Vocabulary Exercise – 27
English Skill Building – 30
Words with similar meaning, but different uses
Criticize
a. Boris Johnson has been strongly criticized for his abrogation of the British Parliament.
b. My History teacher criticized my poor handwriting, but appreciated the many thoughtful ideas of my answer.
c. The Indian media has been criticized for its one-sided coverage of the Kashmir situation after the Abrogation of Article 370.
Denounce
a. Traditionally, the Pope has denounced the practice of abortion describing it as a crime as severe as murder.
b. Many intellectuals in the Islamic world have denounced the lukewarm attitude of the wealthy oil-rich countries towards the issue of rehabilitation of Syrian refugees.
c. After the Triple Talaq bill was passed, many among the Indian Muslims hailed it as a progressive step, where as some others denounced as an unnecessary interference in the matters of the community.
Reprimand
a. The BBCI reprimanded the coach of the Indian cricket team for the failure of the side in winning the World Cup.
b. The judge reprimanded the prosecution lawyer for his repeated failure to produce the key witness in the murder trial.
c. The man reprimanded his adolescent son for not keeping fast during the Ramadan days.
Rebuke
a. The conservative mother rebuked her daughter for posting a photo in the Facebook wearing outlandish clothes.
b. The Speaker rebuked the members of the Opposition who came rushing to the well of the house over trifling matters.
c. The wife rebuked her husband after the latter failed to curb his heavy drinking habits.
Decry
a. In his Friday sermons, the Imam decried the way Muslims took up guns to fight their political battles.
b. Raja Ram Mohan Roy, the renowned reformer, decried the Brahmins who used ancient religious texts to defend the heinous system of Satee (widow-burning).
c. The chief guest who came to address the students on the school’s Foundation Day decried the way students had stopped reading books, and taken to mobile phones.
Deprecate
a. In his angry comments, the Justice deprecated the habit of the lawyers of sides to seek adjournments.
b. In his blog, the diabetologist from Bengal deprecated the way Bengalis ate sweets three times a day – breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
c. A bitter argument broke out between the young man and his wife, when he deprecated modern-day TV debates terming them as banal and uncivil. The wife was furious because she worked as an anchor in a TV channel.
Cast aspersions on
a. Lord Rama was filled with anguish when someone cast aspersions on Sita’s chastity after the duo returned to Ayodhya.
b. The entire opposition angrily walked out when someone from the treasury benches cast aspersions on Mrs. Gandhi’s integrity.
c. The wife filed for divorce when the husband openly cast aspersions on her character before the neighbours.
Run someone or something down
a. The young singer broke into tears when her guru ran her down for the way she sang on the stage.
b. The researcher had hit upon a novel way to detect electromagnetism in solidified lava, but his jealous peers ran him down openly.
c. [to trace or discover] – The Jew mother who survived the Nazi concentration camp finally ran her son down in an orphanage in far-off Brazil. She was over-joyed.
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