This is the tenth part of the Civil Service Vocabulary Review series of Ph Civil Service Reviewer. In this series, we discuss the words that commonly appear in English vocabulary examinations. The other parts of this series can be found in this blog’s English page.

The Civil Service Exam Vocabulary Review 10

1. belligerent – angry and aggressive; feeling or showing readiness to fight

Sample Sentence: I don’t like the belligerent tone of his speech.

2. convergent – tending to come together; tending to move toward one point

Sample Sentence: Most of the speakers have convergent views toward the use of contraceptives.

3. delusion – belief in something that is not true

Sample Sentence: I think you are living in a delusion that you are better than everyone else.

4. gullible – too willing to believe everything that other people say; easy to deceive or trick

Sample Sentence: I think the voters now are wiser. Unlike before, many people are so gullible that they believe almost every promise of any politician.

5. juxtapose – to put things that are not similar next to each other

Sample Sentence: The  exhibit juxtaposed M.C. Escher’s earlier artworks and his later masterpieces.

6. maxim – a short statement about a general truth; a saying

Sample Sentence: It is a common maxim that “a book should not be judged by its cover.”

7. nullify – to cause something to have no value or effect; to declare to be legally void

Sample Sentence: The court did nullify their marriage because it was discovered that his husband was married to another woman.

8. odyssey – a long journey which is usually marked by notable experiences, adventures, and hardships

Sample Sentence: Billy Beane has indeed an exciting odyssey before he became a well-known baseball manager.

9. pacify – to bring or restore to a state of peace; to cause someone who is angry to be calm or quite

Sample Sentence: A charming airline attendant came out to pacify the crowd of people who were complaining about the delayed flight.

10. recant – to announce in public that the past beliefs or statements were wrong and that you do not agree with them anymore

Sample Sentence: After too much pressure from his family, he recanted his former statements favoring the law on abortion.

That’s it for this post, I hope that you have learned something.