English Vocabulary - Archives

For each word, you will get the meaning and the root of the word and synonyms and antonyms for the word. For each word, you will also get a simple sentence which uses the word. These sentences help you understand the usage of the words.

GABBLE (verb)

Meaning
to talk quickly so that people cannot hear you clearly or understand you
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
jabber, babble, prattle, rattle, blabber, gibber, cackle, blab, drivel, twitter, splutter, talk rapi
Antonyms
-
Usage
She gabbled something nervously but I could not follow what she tried to say.

GAFFE (noun)

Meaning
an embarrassing blunder
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
blunder, mistake, error, slip, indiscretion, impropriety, breach of etiquette, miscalculation, gauch
Antonyms
-
Usage
He seems to be oblivious of the serious gaffe he committed during the course of his speech.

GAINSAY (verb)

Meaning
deny or contradict, speak against
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
deny, dispute, contradict, repudiate, declare untrue, challenge, oppose, contest, disprove, debunk
Antonyms
confirm
Usage
Although people criticise her as a hard task master, there is no gainsaying the fact that she is a charismatic leader.

GAIT (noun)

Meaning
a person's way of walking
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
walk, step, stride, pace, tread, manner of walking, way of walking, bearing, carriage, comportment,
Antonyms
-
Usage
The comedian, who was a stubby man with a peculiar gait, never failed to amuse his audience.

GALLING (adj)

Meaning
extremely irritating
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
annoying, vexing, infuriating, maddening, irksome
Antonyms
pleasurable
Usage
It was extremely galling to listen to his constant bragging about himself.

GALLIVANT (verb)

Meaning
go from place to phase in search of excitement.
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
jaunt, roam, wander, gad, flit, range, rove, ramble, traipse, stray.
Antonyms
-
Usage
In our society, girls are not allowed the leeway to gallivant.

GALORE (adj)

Meaning
in abundance
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
aplenty, in abundance, in profusion, in great quantity, in large numbers, by the dozen.
Antonyms
-
Usage
The carnival was a fun filled event with games, entertainment and gifts galore.

GALVANIZE (verb)

Meaning
shock or excite into action
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
spur, prod, motivate
Antonyms
demotivate
Usage
The new leader is expected to galvanize his entire team.

GAMBIT (noun)

Meaning
an action or remark intended to gain an advantage
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
stratagem, scheme, tactic, manoeuvre
Antonyms
-
Usage
His resignation was a gambit

GAMBOL (verb)

Meaning
to jump or run about in a lively way.
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
frolic, frisk, cavort, caper, skip, dance, romp, prance, leap, hop, jump, spring, bound.
Antonyms
-
Usage
Watching little children gambolling in the play ground was her favourite pastime

GANGLING (adj)

Meaning
(of a person) tall, thin and awkward
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
lanky, rangy, wiry, stringy, bony, angular, skinny, spindly, scrawny, thin, spare, gaunt, awkward, g
Antonyms
squat
Usage
He was a gangling teenager when I last saw him, but now has grown into a handsome and polished gentleman.

GARBLED (adj)

Meaning
reproduced (a message or transmission) in a confused and distorted way.
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
muddled, jumbled, confused misquoted, misstated
Antonyms
-
Usage
The garbled message led to a comedy of errors.

GARGANTUAN (adj)

Meaning
huge
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
massive, colossal
Antonyms
tiny
Usage
Removing crime from society is a gargantuan task.

GARISH (adj)

Meaning
unpleasantly bright and showy
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
gaudy, lurid, loud, over-bright, harsh, glaring, violent, flashy, showy
Antonyms
tasteful
Usage
Her garish dressing reflected her poor sartorial taste.

GARNER (verb)

Meaning
gather or collect
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
gather, collect, accumulate, amass, assemble, hoard, stockpile
Antonyms
-
Usage
He campaigned extensively and garnered enough support from the electorate.

GARRET (noun)

Meaning
a room, often a small dark unpleasant one, at the top of a house, especially in the roof.
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
attic, loft, roof space, cock loft, mansard.
Antonyms
-
Usage
Apart from huge piles of junk, the garret also had some antique furniture.

