review team, and progress became slower. <br><br> When the inquiry finally exposed the extent of the deception, the atmosphere became <strong>lugubrious</strong>. The report, however, did not end in despair. It concluded that candour, flexibility, fairness, and independent judgment could gradually restore institutional credibility. The episode demonstrated that administrative decline does not always begin with one dramatic act; it may emerge from the repeated acceptance of flattery, inflexibility, and deception.
Which of the following most accurately expresses the central inference of the passage?
Explanation: The passage repeatedly emphasizes that institutional damage may arise gradually through the tolerance of sycophancy, obduracy, and chicanery. Option (d) combines these elements and expresses the principal inference. The passage does not claim that speed alone ensures success, that financial loss is the only measure of decline, or that all senior officials should be replaced by scholars.
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> A rural development board announced an ambitious programme intended to improve the functioning of local institutions. A <strong> venerable </strong> scholar was appointed to chair an independent review of the programme. Several younger officers accepted their responsibilities with <strong>alacrity</strong>, believing that energetic administration could produce immediate results. Their enthusiasm, however, concealed weaknesses that had developed gradually within the organisation. <br><br> The minister responsible for the programme had surrounded himself with <strong> sycophants </strong> who praised every proposal and avoided offering independent criticism. At the same time, an <strong> obdurate </strong> senior official rejected objections without examining their merit. Certain contractors exploited legal <strong> chicanery </strong> to conceal questionable claims and escape responsibility. The scholar warned that such conduct could have a <strong> pernicious </strong> influence on the institution because gradual damage to trust might prove more serious than an immediately visible financial loss. <br><br> To restore confidence, she attempted to <strong> assuage </strong> the employees’ fears by assuring them that sincere criticism would not be punished. She also recommended safeguards that could <strong> bolster </strong> transparency, fairness, and administrative independence. Nevertheless, weeks of demanding work began to <strong> enervate </strong> the review team, and progress became slower. <br><br> When the inquiry finally exposed the extent of the deception, the atmosphere became <strong>lugubrious</strong>. The report, however, did not end in despair. It concluded that candour, flexibility, fairness, and independent judgment could gradually restore institutional credibility. The episode demonstrated that administrative decline does not always begin with one dramatic act; it may emerge from the repeated acceptance of flattery, inflexibility, and deception.
Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
Explanation: The scholar assured employees that sincere criticism would not be punished, and the report identified candour and independent judgment as essential to restoring institutional credibility. The contractors relied on chicanery rather than candour, the obdurate official rejected objections, and the atmosphere became lugubrious after the deception was exposed. Therefore, only option (b) is supported by the passage.
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> A rural development board announced an ambitious programme intended to improve the functioning of local institutions. A <strong> venerable </strong> scholar was appointed to chair an independent review of the programme. Several younger officers accepted their responsibilities with <strong>alacrity</strong>, believing that energetic administration could produce immediate results. Their enthusiasm, however, concealed weaknesses that had developed gradually within the organisation. <br><br> The minister responsible for the programme had surrounded himself with <strong> sycophants </strong> who praised every proposal and avoided offering independent criticism. At the same time, an <strong> obdurate </strong> senior official rejected objections without examining their merit. Certain contractors exploited legal <strong> chicanery </strong> to conceal questionable claims and escape responsibility. The scholar warned that such conduct could have a <strong> pernicious </strong> influence on the institution because gradual damage to trust might prove more serious than an immediately visible financial loss. <br><br> To restore confidence, she attempted to <strong> assuage </strong> the employees’ fears by assuring them that sincere criticism would not be punished. She also recommended safeguards that could <strong> bolster </strong> transparency, fairness, and administrative independence. Nevertheless, weeks of demanding work began to <strong> enervate </strong> the review team, and progress became slower. <br><br> When the inquiry finally exposed the extent of the deception, the atmosphere became <strong>lugubrious</strong>. The report, however, did not end in despair. It concluded that candour, flexibility, fairness, and independent judgment could gradually restore institutional credibility. The episode demonstrated that administrative decline does not always begin with one dramatic act; it may emerge from the repeated acceptance of flattery, inflexibility, and deception.
