CDS English · Vocabulary
Single-word meanings: read the word, then test the meaning
A single hard word with four suggested meanings. Break the word into its parts, build a rough meaning, then test each option against it.
Why this matters
Recent CDS papers give a block of single words, each with four meanings to choose from, or two meanings to judge as true or false. Most of these words can be read from their parts. The rest are words for people and conduct, or for documents, law and ideas, and they are learnt as lists.
Concept 1 of 4: Read a word from its root and affixes
Many hard English words are built from Latin or Greek parts. If you know the parts, you can read the word even if you have never seen it. But some words only look like a word you know. Those are false friends, and the examiner builds wrong options from them.
Definition
The terms:
- Root: the part that carries the core meaning (derm = skin, vitis = vine, ergon = work).
- Prefix: a part added in front (sub- = under, ex- = out, de- = remove).
- Suffix: a part added at the end (-ology = study of, -culture = growing, -clast = breaker).
- Affix: a prefix or a suffix.
- False friend: a word that looks built from a familiar word but is not (deleterious has nothing to do with delete).
The method:
- Split the word into prefix, root and suffix.
- Give each part its meaning, then join them into a rough meaning.
- Pick the option that matches the rough meaning. Strike options that only echo the sound of the word.
- If the parts lead nowhere, suspect a false friend and fall back on meaning you have learnt.
Words tested this way:
- Gastronomy (2024 I): gastro (stomach) + -nomy (rules). The art and science of fine food and eating.
- Expatriate (2024 I): ex (out of) + patria (fatherland). A person living outside his country of citizenship.
- Incommunicado (2024 I): in (not) + communicate. Not able or not willing to communicate.
- Pachyderm (2026 I): pachy (thick) + derm (skin). A thick-skinned mammal such as an elephant.
- Ubiquitous (2026 I): ubique (everywhere). Present everywhere.
- Holistic (2026 I): holos (whole). Dealing with the whole system, not the separate parts.
- Iconoclast (2026 I): icon (image) + -clast (breaker). A person who rejects accepted beliefs and traditions.
- Ergonomics (2026 II): ergon (work) + -nomics (rules). The study of human efficiency at work.
- Viticulture (2026 II): vitis (vine) + culture (growing). The growing of grapevines.
- Sub judice (2026 II): sub (under) + judex (judge). A matter still under the court's consideration.
- Deleterious (2026 I): causing harm or damage. A false friend of delete.
- Desiccate (2026 I): de (remove) + siccus (dry). To dry out completely.
Worked example
Choose the most appropriate meaning of Chronometer. (a) a list of events in order of time (b) an instrument that measures time very accurately (c) a long-lasting illness (d) the study of old coins
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
CDS · 2026 · CDS (II) 2026 — English · Q24Moderate
Example 1 · Vocabulary · Word Meaning: Single Words
Directions: Identify the most appropriate meaning for the words given below and mark your response accordingly on the Answer Sheet.
Viticulture
A false friend looks built from a word you know
Deleterious is not 'effecting a deletion'. It means harmful. When an option simply turns the familiar look-alike into a meaning, treat it as a decoy and check the word on its own.
Science words have look-alike units
Ergonomics is the study of efficiency at work, from ergon = work. The option 'a non-SI unit of energy' is the erg, a different word. A shared opening does not make a shared meaning.
Part of the meaning is not the meaning
An iconoclast rejects accepted beliefs and traditions in general. 'A person who criticises a cultural icon' uses only the icon part and is too narrow. Prefer the option that covers the whole word.
Concept 2 of 4: Two suggested meanings: judge each one on its own
Here the word comes with two suggested meanings, and you choose 1 only, 2 only, both or neither. Do not compare the two meanings with each other. Judge statement 1 alone, then statement 2 alone. Many words really do have two meanings, and sometimes both statements are traps.
Definition
The method:
- Write the meaning you know for the word before reading the statements.
- Judge statement 1 alone: true or false?
- Judge statement 2 alone: true or false?
- Map the result: true-false = 1 only; false-true = 2 only; true-true = both; false-false = neither.
- A statement that is too weak or too narrow is false (to deify someone is to treat him as a god, not just to respect him highly).
