Vocab Families
13 word families NDA reuses
Words don't repeat across years — only 5 stems were tested twice in 10 years. So memorising the 270 PYQ-tested words is a losing strategy. Memorising the families they cluster into is the real lever. Each family below is the actual editorial pattern; the specific words rotate, the patterns don't.
- PYQ-tested words
- 270
- thematic families
- 13
- words in this guide
- 114
- stem repeats in 10 yrs
- 5
How to use these families
Read one family per day. For each word: cover the gloss, read the word, try to recall the meaning. If you can’t, add it to a spaced-repetition deck. Repeat for 13 days. Then run a second pass adding 5 fresh words per family from any standard NDA vocab list.
On test day: when you see an unfamiliar tested word, ask which family it likely belongs to (by Latin/Greek root, by prefix, by sentence context). Family-fast lookup beats word-by-word memorisation under time pressure.
Jump to family
- Praise, virtue, good character
- Greed, excess, extravagance
- Cleverness, wit, insight
- Deceit, dishonesty, malice
- Hardship, suffering, arduous work
- Anger, displeasure, strong negative emotion
- Doubt, uncertainty, ambiguity
- Abundance, vastness, fullness
- Scarcity, weakness, lacking
- Transient, brief, sudden
- Courage, steadfastness, perseverance
- Unusual, eccentric, non-conformist
- Confusable pairs (the affect/effect cluster)
Praise, virtue, good character (12 words)
Positive moral / aspirational vocabulary.
On Synonyms, the wrong option is often a near-virtue from a different axis (humble vs honest). On Antonyms, the wrong option is the same-axis milder word (good vs bad — pick 'evil' not 'mean').
| Word | Bank source | Gloss |
|---|---|---|
| candid | S | frank, open, honest |
| benevolent | A | kind, generous (opp: hostile, malevolent) |
| laudable | S | praiseworthy |
| praiseworthy | A | deserving praise (opp: deplorable) |
| righteousness | A | moral integrity (opp: wickedness) |
| integrity | A | honesty, moral wholeness |
| generous | A | giving freely (opp: miserly) |
| diligent | S | hardworking, careful |
| industrious | A | hardworking (opp: idle, indolent) |
| meticulous | S | carefully precise |
| competent | S | capable, skilled |
| conscientiously | A | carefully, thoroughly (opp: carelessly) |
Greed, excess, extravagance (8 words)
Over-doing, over-spending, over-showing.
NDA frequently tests prodigal, ostentatious, lavish, squander. All sit on the same 'too-much' axis. Antonym is almost always thrifty/frugal/restrained.
| Word | Bank source | Gloss |
|---|---|---|
| prodigal | A | wastefully extravagant (opp: thrifty) |
| ostentatious | A | showy, intended to impress (opp: modest) |
| lavishly | S | abundantly, extravagantly |
| squander | A | waste recklessly (opp: save, conserve) |
| indolence | S | laziness |
| inordinate | S | excessive, beyond reasonable |
| audacity | A | boldness, often impertinent (opp: timidity) |
| audaciousness | A | boldness, daring (opp: timidity) |
Cleverness, wit, insight (7 words)
Mental sharpness — perceptive, shrewd, quick-witted.
The 'perspicacity', 'sagacity', 'acumen' triplet has all been tested. They overlap heavily; on Synonyms, the right answer is usually 'insight' or 'discernment'.
| Word | Bank source | Gloss |
|---|---|---|
| acumen | S | sharp judgment, insight |
| perspicacity | A | keenness of insight (opp: obtuseness) |
| sagacity | S | wisdom, shrewdness |
| candid | S | frank, plainspoken |
| incisive | A | sharp, penetrating (opp: dull) |
| dynamic | S | energetic, active |
| captious | S | fault-finding, hard-to-please |
Deceit, dishonesty, malice (12 words)
Negative-character vocabulary — sneaky, harmful, untrustworthy.
On Synonyms here, options often include 'cunning' and 'sneaky' as decoys for 'insidious' (which is more 'subtly harmful'). Read the register — insidious is formal/serious.
| Word | Bank source | Gloss |
|---|---|---|
| disingenuous | A | dishonest, insincere (opp: candid) |
| dubious | A | doubtful, questionable (opp: trustworthy) |
| insidious | S | subtly harmful, stealthy |
| sycophancy | S | obsequious flattery |
| slanderous | S | spreading false damaging statements |
| maleficent | S | doing harm, evil |
| malign | S | speak harmfully about |
| vitriolic | S | bitter, scathing |
| clandestine | A | secret, often illicit (opp: open) |
| counterfeit | S | fake, forged |
| biased | A | prejudiced (opp: impartial) |
| cunning | S | crafty, sly |
Hardship, suffering, arduous work (9 words)
Difficult / painful experience.
All these cluster around 'hard' or 'painful'. Watch for register — arduous and onerous are formal; gruelling/hapless are slightly more conversational.
| Word | Bank source | Gloss |
|---|---|---|
| arduous | A | extremely difficult (opp: easy) |
| excruciating | A | intensely painful (opp: pleasant) |
| onerous | S | burdensome, demanding |
| gruelling | S | exhausting, demanding |
| calamitous | S | disastrous |
| hapless | A | unlucky (opp: fortunate) |
| miseries | S | great sufferings |
| deplorable | A | shocking, contemptible (opp: praiseworthy) |
| holocaust | S | great destruction |
Anger, displeasure, strong negative emotion (8 words)
Vehement / irritated / hostile feelings.
