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P-2 — Peccadillo to Ponderous (50 words)

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Letter P, part 2: 50 words, from Peccadillo to Ponderous.

1. PECCADILLO (n.)

  • Urdu: معمولی خطا، چھوٹی سی غلطی
  • Meaning: a small, unimportant sin or fault
  • Synonyms: misdemeanour, lapse, slip, indiscretion, foible
  • Antonyms: crime, felony, outrage, atrocity
  • Use: The media magnified a minister's peccadillo while ignoring real corruption.

2. PEDANTIC (adj.)

  • Urdu: علمی نمائش کرنے والا، باریکیوں میں الجھنے والا
  • Meaning: excessively concerned with minor details or rules
  • Synonyms: fussy, hair-splitting, nitpicking, punctilious, bookish
  • Antonyms: broad-minded, casual, flexible, relaxed
  • Use: A pedantic examiner may deduct marks for a missing comma.

3. PEDESTRIAN (adj.)

  • Urdu: معمولی، پھیکا، عام سا
  • Meaning: lacking inspiration; dull
  • Synonyms: dull, mundane, prosaic, uninspired, commonplace
  • Antonyms: exciting, imaginative, original, inspired
  • Use: The speech was pedestrian and failed to move the audience.

4. PEJORATIVE (adj.)

  • Urdu: تحقیری، توہین آمیز
  • Meaning: expressing contempt or disapproval
  • Synonyms: derogatory, disparaging, belittling, deprecatory, insulting
  • Antonyms: complimentary, laudatory, flattering, approving
  • Use: "Bureaucrat" is often used in a pejorative sense.

5. PELLUCID (adj.)

  • Urdu: شفاف؛ واضح، صاف
  • Meaning: transparently clear; easily understood
  • Synonyms: clear, lucid, limpid, crystalline, transparent
  • Antonyms: murky, opaque, obscure, confusing
  • Use: Quaid-e-Azam's speeches were written in pellucid prose.

6. PENCHANT (n.)

  • Urdu: رجحان، شوق، میلان
  • Meaning: a strong liking or tendency
  • Synonyms: fondness, liking, inclination, predilection, proclivity
  • Antonyms: dislike, aversion, antipathy
  • Use: He has a penchant for Urdu poetry.

7. PENITENT (adj.)

  • Urdu: نادم، تائب
  • Meaning: feeling sorrow for wrongdoing
  • Synonyms: repentant, remorseful, contrite, apologetic, rueful
  • Antonyms: unrepentant, impenitent, remorseless, defiant
  • Use: The penitent son asked his father for forgiveness.

8. PENSIVE (adj.)

  • Urdu: فکرمند، سوچ میں ڈوبا ہوا
  • Meaning: engaged in deep or serious thought
  • Synonyms: thoughtful, reflective, contemplative, meditative, musing
  • Antonyms: thoughtless, carefree, frivolous, shallow
  • Use: She sat in a pensive mood after the result.

9. PENURY (n.)

  • Urdu: مفلسی، شدید غربت
  • Meaning: extreme poverty
  • Synonyms: poverty, destitution, indigence, want, privation
  • Antonyms: wealth, affluence, prosperity, opulence
  • Use: Floods pushed millions of families into penury.

10. PERCEPTIVE (adj.)

  • Urdu: دوراندیش، باریک بین، سمجھدار
  • Meaning: having sensitive insight
  • Synonyms: insightful, discerning, astute, shrewd, sharp
  • Antonyms: obtuse, dull, imperceptive, undiscerning
  • Use: A perceptive analyst saw the crisis coming.

11. PEREMPTORY (adj.)

  • Urdu: حاکمانہ، دو ٹوک، قطعی
  • Meaning: insisting on immediate obedience; allowing no refusal
  • Synonyms: imperious, commanding, dictatorial, brusque, curt
  • Antonyms: polite, humble, deferential, tentative
  • Use: The officer issued a peremptory order to vacate the land.

12. PERENNIAL (adj.)

  • Urdu: سدا بہار، دائمی
  • Meaning: lasting for a very long time; recurring
  • Synonyms: everlasting, enduring, perpetual, constant, recurrent
  • Antonyms: ephemeral, transient, temporary, fleeting
  • Use: Load-shedding is a perennial problem in Pakistan.

