Daily Vocabulary Test – 13 July 2026
✓ Editorials Covered: 3
✓ Total Questions: 80
✓ Difficulty: Moderate–Advanced
✓ Estimated Time: 45 Minutes
Covers:
✓ Vocabulary MCQs
✓ Synonyms
✓ Antonyms
✓ Idioms & Phrases
✓ One Word Substitution
✓ Fill in the Blanks
✓ Word Formation
✓ Spotting the Error
✓ Spelling Test
✓ Cloze Test
Start Test ↓
SECTION A/10: VOCABULARY MASTERY
1. In the context of economic policy, what does a “conundrum” refer to?
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: B. A confusing and difficult problem or question
💡 Explanation: A conundrum is a dilemma, puzzle, or difficulty that is hard to resolve.
2. How is “feedstock” defined in the context of industrial processing?
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: C. Raw material to supply or fuel a machine or industrial process
💡 Explanation: Feedstock refers to primary, unprocessed material used as an input for manufacturing.
3. What does the term “quasi-judicial” imply about a body or institution?
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: C. It has some but not all of the powers and characteristics of a court of law.
💡 Explanation: Quasi-judicial bodies function like courts but are administrative or semi-judicial in nature.
4. If a manager decides to “stagger” staff holidays, what are they doing?
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: B. Arranging events or leaves so that they do not occur at the same time
💡 Explanation: To stagger means to spread out, space out, or alternate schedules to avoid overlap.
5. What does the term “product crack” signify in the oil industry?
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: B. The pricing difference between a barrel of crude oil and the petroleum products refined from it
💡 Explanation: A product crack, or crack spread, is the refining margin or price difference.
6. A “lignocellulosic” material is one that is:
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: C. Relating to or composed of lignin and cellulose, forming the structural framework of plants
💡 Explanation: It refers to plant-based biomass used in the production of second-generation (2G) ethanol.
7. An “insular” approach to policymaking is typically:
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: C. Ignorant of or uninterested in cultures, ideas, or peoples outside one’s own experience
💡 Explanation: Insular means narrow-minded, short-sighted, inward-looking, or parochial.
8. When an organization decides to “rebrand”, it aims to:
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: C. Change the corporate image or name of an organization or concept
💡 Explanation: Rebranding involves renaming, reinventing, repositioning, or revamping an entity’s image.
9. What is the specific purpose of “viability-gap funding”?
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: B. To provide a grant to support infrastructure projects that are economically justified but fall short of financial viability
💡 Explanation: It is a government grant bridging the financial shortfall for essential infrastructure projects.
10. In a legal context, what is a “docket”?
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: C. A calendar or list of cases for trial or people having cases pending
💡 Explanation: A docket is a court’s schedule, agenda, or cause-list of pending matters.
11. “Strategic autonomy” primarily grants a state the ability to:
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: B. Pursue its national interests and adopt its preferred foreign policy without being constrained by other states
💡 Explanation: It denotes sovereign decision-making and foreign policy independence.
12. An “undertrial” in the criminal justice system is:
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: C. A person who is on trial in a court of law but has not yet been convicted
💡 Explanation: An undertrial is an unconvicted prisoner or pre-trial detainee.
13. A “distillery” is primarily a facility designed for:
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: C. Producing strong alcoholic drink or ethanol by the process of distilling
💡 Explanation: It is a brewing plant or factory where alcohol is produced through distillation.
14. What does “bargaining power” signify in trade or negotiations?
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: B. The ability of a person or group to exert influence or control over another party in a negotiation
💡 Explanation: Bargaining power means negotiating leverage, clout, or influence.
15. The term “offtake” in commercial agreements refers to:
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: C. The purchase of goods or commodities, typically by an agreement entered into before the goods are produced
💡 Explanation: Offtake agreements ensure the purchasing, consumption, or procurement of goods.
SECTION B/10: SYNONYMS
16. Choose the closest synonym for “prudent”.
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: C. Sensible
💡 Explanation: Prudent means wise, sensible, careful, and far-sighted.
