General Hindi II: Vocabulary — Paryayvachi, Vilom, Muhavare
The vocabulary section is the "banked marks" of the BPSC Mains General Hindi qualifying paper — synonyms, antonyms, one-word substitutions, idioms, proverbs and confusable word-pairs are asked in a fixed, predictable pattern year after year. There is nothing to "understand" here; there is only a treasure to collect. The tables in this chapter are that treasure — read them like a passbook, ten entries a day.
Vilom Shabd (Antonyms)
A vilom is the opposite of a word. BPSC prefers Sanskrit-origin (tatsam) pairs — not easy pairs like din-raat but scholarly ones like riju-vakra and sthavar-jangam. The 32 pairs below are the recurring core.
| Word | Antonym | Word | Antonym |
|---|---|---|---|
| aay (income) | vyay (expenditure) | aadaan (receiving) | pradaan (giving) |
| utthaan (rise) | patan (fall) | srijan (creation) | sanhaar (destruction) |
| aastik (theist) | naastik (atheist) | alpagya (knowing little) | bahugya (knowing much) |
| kritagya (grateful) | kritaghna (ungrateful) | mook (mute) | vaachaal (talkative) |
| riju (straight) | vakra (crooked) | saapeksh (relative) | nirapeksh (absolute) |
| aamish (non-veg) | niraamish (vegetarian) | gupt (hidden) | prakat (revealed) |
| anuraag (attachment) | viraag (detachment) | sthavar (immovable) | jangam (movable) |
| graahya (acceptable) | tyaajya (rejectable) | unmoolan (uprooting) | ropan (planting) |
| aavirbhaav (appearance) | tirobhaav (disappearance) | aaroh (ascent) | avaroh (descent) |
| utkarsh (excellence/rise) | apkarsh (decline) | anulom (in natural order) | pratilom (in reverse order) |
| sagun (with attributes) | nirgun (without attributes) | sanyog (union) | viyog (separation) |
| swadheen (independent) | paradheen (dependent) | anukool (favourable) | pratikool (unfavourable) |
| sulabh (easily available) | durlabh (rare) | ath (beginning) | iti (end) |
| yash (fame) | apyash (infamy) | upkaar (benefaction) | apkaar (harm) |
| katu (bitter) | madhur (sweet) | sajeev (living) | nirjeev (lifeless) |
| aasha (hope) | niraasha (despair) | amrit (nectar) | vish (poison) |
ℹ️ Prefixes do half the work
Many antonyms are built by swapping prefixes: anu ↔ prati (anukool–pratikool, anulom–pratilom), su ↔ dur (sulabh–durlabh), sa ↔ nir (sagun–nirgun, sajeev–nirjeev), upa ↔ apa (upkaar–apkaar), ut ↔ apa (utkarsh–apkarsh). Learn the prefix pattern once and you can construct antonyms you never memorised.Special care with four pairs BPSC loves: kritagya–kritaghna (a single letter flips gratitude into ingratitude), mook–vaachaal, riju–vakra, and sthavar–jangam (property law also uses these: immovable vs movable assets).
One Word Substitution (Anek Shabdon ke liye Ek Shabd)
Here a whole phrase is compressed into one precise word — the soul of Hindi's Sanskrit vocabulary. The question format is fixed: a phrase is given, four words follow, pick the exact substitute. The 31 items below are the evergreen list.
| Phrase | One word |
|---|---|
| That which cannot be said | akathaniya |
| One who cannot be conquered | ajeya |
| One who believes in God | aastik |
| One who does not believe in God | naastik |
| One who wishes (another's) welfare | hitaishi |
| That which has no comparison | anupam |
| The desire to know | jigyasa |
| The desire for salvation (moksha) | mumuksha |
| The desire to win | jigisha |
| The desire to drink (thirst) | pipasa |
| Occurring once a month | maasik |
| Occurring once a week | saaptahik |
| For the whole of one's life | aajeevan |
| One who cannot read or write | nirakshar |
| One who has no enemy | ajaatshatru |
| One who never dies | amar |
| That which cannot be seen | adrishya |
| That which cannot be forgiven | akshamya |
| One who speaks little | mitbhashi |
| One who talks too much | vaachaal |
| One who acknowledges a favour | kritagya |
| One newly arrived | navaagantuk |
| Where one cannot reach | agamya |
| One who works without salary | avaitanik |
| Related to history | aitihasik |
| That which is before the eyes | pratyaksh |
| A woman whose husband has died | vidhwa |
| A man whose wife has died | vidhur |
| One who is eager to know | jigyasu |
| One of good character | sachcharitra |
| Fit to be eaten | khaadya |
⚠️ The "desire" family — the deadliest trap
BPSC lines up all the desire-words as options for one another: jigyasa = desire to know, jigisha = desire to win, mumuksha = desire for moksha, pipasa = desire to drink, lipsa = greedy desire to obtain. If you match jigisha with "desire to know", the trap has worked. Anchor each to its root: gya = know, ji = win, moksh = liberation, pi = drink.- Time-series set: maasik (monthly), saaptahik (weekly), varshik (yearly), dainik (daily) — one question, four siblings.