13. PERFIDIOUS (adj.)

  • Urdu: غدار، بے وفا، دغاباز
  • Meaning: deceitful and untrustworthy
  • Synonyms: treacherous, disloyal, faithless, traitorous, duplicitous
  • Antonyms: loyal, faithful, trustworthy, steadfast
  • Use: Mir Jafar's perfidious act changed the fate of Bengal.

14. PERFUNCTORY (adj.)

  • Urdu: سرسری، رسمی سا، بے دلی سے
  • Meaning: done with minimum effort or care
  • Synonyms: cursory, superficial, careless, hasty, token
  • Antonyms: thorough, careful, diligent, meticulous
  • Use: The inquiry was perfunctory and found no one guilty.

15. PERIPHERAL (adj.)

  • Urdu: ضمنی، کنارے کا، غیر اہم
  • Meaning: of secondary importance; on the edge
  • Synonyms: marginal, minor, secondary, incidental, outer
  • Antonyms: central, core, essential, main
  • Use: Education remains peripheral to our budget debates.

16. PERMEATE (v.)

  • Urdu: سرایت کرنا، پھیل جانا
  • Meaning: to spread throughout
  • Synonyms: pervade, penetrate, saturate, infuse, fill
  • Antonyms: leave, withdraw, exit
  • Use: Corruption has permeated every level of the system.

17. PERNICIOUS (adj.)

  • Urdu: مہلک، تباہ کن (آہستہ آہستہ)
  • Meaning: having a harmful effect, especially gradually
  • Synonyms: harmful, destructive, damaging, deleterious, insidious
  • Antonyms: beneficial, harmless, salutary, wholesome
  • Use: Fake news has a pernicious effect on democracy.

18. PERPETUAL (adj.)

  • Urdu: مسلسل، دائمی، ہمیشہ کا
  • Meaning: never ending or changing
  • Synonyms: everlasting, eternal, endless, constant, continual
  • Antonyms: temporary, transient, intermittent, fleeting
  • Use: The region lives in perpetual fear of drought.

19. PERPETUATE (v.)

  • Urdu: قائم رکھنا، جاری رکھنا
  • Meaning: to make something continue indefinitely
  • Synonyms: preserve, maintain, sustain, prolong, continue
  • Antonyms: end, abolish, eradicate, stop
  • Use: Dowry customs perpetuate gender inequality.

20. PERPLEX (v.)

  • Urdu: حیران کرنا، الجھن میں ڈالنا
  • Meaning: to make someone puzzled
  • Synonyms: puzzle, baffle, bewilder, confuse, mystify
  • Antonyms: clarify, enlighten, explain
  • Use: The sudden policy reversal perplexed investors.

21. PERSEVERE (v.)

  • Urdu: ثابت قدم رہنا، ڈٹے رہنا
  • Meaning: to continue despite difficulty
  • Synonyms: persist, endure, carry on, keep going, press on
  • Antonyms: give up, quit, abandon, falter
  • Use: Candidates who persevere usually clear CSS.

22. PERSPICACIOUS (adj.)

  • Urdu: زیرک، دانشمند، دور اندیش
  • Meaning: having ready insight and understanding
  • Synonyms: shrewd, astute, discerning, sagacious, perceptive
  • Antonyms: obtuse, dull, stupid, undiscerning
  • Use: A perspicacious diplomat anticipates the other side's moves.

23. PERTINACIOUS (adj.)

  • Urdu: مستقل مزاج، اپنی بات پر اڑا رہنے والا
  • Meaning: holding firmly to an opinion or course of action
  • Synonyms: persistent, tenacious, determined, dogged, resolute
  • Antonyms: irresolute, wavering, hesitant, yielding
  • Use: Her pertinacious efforts finally got the school rebuilt.

24. PERTINENT (adj.)

  • Urdu: متعلقہ، برمحل
  • Meaning: relevant to the matter
  • Synonyms: relevant, apposite, apt, germane, applicable
  • Antonyms: irrelevant, extraneous, immaterial, inappropriate
  • Use: Quote only pertinent facts in your précis.

25. PERTURB (v.)

  • Urdu: پریشان کرنا، بے چین کرنا
  • Meaning: to make anxious or unsettled
  • Synonyms: disturb, trouble, worry, unsettle, agitate
  • Antonyms: calm, reassure, soothe, pacify
  • Use: Rising inflation perturbs every household.

