• This PDF is designed for SSC aspirants with an intermediate preparation level.
• It features difficult words from SSC exams between 2018 and 2024.

Vocabulary List (A)

• Anecdotes: Amusing and true stories
• Affidavit: A written statement made under oath
• Andromania: Madness or obsession with males
• Aborigines: The original inhabitants of a country
• Aberration: Deviation from the right path
• Adhere: Believe in and follow practices of
• Adonis: An extremely young man
• Algophobia: Fear of pain
• Allegory: A story
• Amaxophobia: Fear of riding in a car
• Anile: Like a weak old woman
• Animosity: A strong dislike
• Anorexia: Obsessive desire to lose weight by refusing to eat
• Apartheid: A policy that segregates people based on race
• Appertain: Be appropriate or applicable
• Appraisal: Estimation of thing's worth
• Archipelago: A large body of water with many islands
• Arsonphobia: Fear of fire
• Ascribe: Regard something as being due to a cause
• Askance: Nations that do not trust each other
• Avant-grade: The group (especially in arts) regarded as being the most experimental
• Avarice: Insatiable desire for wealth
• Avidity: Keen interest or enthusiasm
• Ambiguous: Open to more than one interpretation
• Articulation: Ability to communicate effectively in writing and speaking
• Anagram: A word or phrase formed by rearranging a different word
• Abdication: Act of renouncing the throne
• Analogy: A similarity between like features as a basis for comparison
• Almanac: Publication containing astronomical or meteorological information.

Vocabulary List (B)

• Bayonet: Short sword fixed onto the end of a gun
• Bonsai: Dwarfed varieties of trees and shrubs in pots
• Bale: A large wrapped or bound bundle of paper, hay, or cotton
• Bonfire: A huge fire for celebration
• Balderdash: Senseless talk or writing
• Ballad: Poem that narrates a popular story in short stanzas
• Bask: Revel in and make the most of something pleasing
• Bereft: Deprived or lacking of something
• Bellow: The sound made by a crocodile
• Boer: A person of South African Dutch descent
• Bleat: The cry of a goat
• Boulevard: A broad road bordered with trees.
• Bourgeois: Belonging to the middle class
• Bower: A shady place under trees
• Boomerang: A hunting weapon which comes back after being thrown (Australian Aborigines)
• Brewery: A factory where beer is made
• Bridle: Leather straps to control a horse's head
• Brood: A family of young birds

Vocabulary List (C)

• Brunette: A woman with dark brown hair
• Bungle: To carry out a task clumsily or incompetently
• Bullion: Gold and silver before use in manufacturing ornaments
• Burrow: A hole excavated by an animal as dwelling
• Buoy: Floating container anchored to the sea bottom for directing ships/warning of danger
• Clique: Exclusive circle of people with a common purpose, unwelcoming to outsiders
• Contentious: A person who likes arguing about anything
• Catalogue: A list of books
• Cynic: A person critical of the motives of others
• Carol: Song sung in a church by a group of singers
• Cauldron: Large, deep metal pot for cooking over open fire
• Casserole: A Large deep pot used both in oven & as vessel
• Cerography: Art of designing or writing on wax
• Chagrin: Vexation for humiliation of disappointment
• Cartoon: An amusing drawing about politics or news events
• Caw: The sound of a crow
• Centennial: The 100th anniversary of an event
• Chafe: Rub a part of the body to restore warmth
• Changeling: A child believed to have been secretly exchanged for another
• Charlatan: A person falsely claiming to have a special skill
• Churlish: Rude in a mean-spirited and surly way
• Croak: The sound made by a frog
• Chutzpah: Extreme self-confidence or audacity
• Clamorous: Making a loud and confused noise
• Clientele: Customers collectively
• Codicil: An instruction added to a will
• Coffle: A collection of slaves
• Colloquy: Mutual discourse
• Compositor: One who sets types for books, newspapers, etc.
• Conceivable: Capable of being imagined or grasped mentally
• Condominium: Apartment building, where each apartment is owned separately, with shared areas
• Conflagrant: Combustibles or flammable
• Conjecture: An opinion/conclusion based on incomplete information
• Consternation: State of anxiety/dismay causing mental confusion
• Consummate: Extremely skilled
• Constrained: Imposed a restriction on
• Convalescent: A man recovering from illness
• Contingency: An event that may/may not happen
• Convent: A place where nuns live and work
• Corpus: Collection of written/spoken texts
• Couplet: A stanza having two lines in a verse
• Creed: A system of religious belief or faith
• Cypher: A secret/disguised way of writing

