CDS English · Vocabulary
Words for character and temperament
The words CDS has tested for a person's temper, mind, values and inborn nature, each with its meaning and the option that was nearest.
Why this matters
Many CDS synonym questions describe a person: their temper, their mind or their values. Most of these words carry a clear charge, praising or blaming, so the charge alone often removes two options. Learn each word with its charge.
Concept 1 of 4: Temper and mood
These words describe how a person behaves with others. Most of them blame: haughty, malicious, sardonic, cantankerous. Hospitable is the one that praises. Sort the options by charge before you think about exact meaning.
Definition
How to use this table:
- Learn each word with its charge (praising or blaming).
- Look for a clue in the sentence. 'But', 'although' and 'yet' signal a contrast, so the clue after them points to the opposite of the underlined word.
- Mood words are often tested against their opposite: complacent (self-satisfied) against discontented.
| Word | Meaning | Nearest option | Sitting |
|---|---|---|---|
| haughty | proud, looking down on others | arrogant | 2021 (I) |
| mercurial | changing mood suddenly | volatile | 2023 (I) |
| cantankerous | bad-tempered and quarrelsome | ill-tempered | 2024 (II) |
| hysterical | wildly emotional, out of control | berserk | 2019 (I) |
| malicious | wanting to hurt others | spiteful | 2022 (I) |
| hospitable | friendly and welcoming to guests | cordial | 2023 (I) |
| complacent | too pleased with oneself to try harder | contented | 2023 (II) Not complaisant (eager to please). Complacent means smugly satisfied. |
| sardonic | grimly mocking | mocking | 2023 (I) |
| dogmatic | sure of one’s opinions, allowing no doubt | rigid | 2026 (II) |
| indignant | angry at something unfair | resentful | 2021 (I) |
Most of these words blame. Hospitable is the one that praises.
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
CDS · 2021 · CDS (I) 2021 — English · Q88Easy
Example 1 · Vocabulary · Synonyms: Character and Temperament
Directions: nearest in meaning to the underlined word
He appears to be very haughty, but he is a humble person.
'But' turns the clue around
In 'she looks shy, but she speaks up at every meeting', the clue after 'but' describes the opposite of shy. When a sentence has a contrast word, reverse the clue before you match it.
Mood words come in look-alike pairs
Indignant (angry at injustice) is not indigent (poor). Complacent (smug) is not complaisant (obliging). Mercurial (changeable) is not merciful.
Concept 2 of 4: Mind and ability
These words grade a person's mind and skill, from doltish at the bottom to peerless and exemplary at the top. Place the underlined word on that scale, and the options sort themselves.
Definition
Two groups:
- Low ability: doltish, obtuse, ineptitude, and ingenuous (naive, too trusting).
- High ability or effort: industrious, competency, fastidious, precocious, peerless, exemplary, and ripe (mature in judgement).
- A precocious child is ahead of the usual age; a fastidious worker cares about every detail.
| Word | Meaning | Nearest option | Sitting |
|---|---|---|---|
| doltish | stupid | imbecilic | 2024 (II) |
| obtuse | slow to understand | dull | 2023 (II) |
| industrious | hard-working | diligent | 2021 (I) |
| competency | the ability to do something well | capability | 2021 (I) |
| fastidious | very careful about detail | meticulous | 2024 (I) |
| ripe | fully developed; of a person, mature in judgement | mature | 2018 (I) |
| ingenuous | innocent and too trusting | naive | 2026 (I) Not ingenious (clever). Ingenuous means innocent, so clever is a trap. |
| precocious | developed earlier than usual | unusually advanced | 2026 (II) |
| ineptitude | lack of skill | incompetence | 2018 (II) |
| peerless | having no equal | unequalled | 2022 (I) |
| exemplary | so good that it can serve as a model | ideal | 2018 (I) |
Practice this conceptself-check · 3 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
CDS · 2023 · CDS (II) 2023 — English · Q59Easy
Example 2 · Vocabulary · Synonyms: Character and Temperament
Directions: word nearest in meaning to the underlined word
He was too obtuse to understand the merits of the case.
Ingenuous sits at the low end
Ingenuous (naive) looks like ingenious (clever), but the two sit at opposite ends of this scale.
