If you are preparing for CUET 2026 English, this is the only vocabulary resource you need. After analysing all 8 shifts — 11 May to 20 May — we have compiled every single word asked, shift by shift. The most important finding: several words are repeating across multiple shifts. Those are your guaranteed marks.
Section 1 — Vocabulary Words
Words marked ⭐ appeared in more than one shift and are your highest priority.
| # | Word | Meaning | Shift |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | infallible | Never wrong, always accurate | Multiple ⭐ |
| 2 | expedient | Convenient but possibly improper | Multiple ⭐ |
| 3 | fastidious | Very particular, hard to please | Multiple ⭐ |
| 4 | cortege | A funeral procession | Multiple ⭐ |
| 5 | philately | Hobby of collecting stamps | Multiple ⭐ |
| 6 | unequivocal | Leaving no doubt, completely clear | Multiple ⭐ |
| 7 | innocuous | Harmless, not offensive | Multiple ⭐ |
| 8 | obtrusive | Noticeable in an unwanted way | Multiple ⭐ |
| 9 | mortify | To cause someone to feel ashamed or embarrassed | 11 May S1 |
| 10 | obstinate | Stubbornly refusing to change; headstrong | 11 May S1 |
| 11 | immaculate | Perfectly clean, neat, or tidy; without flaws | 11 May S1 |
| 12 | phonetic | Relating to the sounds of speech | 11 May S1 |
| 13 | momentous | Of great importance or significance | 11 May S1 |
| 14 | bellicose | Eager to argue or fight; aggressive by nature | 11 May S1 |
| 15 | flippant | Not showing proper seriousness; disrespectful | 11 May S1 |
| 16 | belligerent | Hostile and aggressive | 11 May S1 |
| 17 | ostentatious | Showy, designed to impress others | 11 May S1 |
| 18 | fickle | Changing frequently; not loyal or stable | 11 May S1 |
| 19 | frisky | Playful and full of energy | 11 May S1 |
| 20 | scarcity | Shortage; insufficient supply | 11 May S1 |
| 21 | acrimonious | Bitter and angry in tone or manner | 11 May S2 |
| 22 | exalted | Of high rank or status; praised highly | 11 May S2 |
| 23 | bias | Prejudice in favour of or against something | 11 May S2 |
| 24 | imperious | Bossy and domineering | 11 May S2 |
| 25 | frugal | Careful with money; not wasteful | 11 May S2 |
| 26 | exonerate | To officially free someone from blame | 11 May S2 |
| 27 | serpentine | Winding like a snake; complex and cunning | 11 May S2 |
| 28 | profligate | Recklessly wasteful; licentious | 11 May S2 |
| 29 | iridescent | Showing luminous colours that change with angle | 11 May S2 |
| 30 | sporadic | Occurring at irregular intervals; infrequent | 12 May S1 |
| 31 | amiable | Friendly and pleasant; easy to get along with | 12 May S1 |
| 32 | impudent | Disrespectful and bold; cheeky | 12 May S1 |
| 33 | notoriety | Being famous for something negative | 12 May S1 |
| 34 | nefarious | Wicked, villainous, criminal in nature | 12 May S1 |
| 35 | manic | Showing wild excitement or frantic energy | 12 May S1 |
| 36 | depreciation | Reduction in value over time | 12 May S1 |
| 37 | transient | Lasting only for a short time; temporary | 15 May S1 |
| 38 | illicit | Forbidden by law or rules; illegal | 15 May S1 |
| 39 | precarious | Not securely held; dependent on chance | 15 May S1 |
| 40 | umbrage | Offence or annoyance at some remark or action | 15 May S1 |
| 41 | aplomb | Self-confidence or skill in a difficult situation | 15 May S1 |
| 42 | repugnant | Extremely distasteful; unacceptable | 15 May S1 |
| 43 | carcinogenic | Having the potential to cause cancer | 15 May S1 |
| 44 | espionage | The practice of spying | 15 May S1 |
| 45 | annihilate | To destroy utterly; wipe out completely | 15 May S1 |
| 46 | vindictive | Having a strong desire for revenge | 15 May S1 |
| 47 | quaint | Attractively unusual or old-fashioned | 15 May S1 |
| 48 | opulent | Ostentatiously rich and luxurious | 15 May S1 |
