Daily "The Hindu" Vocab & Editorial 25 February 2026 | English Notes for SSC by Bhragu Sir

Daily "The Hindu" Vocab & Editorial 25 February 2026 helps SSC aspirants improve vocabulary, grammar, idioms, and comprehension through editorial-based English practice. Regular practice is important for building strong reading habits and accuracy in the SSC English section.

English is a key part of SSC exams. Many students lose marks not because they do not know grammar or rules, but because they lack practice in vocabulary and comprehension. Bhragu Sir’s session focuses on building strong English basics. It includes vocabulary, idioms, one-word substitutions, grammar rules, previous year questions (PYQs), and passage-based comprehension.

 This daily practice boosts confidence while attempting the English section in exams like SSC GD, SSC CGL, CHSL, RRB Group D, NTPC, ALP, and other government job exams.

Daily "The Hindu" Vocab & Editorial 23 February 2026 Video

In this video, Bhragu Sir guides SSC aspirants through vocabulary, idioms, one-word substitutions, and editorial comprehension. It helps students understand formal English, learn word usage in context, and improve accuracy for the SSC exam.

Vocabulary Building with Pictures

Visual aids are used to help students remember and understand new words.

• Cite: To mention, reference, or quote something

• At Its Core: Essentially or fundamentally

• Multilaterally: Done collectively by multiple parties or countries

• Overwhelmingly: To a great or extreme extent

• Reside: To live in a particular place; dwell

• Pose: To create or generate something, such as a risk

• Foreboding: Feeling that something bad will happen; ominous

• Momentum: Encouragement or the force that keeps an activity developing

• Diffuse: To scatter or spread out over a large area

• Fine-Tuning: Making small adjustments for the best result

Top Vocabulary PYQs (MCQs)

This section addresses multiple-choice questions based on frequently asked vocabulary in competitive exams.

1. Seamless

• Meaning: Perfect and without any flaws; flawless.

• Answer: Flawless

2. Cut and Dried

• Meaning: Already decided and not open to change or discussion.

• (Memory Tip: Imagine preparing food like pickles or papad, where ingredients are first cut and then dried, following a predetermined plan for a known outcome. If something is "cut and dried," its final form or result is already decided.)

• Answer: Already decided

3. One Who Studies Election and Voting Trends

• Meaning: A specialist who studies voting statistics and election trends.

• Related terms: Psephology (the study of elections and voting trends).

• Answer: Psephologist

4. Antonym of Irascible

• Meaning of Irascible: Easily or quickly angered; short-tempered.

• Answer: Genial (meaning friendly, cheerful, and calm).

5. Correctly Spelled Word

• Explanation: The word change, combined with the suffix -able retains the 'e' to preserve the soft 'g' sound.

Idioms and Phrases

Learning idioms improves comprehension and sentence construction.

1. To Hold a Candle to Someone

• Meaning: To be inferior in comparison to someone.

2. To Enter the Lion's Mouth with a Garland

• Meaning: To confront danger with charm and a positive attitude.

3. Plain as Day

• Meaning: To be very clear or obvious and easy to understand.

Root Word Study: MAG

The Latin root MAG, derived from Magus, signifies great, large, or big.

• Magnify: To make something appear bigger.

• Magnanimous: Great-hearted or generous; liberal and forgiving.

• Magnificent: Very grand or impressive; splendid or * भव्य *.

• Magnitude: The great size or importance of something.

• Magnum Opus: A great work of art, music, or literature, especially the most important work by an artist or writer.

• Magnet: In this context, a powerful or rich person who attracts others (e.g., a business magnate).

• Magniloquent: Speaking in a grand, lofty, or pompous style; using high-flown language.

One Word Substitution

One-word substitutions help students save time during exams and test their vocabulary depth. They show how a single word can express a complete idea clearly and precisely.

1. An event or group of events occurring as part of a sequence.

• Answer: Episode (While a series is the entire collection, each individual part of the sequence is an episode).

2. Extremely idealistic, unrealistic, and impractical.

• Answer: Quixotic (Describes something imaginative and romanticized but not practical).

3. A detailed description of a series of real or fictional events taking place over a long period.

• Answer: Saga (Refers to a long, complex story or series of events).

The Hindu Editorial: Core Vocabulary & Analysis

This section delves into key vocabulary from an editorial discussing the Supreme Court and cow vigilantism, followed by a detailed analysis of the passage.

Core Vocabulary

1. In-glorious (Adjective)

• Meaning: Causing shame or disgrace; shameful, dishonorable.

• Synonyms: Disgraceful, humiliating, ignominious.

• Antonyms: Glorious, honorable, prestigious.

• Example: The team made an inglorious exit from the tournament.

2. Retreat (Noun/Verb)

• Meaning: The act of moving back or withdrawing from a position.

• Synonyms: Withdrawal, pullback, rollback, recede.

• Antonyms: Advance, progress, expansion.

• Example: The policy shift was seen as a retreat from earlier commitments.

3. Vigilantism (Noun)

• Meaning: The act of enforcing laws and administering justice without legal authority, typically by a self-appointed group of citizens.

• (Memory Tip: Imagine a movie hero who, instead of handing a villain over to the legal system, decides to deliver punishment himself. This act of "independent justice" is vigilantism.)

• Synonyms: Mob justice, lawlessness.

• Antonyms: Rule of law, legal enforcement.

• Example: Vigilantism undermines the authority of the legal system.

4. Washed Its Hands Of (Idiom)

• Meaning: To refuse to take responsibility for something.

