Reading English News Headlines: Short Words and Hindi Meanings

Newspaper headlines are written in a special compressed style. Short words replace longer ones, articles disappear, and verbs are in the present tense. If you read English news, learning these makes a big difference.

Short headline words

Headline word	Normal word	Hindi
probe	investigation	जाँच
hike	increase	बढ़ोतरी
row	dispute	विवाद
bid	attempt	कोशिश
cut	reduction	कटौती
curb	restrict	अंकुश लगाना
slam	criticise strongly	कड़ी आलोचना करना
ban	prohibition	प्रतिबंध
poll	election	चुनाव
quit	resign	इस्तीफ़ा देना
plea	request	याचिका, गुहार
clash	conflict	झड़प

How headlines are written

• Articles are dropped. PM to visit flood areas instead of The Prime Minister will visit the flood areas.
• Present tense is used for past news. Court rejects appeal means it happened.
• "To" + verb means future. Government to announce budget means it will.
• Commas replace "and". Prices up, wages down.

Example headlines

Headline	Hindi meaning
Fuel price hike sparks protest	ईंधन की कीमतों में बढ़ोतरी से विरोध
Court rejects bail plea	अदालत ने ज़मानत याचिका खारिज की
Govt to announce new policy	सरकार नई नीति की घोषणा करेगी
Probe ordered into accident	दुर्घटना की जाँच के आदेश

News vocabulary

English	Hindi
headline	शीर्षक
report	रिपोर्ट, समाचार
editorial	संपादकीय
source	सूत्र
inflation	महँगाई, मुद्रास्फीति
budget	बजट
crisis	संकट
summit	शिखर सम्मेलन

How to practise

1. Read two or three headlines daily.
2. Guess the full sentence, then check.
3. Look up every unfamiliar word.
4. Keep a list of headline words.

Look up any word with English Hindi Dictionary →