VERBAL 2 — VOCABULARY, COMPLETE
The words themselves — organised for production, not recognition
Why this file is the biggest one in the verbal set
My earlier notes told you to "use your vocabulary banks." That was a pointer, not material. Here are the words.
And they are organised by meaning, not alphabetically — deliberately. You remember six words that mean "to make less" far more easily than six unrelated ones. When a blank needs a word meaning "reduce", your brain reaches for the whole cluster, and one of them fits.
**That is the only way to build vocabulary you can produce under 25 seconds of pressure.**
CONTENTS
| Part | What it covers | Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | How to learn words you can produce | — |
| 2 | ⭐ Meaning clusters — the core bank | 260+ words in 26 groups |
| 3 | Confusable pairs | 70 pairs |
| 4 | One-word substitution | 130 |
| 5 | Prefixes, suffixes, roots | 80 elements |
| 6 | Spelling — because you type the answer | 90 words |
| 7 | Phrasal verbs | 60 |
| 8 | Idioms | 50 |
| 9 | Formal business register — the TCS cloze vocabulary | 60 |
| 10 | A 5-day learning schedule |
PART 1 — HOW TO LEARN WORDS YOU CAN PRODUCE
Recognition and production are different skills. You can recognise thousands of words you could never retrieve on demand. The exam needs retrieval.
The four rules
1. Learn in clusters, never in lists. Learn mitigate, alleviate, allay, assuage, temper, abate together as "lessen". One hook, six words.
2. Test yourself from the MEANING, not the word. Cover the words, read "to make a bad thing less severe", and write what you can produce. Reading a word and recalling its meaning is the wrong direction — that is recognition.
3. Write them. Do not just read them. You are typing in the exam, and spelling counts. Handwriting or typing a word lays down the motor memory that reading does not.
4. Prioritise the words you half-know. A word you have never seen needs many repetitions. A word you vaguely recognise converts in one or two. With limited days, the half-known words are where the marks are.
The 20-minute daily rep
5 min read one new cluster
5 min cover it, write every word you can produce from the meaning
5 min check, and write the ones you missed three times each
5 min revisit yesterday's cluster the same wayPART 2 — ⭐ MEANING CLUSTERS
1. To make less / reduce
mitigate · alleviate · allay · assuage · abate · diminish · curtail · dwindle · lessen · temper · attenuate · subside · wane · taper
Steps were taken to mitigate the damage. · Rain abated by evening.
2. To make more / increase
augment · amplify · escalate · proliferate · burgeon · accrue · compound · bolster · intensify · magnify · surge · swell
He took a second job to augment his income. · Costs escalated rapidly.
3. To praise
laud · extol · commend · acclaim · applaud · eulogise · exalt · venerate · tout
The report was widely acclaimed.
4. To criticise / blame
censure · rebuke · reproach · admonish · reprimand · denounce · condemn · chide · castigate · berate · deride · disparage · decry
He was reprimanded for the delay. · She disparaged his efforts.
5. To support / strengthen
bolster · buttress · fortify · underpin · corroborate · substantiate · endorse · advocate · uphold · reinforce
The data corroborates his claim. · He advocated a change of policy.
6. To weaken / undermine
undermine · erode · impair · debilitate · enervate · sap · vitiate · subvert
Constant delays undermined confidence in the team.
7. Honest / truthful
candid · frank · forthright · earnest · sincere · veracious · transparent · upfront
She gave a candid assessment of the risks.
8. Dishonest / misleading
duplicitous · deceitful · disingenuous · specious · spurious · fraudulent · devious · underhand · fallacious
A specious argument sounds right but is not.
9. Clear / easy to understand
lucid · coherent · intelligible · explicit · unambiguous · perspicuous · articulate
He gave a lucid explanation of the process.
10. Unclear / confusing
ambiguous · obscure · opaque · convoluted · abstruse · nebulous · cryptic · vague · equivocal
The instructions were ambiguous, so half the team did it wrong.
11. Careful / thorough
meticulous · scrupulous · diligent · assiduous · painstaking · fastidious · rigorous · thorough · conscientious · punctilious
She is meticulous about documentation.
12. Careless
negligent · slipshod · perfunctory · cursory · lax · remiss · haphazard · slapdash
A cursory glance is a quick, careless one.
13. Brief / short
concise · succinct · terse · laconic · pithy · brief · curt · compendious
Keep the summary concise. Note: terse and curt carry a hint of rudeness; concise and succinct are neutral praise. That difference decides blanks.
14. Long-winded
verbose · prolix · rambling · circumlocutory · long-winded · redundant · repetitive
15. Practical / sensible
pragmatic · prudent · judicious · expedient · feasible · viable · sensible · astute · circumspect
A pragmatic solution works even if it is not elegant.
16. Stubborn
obstinate · obdurate · intransigent · adamant · recalcitrant · headstrong · dogged · unyielding · inflexible
17. Willing to change / flexible
amenable · malleable · adaptable · pliable · accommodating · receptive · versatile
18. Necessary / unavoidable
imperative · indispensable · essential · requisite · inevitable · inexorable · mandatory · compulsory · obligatory
19. Unnecessary
superfluous · redundant · extraneous · gratuitous · dispensable · surplus