GARRULITY (noun)

Meaning
the state of being extremely talkative.
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
talkativeness, garrulousness, loquacity, volubility, verbosity, long-windedness, chattiness, effusiv
Antonyms
taciturnity
Usage
His unrestrained garrulity was rather irritating.

GASCONADING (verb)

Meaning
boasting
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
rodomontading, blustering
Antonyms
humble, modest
Usage
Some old army men are prone to gasconading a lot.

GAUCHE (adj)

Meaning
socially awkward or unsophisticated
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
gawky, inelegant, graceless, ungraceful, inept
Antonyms
elegant, sophisticated
Usage
The gauche young village lass felt like a fish out of water in the snobbish and sophisticated atmosphere.

GAUNT (adj)

Meaning
lean and haggard
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
haggard, dragon, cadaverous, skeletal, skinny, lank, raddled, withered.
Antonyms
-
Usage
I saw a gaunt, lanky man moving around the street looking rather suspicious.

GENEALOGY (noun)

Meaning
family tree
Root of the word
GEN = birth, race, creation
Synonyms
descent, ancestry, descent, lineage, progeniture, ancestors, descendants, forebears, pedigree
Antonyms
-
Usage
When you draw the genealogy of our family, do not forget to give a copy to me. I am sure many people these days neither know nor care for their genealogy.

GENERATION (noun)

Meaning
age group, production
Root of the word
gen = birth, class, kin
Synonyms
creation, invention, making
Antonyms
-
Usage
An aging generation with no social security is worrying sociologists.

GENESIS (noun)

Meaning
origin
Root of the word
gen = birth, race, creation
Synonyms
birth, start, beginning
Antonyms
death, culmination
Usage
If you trace the genesis of our family, we are the descendents of Rabindranath Tagore.

GENETICS (adj)

Meaning
the science of heredity
Root of the word
gen = birth, race, creation
Synonyms
heredity, inheritance
Antonyms
-
Usage
By the way, can genetics explain why the entire lineage seems to have homogeneous qualities?

GENIAL (adj)

Meaning
friendly and cheerful
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
friendly, affable, cordial, congenial, amiable, warm, approachable
Antonyms
unfriendly
Usage
Being a warm and genial person, Jane has endeared herself to all her friends.

GENIALITY (noun)

Meaning
cheerfulness
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
friendliness, warmth, affability, cordiality, amiability
Antonyms
unfriendliness
Usage
The guests were overwhelmed by the hostess's warmth and geniality.

GENOCIDE (noun)

Meaning
the murder of a whole race or group of people
Root of the word
gen = birth, class, kin
Synonyms
racial killing, massacre, wholesale slaughter, mass slaughter, wholesale killing, mass murder, exter
Antonyms
Usage
Genocide and ethnic violence rocked several regions of the world after the Second World War.

GENRE (noun)

Meaning
type, category
Root of the word
gen = birth, race, creation
Synonyms
kind, variety, genus, sort, field
Antonyms
-
Usage
Classic movies of different genres will be shown at the Paradise theatre during the film festival.

GERMANE (adj)

Meaning
relevant to a subject under consideration
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
relevant, pertinent, applicable,
Antonyms
irrelevant
Usage
The writer's constant dwelling on issues which are not germane to the topic under consideration speaks of his discursive style.

GESTICULATE (verb)

Meaning
to make movements with your hands or arms, to express something or to emphasize what you are saying.
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
gesture, make gestures, signal, make signals, sign, motion, wave
Antonyms
-
Usage
The traffic police man gesticulated to us to stop the vehicle.

GETAWAY (noun)

Meaning
escape or quick departure
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
escape, breakout, break, bolt for freedom, running away, flight, bolting, absconding, decamping, fle
Antonyms
-
Usage
The thieves managed to make a quick getaway before the police arrived on the scene.

