Daily “The Hindu” Vocab & Editorial 15 Dec 2025 is highly useful for SSC and Railway exam aspirants. It helps build a strong vocabulary, sharpen grammar skills, and develop a clear understanding of editorial ideas.

Regular reading keeps your preparation on track throughout the year, reducing last-minute exam pressure. Over time, this habit significantly improves reading comprehension and boosts confidence for competitive exams such as SSC GD, SSC CGL, CHSL, RRB Group D, NTPC, ALP, and others.

Daily “The Hindu” Vocab & Editorial 15 Dec 2025

The Daily The Hindu Vocab & Editorial for 15 December 2025 provides useful word meanings and examples that are especially helpful for students preparing for competitive exams. This edition covers several important words that regularly appear in national news, political discussions, and editorial articles.

These words are commonly asked in the English section of SSC exams. By going through them, you can clearly understand each word’s meaning, how it is used, and the right context in which it appears. This will help you use these words confidently while solving comprehension passages, vocabulary questions, and sentence-based problems.

The Hindu" Vocab & Editorial 15 Dec 2025

Below, we have provided the Hindu Vocabulary 15 Dec 2025 for the ease of the candidates. Check the complete list below:

1. Anomaly

• Part of Speech: Noun
  
  

• Meaning: Something that is unusual or different from normal
  
  

• Hindi: असामान्य बात / नियम से अलग स्थिति
  
  

• Synonyms: Irregularity, abnormality, deviation, oddity
  
  

• Antonyms: Normality, regularity, conformity
  
  

• Example: The sudden drop in figures was an anomaly.

2. Addressing

• Part of Speech: Verb
  
  

• Meaning: Dealing with or trying to solve a problem
  
  

• Hindi: किसी समस्या से निपटना / समाधान करना
  
  

• Synonyms: Tackling, handling, resolving, confronting
  
  

• Antonyms: Ignoring, neglecting, avoiding
  
  

• Example: The government is addressing the pollution issue.

3. Stubble

• Part of Speech: Noun
  
  

• Meaning: Short stalks left after crops are harvested
  
  

• Hindi: पराली / फसल कटने के बाद बचा डंठल
  
  

• Synonyms: Crop residue, straw, remnants
  
  

• Antonyms: Crop, harvest
  
  

• Example: Farmers burn stubble to clear fields quickly.

4. Incentivising

• Part of Speech: Verb
  
  

• Meaning: Motivating through rewards or benefits
  
  

• Hindi: प्रोत्साहित करना / प्रलोभन देना
  
  

• Synonyms: Encouraging, motivating, rewarding
  
  

• Antonyms: Discouraging, demotivating
  
  

• Example: Farmers are incentivised to sell crop residue.

5. Subsidised

• Part of Speech: Adjective
  
  

• Meaning: Financially supported by the government
  
  

• Hindi: अनुदानित / सरकारी सहायता प्राप्त
  
  

• Synonyms: Funded, aided, supported
  
  

• Antonyms: Unsubsidised, unsupported
  
  

• Example: Subsidised machines are provided to farmers.

6. Proxy

• Part of Speech: Noun
  
  

• Meaning: A substitute used instead of the real thing
  
  

• Hindi: प्रतिनिधि / विकल्प
  
  

• Synonyms: Substitute, representative, replacement
  
  

• Antonyms: Original, actual
  
  

• Example: Satellite data is used as a proxy measure.

7. Pyrrhic Victory (Idiom)

• Part of Speech: Idiom
  
  

• Meaning: A victory that causes heavy loss and is not worthwhile
  
  

• Hindi: ऐसी जीत जिसमें नुकसान अधिक हो
  
  

• Synonyms: Hollow victory, costly success
  
  

• Antonyms: Decisive victory, complete triumph
  
  

• Example: The policy success turned out to be a pyrrhic victory.

8. Carrot-and-Stick Approach (Idiom)

• Part of Speech: Idiom
  
  

• Meaning: Using rewards and punishments together
  
  

• Hindi: दंड और पुरस्कार दोनों का प्रयोग
  
  

• Synonyms: Reward-and-punishment method
  
  

• Antonyms: Leniency, one-sided policy
  
  

• Example: Authorities adopted a carrot-and-stick approach.

9. Remnants

• Part of Speech: Noun
  
  

• Meaning: Small remaining parts of something
  
  

• Hindi: अवशेष / बचे हुए हिस्से
  
  

• Synonyms: Leftovers, remains, residues
  
  

• Antonyms: Whole, entirety
  
  

• Example: Paddy remnants were left in the field.

10. Prompting

• Part of Speech: Verb
  
  

• Meaning: Causing something to happen
  
  

• Hindi: प्रेरित करना / कारण बनना
  
  

• Synonyms: Triggering, inducing, initiating
  
  

• Antonyms: Preventing, stopping
  
  

• Example: The report prompted immediate action.

11. Fraternity

• Part of Speech: Noun
  
  

• Meaning: Brotherhood or friendly feeling
  
  

• Hindi: भाईचारा
  
  

• Synonyms: Brotherhood, unity
  
  

• Antonyms: Hostility, division
  
  

• Example: The event promoted fraternity among students.