17. Choose the closest synonym for “brutal”.
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: B. Harsh
💡 Explanation: Brutal means punishingly hard or uncomfortable; harsh, severe, or gruelling.
18. Choose the closest synonym for “procure”.
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: C. Obtain
💡 Explanation: To procure means to obtain, acquire, buy, or purchase.
19. Choose the closest synonym for “erode”.
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: B. Undermine
💡 Explanation: Erode means to gradually destroy, weaken, undermine, or wear away.
20. Choose the closest synonym for “surplus”.
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: B. Excess
💡 Explanation: Surplus refers to an excess, oversupply, or abundance of something.
21. Choose the closest synonym for “plead”.
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: B. Assert
💡 Explanation: In a legal context, to plead is to state formally, declare, assert, or claim.
22. Choose the closest synonym for “mitigate”.
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: C. Alleviate
💡 Explanation: Mitigate means to alleviate, reduce, diminish, or lessen the severity.
23. Choose the closest synonym for “proactive”.
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: C. Anticipatory
💡 Explanation: Proactive means acting in advance; anticipatory, forward-looking, or preemptive.
24. Choose the closest synonym for “colleague”.
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: B. Co-worker
💡 Explanation: A colleague is a person with whom one works; a co-worker, associate, or partner.
25. Choose the closest synonym for “cushion”.
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: B. Buffer
💡 Explanation: To cushion means to protect, buffer, shield, or mitigate the impact of something.
SECTION C/10: ANTONYMS
26. Choose the most appropriate antonym for “independent”.
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: C. Dependent
💡 Explanation: Independent means self-governing and free. Dependent means reliant on another.
27. Choose the most appropriate antonym for “quiet”.
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: C. Active
💡 Explanation: In this context, quiet means an absence of activity (inactive). Active is the antonym.
28. Choose the most appropriate antonym for “strict”.
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: B. Lenient
💡 Explanation: Strict implies stringent and rigid rules. Lenient implies a permissive or lax approach.
29. Choose the most appropriate antonym for “diminish”.
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: D. Increase
💡 Explanation: Diminish means to reduce or lessen. Increase means to make greater in size or amount.
30. Choose the most appropriate antonym for “expensive”.
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: B. Cheap
💡 Explanation: Expensive refers to something high-priced. Cheap or inexpensive is the direct antonym.
31. Choose the most appropriate antonym for “stable”.
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: C. Volatile
💡 Explanation: Stable means steady and firm. Volatile implies unpredictable instability.
32. Choose the most appropriate antonym for “guilty”.
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: B. Innocent
💡 Explanation: Guilty means culpable of a wrongdoing. Innocent means not guilty or blameless.
33. Choose the most appropriate antonym for “overworked”.
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: A. Idle
💡 Explanation: Overworked means compelled to work too hard. Idle means spending time doing nothing.
34. Choose the most appropriate antonym for “diversified”.
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: C. Concentrated
💡 Explanation: Diversified implies variety and spread. Concentrated means gathered or accumulated in one place.
35. Choose the most appropriate antonym for “adequately”.
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: B. Insufficiently
💡 Explanation: Adequately means sufficiently and appropriately. Insufficiently is the direct opposite.
SECTION D/10: IDIOMS & PHRASES
36. What does the phrase “behind bars” mean?
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: C. Imprisoned or incarcerated in jail
💡 Explanation: “Behind bars” is a well-known idiom meaning to be locked up in prison.
37. If something is sold “at a premium”, it is sold:
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: C. At a higher price than usual or above normal cost
💡 Explanation: Selling at a premium means charging an extra amount, surcharge, or markup.
38. When someone’s patience or an available resource begins to “run thin”, it means it is:
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: C. Becoming less effective, available, or abundant
💡 Explanation: To “run thin” means to decrease, diminish, dwindle, or deplete.
39. If an action is taken “at someone’s expense”, it is done:
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: B. To their detriment or disadvantage
💡 Explanation: The phrase means causing harm, loss, or sacrifice to the person mentioned.
