CDS English · Vocabulary
Words for law, duty and action
The words CDS has tested for law, rules and duty, and the action verbs for starting, stopping, hiding and attacking.
Why this matters
Many CDS synonym sentences are about courts, officials and rules, so legal and official words come up often. The other half of this page is action verbs such as hindered and smothered, used in one exact sense that the sentence makes clear.
Concept 1 of 2: Law, duty and blame
Legal and official words sound hard, but they sort into a few ideas: required by a rule, taking or blocking by authority, blaming, and work. Put the word in its group first.
Definition
Group them:
- Required: obligatory and mandatory (compulsory), statutory (fixed by law).
- Courts and power: impounded (confiscated), overrule (veto), circumscribed (limited), extradition (handing over).
- Blame and cause: impugned (challenged), implicate (incriminate), attributed (ascribed), ascertained (determined).
- Work: vocation (occupation), designation (position), patronized (supported), vendor (seller).
- Obligatory has been set twice and mandatory once; the answer was always compulsory or essential.
| Word | Meaning | Nearest option | Sitting |
|---|---|---|---|
| impounded | seized by order of the law | confiscated | 2019 (II) |
| impugned | attacked as wrong, called into question | challenged | 2019 (II) |
| statutory | fixed by law | legal | 2020 (II) |
| obligatory | required by a rule | compulsory; essential | 2019 (II), 2023 (I) |
| mandatory | required by law or rule | compulsory | 2026 (II) |
| overrule | reject by higher authority | veto | 2021 (II) |
| implicate | show that someone is involved in a crime | incriminate | 2020 (II) |
| patronized | supported, sponsored | supported | 2020 (II) |
| vocation | a calling, a career | occupation | 2020 (I) |
| ascertained | found out for sure | determined | 2020 (I) |
| attributed | said to be caused by | ascribed | 2019 (II) |
| extradition | handing a person over to another country for trial | deportation | 2018 (II) |
| circumscribed | limited, kept within bounds | constrained | 2023 (I) Not circumvented (got around). |
| designation | an official title or rank | position | 2022 (I) |
| vendor | a person who sells things | one engaged in selling | 2018 (I) |
Practice this conceptself-check · 3 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
CDS · 2026 · CDS (II) 2026 — English · Q17Easy
Example 1 · Vocabulary · Synonyms: Law, Duty and Action
Directions: In the following items a sentence or a phrase is given with a word that is underlined, followed by four words or groups of words. Select the option that is nearest in meaning to the underlined word and mark your response on the Answer Sheet accordingly.
He had not completed the mandatory training for his promotion to the level of senior manager.
Patronized here means supported
In everyday speech, a patronizing person talks down to others. In 'poets were patronized by kings', it means supported or sponsored. Read the sentence.
Attributed has nothing to do with tribute
To attribute a problem to a cause is to say the cause produced it: ascribed. 'Tribute' only shares letters.
Match the part of speech
Statutory is an adjective: fixed by law. Legislature is a noun (the body that makes laws), so it cannot replace statutory even though both are about law.
Impugn is not remove
To impugn a person is to attack their conduct as wrong, to call it into question: challenged. It does not mean expelled or dismissed.
Concept 2 of 2: Verbs of action: start, stop, hide, attack
Action verbs are tested in one exact sense. Smothered a fire means put it out; masked her feelings means hid them; defused a situation means calmed it. Picture the action, then find the option that does the same thing.
Definition
Group them by what the action does:
- Start and add: initiated (began), incorporated (integrated), interspersed (mixed among), acquiring (obtaining).
- Stop and block: hindered and impede (obstruct), smothered (put out), defused (calmed), repulsed (drove back).
- Hide and take: masked (hid), stolen (taken), anonymously (without a name).
- Others: drowned, convulsed, decapitated, transpired (happened), served, save, admit, desired.
