Browse Category: Vocabulary

Civil Service Exam Vocabulary Week 2 – Set 2

This is the PCSR second vocabulary reviewer.

1. Rue – verb

Regret; lament; sorrow

Annie rued for weeks when her pet died.

2. Longevity – noun

Long life; durability; length of service

Many believed that the environment is a great factor to one’s longevity.

3. Musty – adjective

Covered with or smelling of mold; smelling of damp and decay; stale

I sat in dismay when I found my misplaced snack; and it’s all musty when I found it.

4. Nettle – verb

Annoy; irritate

The boy next door is screaming his lungs out because his little brother is nettling him.

5. Nemesis – noun

An opponent or enemy that is very difficult to defeat.

Grandma always says that death is her nemesis.

6. Bolster – verb

Support; strengthen; reinforce

The lawyer dismissed the case due to lack of evidence to bolster their accusation.

7. Cringe – verb

Shrink; cower; draw back, as with fear or pain

The new nanny cringed when she heard the youngest of the siblings crying his heart out.

8. Disinter – verb

Dig up for reburial or for medical investigation (of dead bodies); uncover; unearth

Archaeologist accidentally found bones while disinterring. They brought the bones in their laboratory to find out how old it was.

9. Homage – noun

Tribute; respect

The students of Yellowbell Foundation conducted concert to pay homage to their founder.

10. Inebriate – adjective

Habitually intoxicated; drunk

Our inebriate neighbors always disturb us. They pick a fight with each other after getting drunk.

Civil Service Exam Vocabulary Week 1 – Set 2

This is the PCSR first vocabulary reviewer.

1.) Articulate – adjective

Communicative, fluent

Mr. Ramos’ articulate speech during his presentation impressed his employers.

2.) Biennial – adjective

Occurring every second years

Presidential meetings are usually biennial.

3.) Devise – verb

Formulate, invent, think up

“Have you heard about the teenager who have devised a vest that can prevent breast cancer?”, Mina asked.

4.) Eon – noun

An immeasurably long period of time; an age

“The last time I had an ice cream was eons ago!”, Johnny said to his mother.

5.) Facade – noun

The face or front of a building; superficial or false appearance.

The facade of the Barasoain’s church was printed on the ten-peso bill before.

Danny bullies his classmates to show his power, but that was just a facade he put on to conceal his fears.

6.) Sinecure – noun

Well-paid position with little responsibility.

Leo was hired just because he’s our manager’s nephew and his job is so sinecure.

7.) Assiduous – adjective

Sedulous, diligent

Mrs. Santos is known for his assiduous works. You can see on her crafts that she pays attention to every detail.

8.) Connoisseur – noun

Specialist; expert

I am very honored that a Connoisseur examined my work.

9.) Desiccate – verb

Dry; dehydrate; wither

Persons who worked on fields were warned about the rise on the temperature this week. They were also advised to drink plenty of fluids for the heat can be very desiccating.

10.) Espouse – verb

Support; adopt

Lindy is always ready to espouse everyone’s idea.

Civil Service Exam Vocabulary 18

This is the 18th PCSR vocabulary reviewer.

1. Accomplice – noun
Partner in crime

Because Danny kept the stolen money, he was arrested as an accomplice in the robbery.

2. Antediluvian – adjective
Prehistoric, antiquated, extremely ancient

Recent discoveries in the Egypt found the ruins that were believed to be antediluvian.

3. Breach – noun
An act of breaking or failing to observe a law, agreement, or code of conduct

Sarah sued Tommy for breaching their child support agreement.

4. Caucus – noun
A closed political meeting

Before the session started, the members held a caucus to select their new leader.

5. Chide – verb
Scold, rebuke, reprimand

When the truth came out, Ms. Milly started to chide his son for stealing.

6. Fret – verb
To be annoyed or vexed, fuss

Don’t fret over your food. Instead, be thankful with what you have.

