Vocabulary Building for CLAT: A 100-Days Word List

4 July 20266 min read1,201 words43 views

The science of remembering words instead of just seeing them once and forgetting them, and a full day-by-day and week-by-week word list to take you from October to test day.Vocabulary Building for CLAT

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The 90-Day CLAT Vocabulary List

The list below is organised into three 30-day phases, each broken into weeks. Phase 1 builds your foundation with high-frequency editorial words. Phase 2 shifts toward legal and argumentative vocabulary. Phase 3 sharpens nuance — synonyms with different shades of meaning, and the trickier words that CLAT loves to hide correct answers behind.

Each week gives you a curated set of words with concise meanings. Treat each week as a unit: learn 8–10 words a day from that week’s set, then revise the full set on your designated revision days.

90-Day Editorial & Legal Vocabulary List

Phase 1 (Days 1–30): Editorial Foundation Vocabulary

Week 1 — Days 1–7

Day	Word	Meaning
1	Ostensible	Apparent but not necessarily real
2	Ambivalent	Having mixed feelings
3	Pragmatic	Dealing with things sensibly
4	Candid	Truthful and straightforward
5	Deference	Respect, especially to authority
6	Vindicate	Clear from blame
7	Assuage	Ease or soothe a feeling
—	Discern	Perceive or recognise
—	Innate	Inborn, natural
—	Prudent	Acting with care and foresight

Week 2 — Days 8–14

Day	Word	Meaning
8	Conundrum	A confusing problem
9	Myopic	Short-sighted, lacking foresight
10	Polarise	Divide into sharply contrasting groups
11	Skeptic	One who questions accepted beliefs
12	Anomaly	Something that deviates from the norm
13	Coherent	Logical and consistent
14	Discrepancy	A lack of agreement, inconsistency
—	Empirical	Based on observation/experience
—	Fallacy	A mistaken belief, flawed reasoning
—	Galvanise	Shock/excite into action

Week 3 — Days 15–21

Day	Word	Meaning
15	Hackneyed	Overused, unoriginal
16	Impede	Delay or obstruct
17	Juxtapose	Place side by side for contrast
18	Lucid	Clear, easy to understand
19	Nuance	A subtle difference
20	Obsolete	No longer in use
21	Placate	Make someone less angry
—	Quandary	A state of uncertainty
—	Rhetoric	Persuasive speech/writing
—	Scrutinise	Examine closely

Week 4 — Days 22–30

Day	Word	Meaning
22	Tenuous	Weak, flimsy
23	Ubiquitous	Present everywhere
24	Volatile	Likely to change suddenly
25	Wary	Cautious of danger
26	Zeal	Great energy for a cause
27	Acquiesce	Accept reluctantly
28	Bolster	Support or strengthen
29	Circumvent	Find a way around
30	Deprecate	Express disapproval of
—	Elucidate	Make clear, explain

Day 30 — Monthly Consolidation: Revise all 40 Phase 1 words using flashcards.

Phase 2 (Days 31–60): Legal & Argumentative Vocabulary

Week 5 — Days 31–37

Day	Word	Meaning
31	Adjudicate	Make a formal judgment
32	Culpable	Deserving blame
33	Litigant	A party in a lawsuit
34	Onus	Burden of responsibility/proof
35	Tantamount	Equivalent in effect
36	Ultra vires	Beyond legal power/authority
37	Statute	A written law
—	Precedent	An earlier case/example as a guide
—	Jurisdiction	Authority to make legal decisions
—	Sanction	Official approval, or a penalty

Week 6 — Days 38–44

Day	Word	Meaning
38	Indemnity	Compensation for harm/loss
39	Injunction	A court order
40	Liability	Legal responsibility
41	Malfeasance	Wrongdoing by an official
42	Mitigate	Make less severe
43	Perjury	Lying under oath
44	Plaintiff	Person bringing a case
—	Recourse	A source of help
—	Repeal	Revoke a law
—	Statutory	Required/permitted by law

Week 7 — Days 45–51

Day	Word	Meaning
45	Arbitrary	Based on random choice, not reason
46	Coerce	Persuade by force/threat
47	Culminate	Reach a climax/final result
48	Deter	Discourage from an action
49	Egregious	Outstandingly bad
50	Feasible	Possible to do
51	Impartial	Not favouring one side
—	Incumbent	Currently holding office/necessary as a duty
—	Litigious	Prone to lawsuits
—	Mandate	An official order/authority to act