| 49 | erroneous | Wrong; based on incorrect information | 15 May S1 |
| 50 | veracity | Habitual observance of truth; accuracy | 15 May S1 |
| 51 | supersede | To take the place of; replace | 15 May S1 |
| 52 | eminent | Respected and famous in a particular field | 15 May S1 |
| 53 | imminent | About to happen very soon | 15 May S1 |
| 54 | philistine | Hostile or indifferent to culture and the arts | 18 May S1 |
| 55 | hedonist | One who believes pleasure is the most important thing | 18 May S1 |
| 56 | intransigent | Stubborn, unwilling to change one’s views | 18 May S1 |
| 57 | credulous | Too willing to believe things; gullible | 18 May S1 |
| 58 | dismay | Concern and distress caused by something unexpected | 18 May S1 |
| 59 | disillusioned | Disappointed when hopes are found to be false | 18 May S1 |
| 60 | esoteric | Understood by only a small specialist group | 18 May S1 |
| 61 | enigma | A person or thing that is mysterious and hard to understand | 18 May S1 |
| 62 | unsavoury | Disagreeable; unpleasant; morally offensive | 18 May S1 |
| 63 | corpulent | Having a large, bulky, or overweight body | 18 May S2 |
| 64 | monologue | A character’s inner thoughts expressed as narrative | 18 May S2 |
| 65 | soliloquy | Speaking one’s thoughts aloud when alone | 18 May S2 |
| 66 | burlesque | An absurd or comically exaggerated imitation | 18 May S2 |
| 67 | trumpery | Showy but worthless; rubbish | 18 May S2 |
| 68 | tyrannous | Exercising power in a cruel and oppressive way | 18 May S2 |
| 69 | brevity | Concise use of words; shortness | 18 May S2 |
| 70 | ambiguous | Open to more than one interpretation; unclear | 18 May S2 |
| 71 | emaciated | Abnormally thin and weak | 18 May S2 |
| 72 | cantankerous | Bad-tempered and argumentative | 18 May S2 |
| 73 | adversity | Difficult circumstances; misfortune | 19 May S1 |
| 74 | relinquish | To give up voluntarily | 19 May S1 |
| 75 | levity | Treating serious matters with humour; lack of seriousness | 19 May S1 |
| 76 | wicked | Evil; morally wrong | 19 May S1 |
| 77 | taciturn | Reserved; says very little | 19 May S1 |
| 78 | laconic | Brief and concise in speech | 19 May S1 |
| 79 | scrawny | Unattractively thin and bony | 19 May S1 |
| 80 | tumultuous | Loud, chaotic, emotional | 19 May S1 |
| 81 | incorrigible | Not able to be corrected, improved, or reformed | 19 May S1 |
| 82 | insolvent | Unable to pay debts; bankrupt | 19 May S1 |
| 83 | liberty | Freedom from oppressive control | 19 May S1 |
| 84 | petrology | The study of rocks | 19 May S1 |
| 85 | conundrum | A confusing or difficult problem or question | 19 May S1 |
| 86 | impetuous | Acting quickly and without thought; impulsive | 19 May S1 |
| 87 | polyglot | A person who speaks many languages | 19 May S1 |
| 88 | evanescent | Quickly fading or vanishing | 19 May S1 |
| 89 | resigned | Having accepted something unpleasant without complaint | 20 May S1 |
| 90 | gregarious | Sociable; fond of company | 20 May S1 |
| 91 | arduous | Requiring great effort; very difficult | 20 May S1 |
| 92 | antagonism | Active hostility or opposition | 20 May S1 |
| 93 | offspring | A person’s child or children; an animal’s young | 20 May S1 |
| 94 | progenitor | An ancestor; one who originates something | 20 May S1 |
| 95 | enervate | To weaken, drain of energy ⚠️ NOT energise | 20 May S1 |
Section 2 — One Word Substitutions Asked
| # | Word | Meaning | Shift |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | anarchist | A person against all forms of government | 20 May S1 |
| 2 | pediatrician | A doctor who treats children | 20 May S1 |
| 3 | condominium | Building with privately owned flats and commonly owned shared areas | 11 May S2 |
| 4 | falbala | A dress or skirt trimmed with ribbons or flounces | 11 May S2 |
| 5 | botany | The scientific study of plants | 18 May S2 |
