DAUNT

Verb

Context Clue: Nothing can daunt the Fearless Four!

Definition: Intimidate; frighten; dishearten

Although we thought the amount of work left to do might daunt her, she refused to become discouraged and resolutely settled down to the job.

Debutante

noun

Definition: Young woman making debut in high society.

The debutante spent hours dressing for her very first ball, hoping to catch the eye of an eligible bachelor.

Synonyms: Lady; maiden

Declivity

noun

Downward slope

Because the village was situated on the declivity of a hill, it never flooded.

Synonyms: Decline; descent; grade; slant; tilt

Decorous

adjective

Proper; tasteful; socially correct

The countess trained he daughter in the finer points of decorous behaviorl, hoping they would make a good impression when she presented them at Court.

Synonyms: Appropiate; comme it faut; courteous; polite

Decorum

noun

Appropriateness of behaviors or conduct; propriety

The countess complained that the vulgar peasants lacked the decorum appripriate for a visit to the palace.

Synonyms: Correctness; decencyl etiquette; manners; mores; propriety; seemliness

Deface

verb

To mar the appearance of; vandalize

After the wall was torn down, the students began to deface the statues of Communist leaders of the former Eastern Bloc.

Synonyms: Disfigure; impair; spoil.

Deference

noun

Respect; courtesy

The respectful young law clerk treated the Supreme Court justice with the utmost deference.

Synonyms: Courtesy; homage; honor; obeisance; respect; reverence; veneration.

Deleterious

adjective

Subtly or unexpectedly harmful

If only we had known the clocks were defective before putting them on the market, it wouldn't have been quite so deleterious to our reputation.

Synonyms: Adverse; inimical; injurious; hurtful

Demagogue

noun

A leader or rabble-rouser, usually appealing to emotion or prejudice

He began his career as a demagogue, giving fiery speeches at political rallies.

Synonyms: Agitators; inciter; instigator.

Demur

verb

To express doubts or objections

When scientific authorities claimed that all the planets revolved around the Earth, Galileo, with his superior understanding of the situation, was forced to demur.

Synonyms: Dissent; expostulate; kick; protest; remonstrate

Denigrate

verb

Context Clue: Denigrating someone's efforts.

Blacken; belittle; defame; disparage.

The campaign took on a vicions tone as the rival condidates began to denigrate each other's accomplishments and character.

Deride

verb

To speak of or treat with contempt; to mock

The awkward child was often derided by his "cooler" peers.

Synonyms: Gibe; jeer; mock; ridicule; scoof; sneer; taunt.

Dessicate

Verb

Context Clue: Dessicated by the heat.

To dry out thoroughly; dehydrate

The long dought dessicated the marshlands, leaving the once moist soil parched and dry.

Synonyms: Dehydrate; dry; parch

Desultory

Adjective

Context Clue: Random, desultory remarks.

Aimless; disconnected; haphazard; unfocused; jumping from one thing to another.

In prison Malcolm X set himself the task of reading straight through the dictionary; to him, reading was purposeful, not desultory.

Synonyms: Erratic; injectless; indiscriminate; purposeless; stray; unplanned.

Diaphanous

Adjective

Allowing light to show through; delicate

These diaphanous curtains do nothing to block out the sunlight.

Synonyms: Gauzy; sheer; tenuous; translucent; transparent.

Diatribe

noun

Context Clue: Bitter, lengthy diatribes

An abusive, condemnatory speech; bitter, accusing criticism; tirade; sharp verbal attack; harrangue

The trucker bellowed a diatribe at the driver who had cut him off.

Synonyms: Fulmination; invective; jeremiad; malediction; tirade

Dichotomy

noun

Context Clue: The dichotomy between theory and practice

Division; split; branching into two parts (especially contradictory ones); duality

According to Jung, the distinctiong between mind and body is an artificial dichotomy, a division based more on the peculiarity of intellectual understanding then on the nature of things.

Dictum

noun

Authoritative statement

"You have time to lean, you have time to clean," was the dictum our boss made us live by.

Synonyms: Adage; apothegm; aphorism; decree; edict

Diffidence

noun

Context Clue: Natural diffidence and reserve

Diffident

adjective

Timidity; shyness; self-doubt; lack of self-confidence

Doubting her ability to write English correctly, the young Japanese student felt some diffidence about replying to the first letter she received from her American pen pal.

Diffident: Lacking self-confidence.

Diffuse

Adjective

Context Clue: A diffuse mass of intestellar dust

Widely spread out (like gas); wordy; verbose

If you pay authors by the word, you tempt them to produce rambling, diffusive manuscripts rather then concise ones.

Dilate

Verb

To make larger; expand

When you enter a darkened room; the pupils of your eyes dilate so as to let in more light.

Synonyms: Amplify; develop; elaborate; enlarge; expand; expatiate.

Dilatory

Adjective

Intended to delay

The congressman used dilatory measures to delay the passage of the bill.

Synonyms: Dragging; flagging; laggard; lagging; slow; slow-footed; slow-going; slow-paced; tardy

Dilettante

noun

Somone wih an amateurish and superficial interest in a topic

Jerry's friends were such dilettantes they seemed to have new jobs and hobbies every week.

Synonyms: Amateur; dabbler; superficial; tyro

Dirge

noun

Context Clue: A funeral dirge

Lament (usually musical); funeral song or tune

Melville wrote the poem "A dirge for James McPherson" for the funeral of a Union general who was killed in 1864.