Fastidious has nothing to do with speed
Fastidious means very careful about detail, so the nearest word is meticulous. Do not let the 'fast' at the start mislead you.
A ripe person is mature, not old
Used of a person, ripe means fully developed in judgement: mature. Senior and seasoned are close, but they describe age and experience, not ripeness of mind.
Concept 3 of 4: Habits, values and attitudes
These words describe how a person treats money, rules and other people's views. Thrifty and forbearance praise; prejudiced and pleonexia blame. Utopian and dissident describe a person's views rather than their behaviour.
Definition
Group them:
- Self-control: thrifty (careful with money), forbearance (patient restraint), endurance (bearing hardship), high-mindedness (high principles).
- Bias and greed: prejudiced (judging before knowing), pleonexia (greed for more than one's share).
- Views and will: utopian (perfect but unreal), dissident (against the official line), reluctant (unwilling).
| Word | Meaning | Nearest option | Sitting |
|---|---|---|---|
| thrifty | careful with money | economical | 2018 (II) |
| forbearance | patient self-control | restraint | 2022 (I) |
| prejudiced | judging before knowing the facts | jaundiced | 2019 (I) Jaundiced here means biased, not the illness. |
| utopian | perfect in a way that cannot be real | ideal | 2023 (II) Ideal fits. Realistic and practicable are the opposite. |
| reluctant | unwilling | disinclined | 2019 (I) |
| dissident | opposing the official view | rebellious | 2020 (II) |
| high-mindedness | having high moral standards | strong principles | 2020 (II) |
| pleonexia | greed to take more than one’s share | greed to grab everything for oneself | 2020 (II) |
| endurance | the power to bear hardship for a long time | patience | 2022 (II) |
Practice this conceptself-check · 3 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
CDS · 2018 · CDS (II) 2018 — English · Q11Easy
Example 3 · Vocabulary · Synonyms: Character and Temperament
Directions: nearest in meaning to the underlined word
Rahul is always thrifty.
Utopian carries a hidden charge
Utopian means perfect, but usually too perfect to be real. Ideal fits; realistic and practicable are its opposites.
Jaundiced can mean biased
As an illness, jaundice turns the skin yellow. As a word for a view, jaundiced means biased or bitter. That is why it can be a synonym of prejudiced.
Forbearance is not forbidding
Forbearance is patient self-control. It shares letters with forbid but not its meaning; restraint is the match, and constraint (a limit set from outside) is the near-miss.
Concept 4 of 4: Inborn and inbuilt qualities
Innate, inherent and indigenous all point inward: something present from birth, built into a thing, or native to a place. The options test whether you keep that 'from within' sense.
Definition
- Innate: present from birth (a quality of a person).
- Inherent: built into the nature of a thing (a danger, a weakness).
- Tendency and predisposition: a natural leaning. A predisposition to a disease means being more likely to get it.
- Indigenous: native to a place, home-grown.
| Word | Meaning | Nearest option | Sitting |
|---|---|---|---|
| innate | present from birth | intrinsic | 2019 (II) |
| inherent | part of the basic nature of a thing | inbuilt | 2021 (I) |
| tendency | a natural leaning towards something | predisposition | 2020 (II) |
| predisposition | to a disease: a greater chance of getting it | vulnerability | 2023 (I) |
| indigenous | native to a place | home-grown | 2020 (II) |
Practice this conceptself-check · 3 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
CDS · 2019 · CDS (II) 2019 — English · Q39Moderate
Example 4 · Vocabulary · Synonyms: Character and Temperament
Directions: nearest meaning of the underlined word
Cognitivist and linguists believe that every child is born with innate qualities.
Predisposition is not resistance
A predisposition to a disease makes you more likely to catch it. Resistance and immunity are the opposite, so they are traps.
The in- of indigenous means within
Indigenous products are made at home, so non-native is the opposite. Do not read the in- as 'not'.
Inherent belongs to a thing
An inherent danger is built into the problem itself. Outward is its opposite, and difficult only describes the problem, not where the danger comes from.
Summary — formulas & gotchas at a glance
A revision cheat-sheet for the formulas and gotchas above. Click any concept name to jump back to its full explanation.
