Wordcraft, 7 September 2026

Glossary from the edition

18 words, each quoted in the sentence where it appeared in the 7 September 2026 edition. Meaning first, then the sentence, then where it came from.

The seven lessons

One entry of each type, every day: a system, not a word list.

Worksheet

Every exercise from the session, on paper. Answers are folded under each one; the online session marks them for you and keeps your score.

Root & family · videre, visum

1. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

   In remote sensing, a satellite’s "revisit interval" means:

   1. The time before it can image the same ground again
   2. The number of times it is re-tasked in a year
   3. The interval between two ground-station contacts
   4. The time taken to raise its orbit
   Answer

   The time before it can image the same ground again. It is a hard specification, not a figure of speech. Geosynchronous orbit buys a short revisit interval at the cost of spatial resolution, which is the whole trade EOS-05 makes.

2. Fill the blank Circle the letter that completes the sentence.

   The editorial says the sequence of letters, a Bar abstention and an appointment to a vacancy reads as ___ rather than as procedure.

   1. improvisation
   2. supervision
   3. provision
   4. revision
   Answer

   improvisation. Improvise is literally "not seen ahead". The charge is a failure to look ahead, not a compliment about creativity.

3. Match the pairs Write the letter from the right against each number on the left.

   Match each prefix to what it does to videre.

   1. super-
   2. re-
   3. pro-
   4. in- + pro-

   1. not looking ahead: improvise
   2. looking ahead: provision
   3. looking again: revisit, revise
   4. looking from above: supervision
   Answer

   • super-: looking from above: supervision
   • re-: looking again: revisit, revise
   • pro-: looking ahead: provision
   • in- + pro-: not looking ahead: improvise

   Fix the direction of the looking and the whole family becomes predictable.

4. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

   A statute describes a list as "illustrative". This means:

   1. Items outside the list may still be covered
   2. The list is closed and complete
   3. The list has no legal effect
   4. The list is only for the preamble
   Answer

   Items outside the list may still be covered. Illustrative is the opposite of exhaustive. An exhaustive list excludes what it does not name; an illustrative one gives examples.

5. Find the error Circle it in the sentence below, then write the correction.

   One word is misused. Find it.

   The committee will improvise its recommendations next month.

   Answer

   improvise → revise. To improvise is to act without having seen it coming. The intended word is revise: to look over again with a view to changing.

6. Put in order Number the lines 1 upward in the correct order.

   Arrange from the shortest revisit interval to the longest.

   • A sun-synchronous imager returning after several days
   • A satellite passing over the same point twice a day
   • A geosynchronous imager holding one region in view
   Answer

   1. A geosynchronous imager holding one region in view
   2. A satellite passing over the same point twice a day
   3. A sun-synchronous imager returning after several days

   Persistence is what geosynchronous orbit buys, and it buys it at the cost of spatial resolution. That trade is the EOS-05 story.

7. Fill the blank Circle the letter that completes the sentence.

   Looking from above, and so the word for oversight of another’s work, is ___ .

   1. supervision
   2. provision
   3. revision
   4. division
   Answer

   supervision. super- "over" plus visum "seen". The literal picture is someone watching from above.

Confusable pair · discreet / discrete

8. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

   Which sentence is correct?

   1. Household size is a discrete variable; the inquiry that followed was discreet.
   2. Household size is a discreet variable; the inquiry that followed was discrete.
   3. Both variable and inquiry take discrete.
   4. Both variable and inquiry take discreet.
   Answer

   Household size is a discrete variable; the inquiry that followed was discreet.. A variable counted in whole units is discrete. An inquiry conducted quietly is discreet.

9. Fill the blank Circle the letter that completes the sentence.

   The editorial argues that the state of the art in judicial accountability is not uniformly ___ .

   1. discreet
   2. discrete
   3. discretion
   4. discretely
   Answer

   discreet. The claim is about how quietly such matters are handled, so it is discreet. The Varma proceedings were the opposite of quiet.

10. Find the error Circle it in the sentence below, then write the correction.

    One word is spelled wrongly. Find it.

    The scheme runs in three discreet phases.

    Answer

    discreet → discrete. Separate, countable phases are discrete. Discreet would mean the phases were being tactful.

11. Put in order Number the lines 1 upward in the correct order.

    Arrange so the sentence uses both words correctly.

    • in three discrete parts.
    • but its findings were reported
    • The inquiry was discreet,
    Answer

    1. The inquiry was discreet,
    2. but its findings were reported
    3. in three discrete parts.

    One word describes how the inquiry was conducted, the other how its output was divided. A sentence can carry both without strain.

12. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

    "The discretion of the competent authority" here means:

    1. A lawful power to choose between permitted courses
    2. The authority’s reputation for tact
    3. A duty to keep the file confidential
    4. An obligation to consult before deciding
    Answer

    A lawful power to choose between permitted courses. This is the administrative-law sense, and the one that appears most often in GS2 answers. It is about lawful choice, not about discretion in the sense of tact.

13. Match the pairs Write the letter from the right against each number on the left.

    Match each phrase to its correct spelling.

    1. a ___ word in his ear
    2. ___ mathematics
    3. exercised his ___
    4. the units are ___ and countable

    1. discrete
    2. discretion
    3. discrete
    4. discreet
    Answer

    • a ___ word in his ear: discreet
    • ___ mathematics: discrete
    • exercised his ___: discretion
    • the units are ___ and countable: discrete

    Physical or countable separation takes discrete; anything about reticence takes discreet.

Collocation · the adjectives that grade a finding

14. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

    A ministry defends a disputed statistic by saying the series is "internally consistent". This claims:

    1. That the figures do not contradict one another
    2. That the figures are accurate
    3. That the figures have been independently audited
    4. That the methodology is the international standard
    Answer

    That the figures do not contradict one another. Consistency is about the relation among the numbers, not their relation to reality. A consistent series can still be wrong, and noticing the gap is the analytical move.

15. Fill the blank Circle the letter that completes the sentence.

    With a death toll still rising through the week, the correct adjective for the figure is ___ .

    1. provisional
    2. settled
    3. consistent
    4. unrebutted
    Answer

    provisional. Provisional says true so far, expected to change. It is the honest word for a number that is still moving.

16. Match the pairs Write the letter from the right against each number on the left.

    Match each adjective to the promise it makes.

    1. balanced
    2. defensible
    3. unrebutted
    4. settled

    1. no longer in dispute
    2. unanswered, not proved
    3. arguable though contested
    4. both sides weighed
    Answer

    • balanced: both sides weighed
    • defensible: arguable though contested
    • unrebutted: unanswered, not proved
    • settled: no longer in dispute

    Each grades the claim differently. Choosing the wrong one overstates or understates your own confidence.

17. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

    Which use of "unrebutted" is correct?

    1. The allegation remains unrebutted, though it has not been proved.
    2. The allegation is unrebutted and therefore established.
    3. The court delivered an unrebutted verdict.
    4. The figures are unrebutted and internally consistent.
    Answer

    The allegation remains unrebutted, though it has not been proved.. Unrebutted means only that no answer has been given. Treating silence as proof is the error the word exists to prevent.

18. Say it shorter Rewrite the sentence below within the word limit.

    It is possible to say that the conclusion arrived at by the committee may perhaps be regarded as one which is broadly defensible in nature.

    Word limit 8

    Model

    The committee’s conclusion is defensible. Five hedges stacked on one adjective cancel each other out. Defensible already concedes that the point is contestable, so it needs no help.

19. Find the error Circle it in the sentence below, then write the correction.

    One adjective overstates what has been shown. Find it.

    The allegation is unrebutted and therefore settled.

    Answer

    settled. → unproved. Unrebutted means only that no answer has been given. Treating silence as proof is exactly the error the word exists to prevent.

From the edition · substitutable

20. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

    Saying two capabilities are "complementary rather than substitutable" claims that:

    1. Each raises the value of the other
    2. Either one will serve the same purpose
    3. They compete for the same budget
    4. One will eventually replace the other
    Answer

    Each raises the value of the other. Complements raise each other’s value; substitutes displace each other. The article argues the public and private legs of Indian space now do the former.

21. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

    Which pair are substitutes?

    1. Tea and coffee
    2. Tea and sugar
    3. A launch vehicle and its cryogenic stage
    4. A satellite and its ground station
    Answer

    Tea and coffee. Substitutes serve the same want, so more of one reduces the need for the other. The other three are complements: each is worth more when the other is present.

22. Fill the blank Circle the letter that completes the sentence.

    The SHANTI Act, 2025 ___ the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010.

    1. substituted
    2. complemented
    3. supplemented
    4. amended
    Answer

    substituted. In legislative drafting, substitution is a formal repeal-and-replace. Supplementing or amending would have left the older Acts standing, which is not what happened.

23. Find the error Circle it in the sentence below, then write the correction.

    One word contradicts the clause after it. Find it.

    Solar and storage are substitutable: more storage absorbs more solar.