40. When a matter is “out of one’s hands”, it is:
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: C. Removed from one’s authority or control
💡 Explanation: It signifies that the situation is beyond one’s control or outside one’s authority.
SECTION E/10: ONE WORD SUBSTITUTION
41. A deliberate or fixed desire or intention to achieve something is defined as:
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: B. Will
💡 Explanation: “Will” refers to a resolve, determination, resolution, or firm commitment.
42. The process of mixing different types of fuels or additives to create a fuel with specific properties is known as:
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: C. Fuel-blending
💡 Explanation: Fuel-blending combines fuels (like ethanol and petrol) to meet required specifications.
43. To return to the originator, often with negative consequences or backfiring, is to:
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: C. Boomerang
💡 Explanation: Boomerang means to backfire, rebound, or recoil upon the person who initiated the action.
44. An unexpected event that suddenly changes the supply of a commodity, resulting in an unforeseen price change, is called a:
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: B. Supply shock
💡 Explanation: A supply shock represents an emergency or deficit disrupting normal market supply and prices.
45. A person or organization that gathers together or compiles materials or information is an:
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: A. Aggregator
💡 Explanation: An aggregator acts as a collector, compiler, organizer, or consolidator of resources.
SECTION F/10: FILL IN THE BLANKS
46. Five crore Indians wait when the courts ______ a break.
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: B. take
💡 Explanation: The phrase is “take a break,” meaning to pause or stop working temporarily.
47. The standard objection is that all this is a ______: the real disease is vacancies.
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: A. sideshow
💡 Explanation: A sideshow is a minor issue distracting from the main problem (vacancies).
48. Ethanol-blended fuel should not be forced on consumers ______.
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: B. irrationally
💡 Explanation: Based on the editorial title, it warns against forcing fuel on consumers “irrationally” (illogically).
49. The policy to produce E20 petrol to compensate farmers is a ______ well-formulated proposition.
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: A. deceptively
💡 Explanation: “Deceptively” well-formulated implies the policy looks well-planned on the surface but has hidden flaws.
50. India’s energy imports from Russia seem ______ by confusion, not strategy.
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: C. driven
💡 Explanation: “Driven by” means propelled or influenced by confusion rather than clear planning.
51. Secondary sanctions could hit trade channels, exposing Indian refiners to severe ______.
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: A. supply shocks
💡 Explanation: Trade disruptions lead to “supply shocks,” causing unforeseen shortages and price shifts.
52. The calendar was built for English judges who could not ______ the Indian heat.
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: B. stand
💡 Explanation: “Stand” in this context means to endure, tolerate, or bear the harsh summer conditions.
53. The policy will favour whichever feedstock has the largest installed ______: sugarcane.
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: B. base
💡 Explanation: The “base” refers to the foundational agricultural network or infrastructure already established.
54. A hospital does not empty its wards because its doctors are ______ time off.
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: C. owed
💡 Explanation: “Owed” means they have an obligation to be given time off (vacation).
55. India must strike a balance between long-term contracts and selectively using the ______ market.
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: A. spot
💡 Explanation: The “spot market” is used for immediate delivery purchases, contrasting with long-term contracts.
SECTION G/10: WORD FORMATION
56. What is the noun form of the verb “convict”?
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: B. Conviction
💡 Explanation: Conviction is the formal declaration of guilt by a court.
57. Which of the following is the adjective form of the noun “institution”?
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: C. Institutional
💡 Explanation: Institutional is the adjective referring to an organized establishment or system.
58. Select the adverb form of the word “irrational”.
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: C. Irrationally
💡 Explanation: Irrationally is the adverb meaning illogically or unreasonably.
59. What is the noun form of the verb “procure”?
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: B. Procurement
💡 Explanation: Procurement is the act of obtaining or buying goods and services.
60. Identify the adjective form associated with “diplomacy”.
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: B. Diplomatic
💡 Explanation: Diplomatic is the adjective relating to the management of international relations.
SECTION H/10: SPOTTING THE ERROR
61. Spot the error in the sentence: “When courts rest together for vacations, crores of litigant across the country wait longer for justice.”