7. Haggle – verb
Wrangle (over a price, terms of an agreement, etc.), chaffer

The vendor and I are haggling over the shirt’s price.

8. Indolent – adjective
Lazy, otiose

Employees under an indolent boss will probably lose their drive to work.

9. Mollify – verb
Pacify, placate

Mr. Andrews tries to mollify her angry wife by giving her a bouquet of flowers.

10. Penury – noun
Severe poverty, indigence

Mr. Lucas, who’s running for president, promised that he would prioritize those who are living in penury.

Civil Service Exam Vocabulary Review 16

This is the PCSR 16th vocabulary reviewer.

1. Altercation – Noun
Affray, fracas, noisy quarrel, heated dispute

Example: Lando and Rino’s altercation end in fist fight.

2. Brawn – Noun
Heftiness, muscularity, muscular strength

Example: It takes brawn to become a weightlifting champion like Hidilyn Diaz.

3. Charlatan – Noun
Fraud, deceiver, quack, pretender to knowledge

Example: When Alvin found out that the necklace that was sold to him was a fake, he became more suspicious to charlatans.

4. Debilitate – Verb
Make weak, enfeeble

Example: Misuse of drugs can debilitate the body.

5. Decrepit – Adjective
Worn out by age

Example: Angie said goodbye to her decrepit bag after receiving a new one.

6. Ethereal – Adjective
Light, heavenly, extremely delicate and light in a way that seems too perfect for this world.

Example: The singer’s ethereal voice gave me goose bumps.

7. Exacerbate – Verb
Worsen, embitter, exasperate

Example: The problem in garbage exacerbated the flood.

8. Flinch – Verb
Hesitate, draw back, shrink

Example: The man faced the danger without flinching just to save his dog.

9. Gusto – Noun
Enjoyment, enthusiasm
Example: Michelle accepted the challenge with such gusto.

10. Impoverished – Adjective
Poor

Example: The war left the civilians impoverished and hopeless.

That’s all.

Civil Service Exam Vocabulary Review 15

This is the PCSR 15th vocabulary reviewer.

1. Abridge – verb
Shorten, diminish, curtail

Because my time was limited, I just watched the abridged version of the movie.

2. Blunder – noun
Error, careless mistake, blooper

The criminal’s blunder led to his capture.

3. Cacophonous- adjective
Discordant, loud noise

I did not sleep well last night because of the cacophonous sound upstairs.

4. Deadlock-noun
Standstill, dead end, stalemate

Because the negotiations had reached a deadlock, the team leader decided to take a recess.

5. Ensconce-verb
Settle, establish

After her retirement, the old maid ensconced on her rest house by the beach.

6. Fervent-adjective
Ardent, hot

After attending a retreat, Allison suddenly felt a fervent desire to change herself.

7. Gibe-verb
Mock, jibe, slam, taunt

The mean girls at school consistently gibed at Minna, teasing her about her old clothes.

8. Heinous-adjective
Atrocious, hatefully bad

Most of the senators voted to bring back the death penalty, but for heinous crimes only.

9. Incorrigible-adjective
not correctable

The effect of the drugs on the youth makes them incorrigible; they will just keep on justifying their wrongdoings.

10. Insipid-adjective
Lack of flavor, dull

Grandma prepared us an insipid cookie. We pretend that it was sweet so that grandma’s feelings won’t get hurt.

Civil Service Exam Vocabulary Review 14

This is the PCSR 14th vocabulary reviewer.

1.) gullible – adjective
Easily deceived or tricked, credulous, naïve, exploitable

Example: The Budol-Budol group is now in jail for scamming gullible senior citizens.

2.) abyss – noun
Bottomless gulf or pit, extremely deep hole

Example: While standing on a cliff to capture his perfect shot, he dropped his phone into a murky abyss.

3.) connoisseur – noun
An expert able to appreciate a field; especially in fine arts, expert, specialist

Example: The discriminating eye of the connoisseur inspired the artist to improve her crafts.