26. PERUSE (v.)

  • Urdu: غور سے پڑھنا، مطالعہ کرنا
  • Meaning: to read carefully and thoroughly
  • Synonyms: study, scrutinize, examine, inspect, read
  • Antonyms: skim, glance, ignore, neglect
  • Use: Peruse the passage twice before writing the précis.

27. PERVASIVE (adj.)

  • Urdu: ہر طرف پھیلا ہوا، ہمہ گیر
  • Meaning: spreading widely throughout an area or group
  • Synonyms: widespread, prevalent, ubiquitous, rife, omnipresent
  • Antonyms: limited, rare, localized, restricted
  • Use: Pervasive illiteracy slows economic growth.

28. PERVERSE (adj.)

  • Urdu: ضدی، کج رو، الٹا
  • Meaning: deliberately unreasonable; contrary to what is expected
  • Synonyms: contrary, wayward, wrong-headed, awkward, obstinate
  • Antonyms: reasonable, cooperative, obliging, sensible
  • Use: It is perverse to cut the health budget during an epidemic.

29. PESSIMISM (n.)

  • Urdu: قنوطیت، مایوسی
  • Meaning: a tendency to expect the worst
  • Synonyms: gloom, despondency, cynicism, defeatism, hopelessness
  • Antonyms: optimism, hope, cheerfulness, confidence
  • Use: Pessimism about the economy is driving the brain drain.

30. PETULANT (adj.)

  • Urdu: چڑچڑا، بدمزاج
  • Meaning: childishly sulky or bad-tempered
  • Synonyms: peevish, irritable, sulky, querulous, cross
  • Antonyms: good-humoured, cheerful, easy-going, patient
  • Use: The petulant child threw his toys on the floor.

31. PHILANTHROPIC (adj.)

  • Urdu: انسان دوست، مخیر
  • Meaning: seeking to promote the welfare of others
  • Synonyms: charitable, benevolent, humanitarian, generous, altruistic
  • Antonyms: misanthropic, selfish, stingy, mean
  • Use: Edhi's philanthropic work served millions.

32. PHILISTINE (n./adj.)

  • Urdu: بدذوق، فن و ادب سے بے بہرہ
  • Meaning: a person hostile or indifferent to culture and the arts
  • Synonyms: boor, barbarian; uncultured, lowbrow, uncivilized
  • Antonyms: aesthete, intellectual; cultured, refined
  • Use: Only a philistine would demolish a Mughal monument for a plaza.

33. PHLEGMATIC (adj.)

  • Urdu: ٹھنڈے مزاج والا، بے حس
  • Meaning: having an unemotional and calm disposition
  • Synonyms: calm, composed, placid, stolid, impassive
  • Antonyms: excitable, emotional, passionate, volatile
  • Use: His phlegmatic manner kept the team calm in the crisis.

34. PIOUS (adj.)

  • Urdu: پرہیزگار، متقی، دیندار
  • Meaning: devoutly religious
  • Synonyms: devout, religious, godly, righteous, saintly
  • Antonyms: impious, irreligious, sinful, ungodly
  • Use: Her pious grandmother never missed a prayer.

35. PITHY (adj.)

  • Urdu: مختصر اور جامع
  • Meaning: concise and full of meaning
  • Synonyms: succinct, terse, concise, laconic, epigrammatic
  • Antonyms: verbose, wordy, long-winded, prolix
  • Use: A good précis title is short and pithy.

36. PLACATE (v.)

  • Urdu: منانا، راضی کرنا، ٹھنڈا کرنا
  • Meaning: to make less angry
  • Synonyms: pacify, appease, mollify, conciliate, soothe
  • Antonyms: provoke, enrage, anger, antagonize
  • Use: The government raised wages to placate the protesters.

37. PLACID (adj.)

  • Urdu: پرسکون، ٹھہرا ہوا
  • Meaning: calm and peaceful
  • Synonyms: calm, tranquil, serene, peaceful, unruffled
  • Antonyms: excitable, agitated, turbulent, stormy
  • Use: The placid waters of Saiful Muluk reflect the peaks.