| 6 | bellicose | One who likes to fight; combative by nature | 11 May S1 |
Section 3 — Phobia Vocabulary (New Pattern — First Appeared 12 May)
| # | Word | Meaning | Shift |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | xenophobia | Fear or hatred of foreigners | 12 May S1 |
| 2 | agoraphobia | Fear of open or public spaces | 12 May S1 |
| 3 | claustrophobia | Fear of enclosed spaces | 12 May S1 |
| 4 | acrophobia | Fear of heights | 12 May S1 |
| 5 | hydrophobia | Fear of water | 12 May S1 |
| 6 | nyctophobia | Fear of darkness | 12 May S1 |
Section 4 — Spelling Words Directly Tested
| # | Word | Common Error | Shift |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | mischievous | Adding extra ‘i’ after the v | 20 May S1 |
| 2 | entrepreneur | Misspelling the middle section | 20 May S1 |
| 3 | acrimonious | Writing ‘acrimonous‘ | 11 May S2 |
| 4 | innocuous | Writing ‘inocuous‘ — must have two n’s | 18 May S2 |
| 5 | tumultuous | Missing the second u | 19 May S1 |
| 6 | evanescent | Missing the sc combination in the middle | 19 May S1 |
Section 5 — Idioms and Phrases Asked
| # | Idiom | Meaning | Shift | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hobson’s choice | No real choice at all | 18 May S2 | Hard |
| 2 | Fabian policy | Policy of cautious delay, avoiding direct action | 18 May S2 | Hard |
| 3 | Cut the Gordian knot | Solve a difficult problem by bold action | 18 May S2 | Hard |
| 4 | Pyrrhic victory | A win at such great cost it is almost a loss | 18 May S2 | Hard |
| 5 | Red herring | Something that misleads from the real issue | 18 May S2 | Hard |
| 6 | Fly in the ointment | A small flaw that spoils something good | 20 May S1 | Hard |
| 7 | Halcyon days | A period of happiness and prosperity in the past | 19 May S1 | Hard |
| 8 | At sixes and sevens | In a state of confusion or disorder | 18 May S2 | Hard |
| 9 | White elephant | Costly to maintain but of little value | 18 May S2 | Hard |
| 10 | Nothing ventured, nothing gained | Cannot achieve anything without taking risks | 18 May S2 | Hard |
| 11 | Eke out | To make a small supply of something last longer | 18 May S2 | Hard |
| 12 | To be on one’s tethers | To have reached the limit of one’s patience | 11 May S2 | Moderate |
| 13 | Man of letters | A scholar or literary person | 19 May S1 | Moderate |
| 14 | Go Dutch | Each person pays their own share | 20 May S1 | Moderate |
| 15 | Bring down the house | Receive overwhelming applause | 20 May S1 | Moderate |
| 16 | Handsome is as handsome does | Character matters more than appearance | 20 May S1 | Moderate |
| 17 | Lost in the clouds | Absent-minded; not paying attention | 20 May S1 | Moderate |
| 18 | Flash in the pan | A promising start that leads to nothing | 19 May S1 | Moderate |
| 19 | Wild goose chase | A foolish or hopeless pursuit | 19 May S1 | Moderate |
| 20 | Greenhorn | An inexperienced or naive person | 19 May S1 | Moderate |
| 21 | Cut corners | Do something the easy or cheap way | 19 May S1 | Moderate |
| 22 | Up with the lark | Wake up very early in the morning | 19 May S1 | Moderate |
| 23 | Too green | Too inexperienced to deal with something | 19 May S1 | Moderate |
Section 6 — Phrasal Verbs (All Families)
| # | Phrasal Verb | Meaning | Family | Shift |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | pull out | Withdraw or remove | Pull | 20 May S1 |
| 2 | pull through | Recover from difficulty | Pull | 20 May S1 |
| 3 | pull down | Demolish or drag down | Pull | 20 May S1 |
| 4 | pull on | Put on clothing or continue | Pull | 20 May S1 |
| 5 | stand by | Support or wait ready | Stand | 20 May S1 |
| 6 | stand down | Withdraw from a position | Stand | 20 May S1 |
| 7 | stand out | Be noticeably different | Stand | 20 May S1 |
| 8 | cut off | Disconnect or interrupt | Cut | 11 May S2, 12 May S1 |