4.) larceny – noun
Theft of personal property, stealing, thieving

Example: The congressman has been charged with grand larceny because of his unexplained wealth.

5.) elegy – noun
A sorrowful poem or speech, a lament for the dead

Example: Maria offers an elegy during his father’s wake.

6.) eloquent – adjective
Persuasive and moving, speaking effectively

Example: The candidate was very eloquent during his speech, reaching out to many people’s hearts and expressing his sincerity.

7.) ingrate – noun
Ungrateful person

Example: Hanna is an ingrate child; you can never please her no matter what you do.

8.) flippant – adjective
Not showing a serious or respectful attitude

Example: During a very serious discussion, Marco made a flippant remark that made his co-workers disappointed.

9.) drapery – noun
Hanging cloth used as blind (especially in windows) coverings

Example: The school’s hall is decorated with red draperies to celebrate the Valentine’s day.

10.) fluctuate – verb
Rise and fall irregularly, to change continually, shift back and forth or up and down

Example: The electrical fluctuation caused the lights to blink irregularly

Civil Service Exam Vocabulary Review 13

This is the PCSR 13th vocabulary reviewer.

1. Knave – noun
Untrustworthy person, rogue, scoundrel, unscrupulous man

Example: The knave is usually suspicious of everyone around him. 

2. Laggard – adjective
Slow, sluggish, dilatory

Example: Jimmy, a laggard, always makes his friends late too.

3. Marred – adjective
Damaged, disfigured, scarred

Example: It took me all day to scrub the walls marred by graffiti.

4. Nadir – noun
Lowest point

Example: The nadir of humanity is when the time comes that it does not care anymore about life.

5. Ornate- adjective
Excessively or elaborately decorated, flowery

Example: The ornate ice carving won the first prize in the last Ice Festival in Sapporo.

6. Pariah – noun
Outcast, castaway

Example: Persons with leprosy were treated as social pariahs.

7. Quell – verb
Put down, extinguish, put an end, suppress

Example: The government is now planning on to quell the rebellion.

8. Rapacious – adjective
Excessively greedy

Example: The rapacious loan shark stripped the tenants with all their possessions.

9. Sham – verb
Pretend, fake

Example: Lucia shammed her sickness to avoid going to the dentist.

10. Tether – verb
Tie with a rope, attach

Example: Before leaving the farm, we make sure to tether the cows and goats to prevent them from wandering.

Civil Service Exam Vocabulary Review 12

This is the twelfth 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.
1. Abate – verb.
lessen, decrease, reduce, subside

Example: Mario waited for the storm to abate before leaving the town.

2. Bilk – verb
to defraud, cheat, to illegally obtain money by deception

Example: A case was filed against the previous treasurer for bilking the company.

3. Chagrin – noun
distressed or humiliated, disappointment

Example: Justin felt nothing but chagrin after being rejected by his crush.

4. Dank – adjective
clammy, musty, unpleasantly moist or humid

Example: Being stuck on the middle of a dank rain forest was the worst experience for me.

5. Emulate – verb
copy, imitate

Example: One of the judges at the pageant says that they’re going to choose the one who’s worth emulating.

6. Filch – verb
steal (esp. something of small value)

Example: Mrs. Miller’s kids were scolded for filching their neighbors’ guavas.

7. Garrulous – adjective
excessively talkative, chatty, loquacious, wordy

Example: Aunt Nanette is the most garrulous lady I’ve ever known. She can speak for hours without getting tired.

8. Humdrum – adjective
monotonous, dull, boring

Example: Nestor quit his job because of his humdrum work routine.

9. Incessant – adjective
uninterrupted, continuing without pause

Example: The incessant flow of blood was from her would was the reason of her death.

10. Jaunt – noun
short journey, trip

Example: Last week, we had a quick jaunt to Baguio.