38. PLAGIARISM (n.)

  • Urdu: سرقہ، ادبی چوری
  • Meaning: passing off someone else's work as one's own
  • Synonyms: copying, piracy, literary theft, infringement
  • Antonyms: originality, creation, authorship
  • Use: HEC penalizes plagiarism in research theses.

39. PLAINTIVE (adj.)

  • Urdu: درد بھرا، غمگین
  • Meaning: sounding sad and mournful
  • Synonyms: mournful, doleful, sorrowful, melancholy, wistful
  • Antonyms: cheerful, joyful, happy, merry
  • Use: The plaintive notes of the flute filled the night.

40. PLATITUDE (n.)

  • Urdu: گھسی پٹی بات
  • Meaning: a remark used too often to be interesting
  • Synonyms: cliché, truism, banality, commonplace, bromide
  • Antonyms: insight, epigram, original remark
  • Use: Avoid platitudes like "education is the key to success" in essays.

41. PLAUSIBLE (adj.)

  • Urdu: قرینِ قیاس، معقول لگنے والا
  • Meaning: seeming reasonable or probable
  • Synonyms: credible, believable, reasonable, likely, convincing
  • Antonyms: implausible, unlikely, far-fetched, incredible
  • Use: The defence offered a plausible explanation.

42. PLETHORA (n.)

  • Urdu: بہتات، ضرورت سے زیادہ
  • Meaning: an excess or large amount
  • Synonyms: excess, surplus, abundance, glut, profusion
  • Antonyms: dearth, paucity, scarcity, lack
  • Use: A plethora of laws exists, but enforcement is weak.

43. PLIABLE (adj.)

  • Urdu: لچکدار؛ آسانی سے متاثر ہونے والا
  • Meaning: easily bent; easily influenced
  • Synonyms: flexible, pliant, supple; malleable, compliant
  • Antonyms: rigid, stiff; stubborn, obstinate
  • Use: A pliable judiciary cannot protect citizens' rights.

44. PLIGHT (n.)

  • Urdu: مصیبت، بری حالت
  • Meaning: a dangerous or unfortunate situation
  • Synonyms: predicament, difficulty, trouble, quandary, dilemma
  • Antonyms: comfort, ease, prosperity, well-being
  • Use: The plight of flood victims moved the nation.

45. PLUMMET (v.)

  • Urdu: تیزی سے گرنا
  • Meaning: to fall or drop straight down rapidly
  • Synonyms: plunge, dive, tumble, crash, nosedive
  • Antonyms: soar, rise, climb, rocket
  • Use: The rupee plummeted against the dollar.

46. POIGNANT (adj.)

  • Urdu: دل کو چھو لینے والا، دردناک
  • Meaning: evoking a keen sense of sadness or regret
  • Synonyms: touching, moving, heart-rending, affecting, pathetic
  • Antonyms: unmoving, unaffecting, cheerful, comic
  • Use: Partition stories are deeply poignant.

47. POLARIZE (v.)

  • Urdu: دو متضاد دھڑوں میں بانٹ دینا
  • Meaning: to divide into sharply opposing groups
  • Synonyms: divide, split, separate, alienate
  • Antonyms: unite, reconcile, unify, bring together
  • Use: Social media has polarized public debate.

48. POLEMIC (n.)

  • Urdu: مناظرہ، سخت تنقیدی بحث
  • Meaning: a strong verbal or written attack on someone or something
  • Synonyms: diatribe, tirade, invective, harangue, critique
  • Antonyms: praise, eulogy, tribute, acclaim
  • Use: His article was a polemic against feudalism.

49. POMPOUS (adj.)

  • Urdu: شیخی خور، مغرور، طمطراق والا
  • Meaning: affectedly grand or self-important
  • Synonyms: self-important, pretentious, arrogant, grandiose, bombastic
  • Antonyms: modest, humble, unassuming, unpretentious
  • Use: The pompous minister lectured journalists for an hour.

50. PONDEROUS (adj.)

  • Urdu: بھاری بھرکم؛ بوجھل، اکتا دینے والا
  • Meaning: slow and clumsy because heavy; dull and laboured
  • Synonyms: heavy, cumbersome, unwieldy; laboured, tedious
  • Antonyms: light, nimble, graceful; lively, fluent
  • Use: The report was written in ponderous official prose.