Vocabulary List (D)

• Catastrophe: Sudden violent event with great loss/destruction
• Chaff: Husks of corn/grains separated by winnowing/threshing
• Cacographer: One who is bad at spelling
• Catalyst: Substance speeding up chemical reaction without being consumed
• Chump: A foolish/easily deceived person
• Dilettante: Dabbler in arts, science, or literature
• Dusk: Evening time when sun has just set and it's almost dark
• Dipsomania: Morbid compulsion to consume alcohol continuously
• Deja-vu: Feeling of being in a place previously
• Demography: The study of statistics
• Defiance: Open refusal to obey orders
• Deliberation: Slow and careful movement or thought
• Deliquesce: Become liquid typically during decomposition
• Denigrate: Criticize unfairly
• Depict: Portray in words
• Deponent: Person who gives written testimony
• Deprecate: Express strong disapproval
• Devious: Showing skillful use of underhand tactics
• Dilettante: Dabbler in art and literature
• Directory: Book of names and addresses
• Disenfranchisement: Deprivation of a right/privilege to vote
• Dorsal: Situated on bank
• Duel: Contest between two for honor
• Drey: Squirrel nest consisting of cluster of twigs

Vocabulary List (E)

• Excruciating: Extremely painful
• Effervescent: Vivacious and enthusiastic
• Evolution: Act/process from simple to complex
• Edify: Morally/intellectually instruct or improve someone
• Electorate: All who can vote
• Elf: Small mischievous fairy
• Elysium: Place/state of perfect bliss
• Embed: Firmly fix into surrounding mass
• Ember: Piece of burning coal/wood.
• Embody: Tangible/visible expression or form to
• Emeritus: Honourably discharged from service
• Emetic: Medicine causing vomiting
• Ennui: Weariness from lack of occupation
• Enshrine: Preserve something to be protected/respected
• Epic: Long poem based on a noble theme
• Epicurean: Devoted to pleasure and enjoy himself
• Epistle: A verse letter
• Ergomania: Excessive desire to work

Vocabulary List (F)

• Esteem: The condition of being honoured
• Etiolate: To make pale by excluding light
• Euphemism: Substitution of mild for blunt expression
• Evict: Expel from property with law's support.
• Excerpt: A short piece from longer work.
• Exegesis: Critical explanation of scripture
• Exigency: Urgent need/demand
• Extradite: Send back criminal to country of origin
• Expiate: Make atonement for sins
• Expurgate: Remove objectionable part from book
• Foreword: Section leading to explain main part
• Feline: Relating pertaining to cats'

Vocabulary List (G)

• Fallow: Farmland left unsown to restore fertility
• Facsimile: Exact machine copy of handwriting/picture
• Felicitous: Well-chosen/suited, appropriate circumstances
• Felonious: Relating/involved in crime
• Feud: Bitter quarrel lasting long
• Figment: Something that is imagined but doesn't exist
• Filicide: Killing one's own child
• Flux: Continuous movement and change
• Forfeited: Deprived of right/property as penalty
• Fluke: Accidental good fortune
• Foundling: Abandoned child of unknown parents
• Fugitive: One running from justice/law
• Flounder: Struggle helplessly
• Fuselage: Main body of aircraft
• Fodder: Food for farm animals (cows, horses)
• Galling: Causes annoyance/resentment
• Garbled: Expressed unclear
• Geriatrics: Medical branch for old age problems
• Ghetto: Part of city slums
• Gingivitis: Inflammation of gums
• Gnaw: To bite like a rat.
• Gratis: Costing nothing.
• Graffiti: Illicit writing/drawings on public surface
• Growl: Sounds a bear produces
• Gust: Burst of wind.
• Gambol: Skip playfully
• Graft: Surgically transplanted living tissue
• Garbled: Expressed unclear or distorted

Vocabulary List (H)