| 9 | cut on | Switch on or activate | Cut | 11 May S2, 12 May S1 |
| 10 | cut across | Transcend or cross boundaries | Cut | 11 May S2 |
| 11 | work on | Focus effort on something | Work | 12 May S1 |
| 12 | break off | End suddenly | Break | 18 May S2 |
| 13 | break into | Enter by force or start suddenly | Break | 18 May S2 |
| 14 | break up | End a relationship or disperse | Break | 18 May S2 |
| 15 | break out | Escape or begin suddenly | Break | 18 May S2 |
| 16 | break through | Overcome a barrier | Break | 18 May S2 |
| 17 | lay out | Arrange or present clearly | Lay | 18 May S1, S2 |
| 18 | lay down | Establish a rule or put down | Lay | 18 May S1, S2 |
| 19 | lay about | Attack wildly in all directions | Lay | 18 May S2 |
| 20 | lay into | Criticise harshly | Lay | 18 May S2 |
| 21 | lay off | Dismiss from job | Lay | 18 May S2 |
| 22 | call off | Cancel | Call | 18 May S2 |
| 23 | call on | Visit or request | Call | 18 May S2 |
| 24 | blow up | Explode or enlarge | Blow | 18 May S2 |
| 25 | blow in | Arrive unexpectedly | Blow | 18 May S2 |
Section 7 — Homophones (New Pattern — First Appeared 15 May)
| # | Word | Meaning | Shift |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | wither | To dry up and shrivel | 20 May S1 |
| 2 | whither | To what place; in which direction (archaic) | 20 May S1 |
| 3 | whether | Used to introduce a choice or doubt | 20 May S1 |
| 4 | illicit | Illegal; not permitted | 15 May S1 |
| 5 | elicit | To draw out a response | 15 May S1 |
| 6 | eminent | Respected and famous in a field | 15 May S1 |
| 7 | imminent | About to happen very soon | 15 May S1 |
| 8 | affect | To have an impact on (verb) | 15 May S1 |
| 9 | effect | The result or outcome (noun) | 15 May S1 |
| 10 | principal | Main or head of school | 15 May S1 |
| 11 | principle | A moral rule or belief | 15 May S1 |
Section 8 — Figures of Speech Asked
| # | Figure of Speech | Definition | Example | Shift |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Simile | Comparison using like or as | As brave as a lion | 11 May S1, 12 May S1, 19 May S1 |
| 2 | Metaphor | Direct comparison without like or as | Time is money | 11 May S1, 11 May S2 |
| 3 | Epigram | Short, witty, pointed statement | I can resist everything except temptation | 11 May S1, 15 May S1 |
| 4 | Personification | Human qualities to non-human things | The wind whispered | 12 May S1, 15 May S1 |
| 5 | Irony | Saying the opposite of what is meant | Oh great, another Monday | 12 May S1 |
| 6 | Pun | Wordplay with double meaning | — | 12 May S1, 19 May S1, 20 May S1 |
| 7 | Oxymoron | Contradiction in terms | Deafening silence | 11 May S2 |
| 8 | Metonymy | Related word used in place of the actual | The Crown announced… | 18 May S1 |
| 9 | Hyperbole | Exaggeration for effect | I’ve told you a million times | 18 May S2, 19 May S1 |
| 10 | Alliteration | Repeated consonant sounds at word start | She sells seashells | 12 May S1 |
Key Takeaways for CUET 2026 English Vocabulary
- Repeating words across multiple shifts — infallible, expedient, fastidious, cortege, philately, unequivocal, innocuous, obtrusive — are your guaranteed marks. Learn these first.
- The biggest trap — enervate sounds like energise but means the exact opposite. This is a deliberate trap in the paper.
- Two new patterns in 2026 — phobia vocabulary appeared on 12 May, homophones appeared on 15 May. Both have continued into later shifts.
- Phrasal verb families — the exam tests full families together. Learn the entire Pull, Break, Lay, Stand, Call, Blow, and Cut families — not individual verbs.
- Bellicose vs Belligerent — both mean aggressive, but bellicose means someone who likes to fight by nature; belligerent is being aggressive in a situation. Both appeared in the paper.
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