Reference tables (4)
Temper and mood10 rows
| Word | Meaning | Nearest option | Sitting |
|---|---|---|---|
| haughty | proud, looking down on others | arrogant | 2021 (I) |
| mercurial | changing mood suddenly | volatile | 2023 (I) |
| cantankerous | bad-tempered and quarrelsome | ill-tempered | 2024 (II) |
| hysterical | wildly emotional, out of control | berserk | 2019 (I) |
| malicious | wanting to hurt others | spiteful | 2022 (I) |
| hospitable | friendly and welcoming to guests | cordial | 2023 (I) |
| complacent | too pleased with oneself to try harder | contented | 2023 (II) Not complaisant (eager to please). Complacent means smugly satisfied. |
| sardonic | grimly mocking | mocking | 2023 (I) |
| dogmatic | sure of one’s opinions, allowing no doubt | rigid | 2026 (II) |
| indignant | angry at something unfair | resentful | 2021 (I) |
Most of these words blame. Hospitable is the one that praises.
Mind and ability11 rows
| Word | Meaning | Nearest option | Sitting |
|---|---|---|---|
| doltish | stupid | imbecilic | 2024 (II) |
| obtuse | slow to understand | dull | 2023 (II) |
| industrious | hard-working | diligent | 2021 (I) |
| competency | the ability to do something well | capability | 2021 (I) |
| fastidious | very careful about detail | meticulous | 2024 (I) |
| ripe | fully developed; of a person, mature in judgement | mature | 2018 (I) |
| ingenuous | innocent and too trusting | naive | 2026 (I) Not ingenious (clever). Ingenuous means innocent, so clever is a trap. |
| precocious | developed earlier than usual | unusually advanced | 2026 (II) |
| ineptitude | lack of skill | incompetence | 2018 (II) |
| peerless | having no equal | unequalled | 2022 (I) |
| exemplary | so good that it can serve as a model | ideal | 2018 (I) |
Habits, values and attitudes9 rows
| Word | Meaning | Nearest option | Sitting |
|---|---|---|---|
| thrifty | careful with money | economical | 2018 (II) |
| forbearance | patient self-control | restraint | 2022 (I) |
| prejudiced | judging before knowing the facts | jaundiced | 2019 (I) Jaundiced here means biased, not the illness. |
| utopian | perfect in a way that cannot be real | ideal | 2023 (II) Ideal fits. Realistic and practicable are the opposite. |
| reluctant | unwilling | disinclined | 2019 (I) |
| dissident | opposing the official view | rebellious | 2020 (II) |
| high-mindedness | having high moral standards | strong principles | 2020 (II) |
| pleonexia | greed to take more than one’s share | greed to grab everything for oneself | 2020 (II) |
| endurance | the power to bear hardship for a long time | patience | 2022 (II) |
Inborn and inbuilt qualities5 rows
| Word | Meaning | Nearest option | Sitting |
|---|---|---|---|
| innate | present from birth | intrinsic | 2019 (II) |
| inherent | part of the basic nature of a thing | inbuilt | 2021 (I) |
| tendency | a natural leaning towards something | predisposition | 2020 (II) |
| predisposition | to a disease: a greater chance of getting it | vulnerability | 2023 (I) |
| indigenous | native to a place | home-grown | 2020 (II) |
Watch out for (11)
- 'But' turns the clue around→ Temper and mood
- Mood words come in look-alike pairs→ Temper and mood
- Ingenuous sits at the low end→ Mind and ability
- Fastidious has nothing to do with speed→ Mind and ability
- A ripe person is mature, not old→ Mind and ability
- Utopian carries a hidden charge→ Habits, values and attitudes
- Jaundiced can mean biased→ Habits, values and attitudes
- Forbearance is not forbidding→ Habits, values and attitudes
- Predisposition is not resistance→ Inborn and inbuilt qualities
- The in- of indigenous means within→ Inborn and inbuilt qualities
- Inherent belongs to a thing→ Inborn and inbuilt qualities
Test yourself on Vocabulary
20 past CDS questions from this chapter, timed at 20 minutes and marked the way the exam marks it. You see your score and every answer the moment you finish. Free to start.