The Hindu Editorial Vocabulary– July 29, 2021; Day 110

The importance of reading editorials of reputed newspapers is not hidden from anybody. What causes obstruction are difficult words which act like speed-breakers forcing you to either refer to a dictionary for its meaning or simply guess it. While getting the meaning from the dictionary is the best way to understand it, sometimes a dictionary is not within your reach. Also, a number of aspirants get confused when they see more than one meaning next to a word in a dictionary. It becomes a difficult process for them to pick the relevant meaning.

We at PracticeMock understand this and that’s why we have come up with a series of Editorials’ Difficult Words where we shortlist the important editorials of the day and pick the difficult words/ phrases therein. Next to the word, we put only the contextual sense of the word/ phrase so that you don’t get confused. Now let’s go through today’s editorial.

Difficult Word/ Phrase	Contextual Sense
Virulence	the degree to which a disease or poison is dangerous or harmful and quick to have an effect
Strain	a severe or excessive demand on the strength, resources, or abilities of something
Starkly	in a way that is severe or harsh in appearance or outline
Precipitate	cause (an event or situation, typically one that is bad or undesirable) to happen suddenly, unexpectedly, or prematurely
Divergence	the process or fact of separating or becoming different
Bloc	a combination of countries, parties, or groups sharing a common purpose
Percentage point	the difference between two percentages
Expansive	extensive or wide-ranging
Drag	something or someone that slows progress or development, or that makes success less likely
Effusive	expressing feelings of gratitude, pleasure, or approval in an unrestrained or heartfelt manner

Virulence (the degree to which a disease or poison is dangerous or harmful and quick to have an effect) and variance: On post-pandemic economic strains (a severe or excessive demand on the strength, resources, or abilities something)

Policymakers have little option but to renew economic activities after rapid vaccination

The IMF’s latest update to its World Economic Outlook spotlights the starkly (in a way that is severe or harsh in appearance or outline) widening variance in the global recovery from the economic strains caused by the pandemic. And the primary fault line precipitating (cause (an event or situation, typically one that is bad or undesirable) to happen suddenly, unexpectedly, or prematurely) the divergence (the process or fact of separating or becoming different) of the world’s economies into two blocs (a combination of countries, parties, or groups sharing a common purpose) — those that are normalising activities from the COVID-19-induced curbs and those that are still struggling — is vaccine access and the pace of vaccination coverage. Three months since its April forecast, the IMF projects the global economy to expand at an unchanged pace of 6% this year. But it sees the world’s advanced economies registering faster growth than forecast earlier, while emerging markets and developing economies are expected to post appreciably slower recoveries. The IMF projects Advanced Economies to grow by 5.6% in 2021, 0.5 percentage point quicker than forecast in April. Undergirding this anticipated acceleration, the U.S. economy is seen expanding by 7% — a 0.6 percentage point (the difference between two percentages) upgrade — on the back of an expansive (extensive or wide-ranging) vaccine roll-out that has helped enable substantial normalisation in activity, and expectations of additional fiscal support. Emerging market and developing economies on the other hand are seen expanding by 6.3%, 0.4 percentage point slower than projected in April.

India is seen as the largest drag (something or someone that slows progress or development, or that makes success less likely), with the Fund cutting its growth forecast for South Asia’s largest economy by 3 percentage points to 9.5%. Citing the impact of the ‘severe second wave’ and expected ‘slow recovery in confidence’ as a reason for its downgrade, the IMF has warned that “countries lagging in vaccination, such as India and Indonesia, would suffer the most among G20 economies” in the event of the emergence of a super-contagious virus variant. With just a little over 7% of the population fully vaccinated, India significantly lags the estimated global average of almost 14%, Brazil’s 18% and is way behind the 50% and 55% coverage achieved in the U.S. and the U.K., respectively. The Fund was effusive (expressing feelings of gratitude, pleasure, or approval in an unrestrained or heartfelt manner) in its praise for India’s ‘decisive action’ in January, when it forecast 11.5% growth for the fiscal year ending in March 2022, before raising that projection to 12.5% in April, after the economy appeared to rebound well in the January-March quarter. That it has now downgraded its outlook so substantially reflects the extent to which the second wave has severely impaired momentum. With inflation looming as a visceral threat, demand yet to regain traction and political appetite in government for more fiscal support negligible, India’s policymakers have little option but to hasten the vaccine roll-out on a war footing. Failure to expedite the coverage could cost the country dearly.

Hope you got to know some new words/phrases which will definitely be useful in the English section of upcoming competitive exams. Wishing you all the best for your preparation!

Want to improve your vocabulary further? Download the Lists of Word-Meanings of Previous Months here.