Words tested in this format (2024 II):
- Anarchism: absence of government; also the chaos that follows.
- Pristine: in its original, unspoilt condition.
- Enormity: great seriousness; also a very wicked crime.
- Quotidian: daily, ordinary. Nothing to do with quoting.
- Immolate: to kill by burning; also to kill as a sacrifice.
- Minimise: to reduce to the smallest degree; also to reduce costs or any activity.
- Deify: to worship or treat as a god.
- Raconteur: a person who tells stories in an interesting way.
- Emasculate: to make weaker. Nothing to do with muscle.
- Perturbation: mental anxiety; also, in science, a change in a moving body caused by an outside force.
Worked example
Cleave — 1. To split something apart. 2. To stick closely to something or someone. Which of the meanings is/are correct? (a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
CDS · 2024 · CDS (II) 2024 — English · Q89Moderate
Example 2 · Vocabulary · Word Meaning: Single Words
Directions: which of the two meanings of the word is/are correct
'Quotidian'
1. To quote inaccurately
2. Someone fond of quoting others
Which of the meanings given above is/are correct?
Too weak is false
To deify someone is to worship him as a god. 'To treat someone in high office with great reverence' is close but weaker, so it is false. A statement must carry the full force of the word.
A real second meaning is not a trick
Perturbation means anxiety, and in physics it also means a change in a moving body caused by an outside force. Students strike the unfamiliar sense and lose the mark. Ask whether the sense exists, not whether you use it.
Neither is a real answer
When both statements are built on a look-alike, both are false. Emasculate is offered as 'make strong' and 'increase musculature', and both come from the sound of muscle. It means to weaken.
Concept 3 of 4: Words for people, manner and conduct
These words describe how a person behaves or what a person is called. Their parts do not help much, so learn them with a short memory hook. The wrong options are usually a nearby quality: arrogance for confidence, indulgence for laziness.
Definition
How to handle them:
- Learn each word with one hook (a root, a picture or a look-alike to avoid).
- In the question, first decide if the word is positive or negative. Strike options with the wrong charge.
- Between two options with the same charge, choose the exact one, not the one that only sounds close.
| Word | Meaning | Memory hook | Sitting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aplomb | Self-confidence and calm, especially under pressure | French à plomb: upright as a plumb line. Calm, not proud. | 2024 (I) |
| Obsequious | Too eager to please or obey someone important | Latin obsequi = to comply. A servant who agrees with everything. | 2026 (I) |
| Equivocate | To use vague language to hide the truth | equi (equal) + voc (voice): speaking with two voices at once. | 2026 (I) |
| Indolent | Lazy, avoiding effort | Not indulgent. An indolent student skips practice. | 2026 (I) |
| Sobriquet | An assumed name, a nickname | Like a pen name or a call sign. | 2026 (II) |
Decide the charge first: obsequious, equivocate and indolent are all negative; aplomb is positive.
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
CDS · 2026 · CDS (I) 2026 — English · Q24Hard
Example 3 · Vocabulary · Word Meaning: Single Words
Directions: Select the most appropriate meaning of the given word from the options provided and mark your response on the Answer Sheet accordingly.
Obsequious :
Confidence is not arrogance
Aplomb is calm self-confidence. Pride and arrogance are negative cousins. If the sentence praises the person, the negative option cannot be right.
Equi- does not mean fair here
Equivocate is not 'to give equal weight to both arguments'. It means to speak vaguely on purpose. The equal part is a decoy built into the options.
Sound-alike options
Indolent is offered next to 'indulgent'. They share letters, not meaning. Indolent = lazy; indulgent = allowing too much pleasure.
Concept 4 of 4: Words for documents, law and ideas
This group names a document, a legal idea or an idea in language. The wrong options are usually a neighbour from the same world: an order instead of a statement, a witness instead of an alibi. Learn each word with the neighbour it is confused with.
Definition
How to handle them:
- Ask what kind of thing the word names: a document, a punishment, a principle, a meaning.
- Strike options that name a different kind of thing, even if they come from the same field.