- Negation set with "a-": akathaniya, ajeya, adrishya, akshamya, agamya — the prefix a- plus "-able" sense = "cannot be X-ed".
- Pair-watch: aastik/naastik and kritagya/kritaghna appear in both the antonym section and the one-word section — double return on one memory.
Muhavare (Idioms)
A muhavara is a phrase whose meaning is figurative, not literal — "lohe ke chane chabana" involves no iron and no chickpeas. The exam asks either the meaning or the correct usage in a sentence. Learn each idiom with its one-line meaning AND one model sentence: the sentence is what fixes it in memory.
| Idiom | Meaning | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| andhe ki lathi | the sole support | Shravan was the sole support of his aged parents. |
| aankhon ka tara | very dear one | The youngest son is the apple of his mother's eye. |
| eid ka chand | one seen very rarely | Since he moved to Patna, he shows up like the Eid moon. |
| kaan bharna | to poison someone's mind against another | Mantharā poisoned Kaikeyi's mind against Rama. |
| ghee ke diye jalana | to celebrate joyously | On his BPSC selection, the family lit lamps of ghee. |
| daal mein kala | something suspicious | His silence suggests something fishy in the deal. |
| naak mein dam karna | to harass thoroughly | The naughty child has harassed the whole house. |
| pet mein chuhe koodna | to be very hungry | By evening the labourer was famished. |
| haath-paanv phoolna | to be struck with panic | Seeing the question paper, his nerves gave way. |
| lohe ke chane chabana | to do an extremely difficult task | Cracking BPSC without study is chewing iron chickpeas. |
| nau-do gyarah hona | to flee, run away | Seeing the police, the thief fled. |
| aasteen ka saanp | a treacherous friend | He fed him for years; he turned out a snake in the sleeve. |
| kaleje par saanp lotna | to burn with envy | At the neighbour's success, envy writhed in his heart. |
| apne paanv par kulhadi marna | to harm oneself by one's own act | By quitting the job in anger, he harmed himself. |
| oont ke munh mein jeera | far too little for the need | One roti for a wrestler is cumin in a camel's mouth. |
| Idiom | Meaning | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| khoon-pasina ek karna | to toil extremely hard | The farmer toils blood-and-sweat to raise the crop. |
| chaar chand lagana | to enhance the beauty/glory | The rangoli added lustre to the festival. |
| tedhi kheer | a very difficult task | Getting everyone to agree is no easy pudding. |
| thali ka baingan | one with no fixed principles, who switches sides | A leader who changes parties daily is a rolling brinjal. |
| daant khatte karna | to defeat badly | Our team set the rivals' teeth on edge. |
| angootha dikhana | to refuse flatly (at the time of need) | In hard times even close friends showed the thumb. |
| aag mein ghee dalna | to inflame a quarrel further | His taunt poured ghee into the fire. |
| eent se eent bajana | to destroy utterly | The army razed the enemy fort brick from brick. |
| kaan ka kachcha | one who believes hearsay instantly | A credulous officer is misled by flatterers. |
| gade murde ukhadna | to rake up old, buried matters | Do not dig up buried corpses in every argument. |
| ghaav par namak chhidakna | to add to someone's pain | Mocking a failed candidate is salt on the wound. |
| tas se mas na hona | to remain completely unmoved | Despite all pleas, the officer did not budge. |
| doodh ka doodh paani ka paani | to deliver exact justice | The judge separated milk from water. |
| baal ki khaal nikalna | to nit-pick, over-analyse | Critics split hairs over every line of the poem. |
| haath malna | to repent (after losing the chance) | Those who did not fill the form now wring their hands. |
🎯 Why it matters
In the qualifying paper, idiom questions are usually "use in a sentence" or "choose the correct meaning". Because a muhavara changes form with the sentence (chabana → chabane pade, chaba diye), always practise it inside a sentence — that is also exactly how BPSC frames the distractors.Lokoktiyan (Proverbs)
A lokokti is a complete folk saying — centuries of experience compressed into one sentence. Unlike an idiom, it stands on its own and is quoted as-is. The 22 proverbs below cover the standard question bank.
