Vocabulary and Usage: Synonyms, Idioms, Proverbs and Word Formation
This section rewards precision. Questions come as matching, fill-in, substitution, and "use in a sentence" tasks covering samanartha (synonyms), biparita (antonyms), rūḍhi (idioms), prabada (proverbs), ekapadi (one-word substitutes) and shabda-gathana (word formation).
Core rules
- Synonyms are not interchangeable. Choose by register and collocation: a word meaning "fear" in a literary line may not fit a formal letter.
- Idioms are fixed. Ghara-pinda literally "house and ritual rice-ball", idiomatically "domestic/worldly life". Change one member and the meaning collapses.
- Proverbs carry a stance. Match the proverb to the situation's judgement, not merely to its keywords.
- Word formation uses upasarga (prefix: anu-, pra-, vi-, sam-), pratyaya (suffix: -tva, -maya, -kara), samasa, and dvirukti (repetition). Manuṣya + tva = mānuṣatva; jala + maya = jalamaya.
- Ekapadi: janma-ru andha = janmāndha; satya sarbadā kahe = satyabādī.
Worked example with reasoning
Fill in: "After the argument he ______ and stopped speaking to his brother."
- The blank needs an idiom meaning prolonged sulking, not a synonym for anger.
- Reject literal options ("became silent") - they are grammatical but idiomatically weak in this construction.
- Select the fixed idiom for estrangement, then check that its subject can be a person.
The discipline is: fix the meaning first, then the grammatical form, then the register.
Traps
- Choosing a synonym with the right sense but wrong register.
- Editing an idiom to "improve" it.
- Using a proverb whose message contradicts the sentence's tone.
- Adding a prefix that exists but is not used with that root in Odia.
- Confusing a compound word with an idiom.