    Answer

    substitutable: → complementary. The clause describes each raising the value of the other, which is the definition of complements. The adjective says the opposite.

24. Put in order Number the lines 1 upward in the correct order.

    Arrange into the strongest closing sentence.

    • not how fast to shrink the public agency.
    • so the policy question is how to divide the work,
    • rather than substitutable,
    • The two are complementary
    Answer

    1. The two are complementary
    2. rather than substitutable,
    3. so the policy question is how to divide the work,
    4. not how fast to shrink the public agency.

    State the relation, deny the alternative, then draw the policy consequence. That order makes the adjective do real work rather than decorate the sentence.

25. Match the pairs Write the letter from the right against each number on the left.

    Match each pair to its relation.

    1. tea and coffee
    2. tea and sugar
    3. a satellite and its ground station
    4. road freight and rail freight

    1. substitutes
    2. complements
    3. complements
    4. substitutes
    Answer

    • tea and coffee: substitutes
    • tea and sugar: complements
    • a satellite and its ground station: complements
    • road freight and rail freight: substitutes

    Ask whether more of one makes you want more of the other, or less. That single question settles every case.

Say it shorter · when a list gets between the subject and its verb

26. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

    What is wrong with: "The Committee, its chair, its five members, its terms of reference and its deadline all set by the Court in May, has not reported."?

    1. A long list separates the subject from its verb
    2. The sentence uses the passive voice
    3. It contains too many nominalisations
    4. The tense is inconsistent
    Answer

    A long list separates the subject from its verb. The subject is "The Committee" and the verb is "has not reported", with sixteen words between them. Every word is fine; the architecture is not.

27. Say it shorter Rewrite the sentence below within the word limit.

    The scheme, its funding pattern, its eligibility rules and its grievance mechanism all notified in May, comes into force next month.

    Word limit 22

    Model

    The scheme comes into force next month. Its funding pattern, eligibility rules and grievance mechanism were notified in May. Claim first, then evidence. The subject sits next to its verb and the list gets a sentence of its own.

28. Put in order Number the lines 1 upward in the correct order.

    Arrange so the spine is never interrupted.

    • and an appointment to a vacancy nineteen days before a retirement.
    • a Bar abstention from work,
    • letters from a Supreme Court judge,
    • The current sequence reads as improvisation rather than procedure:
    Answer

    1. The current sequence reads as improvisation rather than procedure:
    2. letters from a Supreme Court judge,
    3. a Bar abstention from work,
    4. and an appointment to a vacancy nineteen days before a retirement.

    Subject and verb arrive together, the colon signals the unpacking, and the list can then run as long as it needs to.

29. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

    Which sentence keeps its subject and verb together?

    1. The Council met at Panaji and took up four agenda items.
    2. The Council, its chairman, its vice-chairman and its four member states all present, met at Panaji.
    3. The Council, having assembled members from four states and one Union Territory, met.
    4. The Council, meeting at Panaji with the agenda circulated in advance, took up four items.
    Answer

    The Council met at Panaji and took up four agenda items.. Only the first puts the verb straight after the subject. The others each push a list or a participial phrase into the gap.

30. Find the error Circle it in the sentence below, then write the correction.

    Find the word where the reader finally learns what the subject does.

    The Committee, its chair and its deadline set in May, reported late.

    Answer

    reported → move "reported" next to "Committee". Nine words separate the subject from "reported". The reader has to hold "The Committee" open the whole way.

31. Fill the blank Circle the letter that completes the sentence.

    The fault in this lesson is one of ___ rather than vocabulary.

    1. architecture
    2. register
    3. spelling
    4. tone
    Answer

    architecture. Every word in the original sentence is well chosen. What fails is where the load sits.

Usage watch · different from, different than, different to

32. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

    Which form is accepted in every variety of English?

    1. different from
    2. different than
    3. different to
    4. different against
    Answer

    different from. From is never wrong anywhere. That is exactly why it should be your default.

33. Fill the blank Circle the letter that completes the sentence.

    You disagree with a colleague on the drafting, so you ___ her.

    1. differ with
    2. differ from
    3. differ to
    4. differ than
    Answer

    differ with. People take with; things take from. "I differ from her" says you are unlike her, which is a different claim.

34. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

    "The outcome was different than we had expected." This is:

    1. Standard American, and better rendered "different from what we had expected" for an Indian examiner
    2. A grammatical error in every variety
    3. Standard British usage
    4. Correct only in speech
    Answer

    Standard American, and better rendered "different from what we had expected" for an Indian examiner. Than before a clause is standard in American English. It is not an error, but from is the safer register here.