12. Solidarity

• Part of Speech: Noun
  
  

• Meaning: Unity or mutual support
  
  

• Hindi: एकता / सहयोग
  
  

• Synonyms: Unity, togetherness
  
  

• Antonyms: Disunity, conflict
  
  

• Example: Workers showed solidarity during the protest.

13. Sentiment

• Part of Speech: Noun
  
  

• Meaning: Emotion or feeling
  
  

• Hindi: भावना
  
  

• Synonyms: Emotion, feeling
  
  

• Antonyms: Apathy, indifference
  
  

• Example: Public sentiment was against the decision.

14. Sustained

• Part of Speech: Adjective / Verb
  
  

• Meaning: Continued for a long time
  
  

• Hindi: निरंतर / बनाए रखा गया
  
  

• Synonyms: Continuous, prolonged
  
  

• Antonyms: Interrupted, stopped
  
  

• Example: Sustained efforts brought success.
  
  

15. Deliberate

• Part of Speech: Adjective / Verb
  
  

• Meaning: Done intentionally or after careful thought
  
  

• Hindi: जानबूझकर / सोच-समझकर
  
  

• Synonyms: Planned, intentional
  
  

• Antonyms: Accidental, impulsive
  
  

• Example: It was a deliberate decision.
  
  

IDIOMS 

Pyrrhic Victory

• Meaning: A victory with heavy losses, making it meaningless
  
  

• Synonyms: Hollow victory, costly success, empty triumph
  
  

• Antonym: Decisive victory

Carrot-and-Stick Approach

• Meaning: Policy using both rewards and punishments
  
  

• Synonyms: Reward-and-punishment method, dual strategy
  
  

• Antonyms: Leniency, one-sided policy
  
  

ONE WORD SUBSTITUTION 

1. Easily duped or fooled → Gullible
   
   

2. One who walks in sleep → Somnambulist
   
   

3. One who believes self is the only reality → Solipsist
   
   

4. Bad or immoral behaviour or habits → Vice

PARA-JUMBLE / PASSAGE CONTENT 

The editorial passage discusses:

• Reduction in stubble burning fires since 2020
  
  

• Use of satellite data as proxy
  
  

• Government incentives and penalties
  
  

• Conclusion that the reduction was a pyrrhic victory

Also Read: SSC Monthly Current Affairs 2025

SSC Weekly Current Affairs

The Hindu Editorial Paragraph Analysis 15 Dec 2025

Addressing an anomaly: On stubble burning, burnt-area estimates

The Centre must make burnt-area estimates of stubble public

In a statement to Parliament, the Environment Ministry said that Punjab and Haryana had collectively reduced “fire incidences” by 90% in 2025 compared to 2022. This is in reference to the burning of farm stubble, a traditional shortcut to quickly shed fields of paddy remnants and prepare them for a second crop — in this case, wheat — but that has in the last decade and a half been linked to spikes in air pollution in October–November in Delhi and surrounding cities.

As part of steps to address this, the Centre and the State governments have been employing a carrot-and-stick approach — fining farmers but, simultaneously, also providing subsidised farm equipment, combined harvesters and tractors as well as incentivising them to collect stubble and sell them to thermal plants for co-firing.

There is little direct evidence to show that these measures have reduced the contribution of stubble burning to Delhi’s post-monsoon air quality. That would require using mass-spectrograph measures to analyse the chemical make-up of pollutants over time and trace the weightage of stubble burning. That analysis is unavailable and so the government has been using proxies such as counting whether the number of active fires visible by satellites have been declining to evaluate this metric.

Since 2020 there has been a decline in fires in Punjab and Haryana, prompting the government to take credit. It turns out that this was a pyrrhic victory.

Editorial Passage Questions

Q1. The term “fire incidences” mentioned in the passage refers to:

A. Forest fires in northern India
B. Industrial fires in Delhi
C. Burning of farm stubble
D. Fires caused by thermal plants

Answer: C

Q2. According to the Environment Ministry, Punjab and Haryana reduced fire incidences by ____ in 2025 compared to 2022.

A. 50%
B. 70%
C. 80%
D. 90%

Answer: D

Q3. Why is stubble burning traditionally practiced by farmers?

A. To increase soil fertility
B. To save labour cost permanently
C. To quickly clear fields for the next crop
D. To generate income from ash

Answer: C

Q4. Stubble burning has been strongly linked to air pollution spikes during:

A. March–April
B. June–July
C. August–September
D. October–November

Answer: D

Q5. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a government incentive?

A. Subsidised farm equipment
B. Combined harvesters and tractors
C. Cash compensation for crop loss
D. Incentives for selling stubble to thermal plants

Answer: C

Q6. What does the phrase “carrot-and-stick approach” imply in the passage?

A. Complete ban without alternatives
B. Only financial assistance to farmers
C. Punishment along with incentives
D. Use of advanced technology only

Answer: C

Q7. The phrase “pyrrhic victory” in the passage means:

A. A major achievement
B. A temporary success
C. A victory with heavy losses
D. A political decision

Answer: C