Synonyms: Elegy; lament

Disabuse

Verb

Context Clue: Disabused of dalse illusions

Correct a false impression; free from error; undeceive; free someone from an erroneous belief

Galileo's observations disabused scholars of the notion that the sun revolved around the Earth.

Synonyms: Correct; undeceive

Discern

verb

To perceive or recognize

It is easy to discern the difference between butter and butter-flavored topping

Synonyms: Catch; descry; detect; differentiate; discriminate; distinguish; espy; glimpse; know; separate; spot; spy; tell

Discrete

Adjective

Context Clue: Discrete particles

Usage Note: Do not confuse discrete with discreet, or tactful.

Separate; unconnected; consisting of distinct parts; isolated

Because human populations havve been migrating and intermingling for hundreds of centuries, it is hard to classify humans into discrete racial groups.

Disingenuous

Adjective

Context Clue: Cynically disingenuous claim

Lacking candor; falsely pretending to be frank; insincere

Because the mayor and his wife were secretly involved in a bitter divorce fight, their comments to the press regretting their lack of time together were highly disingenuous.

Disinterested

Adjective

Context Clue: A disintered observer

Unbiased; impartial; neutral; dispassionate

Given the judge's political ambitions and the lawyer's financial stake in the case, the only disinterested person in the courtroom may have been the court reporter.

Disjointed

Adjective

Context Clue: Disjointed ramblings

Disconnected; incoherent; disorganized; taken apart at the joints

Unable to think of anything coherent to say about the topic, she scribbled a few disjointed sentences on her answer sheet.

Disparate

Adjective

Context Clue: Seemingly disparate topics

Fundamentally different; wholly dissimilar; unrelated; unlike

Although the twins are pysically identical, their personalities are disparate.

Synonyms: Different; dissimilar; divergent; diverse; variant; various

Dissemble

Verb

Context Clue: Politicians dissembling about their records

To present false appearance; to disguise one's real intentions or character; feign; dissimulate

Bond realized that the only way he could fool his captors was to dissemble, to pretend he was still unconscious.

Synonyms: Act; affect; assume; camouflage; cloak; counterfeit; cover up; disguise; dissimulate; fake; mask

Dissolution

Noun

Context Clue: Dissolution of a marriage

Disintegration; dissolving into parts; termination; indulgence in sensual pleasures; debauchery

In what came to be known as the dissolution of the monasteries, Henry VIII disbanded England's monastic communities, confiscating their lands and dispersing the monks.

Dissonance

Noun

Context Clue: Jarring dissonance

A harsh and disagreeable combination, especially in sounds; discord; inharmonious sounds; cacophony; disagreement; incongruity

Composer Charles Ives often used dissonance (clashing or unresolved chords) for special effects in his musical works.

Synonyms: Clash; contention; discord; dissension; dissent; dissidence; friction; strike; variance

Distaff

Noun

The female branch of a family

The lazy husband refused to cook dinner for his wife, joking that the duty belongs to the distaff's side.

Synonyms: Maternal

Distend

Verb

Context Clue: Distends the stomach

To swell; inflate, or bloat

Her stomach was distented after she gorged on the six-course meal.

Synonyms: Broaden; bulge

Dither

Verb

To act confusedly or without clear purpose

Ellec dithered around her apartment, uncertain how to tackle the family crisis.

Synonyms: Falter; hesitate; vacillate; waffle; waver

Diurnal

Adjective

Existing during the day

Diurnal creatures tend to become inactive during the night.

Synonyms: Daylight; daytime

Divest

Verb

Context Clue: Divested of his clothing

Strip; deprive; free from; take away; cease to hold (an investment)

After the revolution, the governor was divested of his rights and his title; he felt fortunate to have escaped with his life.

Divine

Verb

To foretell or know by inspiration

The fortune-teller divined from the pattern of the tea leaves that her customer would marry five times.

Synonyms: Auger; foresee; intuit; predict; presage

Doctrinaire

Adjective

Ridigly devoted to theories without regard for practicality; dogmatic

The professor's manner of teaching was considered doctrinaire for such a liberal school

Synonyms: Dictatorial; inflexible

Dogma

Noun

Dogmatic

Adjective

A firmly held opinion, especially a religious belief

Linu's central dogma was that children who believed in the Great Pumpkin would be rewarded.

Synonyms: Creed; doctrines; teaching; tenent

Dictatorial in one's opinions

The dictator was dogmatic, claiming he, and only he, was right.

Synonyms: Authoritarian; bossy; distatorial; doctrinaire; overbearing

Droll

Adjective

Amusing in a wry, subtle way

Although the play couldn't be described as hilarious, it was certainly droll.

Synonyms: Comic; entertaining; funny; risible; witty

Dupe

Verb

To deceive; a person who is easily deceived

Bugs Bunny was albe to dupe Elmer Fudd by dressing up as a lady rabbit.

Synonyms: Beguile; betray; bluff; cozen; deceive; delude; fool; hoodwink; humbug; mislead; take in trick

Dyspeptic

Adjective

Suffering from indigestion; gloomy and irritable

The dyspeptic young man cast a gloom over the party the minute he walked in.

Synonyms: Acerbic; melancholy; morose; solemn; sour