| Proverb | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Ab pachhtaye hot kya jab chidiya chug gayi khet | Repenting after the time has passed is useless. |
| Andhon mein kana raja | Among the ignorant, even one with little knowledge is honoured. |
| Ek anaar sau bimaar | One thing, a hundred claimants. |
| Oonchi dukaan pheeka pakwan | Grand show, poor substance. |
| Ghar ki murgi daal barabar | One's own things are undervalued. |
| Jiski lathi uski bhains | Might is right. |
| Door ke dhol suhavane | Distant things seem attractive. |
| Naach na jaane aangan tedha | Blaming the tools for one's own incompetence. |
| Na rahega baans na bajegi bansuri | Remove the cause, the effect ends. |
| Doobte ko tinke ka sahara | In crisis, even tiny help is great. |
| Sau sunar ki, ek luhar ki | One strong blow outweighs a hundred weak ones. |
| Adhjal gagri chhalkat jaye | The half-learned show off the most. |
| Aam ke aam guthliyon ke daam | Double benefit from one act. |
| Ek panth do kaaj | Two tasks accomplished by one means. |
| Kala akshar bhains barabar | Completely illiterate. |
| Khoda pahad nikli chuhiya | Huge effort, trivial result. |
| Chor ki daadhi mein tinka | The guilty betray themselves by their own fear. |
| Jal mein rahkar magar se bair | Unwise to be hostile to one you depend on. |
| Doodh ka jala chhachh bhi phoonk-phoonk kar peeta hai | Once bitten, twice shy. |
| Nau nakad na terah udhaar | A small sum in hand beats a bigger sum on credit. |
| Bhains ke aage been bajana | Wisdom is wasted on a fool. |
| Haath kangan ko aarsi kya | The obvious needs no proof. |
⚠️ Muhavara vs Lokokti — the definitional trap
A muhavara is a phrase (incomplete by itself) and changes form when used in a sentence (nau-do gyarah hona → ho gaya / ho jayenge). A lokokti is a complete sentence used as-is, unchanged (jiski lathi uski bhains stays exactly so). If the exam labels "ghar ki murgi daal barabar" a muhavara, or asks which of the two changes with the sentence — this distinction is the answer.Quick self-test: "aankhon ka tara" — can it end a thought by itself? No, it needs a sentence around it → idiom. "Doobte ko tinke ka sahara" — complete thought by itself? Yes → proverb. Apply this two-second test to any borderline case.
Samroopi Bhinnarthak (Yugm) Shabd — Confusable Word Pairs
Yugm shabd look or sound almost identical but mean entirely different things — one matra changes a palace into blessed food. BPSC gives the pair and four meaning-combinations; only one is right. These 20 pairs are the exam's favourites.
| Word 1 | Meaning | Word 2 | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| ans | shoulder | ansh | part, portion |
| avadhi | time period | awadhi | a language (of Awadh) |
| kul | lineage; total | kool | bank (of a river) |
| din | day | deen | poor, wretched |
| neer | water | need | nest |
| prasad | grace; consecrated food | prasaad | palace |
| bali | sacrifice, offering | balee | strong one |
| shar | arrow | sar | pond, lake |
| ann | grain, food | anya | other |
| or | direction, side | aur | and; more |
| kriti | a work, creation | kritee | accomplished person |
| grah | planet | grih | house |
| chir | long-lasting, old | cheer | cloth, garment |
| parinaam | result | parimaan | quantity, measure |
| mal | dirt, filth | mall | wrestler |
| vastu | thing, object | vaastu | dwelling; science of building |
| sut | son | soot | thread; charioteer |
| pranaam | salutation | pramaan | proof, evidence |
| anal | fire | anil | wind |
| apeksha | expectation; comparison | upeksha | neglect, disregard |
⚠️ Four pairs that decide ranks
The most-missed pairs: avadhi (period) vs awadhi (Tulsidas wrote the Ramcharitmanas in Awadhi, not in a "time period"!); parinaam (result) vs parimaan (quantity); prasad (grace) vs prasaad (palace); anal (fire) vs anil (wind). In each, mark the exact matra before reading the options — the options are engineered to punish a hurried glance.A reliable memory hook is one vivid sentence holding both words: "raja ne prasaad (palace) mein baithkar prasad (blessed food) grahan kiya"; "pariksha ka parinaam achha tha, kyonki adhyayan ka parimaan adhik tha."
Memory Strategy & How This Section Is Scored
Vocabulary is won by systems, not sittings. Three habits convert these tables into permanent memory: theme-grouping, the daily-10 method, and sentence-anchoring.