GHOULISH (adj)

Meaning
having an unhealthy interest in death or disaster
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
macabre, grisly, gruesome, grotesque, ghastly, morbid, perverted
Antonyms
-
Usage
People belonging to some tribal communities living in the Amazon jungles are crude and uncivilized and have a ghoulish passion for weird practices.

GIMCRACK (adj)

Meaning
badly made, of little value
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
flimsy, shoddy, insubstantial, rickety, ramshackle, thrown together, makeshift, inferior, poor-quali
Antonyms
-
Usage
The labourers lived in gimcrack shacks in abject poverty and squalor.

GINGERLY (adv)

Meaning
in a careful or cautious manner
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
cautiously, carefully, circumspectly, delicately, warily, charily.
Antonyms
carelessly, recklessly
Usage
The thieves gained entry into the house stealthily and gingerly tried to open the safe.

GLEAN (verb)

Meaning
collect gradually from various sources
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
obtain, get, take, draw, derive, extract, cull, garner, gather, reap, select
Antonyms
disperse, dissipate
Usage
The evidence to support his theory was gleaned from books and experiments.

GLISTEN (verb)

Meaning
to shine
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
sparkle, twinkle, glint, gleam, shimmer, glimmer, flicker, blink, wink.
Antonyms
-
Usage
She looked sick with worry and her forehead was glistening with perspiration.

GLUT (noun)

Meaning
an excessively large supply
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
abundance, excess, overabundance, overflow, plenty
Antonyms
scarcity, dearth
Usage
The copious rains this year led to a glut in the production of food grains.

GOAD (verb)

Meaning
provoke to action.
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
provoke, spur, prick, sting, prod, egg on, hound, badger, incite, rouse, stir, move, stimulate
Antonyms
-
Usage
Constant goading by her parents spurred her into action.

GOBBLEDEGOOK (noun)

Meaning
unintelligible language.
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
jargon, gibberish, claptrap, nonsense, rubbish, balderdash, blather, blether.
Antonyms
-
Usage
As the language in the book was highly technical, it sounded like a piece of gobbledegook to me.

GODFORSAKEN (adj)

Meaning
remote, miserable
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
wretched, miserable, dreary, dismal, depressing, grim, cheerless, bleak, desolate, joyless, discoura
Antonyms
charming, bustling
Usage
I hate living in this godforsaken place, he said vehemently.

GORY (adj)

Meaning
involving a lot of blood or violence, showing or describing blood and violence
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
grisly, gruesome, violent, bloodthirsty, bloody, brutal, savage, ghastly, frightful, horried, horrif
Antonyms
-
Usage
Gory rituals like human sacrifice are practised even to this day by African tribals.

GOSPEL (adj)

Meaning
something absolutely true
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
the truth, the whole truth, the naked truth, gospel truth, god's truth, the honest truth
Antonyms
-
Usage
The leader's word is taken as gospel by his followers.

GRADATION (noun)

Meaning
arrangement into categories
Root of the word
grad/gress = step
Synonyms
degree, nuance, stage, progression, shift
Antonyms
-
Usage
The gradation of the questions from easy to difficult became a controversial issue.

GRADIENT (noun)

Meaning
incline
Root of the word
grad/gress = step
Synonyms
slope, ramp, hill, grade, rise, pitch, ascent
Antonyms
-
Usage
The steep gradient at the foot of the hillock is proving to be a safety hazard for motorists.

GRATIFYING (verb)

Meaning
giving pleasure or satisfaction
Root of the word
grat = pleasing
Synonyms
gladdening, pleasing, satisfying
Antonyms
frustrating, disppointing
Usage
It is gratifying to note that children, these days, are taking active interest in social service.

GRATIS (adj)

Meaning
free
Root of the word
grat = please, favour
Synonyms
gratuitous, complimentary, without payment
Antonyms
charge for something
Usage
The company offered one soap gratis to everyone who bought two toothpastes.

GRATITUDE (noun)

Meaning
thankfulness, appreciation of kindness
Root of the word
grat = pleased
Synonyms
appreciation, gratefulness
Antonyms
ingratitude
Usage
The beggar expressed his gratitude by touching the feet of the man who gave him food.