35. Find the error Circle it in the sentence below, then write the correction.

    Find the word that changes the meaning from disagreement to dissimilarity.

    I differ from the committee on this point.

    Answer

    from → with. Differ from means to be unlike. To record disagreement with people, the preposition is with.

36. Match the pairs Write the letter from the right against each number on the left.

    Match each form to where it is standard.

    1. different from
    2. different to
    3. different than
    4. differ with

    1. disagreeing with a person
    2. American English
    3. British and Indian usage
    4. every variety of English
    Answer

    • different from: every variety of English
    • different to: British and Indian usage
    • different than: American English
    • differ with: disagreeing with a person

    Three of these are about likeness and one is about disagreement. Keeping them apart is the whole lesson.

37. Say it shorter Rewrite the sentence below within the word limit.

    It may be noted that the approach adopted in the second scheme is somewhat different than the approach which was adopted in the first scheme.

    Word limit 10

    Model

    The second scheme’s approach differs from the first’s. The verb differ does the work of the adjective plus preposition, and the hedges add nothing.

Idiom in formal register · low-hanging fruit

38. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

    Calling a reform "the low-hanging fruit" claims that it is:

    1. Cheap and quick, and therefore the thing to do first
    2. The single most important reform available
    3. A reform that has already been attempted and failed
    4. A reform that only a future government could deliver
    Answer

    Cheap and quick, and therefore the thing to do first. The phrase is about ease of reach, not importance. It concedes that this is not the hard part of the problem.

39. Fill the blank Circle the letter that completes the sentence.

    A way-forward that names the low-hanging fruit and then the ladder work demonstrates ___ .

    1. sequencing
    2. balance
    3. brevity
    4. objectivity
    Answer

    sequencing. Sequencing is the skill on display: knowing what can be done now and what must follow. It is what turns a list into a plan.

40. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

    Which sentence misuses the idiom?

    1. Resolving the ownership-control mismatch is the low-hanging fruit, and the hardest part of the reform.
    2. The green bond exclusion is the low-hanging fruit; the financing architecture is the ladder work.
    3. Start with the low-hanging fruit, then commit to the harder reform.
    4. The low-hanging fruit is cheap, so there is no excuse for leaving it unpicked.
    Answer

    Resolving the ownership-control mismatch is the low-hanging fruit, and the hardest part of the reform.. The first contradicts itself. Something cannot be both the easiest reach and the hardest part.

41. Find the error Circle it in the sentence below, then write the correction.

    Find the word that makes this sentence contradict itself.

    The low-hanging fruit is also the hardest reform.

    Answer

    hardest → cheapest. Low-hanging fruit names the easiest reach. Calling the same item the hardest reform cancels the metaphor.

42. Put in order Number the lines 1 upward in the correct order.

    Arrange into a properly sequenced way forward.

    • and only then price the Bharat Small Reactor tender.
    • then settle the operator-lessor structure, which is the ladder work;
    • Remove the sovereign green bond exclusion, which is the low-hanging fruit;
    Answer

    1. Remove the sovereign green bond exclusion, which is the low-hanging fruit;
    2. then settle the operator-lessor structure, which is the ladder work;
    3. and only then price the Bharat Small Reactor tender.

    Cheapest first, then the binding constraint, then the thing that depends on both. Sequencing is what makes a way-forward a plan.

43. Match the pairs Write the letter from the right against each number on the left.

    Match each phrase to what it claims about a reform.

    1. low-hanging fruit
    2. the binding constraint
    3. a first-order problem
    4. a second-best solution

    1. not ideal, but available now
    2. large in magnitude, however hard
    3. blocks everything else until fixed
    4. cheap and quick: do it first
    Answer

    • low-hanging fruit: cheap and quick: do it first
    • the binding constraint: blocks everything else until fixed
    • a first-order problem: large in magnitude, however hard
    • a second-best solution: not ideal, but available now

    Four different claims about priority. Choosing precisely among them is what makes a way-forward section persuasive.

Writing task · Complements, not substitutes

The Pixxel article argues that India’s public and private space capabilities are "increasingly complementary rather than substitutable". Pick any other sector in today’s edition where the state and private actors both operate, nuclear power, remote sensing, skilling or health, and argue in no more than 100 words whether the two are complements or substitutes there. Use substitutable or complementary at least once, and name one low-hanging fruit and one piece of ladder work.

Companion to Vocab Builder (what a word scores in a GS answer) and Key Terms. Wordcraft is the language itself.