• Hanger: Place to park aeroplanes.
• Herpetology: Zoology related to reptiles and amphibians.
• Hamlet: Very small village.
• Harbinger: Someone foretelling something.
• Harrowing: Acutely distressing.
• Hassle: Irritating inconvenience.
• Hearse: Vehicle to transport coffin at funeral.
• Heresy: Belief against religion.
• Heterogeneous: Things of different nature.
• Hinterland: Part of country behind coast/riverbank.
• Highbrow: Claiming superiority in culture.
• Honorarium: Payment given for professional services.
• Huffy: Annoyed/irritated at petty things.
• Hung: Assembly where no party has majority.
• Hymn: Song in praise of God.
• Hypothesis: Tentative theory about natural world.
• Hay: Grass mown and dried as fodder.

Vocabulary List (I)

• Idiosyncrasy: A person's peculiar habit
• Idyllic: Extremely happy, peaceful or picturesque
• Impale: Transfix or pierce with sharp insturment
• Imperialism: Policy of extending a country's Empire
• Impregnable: That which cannot be overcome by force
• Impudent: Shamelessly Rude
• Improvident: one who fails to plan for the future
• Impunity: Without Punishment
• Incivism: Lack of civic mindedness
• Indignation: Anger about unfair behavior
• Ineffable: Cannot be expressed in words
• Inexorable: Not to be moved by Entreaty
• Inflorescence: A cluster of flowers on a branch.
• Innuendo: An indirect reference
• Interlude: An Interval between events
• Interminable: Continuing for long time
• Interment: The act of burying a dead person
• Internment: Confining someone
• Interpolate: To estimate value of something
• Interminable: Continuing for long time
• Inundate: overflow area with water
• Inert: Unable to act
• Irreverent: Showing disrespect
• Inebriated: Intoxicated
• Impeachment: Accusing official of offence

Vocabulary List (J through L)

• Janitor: Someone who takes care of building
• Jaunt: Short journey of pleasure
• Jaywalk: Cross streets carelessly on foot
• Junta: A group that takes power by force
• Jurisprudence: Science of law
• Juxtapose: To place for effect
• Kernel: Inner nut or fruit stone
• Laceration: Deep cut/tear in skin
• Lout: Rude, uncultured person
• Laxative: Medicine softens bowels
• Laurel: Honor for achievement
• Leer: Lustful look
• Lullaby: Song to make child sleep
• Livestock: Animals on farm

Vocabulary List (M)

• Malapropism: Using an incorrect but similar-sounding word
• Masochist: Someone who obtains pleasure from receiving punishment
• Mannequin: Dummy to display clothes
• Matinee: Afternoon cinema show
• Mausoleum: Stately building with a tomb
• Meadow: Grassland where animals graze
• Misoneist: Hater of new things
• Monition: Warning of impending danger
• Monomania: Obsession with one thing
• Mores: Customs and habits of a group
• Muffle: Wrap up for warmth
• Mendicant: Beggar

Vocabulary List (N through O)

• Malcontent: Never happy.
• Nemesis: Deserved punishment.
• Neologism: Newly coined word.
• Nihilism: Life is meaningless.
• Nonentity: A nobody person.
• Nosomania: Think you have illness.
• Ophidiophobia: Fear of snakes.
• Obituary: Death Report.
• Oasis: A place in the desert.
• Oaf: Clumsy guy.
• Occidental: Westerner.
• Oenomania: Drink Wine.
• Ophiophobia: Fear of snakes.
• Opprobrium: Public disgrace.
• Opus: Grande Musicale.
• Ostler: Pony Carer.
• Orifice: Body hole.

Vocabulary List (P)

• Perennial: Round the year.
• Paparazzi: Takes Celeb Photos.
• Profane: Disrespectful.
• Pusillanimous: Cowardly.
• Philogynist: Love Girls.
• Parable: Moral Saying.
• Polyandry: Multiple Husbands.
• Palindrome: Words Backwards.
• Pander: Give to Desire.
• Pantheism: Goddess is Everything.
• Pant: Hard to breathe.
• Parvenu: Nuevo Rich.
• Parochial: Limited Outlook.
• Pedant: Hard Grammar.
• Penchant: Special Fondness.
• Prosecute: Forcibly Pursue
• Peter: Pass Slowly.
• Pestiferous: Morally Degenerate.
• Pilferage: Pettt Crime.
• Plaintif: Makes Lawsuit.
• Philitistine Doesnt Value Art
• Plausible Sounds Reasonable.