Vehement is the trickiest — students often confuse it with violent (which is action, not emotion).
| Word | Bank source | Gloss |
|---|---|---|
| vehement | A | showing strong feeling (opp: mild) |
| vexed | S | annoyed, frustrated |
| repulsive | A | causing disgust (opp: attractive) |
| hostility | A | unfriendliness (opp: friendliness) |
| morose | S | sullen, gloomy |
| obdurate | A | stubbornly resistant (opp: flexible) |
| obstinate | A | stubborn (opp: yielding) |
| perplexed | A | puzzled (opp: clear) |
Doubt, uncertainty, ambiguity (6 words)
Lack of clarity or commitment.
On Synonyms, distractors often include words like 'wavering' or 'hesitant' — close but not quite right.
| Word | Bank source | Gloss |
|---|---|---|
| ambiguous | S | open to multiple interpretations |
| dubious | A | doubtful, suspicious |
| sceptical | S | doubting |
| fickle | SA | changeable, inconstant |
| vague | A | indistinct, unclear (opp: precise) |
| reticent | S | reserved, reluctant to speak |
Abundance, vastness, fullness (10 words)
Large quantity / size / extent.
Antonyms in this cluster ALWAYS pair with the scarcity family (next).
| Word | Bank source | Gloss |
|---|---|---|
| abundant | S | plentiful |
| boundless | A | limitless (opp: finite) |
| plenitude | A | abundance (opp: scarcity) |
| plenty | A | abundance |
| monumental | A | of enormous size |
| gigantic | S | huge |
| massive | S | very large |
| huge | A | very large (opp: tiny) |
| bounty | S | generous gift; abundance |
| inordinate | S | excessive in amount |
Scarcity, weakness, lacking (8 words)
Low quantity / energy / capacity.
Pairs systematically with the abundance family. The wrong option in either direction often comes from the same family but at the wrong magnitude.
| Word | Bank source | Gloss |
|---|---|---|
| indigent | S | very poor |
| broke | S | having no money (informal) |
| frail | A | weak, fragile (opp: robust) |
| parched | A | very dry (opp: drenched) |
| exhausted | S | drained, worn out |
| listless | A | lacking energy (opp: energetic) |
| microscopic | A | extremely small (opp: huge) |
| minute | S | very small |
Transient, brief, sudden (6 words)
Things that pass quickly or happen suddenly.
Three closely-related words: transient (passing), instantaneous (immediate), imminent (about to happen). Confusing them is the cluster's trap.
| Word | Bank source | Gloss |
|---|---|---|
| transient | A | short-lived (opp: permanent) |
| instantaneous | S | occurring immediately |
| imminent | S | about to happen |
| fickle | SA | changeable, inconstant |
| opportune | S | well-timed |
| concurrent | A | happening at the same time (opp: successive) |
Courage, steadfastness, perseverance (8 words)
Strength under pressure — physical, mental, moral.
Antonym set here often points to cowardly, weak, or yielding.
| Word | Bank source | Gloss |
|---|---|---|
| persevere | A | persist despite difficulty (opp: give up) |
| fortify | A | strengthen (opp: weaken) |
| brave | A | courageous (opp: cowardly) |
| intrepid | S | fearless |
| stubborn | S | obstinate, unyielding |
| obdurate | A | stubbornly resistant |
| confident | A | self-assured (opp: doubtful) |
| confidence | A | self-assurance |
Unusual, eccentric, non-conformist (8 words)
Diverging from norm — by behaviour, opinion, or origin.
'Orthodox' is the anchor opposite for several words here. On its Antonym, options often offer 'progressive' (correct), 'modern' (close), 'radical' (different magnitude).
| Word | Bank source | Gloss |
|---|---|---|
| eccentric | A | unconventional (opp: conventional) |
| orthodox | A | conforming to established belief (opp: unorthodox) |
| indigenous | A | native to a place (opp: foreign) |
| dissident | A | person who opposes official policy |
| dogmatic | A | asserting opinions as absolutely true |
| clandestine | A | secret, hidden |
| lopsided | A | uneven (opp: balanced) |
| lowbrow | S | not intellectual |
Confusable pairs (the affect/effect cluster) (12 words)
Pairs of look-alike words with distinct meanings.
Almost every NDA Vocabulary Confusable-Pairs question and many WCPP errors come from this cluster. Memorise the ~30 standard pairs and write one sentence using each side correctly. The cluster also rotates through the Word Definition subtopic.
| Word | Bank source | Gloss |
|---|---|---|
| confident / confidant | S | self-assured / trusted friend |
| affect / effect | S | (v) influence / (n) result; or (v rare) bring about |
| accept / except | S | receive / exclude |
| principle / principal | S | rule / head, chief |
| complement / compliment | S | complete / praise |
| stationary / stationery | S | not moving / writing materials |
| discreet / discrete | S | careful / separate |
| elicit / illicit | S | draw out / illegal |
| allusion / illusion | S | reference / false belief |
| imminent / eminent | S | about-to-happen / distinguished |
| indelible / inedible | S | permanent / not edible |
| ascent / assent | S | climb / agreement |
Drill the Vocabulary playbooks
150 Synonym questions + 135 Antonym questions from the live bank. Apply the family-fast lookup habit on real PYQs.