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: B. for vacations, crores of litigant
💡 Explanation: “Crores of” indicates a plural count, so it must be “litigants” (plural).
62. Spot the error in the sentence: “The Supreme Court of India and the major High Courts is on a summer holiday break.”
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: C. High Courts is
💡 Explanation: The compound subject connected by “and” requires the plural verb “are” instead of “is”.
63. Spot the error in the sentence: “Oil import concentration from a single source, and paying a premium, is risk for India.”
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: D. is risk for India.
💡 Explanation: It should be the adjective “risky” to describe the condition, not the noun “risk”.
64. Spot the error in the sentence: “Whether the policy’s net economic benefit remain positive will depend on lower crude imports.”
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: B. net economic benefit remain positive
💡 Explanation: The singular subject “benefit” requires the singular verb “remains”.
65. Spot the error in the sentence: “India must expand its strategic petroleum reserves to cushions temporary disruptions.”
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: C. to cushions
💡 Explanation: The infinitive form is “to cushion” (without the ‘s’).
66. Spot the error in the sentence: “The state could invests in irrigation and logistics to secure food security.”
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: B. could invests
💡 Explanation: The modal verb “could” must be followed by the base verb form “invest”.
67. Spot the error in the sentence: “The doors are not bolt; urgent pleas are still heard.”
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: B. not bolt;
💡 Explanation: The passive voice/adjective form is required here: the doors are not “bolted”.
68. Spot the error in the sentence: “A government study once calculate that clearing the pile could take three centuries.”
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: B. once calculate that
💡 Explanation: Since it refers to a past action (“once”), the verb must be in the past tense: “calculated”.
69. Spot the error in the sentence: “Maize and millets are less thirsty but maize still demand significant fertilizer inputs.”
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: C. maize still demand
💡 Explanation: The singular noun “maize” requires the singular verb “demands”.
70. Spot the error in the sentence: “Import substitutions is no excuse for consumers being forced to pay more.”
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: A. Import substitutions is
💡 Explanation: The singular verb “is” pairs with the singular subject “substitution”, not “substitutions”.
SECTION I/10: SPELLING TEST
71. Choose the correctly spelled word.
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: B. conundrum
💡 Explanation: A conundrum is a confusing or difficult problem.
72. Choose the correctly spelled word.
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: B. aggregator
💡 Explanation: An aggregator is a person or organization that gathers information or materials.
73. Choose the correctly spelled word.
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: B. collegium
💡 Explanation: Collegium refers to the system where top judges recommend judicial appointments.
74. Choose the correctly spelled word.
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: B. arbitration
💡 Explanation: Arbitration is the use of an independent body to settle a dispute.
75. Choose the correctly spelled word.
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: A. lignocellulosic
💡 Explanation: Lignocellulosic refers to plant biomass composed of lignin and cellulose.
SECTION J/10: CLOZE TEST
Directions: Read the passage below and fill in the blanks (76-80) with the most appropriate words based on the supplied editorials.
Because that is precisely the (76) ______. When the people doing the work are (77) ______ and the (78) ______ is biblical, what (79) ______ logic shuts the whole shop at once? Not that judges rest — which they should — but that almost all of them rest together, so the (80) ______ goes quiet for six-plus weeks every year.
76. Choose the correct word for blank (76).
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: A. point
💡 Explanation: “Point” refers to the core meaning or crucial element of the discussion.
77. Choose the correct word for blank (77).
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: C. exhausted
💡 Explanation: “Exhausted” indicates the workers are drained of their physical or mental resources.
78. Choose the correct word for blank (78).
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: A. backlog
💡 Explanation: A “backlog” is an accumulation of uncompleted work needing to be dealt with.
79. Choose the correct word for blank (79).
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: C. conceivable
💡 Explanation: “Conceivable” means capable of being imagined or grasped mentally.
80. Choose the correct word for blank (80).
✓ Check Answer
✓ Correct Answer: A. institution
💡 Explanation: “Institution” refers to the court system or organization as a whole going quiet.
Test Completed
You have completed today’s Editorial Words Daily Vocabulary Test.