Week 8 — Days 52–58

Day	Word	Meaning
52	Nullify	Make legally void
53	Obligatory	Required by law/rule
54	Pertinent	Relevant to a matter
55	Prerogative	A special right/privilege
56	Redress	Remedy for a wrong
57	Repudiate	Reject/deny validity of
58	Sovereign	Having supreme power
—	Stipulate	Specify as a condition
—	Testimony	A formal statement of evidence
—	Waive	Voluntarily give up a right

Days 59–60 — Weekly Test + Monthly Consolidation: Revise all 32 Phase 2 words.

Phase 3 (Days 61–90): Nuance, Argumentation & High-Yield Confusables

Week 9 — Days 61–67

Day	Word	Meaning
61	Corollary	A natural consequence
62	Dichotomy	A division into two contrasting parts
63	Paradox	A seemingly contradictory but possibly true statement
64	Premise	A starting assumption in an argument
65	Refute	Prove wrong
66	Substantiate	Provide evidence for
67	Corroborate	Confirm/support with evidence
—	Digress	Move away from the main topic
—	Discourse	Written/spoken communication, debate
—	Rebuttal	A counter-argument

Week 10 — Days 68–74

Day	Word	Meaning
68	Extrapolate	Extend conclusions beyond given data
69	Inference	A conclusion reached through reasoning
70	Antithesis	A direct opposite
71	Contentious	Causing disagreement
72	Consensus	General agreement
73	Convoluted	Extremely complex/twisted
74	Explicit	Clearly stated
—	Implicit	Implied, not directly stated
—	Presumptuous	Overstepping what is appropriate
—	Redundant	No longer needed, superfluous

Week 11 — Days 75–81 (High-Yield Confusable Pairs)

Day	Word Pair	Meaning
75	Flout vs Flaunt	Disregard a rule vs show off
76	Elicit vs Illicit	Draw out vs illegal
77	Affect vs Effect	Influence vs result
78	Ensure vs Insure vs Assure	Make certain vs cover financially vs promise confidently
79	Complement vs Compliment	Complete/enhance vs praise
80	Discreet vs Discrete	Careful/subtle vs separate
81	Adverse vs Averse	Harmful vs strongly disliking
—	Eminent vs Imminent	Distinguished vs about to happen
—	Precede vs Proceed	Come before vs continue
—	Stationary vs Stationery	Not moving vs writing materials

⚠️ CLAT most often exploits these confusable pairs in tricky answer options — prioritize this week for revision.

Week 12 — Days 82–87

Day	Word	Meaning
82	Austere	Severe/plain, without luxury
83	Belligerent	Hostile and aggressive
84	Cynical	Distrustful of human motives
85	Docile	Easy to manage/teach
86	Erudite	Having deep knowledge
87	Facetious	Treating serious things with inappropriate humour
—	Garrulous	Excessively talkative
—	Homogeneous	Of the same kind throughout
—	Inadvertent	Unintentional
—	Judicious	Having good judgment

Week 13 — Days 88–90 (Final High-Yield Sweep)

Day	Word	Meaning
88	Obfuscate	Make unclear/confuse deliberately
89	Perfunctory	Done with minimal effort/care
90	Quintessential	Representing the most typical example
—	Reticent	Reserved, reluctant to speak
—	Salient	Most noticeable/important
—	Trepidation	A feeling of fear/anxiety
—	Vindictive	Having a strong desire for revenge
—	Wanton	Deliberate and unprovoked
—	Zealot	A fanatical follower
—	Acerbic	Sharp and forthright, biting

Days 88–90: Final consolidation — revise the entire 90-day list, focusing especially on Week 11’s confusable pairs, since these are the words CLAT most often exploits in tricky answer options.

Weekly Revision Routine (Copy This Into Your Planner)

Day 1–2 of each week: Learn new words, write one example sentence for each.
Day 3: No new words — pure recall test on Days 1–2’s words.
Day 4–5: Learn remaining new words for the week.
Day 6: Recall test on the full week, plus read one editorial and circle any of this week’s words you spot in real use.
Day 7: Rest from new words; skim your confusion log and flashcard deck instead.

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