GRATUITOUS (adj)

Meaning
unwarranted, free
Root of the word
grat = pleasing
Synonyms
unjustified, needless, unnecessary
Antonyms
necessary, justified
Usage
I get irritated when people give me gratuitous advice.

GRAVE (adj and noun)

Meaning
serious, tomb, ominous, solemn
Root of the word
grav/griev = heavy
Synonyms
severe, weighty, momentous, crucial, critical, important, vital
Antonyms
jovial, happy
Usage
The grave expression on his face told me that it was not the right time to talk to him.

GRAVITAS (noun)

Meaning
dignity or solemnity of manner.
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
dignity, seriousness, solemnity, gravity, loftiness, grandeur, decorum, sobriety, sedateness.
Antonyms
frivolity
Usage
The principal was a tall, stately woman and had the gravitas expected of a widely read person.

GRAVITY (noun)

Meaning
seriousness, solemnity
Root of the word
grav, griev = heavy
Synonyms
severity, importance, magnitude, significance, enormity
Antonyms
insignificance
Usage
Try and understand the gravity of the situation.

GREGARIOUS (adj)

Meaning
sociable
Root of the word
greg = herd, crowd
Synonyms
extroverted, expressive, unreserved, expansive, companionable
Antonyms
reserved, reclusive
Usage
Marketing men are, almost invariably, gregarious by nature.

GRIEF (noun)

Meaning
deep sorrow, especially caused by someone's death
Root of the word
grav, griev = heavy
Synonyms
pain, misery, unhappiness, heartache, anguish, angst
Antonyms
-
Usage
She was overwhelmed with grief when she heard the tragic news of her sister's death in a ghastly road accident.

GRIEVANCE (noun)

Meaning
complaint, injustice
Root of the word
grav, griev = heavy
Synonyms
criticism, accusation, grumble, moan
Antonyms
-
Usage
Please take your grievance to someone who is in a position to help.

GRIEVOUS (adj)

Meaning
severe
Root of the word
grav/griev = heavy
Synonyms
serious, dire, terrible, dreadful
Antonyms
jovial, happy
Usage
The scooterist was grievously injured in the accident.

GRIM (adj)

Meaning
very serious or gloomy
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
stern, forbidding, uninviting, unapproachable, aloof, distant, formidable, strict, dour, harsh
Antonyms
amiable, pleasant
Usage
People, particularly children, distanced themselves from her because she always had a grim expression on her face.

GRISLY (adj)

Meaning
extremely unpleasant and frightening and usually connected with death and violence
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
gruesome, ghastly, frightful, horrid, horrifying, fearful, hideous, macabre, horrible, horrendous, g
Antonyms
pleasant, attractive
Usage
He was a maniac who was involved in a series of grisly murders.

GROGGY (adj)

Meaning
dazed and unsteady after drunkenness, sleep etc.
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
dazed, muzzy, stupefied, befuddled, muddled, confused, bewildered, disoriented, shaky, staggering, u
Antonyms
-
Usage
Since I had a disturbed sleep last night, I felt groggy throughout the day.

GULLIBLE (adj)

Meaning
easily persuaded to believe something.
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
credulous, naive, innocent, unsuspicious
Antonyms
-
Usage
The unscrupulous man called himself an expert investment adviser and tried to peddle stocks to gullible clients.

GUSTO (noun)

Meaning
enjoyment or vigour
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
enthusiasm, relish, appetite, delight, glee, pleasure, satisfaction, gratification
Antonyms
-
Usage
The dance was appreciated by the audience because all the artists performed with gusto.

GUTTURAL (adj)

Meaning
formed in the throat, throaty in sound
Root of the word
-
Synonyms
throaty, husky, gruff, gravelly, growly, growling, croaky, harsh, rough, rasping, grating, jarring,
Antonyms
-
Usage
Although I could not understand the language in which he was speaking, I could discern from his guttural shouts that he was abusing someone.