Desolate

(adj.) to be left alone or made lonely

1. Driving down the desolate road had Kelvin worried that he wouldn't reach a gas station in time.

Despoil

(v.) to take everything; plunder

1. The Huns despoiled village after village.

Despotism

(n.) tyranny; absolute power or influence

1. The ruler's despotism went uncontested for 30 years.

Destitute

(adj.) poor; poverty-stricken

1. One Bangladeshi bank makes loans to destitute citizens so that they may overcome their poverty.
2. Many of the city's sections are destitute.

Desultory

(adj.) moving in a random, directionless manner

1. The thefts were occurring in a desultory manner making them difficult to track.

Detached

(adj.) separated; not interested; standing alone

1. Detached from modern conveniences, the islanders live a simple, unhurried life.

Deter

(v.) to prevent; to discourage; hinder

1. He deterred the rabbits by putting down garlic around the garden.

Determinate

(adj.) distinct limits

1. The new laws were very determinate as far as what was allowed and what was not allowed.

Devoid

(adj.) lacking; empty

1. The interplanetary probe indicated that the planet was devoid of any atmosphere.

Dexterous

(adj.) skillful, quick mentally or physically

1. The dexterous gymnast was the epitome of grace on the balance beam.

Diatribe

(n.) a bitter or abusive speech

1. During the divorce hearings she delivered a diatribe full of the emotion pushing her away from her husband.
2. The diatribe was directed towards a disrespectful supervisor.

Dichotomy

(n.) a division into two parts or kinds

1. The dichotomy within the party threatens to split it.
2. The dichotomy between church and state renders school prayer unconstitutional.

Dictum

(n.) a formal statement of either fact or opinion

1. Computer programmers have a dictum: garbage in, garbage out.

Didactic

(adj.) instructive; dogmatic; preachy

1. Our teacher's didactic technique boosted our scores.
2. The didactic activist was not one to be swayed.

Diffidence

(n.) a hesitation in asserting oneself

1. A shy person may have great diffidence when forced with a problem.

Diffident

(adj.) timid; lacking self-confidence

1. The director is looking for a self-assured actor, not a diffident one.
2. Her diffident sister couldn't work up the courage to ask for the sale.

Diffuse

(adj.) spread out; verbose (wordy); not focused

1. The toys were discovered in a diffuse manner after the birthday party.
2. His monologue was so diffuse that all his points were lost.

Digress

(v.) stray from the subject; wander from topic

1. It is important to not digress from the plan of action.

Dilettante

(n.) an admirer of the fine arts; a dabbler

1. Though she played the piano occasionally, she was more of a dilettante.

Diligence

(n.) hard work

1. Anything can be accomplished with diligence and commitment.

Diminutive

(adj.; n.) smaller than average; a small person; a word, expressing smallness, formed when a suffix is added

1. They lived in a diminutive house.
2. The diminutive woman could not see over the counter.

Din

(n.) a noise which is loud and continuous

1. The din of the jackhammers reverberated throughout the concrete canyon.

Dint

(n.) strength

1. The dint of the bridge could hold trucks weighing many tons.

Dirge

(n.) a hymn for a funeral; a song or poem expressing lament

1. The mourners sang a traditional Irish dirge.

Disapprobation

(n.) disapproval

1. Her disapprobation of her daughter's fiancZ' divided the family.

Disarray

(n.) (state of) disorder

1. The thief left the house in disarray.

Disavow

(v.) to deny; to refuse to acknowledge

1. The actor has disavowed the rumor.

Discerning

(adj.) distinguishing one thing from another; having good judgment

1. He has a discerning eye for knowing the original from the copy.
2. Being discerning about a customer's character is a key qualification for a loan officer.

Discomfit

(v.) to frustrate the expectations of

1. The close game discomfited the number one player.

Discord

(n.) disagreement; lack of harmony

1. There was discord amidst the jury, and therefore a decision could not be made.

Discourse

(v.) to converse; to communicate in an orderly fashion

1. The scientists discoursed on a conference call for just five minutes but were able to solve three major problems.
2. The interviewee discoursed so fluently, she was hired on the spot.

Discreet

(adj.) showing good judgment in conduct; prudent

1. We confided our secret in Mary because we knew she'd be discreet.

Discrete

(adj.) separate; individually distinct; composed of distinct parts

1. There were four discrete aspects to the architecture of the home.
2. The citizens committee maintained that road widening and drainage were hardly discrete issues.

Discriminate

(v.) distinguish; demonstrate bias

1. Being a chef, he discriminated carefully among ingredients.
2. Reeling from the fact that senior managers had been caught on tape making offensive remarks, the CEO said he would not tolerate any of his firm's employees discriminating against anyone for any reason.

Disdain

(n.; v.) intense dislike; look down upon; scorn

1. She showed great disdain toward anyone who did not agree with her.
2. She disdains the very ground you walk upon.

Disentangle

(v.) to free from confusion

1. We need to disentangle ourselves from the dizzying variety of choices.

Disheartened

(adj.) discouraged; depressed

1. After failing the exam, the student became disheartened and wondered if he would ever graduate.

Disingenuous

(adj.) not frank or candid; deceivingly simple (opposite: ingenious)

1. The director used a disingenuous remark to make his point to the student.
2. He always gives a quick, disingenuous response; you never get a straight answer.

Disinterested

(adj.) neutral; unbiased (alternate meaning; uninterested)

1. A disinterested person was needed to serve as arbitrator of the argument.
2. He never takes sides; he's always disinterested.

Disparage

(v.) to belittle; undervalue; to discredit

1. After she fired him she realized that she had disparaged the value of his assistance.
2. The lawyer will attempt to disparage the testimony of the witness.

Disparate

(adj.) unequal; dissimilar; different

1. They came from disparate backgrounds, one a real estate magnate, the other a custodian.
2. The disparate numbers of players made the game a sure blowout.

Disparity

(n.) difference in form, character, or degree

1. There is a great disparity between a light snack and a great feast.

Dispassionate

(adj.) lack of feeling; impartial

1. She was a very emotional person and could not work with such a dispassionate employer.

Disperse

(v.) to scatter; separate

1. The pilots dispersed the food drops over a wide area of devastation.
2. Tear gas was used to disperse the crowd.

Disputatious

(adj.) argumentative; inclined to disputes

1. His disputatious streak eventually wore down his fellow parliament members.
2. The child was so disputatious he needed to be removed from the room.

Dissemble

(v.) to pretend; to feign; to conceal by pretense

1. The man dissembled his assets shamelessly to avoid paying alimony.
2. Agent 007 has a marvelous ability to dissemble his real intentions.

Disseminate

(v.) to circulate; scatter

1. He was hired to disseminate newspapers to everyone in the town.
2. The preacher traveled across the country to disseminate his message.

Dissent

(v.) to disagree; differ in opinion

1. They agreed that something had to be done, but dissented on how to do it.

Dissonance

(n.) musical discord; a mingling of inharmonious sounds; nonmusical; disagreement; lack of harmony

1. Much twentieth-century music is not liked by classical music lovers because of the dissonance it holds and the harmonies it lacks.
2. The dissonance of his composition makes for some rough listening.

Dissonant

(adj.) not in harmony; in disagreement

1. Despite several intense rehearsals, the voices of the choir members continued to be dissonant.
2. The dissonant nature of the man's temperament made the woman fearful to approach him with the new idea.