- Theme-grouping: learn nature-words together (sun-moon-sky-cloud-ray), water-family together (jal, neer, salil + jalaj, jalad, jaladhi). Connected words recall each other.
- Daily-10: ten entries a day, every day — 5 new + 5 revision. In 60 days the entire chapter is covered twice; cramming 300 items in one week fails.
- Sentence-anchoring: never learn an idiom or yugm word bare — always inside one model sentence you wrote yourself.
- Error notebook: every synonym/antonym you get wrong in a mock goes into a personal list; revise only that list in the final week.
🎯 Why "qualifying" does not mean "optional"
In the BPSC Mains, General Hindi is a 100-mark qualifying paper: you must score at least 30 marks (30%), and these marks are not added to the merit list. But fail this paper and your other copies are not even evaluated — the entire attempt dies. The vocabulary section is the fastest, most certain route to that 30, which is why toppers finish it first.📖 The story
Think of this paper as the ticket gate at Patna Junction: the ticket wins you no prize, but without it you cannot even board the train. Ten minutes of vocabulary daily is the cheapest ticket you will ever buy.Key takeaways
- Decode Sanskrit roots: jalaj/neeraj (born of water) = lotus; jalad/neerad/payod (giver of water) = cloud — the classic odd-one-out trap.
- BPSC's favourite tatsam antonym pairs: kritagya–kritaghna, mook–vaachaal, riju–vakra, saapeksh–nirapeksh, sthavar–jangam, graahya–tyaajya.
- The desire-family: jigyasa = to know, jigisha = to win, mumuksha = moksha, pipasa = to drink — anchor each to its root.
- A muhavara is a phrase whose form changes in the sentence; a lokokti is a complete, unchanging sentence — a directly asked distinction.
- Yugm care: avadhi (period)/awadhi (language), parinaam (result)/parimaan (quantity), prasad (grace)/prasaad (palace), anal (fire)/anil (wind).
- General Hindi in BPSC Mains: 100 marks, 30% qualifying, not counted in merit — but failing it kills the whole attempt. Daily-10 vocabulary is the surest route past it.
Practice questions (8)
Attempt each one before opening the answer. Every explanation names the tempting wrong option as well as the right one, because that is where marks are lost.
Which of the following is NOT a synonym of "kamal" (lotus)?
Show answer
Answer: D — jalad
Jalad means "giver of water" = cloud. Neeraj, saroj and pankaj all mean "born of water/mud" = lotus. The -ja (born) vs -da (giver) ending is the key.Choose the synonym of "surya" (sun):
Show answer
Answer: B — dinkar
Dinkar ("maker of the day") is the sun. Rakesh, sudhakar and himanshu are all synonyms of the moon — the classic distractor set.The antonym of "kritagya" (grateful) is:
Show answer
Answer: A — kritaghna
Kritagya = one who acknowledges a favour; kritaghna = one who forgets/denies a favour (ungrateful). Kritkritya means "fulfilled", and abhigya/anabhigya are the aware/unaware pair.Consider the following statements about antonyms:
1. The antonym of "saapeksh" is "nirapeksh".
2. The antonym of "sthavar" is "jangam".
Which is/are correct?Show answer
Answer: C — Both 1 and 2
Both are correct: saapeksh (relative) ↔ nirapeksh (absolute), and sthavar (immovable) ↔ jangam (movable) — the same pair used for immovable vs movable property.The meaning of the idiom "lohe ke chane chabana" is:
Show answer
Answer: B — to do an extremely difficult task
Chewing chickpeas of iron = doing an extremely hard task. "To feel very hungry" is pet mein chuhe koodna — a deliberate distractor.One word for "the desire to win" is:
Show answer
Answer: C — jigisha
Jigisha = desire to win (root ji = to conquer). Jigyasa = desire to know, mumuksha = desire for moksha, pipasa = desire to drink. The whole desire-family is set as options.The correct meaning-distinction of the pair "prasad – prasaad" is:
Show answer
Answer: A — grace/blessed food – palace
Prasad = grace/consecrated offering; prasaad (with the long aa in the first syllable) = palace. One matra changes the meaning entirely — mark the matra before reading options.Consider the following statements:
1. A muhavara is a complete sentence in itself.
2. A lokokti is a complete sentence and is normally used unchanged.
Which is/are correct?Show answer
Answer: B — Only 2
Statement 1 is wrong — a muhavara is only a phrase, incomplete by itself, and its form changes with the sentence. Statement 2 is correct — a lokokti is a complete, unchanging sentence.