Vocabulary List (Q)

• Postscript: A note added after the signature of a letter.
• Potion: A liquid with medicinal or poisonous properties.
• Potpourri: A mixture of dried fragrant flowers and spices used to scent the air.
• Prelude: An action that precedes and introduces something more important.
• Proletariat: Working class
• Prop: A support used for keeping something in position.
• Propulsion: The action of driving or pushing forward.
• Provender: Food for domestic livestock.
• Prowler: Someone moving stealthily for criminal activity.
• Punter: A person who gambles
• Open rectangular space -Quadrangle
• Voicetremble-Quaver

Vocabulary List (R)

• Quill: A feather pen
• Quinquennial: Happening every five years
• Quorum: Minimum members for a meeting
• Rampage: Violent behavior
• Rancorous: Bitter
• Recant: Take back a statement
• Receptacle: Container
• Rectilineal: Straight lines
• Regalia: Ceremonial dressings
• Reminiscence: Remembrance
• Reveille: Wake up call
• Revel: Enjoy

Vocabulary List (S)

• Revile: To criticize abusively
• Rhinologist: Nose specialist
• Ramrod: Firearm cleaning rod
• Relic: From earlier time
• Screech: Piercing cry
• Sheaf: Harvested crops
• Satire: Humor based on weakness of other person
• Symphony: Consonance sounds
• Suspect: Doubtful look
• Salvo: Guns fired together
• Samizdat: Banned literature
• Sanatorium: A place with good climate
• Savouring: Enjoy tasty food
• Scabbard: Sword cover
• Scavenge: Search through waste
• Sceptre: Symbol of sovereignty
• Score: Set of twenty
• Serendipity: Beneficial events develop by chance
• Shaft: Passageway to mine
• Shoal: Fish swimming together
• Shrapnel: Bomb fragments
• Simile: Figurative language
• Slobber: Excess saliva
• Snob: Arrogant person
• Solecism: Grammatical mistake
• Soporific: Sleep producing drug
• Speculation: Conjecture
• Stanchion: Frame creating support
• Statuesque: Beautiful
• Statute: Decree made into law
• Stevedore: Ship loader
• Stratocracy: Military government
• Stopover: Route stay
• Strife: Fundamental disagreement
• Suffrage: Right to vote
• Sway: Influence
• Supplicate: To Beg
• Symphony: Orchestra Piece

Vocabulary List (T)

• Transmute: Change in form or nature
• Traverse: Travel across
• Truant: Absent student
• Truculent: Aggressively defiant
• Tutelage: Guidance or instruction
• Trumpet: Loud metallic instrument
• Tyro: Beginner
• Tadpole: Young frog
• Trundle: Move slowly and heavily
• To purr: Make a low murmur
• Unprecedented: Never done before
• Urn: Vase
• Usurer: Charges high interest
• Tacky: Bad taste
• Treatment: hostility illness
• Tatutology: Same again difference
• Tartar: Bad Tempered
• Thoroughfave: Main road
• Tempest: Storm
• Titular: Formally name
• Triumvirate: Group Three
• Tortuous: Twist
• Transcendent: Other
• Trevesty: Satire
• Shuttle move quick

Vocabulary List (V and W)

• Transmute- Change to different nature
• Traverse- travel across
• truant stay without permission
• truculent fiercely
• Tutelage protected
• Trumpet- musical instrument
• Tyro- beginner in job.
• Tadpole-Child From.
• trundle roll
• To purr- cat to do
• unprecedented done before
• Urn Pot
• Usurer Loaner At Rates
• Vicious cycla Bad Things Reoccour
• vintrage High End Product
• Vagrant Wander no home
• Vandal Ruins Public Parts
• Valediction Thinks They Ill
• Vehement With Passion
• Vene Detta Vendatta.
• Venial Can Easy forgive
• Very full revenge - very full.. Vanquish Art
• Ventriloquist From belly sounds
• Verbi age Many Words
• Vesper night pray
• Vindicate Clear from guilt
• Wild one no home
• Volition One will!
• Vooley Array
• Voiage Trek Sea
• Wag Funny And Sayings
• Willowy Big Tree