The word pernicious as used in the passage is closest in meaning to:
Explanation: In the passage, pernicious describes the harmful influence of dishonest conduct on institutional trust. Deleterious means damaging or harmful and is therefore the closest synonym. Beneficial, harmless, and wholesome describe positive or non-damaging effects. They are inconsistent with the gradual institutional damage discussed by the scholar.
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> A rural development board announced an ambitious programme intended to improve the functioning of local institutions. A <strong> venerable </strong> scholar was appointed to chair an independent review of the programme. Several younger officers accepted their responsibilities with <strong>alacrity</strong>, believing that energetic administration could produce immediate results. Their enthusiasm, however, concealed weaknesses that had developed gradually within the organisation. <br><br> The minister responsible for the programme had surrounded himself with <strong> sycophants </strong> who praised every proposal and avoided offering independent criticism. At the same time, an <strong> obdurate </strong> senior official rejected objections without examining their merit. Certain contractors exploited legal <strong> chicanery </strong> to conceal questionable claims and escape responsibility. The scholar warned that such conduct could have a <strong> pernicious </strong> influence on the institution because gradual damage to trust might prove more serious than an immediately visible financial loss. <br><br> To restore confidence, she attempted to <strong> assuage </strong> the employees’ fears by assuring them that sincere criticism would not be punished. She also recommended safeguards that could <strong> bolster </strong> transparency, fairness, and administrative independence. Nevertheless, weeks of demanding work began to <strong> enervate </strong> the review team, and progress became slower. <br><br> When the inquiry finally exposed the extent of the deception, the atmosphere became <strong>lugubrious</strong>. The report, however, did not end in despair. It concluded that candour, flexibility, fairness, and independent judgment could gradually restore institutional credibility. The episode demonstrated that administrative decline does not always begin with one dramatic act; it may emerge from the repeated acceptance of flattery, inflexibility, and deception.
Which word is the most appropriate contextual antonym of obdurate in the passage?
Explanation: The obdurate official was unwilling to examine objections or reconsider his position. Amenable describes someone willing to listen, cooperate, or be influenced and is therefore the most appropriate contextual antonym. Adamant, inflexible, and unyielding all reinforce the stubborn quality of obdurate and function as synonyms rather than opposites.
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> A rural development board announced an ambitious programme intended to improve the functioning of local institutions. A <strong> venerable </strong> scholar was appointed to chair an independent review of the programme. Several younger officers accepted their responsibilities with <strong>alacrity</strong>, believing that energetic administration could produce immediate results. Their enthusiasm, however, concealed weaknesses that had developed gradually within the organisation. <br><br> The minister responsible for the programme had surrounded himself with <strong> sycophants </strong> who praised every proposal and avoided offering independent criticism. At the same time, an <strong> obdurate </strong> senior official rejected objections without examining their merit. Certain contractors exploited legal <strong> chicanery </strong> to conceal questionable claims and escape responsibility. The scholar warned that such conduct could have a <strong> pernicious </strong> influence on the institution because gradual damage to trust might prove more serious than an immediately visible financial loss. <br><br> To restore confidence, she attempted to <strong> assuage </strong> the employees’ fears by assuring them that sincere criticism would not be punished. She also recommended safeguards that could <strong> bolster </strong> transparency, fairness, and administrative independence. Nevertheless, weeks of demanding work began to <strong> enervate </strong> the review team, and progress became slower. <br><br> When the inquiry finally exposed the extent of the deception, the atmosphere became <strong>lugubrious</strong>. The report, however, did not end in despair. It concluded that candour, flexibility, fairness, and independent judgment could gradually restore institutional credibility. The episode demonstrated that administrative decline does not always begin with one dramatic act; it may emerge from the repeated acceptance of flattery, inflexibility, and deception.
Why did the atmosphere become lugubrious after the inquiry?
Explanation: Lugubrious means gloomy, mournful, or deeply sad. The atmosphere became lugubrious because the inquiry revealed extensive deception and serious institutional weaknesses. However, the report did not end in complete despair because it proposed candour, flexibility, fairness, and independent judgment as remedies. Option (d) captures both the immediate gloom and the passage’s qualified hope for reform.
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