• (Memory Tip: Consider a relative who, feeling slighted for not being consulted, later refuses to offer an opinion when asked, effectively "washing their hands of" any responsibility.)

• Synonyms: Disclaim responsibility, abandon, renounce.

• Antonyms: Accept responsibility, assume accountability.

• Example: The authorities washed their hands of the crisis.

5. Diffidence (Noun)

• Meaning: Modesty or shyness resulting from a lack of self-confidence; hesitation.

• Synonyms: Hesitation, timidity, shyness, reluctance.

• Antonyms: Confidence, boldness, assertiveness.

• Example: Judicial diffidence weakened institutional authority.

6. Infringed (Verb)

• Meaning: To actively break or violate a law, rule, or right.

• Synonyms: Violated, breached, transgressed, contravened.

• Antonyms: Respected, upheld, obeyed.

• Example: Freedom of speech should not be infringed.

7. Perpetrated (Verb)

• Meaning: To carry out or commit a harmful, illegal, or immoral action. The doer is a perpetrator.

• Synonyms: Committed, executed, carried out.

• Antonyms: Prevented, stopped, averted.

• Example: The crime was perpetrated by a mob.

8. Sacrosanct (Adjective)

• Meaning: Regarded as too important or valuable to be interfered with; sacred and inviolable. It can also mean unchangeable or * अटल *.

• Synonyms: Sacred, inviolable, untouchable.

• Antonyms: Violable, flexible, negotiable.

• Example: The protection of citizens is a sacrosanct duty of the state.

9. Spate (Noun)

• Meaning: A large number of similar things or events appearing or occurring in quick succession (e.g., a spate of violence).

• Synonyms: Wave, surge, flood, series, outbreak.

• Antonyms: Scarcity, drought, shortage.

• Example: There was a spate of violent incidents.

10. Recourse (Noun)

• Meaning: A source of help in a difficult situation; a way of solving a problem or seeking aid.

• Synonyms: Remedy, option, resort, assistance.

• Antonyms: Helplessness, dead end.

• Example: Victims can seek legal recourse in court.

11. Dismay (Noun)

• Meaning: A feeling of distress, concern, or shock caused by something unexpected.

• Synonyms: Disappointment, shock, consternation, alarm.

• Antonyms: Delight, satisfaction, relief.

• Example: The bench expressed dismay over the rising violence.

12. Prosecute (Verb)

• Meaning: To institute legal proceedings against a person for a crime.

• Synonyms: Charge, sue, litigate against.

13. Punitive (Adjective)

• Meaning: Inflicting or intended as punishment; * दंडात्मक *.

• Synonyms: Penal, disciplinary, retributive.

• Example: The court can take punitive action.

Also Read:

• SSC Monthly Current Affairs
• SSC Weekly Current Affairs

Reading Comprehension: Analyzing "An Inglorious Retreat"

The editorial discusses the Supreme Court's role concerning mob violence, specifically in the context of cow vigilantism. The central theme highlights the Court's perceived failure to uphold its own directives.

The Supreme Court of India has washed its hands of the responsibility to enforce its own guidelines of 2018 to prevent and punish mob violence in the name of cow protection.

The trajectory of this case over the years had foretold this outcome, and fits within a disturbing pattern of judicial diffidence in the face of majoritarian politics.

On February 23, the Chief Justice of India (CJI), Justice Surya Kant, observed that the “general directions” issued by the Court in a 2018 judgment to the Centre and States to prevent and prosecute cow vigilantism and mobocracy were “unmanageable”.

The CJI favoured an approach of taking up each crime on its singular facts and merits, and went on to add that if someone’s rights are infringed, they could seek legal recourse.

Petitioners had sought contempt proceedings against States that have refused to implement preventive, punitive and remedial measures against cow vigilantism.

In 2018, a Bench headed by then CJI Dipak Misra had expressed shock and dismay over the spate of violence perpetrated by cow protection gangs.

The Court had observed that lynching “must be curbed and crippled”, stressing that the state has a “sacrosanct duty” to protect citizens.

The 2018 guidelines assumed the Court would remain a watchdog, but what followed was a gradual, but unmistakable, judicial retreat that now appears final with the pronouncement of the CJI.

In a situation of perfect rule of law, there is no reason for the highest court of the land to be directly involved in monitoring policing.

Comprehension Questions

What is the central theme of the passage?

A. The rise of cow protection movements in India
B. The Supreme Court’s withdrawal from enforcing its 2018 anti-lynching guidelines
C. The role of State governments in criminal justice
D. The importance of the rule of law in democratic systems

Answer: B. The Supreme Court’s withdrawal from enforcing its 2018 anti-lynching guidelines

The phrase “washed its hands of the responsibility” implies that the Court has:

A. Taken strict action
B. Delegated authority responsibly
C. Avoided or refused responsibility
D. Reconsidered its guidelines

Answer: C. Avoided or refused responsibility

According to the passage, the 2018 guidelines were issued to:

A. Strengthen cow protection laws
B. Prevent and punish mob violence in the name of cow protection
C. Empower vigilante groups
D. Amend constitutional provisions

Answer: B. Prevent and punish mob violence in the name of cow protection

Why did petitioners seek contempt proceedings?

A. Because States encouraged vigilantism
B. Because the Centre opposed the judgment
C. Because some States refused to implement the 2018 measures
D. Because new laws were introduced

Answer: C. Because some States refused to implement the 2018 measures

The 2018 Bench headed by Dipak Misra had expressed:

A. Support for vigilante groups
B. Shock and dismay over mob violence
C. Indifference to lynching incidents
D. Approval of State action

Answer: B. Shock and dismay over mob violence