| Word | Meaning | Nearest option | Sitting |
|---|---|---|---|
| repulsed | drove back an attack | repelled | 2018 (I) |
| stolen | taken dishonestly | embezzled | 2018 (I) Embezzled is a special kind of stealing, of money held in trust. It was the only option meaning stole. |
| masked | hid, covered up | hid | 2018 (I) |
| smothered | of a fire, put out by cutting off air | doused | 2022 (I) |
| defused | made a situation less tense | mitigated | 2023 (II) |
| hindered | got in the way of | impeded | 2021 (II) |
| initiated | began | began | 2021 (II) |
| incorporated | included as a part | integrated | 2020 (I) |
| interspersed | scattered among other things | combined | 2026 (I) |
| drowned | died under water | submerged | 2021 (II) |
| convulsed | shook violently | shivered | 2023 (II) Shivered is loose, but it was the only option about shaking. |
| admit | let in, allow to enter | receive | 2018 (I) |
| served | of food, set before people | offered | 2018 (I) |
| save | keep from harm or death | protect | 2018 (I) |
| acquiring | getting, gaining | obtain | 2019 (II) |
| desired | wanted | wish for | 2019 (II) |
| impede | get in the way of, slow down | hinder | 2018 (II) |
| decapitated | had the head cut off | beheaded | 2024 (I) |
| transpired | happened; came to be known | emerged | 2023 (II) |
| anonymously | without giving one’s name | incognito | 2019 (I) |
Practice this conceptself-check · 3 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
CDS · 2021 · CDS (II) 2021 — English · Q74Easy
Example 2 · Vocabulary · Synonyms: Law, Duty and Action
Directions: nearest in meaning to the underlined word
The big tree hindered access of sunlight into the house.
Defuse is not diffuse
To defuse a bomb or a situation is to take the danger out of it, so mitigated (made less severe) is the match. To diffuse is to spread out.
Repulsed an enemy means drove back
Repulsed can mean disgusted, but soldiers who repulse the enemy drive them back: repelled. Defeated and destroyed go further than the word does.
Interspersed means mixed in
Lectures interspersed with demonstrations have demonstrations scattered among them, so they are combined. Isolated is the opposite.
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 (2)
Law, duty and blame15 rows
| Word | Meaning | Nearest option | Sitting |
|---|---|---|---|
| impounded | seized by order of the law | confiscated | 2019 (II) |
| impugned | attacked as wrong, called into question | challenged | 2019 (II) |
| statutory | fixed by law | legal | 2020 (II) |
| obligatory | required by a rule | compulsory; essential | 2019 (II), 2023 (I) |
| mandatory | required by law or rule | compulsory | 2026 (II) |
| overrule | reject by higher authority | veto | 2021 (II) |
| implicate | show that someone is involved in a crime | incriminate | 2020 (II) |
| patronized | supported, sponsored | supported | 2020 (II) |
| vocation | a calling, a career | occupation | 2020 (I) |
| ascertained | found out for sure | determined | 2020 (I) |
| attributed | said to be caused by | ascribed | 2019 (II) |
| extradition | handing a person over to another country for trial | deportation | 2018 (II) |
| circumscribed | limited, kept within bounds | constrained | 2023 (I) Not circumvented (got around). |
| designation | an official title or rank | position | 2022 (I) |
| vendor | a person who sells things | one engaged in selling | 2018 (I) |
Verbs of action: start, stop, hide, attack20 rows
| Word | Meaning | Nearest option | Sitting |
|---|---|---|---|
| repulsed | drove back an attack | repelled | 2018 (I) |
| stolen | taken dishonestly | embezzled | 2018 (I) Embezzled is a special kind of stealing, of money held in trust. It was the only option meaning stole. |
| masked | hid, covered up | hid | 2018 (I) |
| smothered | of a fire, put out by cutting off air | doused | 2022 (I) |
| defused | made a situation less tense | mitigated | 2023 (II) |
| hindered | got in the way of | impeded | 2021 (II) |
| initiated | began | began | 2021 (II) |
| incorporated | included as a part | integrated | 2020 (I) |
| interspersed | scattered among other things | combined | 2026 (I) |
| drowned | died under water | submerged | 2021 (II) |
| convulsed | shook violently | shivered | 2023 (II) Shivered is loose, but it was the only option about shaking. |
| admit | let in, allow to enter | receive | 2018 (I) |
| served | of food, set before people | offered | 2018 (I) |
| save | keep from harm or death | protect | 2018 (I) |
| acquiring | getting, gaining | obtain | 2019 (II) |
| desired | wanted | wish for | 2019 (II) |
| impede | get in the way of, slow down | hinder | 2018 (II) |
| decapitated | had the head cut off | beheaded | 2024 (I) |
| transpired | happened; came to be known | emerged | 2023 (II) |
| anonymously | without giving one’s name | incognito | 2019 (I) |
Watch out for (7)
- Patronized here means supported→ Law, duty and blame
- Attributed has nothing to do with tribute→ Law, duty and blame
- Match the part of speech→ Law, duty and blame
- Impugn is not remove→ Law, duty and blame
- Defuse is not diffuse→ Verbs of action: start, stop, hide, attack
- Repulsed an enemy means drove back→ Verbs of action: start, stop, hide, attack
- Interspersed means mixed in→ Verbs of action: start, stop, hide, attack
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.