- Connotation is the suggested meaning of a word; denotation is its literal meaning.
| Word | Meaning | Not to be confused with | Sitting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Codex | An ancient manuscript in book form | Code or a code-breaking algorithm | 2026 (II) |
| Communiqué | An official announcement or statement | An official order | 2026 (II) |
| Manifesto | A written statement of the policies and aims of a person or group | A transcript of a speech, or a law | 2026 (II) |
| Alibi | Proof of having been somewhere else when a crime took place | A witness who speaks for the accused | 2026 (II) |
| Condign | (Of punishment) fitting the wrong that was done | Condiment, or confined | 2024 (I) |
| Axiom | A principle that most people accept as true | A rule of behaviour, or equality | 2026 (I) |
| Connotation | The suggested meaning beyond the literal one | Denotation, the literal meaning | 2026 (II) |
| Tapestry | A heavy decorative cloth woven with pictures, hung on a wall | A painting on fabric | 2026 (II) |
Each wrong option names a real thing from the same field. Match the kind of thing first.
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
CDS · 2026 · CDS (II) 2026 — English · Q25Easy
Example 4 · Vocabulary · Word Meaning: Single Words
Directions: Identify the most appropriate meaning for the words given below and mark your response accordingly on the Answer Sheet.
Communiqué
An alibi is proof, not an excuse or a witness
In daily speech people say 'alibi' for any excuse. In the test it means proof of being elsewhere at the time of the crime. 'A witness who speaks for the defendant' is a decoy from the same courtroom.
Connotation and denotation swapped
The option 'the literal or primary meaning of a word' describes denotation. Connotation is the opposite: what the word suggests beyond its literal meaning.
Codex is not about codes
A codex is an ancient manuscript bound as a book. 'An algorithm for cracking codes' is built only on the sound of the word.
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)
Words for people, manner and conduct5 rows
| Word | Meaning | Memory hook | Sitting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aplomb | Self-confidence and calm, especially under pressure | French à plomb: upright as a plumb line. Calm, not proud. | 2024 (I) |
| Obsequious | Too eager to please or obey someone important | Latin obsequi = to comply. A servant who agrees with everything. | 2026 (I) |
| Equivocate | To use vague language to hide the truth | equi (equal) + voc (voice): speaking with two voices at once. | 2026 (I) |
| Indolent | Lazy, avoiding effort | Not indulgent. An indolent student skips practice. | 2026 (I) |
| Sobriquet | An assumed name, a nickname | Like a pen name or a call sign. | 2026 (II) |
Decide the charge first: obsequious, equivocate and indolent are all negative; aplomb is positive.
Words for documents, law and ideas8 rows
| Word | Meaning | Not to be confused with | Sitting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Codex | An ancient manuscript in book form | Code or a code-breaking algorithm | 2026 (II) |
| Communiqué | An official announcement or statement | An official order | 2026 (II) |
| Manifesto | A written statement of the policies and aims of a person or group | A transcript of a speech, or a law | 2026 (II) |
| Alibi | Proof of having been somewhere else when a crime took place | A witness who speaks for the accused | 2026 (II) |
| Condign | (Of punishment) fitting the wrong that was done | Condiment, or confined | 2024 (I) |
| Axiom | A principle that most people accept as true | A rule of behaviour, or equality | 2026 (I) |
| Connotation | The suggested meaning beyond the literal one | Denotation, the literal meaning | 2026 (II) |
| Tapestry | A heavy decorative cloth woven with pictures, hung on a wall | A painting on fabric | 2026 (II) |
Each wrong option names a real thing from the same field. Match the kind of thing first.
Watch out for (12)
- A false friend looks built from a word you know→ Read a word from its root and affixes
- Science words have look-alike units→ Read a word from its root and affixes
- Part of the meaning is not the meaning→ Read a word from its root and affixes
- Too weak is false→ Two suggested meanings: judge each one on its own
- A real second meaning is not a trick→ Two suggested meanings: judge each one on its own
- Neither is a real answer→ Two suggested meanings: judge each one on its own
- Confidence is not arrogance→ Words for people, manner and conduct
- Equi- does not mean fair here→ Words for people, manner and conduct
- Sound-alike options→ Words for people, manner and conduct
- An alibi is proof, not an excuse or a witness→ Words for documents, law and ideas
- Connotation and denotation swapped→ Words for documents, law and ideas
- Codex is not about codes→ Words for documents, law and ideas
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.