#34 disparate ~ domestic Flashcards
disparate
/ˈdɪspərɪt, dɪˈspær-/
adj. different; incompatible; unequal
- Our interests were disparate: Cathy liked to play with dolls, and I liked to throw her dolls out the window.
- The disparate interest groups were united only by their intense dislike of the candidate.
- The novel was difficult to read because the plot consisted of dozens of disparate threads that never came together.
The noun form of disparate is disparity. Disparity means inequality. The opposite of disparity is parity.
disseminate
/dɪˈsɛməˌneɪt/
v. to spread the seeds of sth.; to scatter; to make widely known
News is disseminated through many media: internet, radio, television, newspaper, magazines, and gossips.
dissipate
/ˈdɪsəˌpeɪt/
v. to thin out; drift away, or dissolve; to cause to thin out, drift away, or dissolve; to waste or squander
- The smoke dissipated as soon as we opened the windows.
- Ilya’s anger dissipated as the day wore on, and he gradually forgot what had upset him.
- The police dissipated the riotous crowd by spraying the demonstrators with fire hoses and firing rubber bullets over their heads.
- Alex won the weekly lottery but dissipated the entire winnings in one abandoned, fun-filled weekend.
dissipated
/ˈdɪsəˌpeɪtɪd/
adj. indulging in wild living
- Alex is dissipated.
dissolution
/ˌdɪsəˈluʃən/
n. the breaking up or dissolving of sth. into parts; disintegration
- Nothing could prevent the dissolution of the Jesse Ventura Fan Club after he retired to seek a political career.
A person who is dissolute has lived life in the fast lane too long. Dissolute and dissipated are synonyms in this sense.
distend
/dɪˈstɛnd/
v. to swell; to extend a great deal
- The tire distended alarmingly as the forgetful gas station attendant kept pumping more and more air into it.
- A distended belly is one symptom or malnutrition.
A swelling is a distension.
distinguish
/dɪˈstɪŋgwɪʃ/
v. to tell apart; to cause to stand out
- The rodent expert’s eyesight was so acute that he was able to distinguish between a shrew and a vole at more than a thousand paces.
- I studied and studied but I was never able to distinguish between discrete and discreet.
- His face had no distinguishing characteristics; there was nothing about his features that stuck in your memory.
- Lou’s uneventful career as a dogcatcher was not distinguished by adventure or excitement.
docile
/ˈdɒsəl; British ˈdoʊsaɪl/
adj. easily taught; obedient; easy to handle
- The docile students quietly memorized all the lessons their teacher told them.
- The baby raccoons appeared docile at first, but they were almost impossible to control.
- Mia’s docility fooled the professor into believing that she was incapable of thinking for herself.
doctrinaire
/ˈdɒktrəˈnɛər/
adj. inflexibly committed to a doctrine or theory without regard to its practicality; dogmatic
A doctrinaire supporter of manned space flights to Pluto would be someone who supported such space flights even though it might be shown that such lengthy journeys could never be undertaken.
A doctrinaire opponent of fluoridation of water would be someone whose opposition could not be shaken by proof that fluoride is good for teeth and not bad for anything else.
A person with doctrinaire views can be called a doctrinaire.
dogmatic
/dɔgˈmætɪk, dɒg-/
adj. arrogantly assertive of unproven ideas; stubbornly claiming that sth. (often a system of beliefs) is beyond dispute
A dogma is a belief. A dogmatic person, however, is stubbornly convinced of his beliefs.
- Marty is dogmatic on the subject of the creation of the world; he sneers at anyone whose views are not identical to his.
- The philosophy professor became increasingly dogmatic as he grew older and became more firmly convinced of his strange theories.
The opinions or ideas dogmatically asserted by a dogmatic person are known collectively as dogma.
domestic
/dəˈmɛstɪk/
adj. having to do with the household or family; not foreign
- A home that enjoys domestic tranquility is a happy home.
- A maid is sometimes referred to as a domestic engineer or simply a domestic.
- To be domestic is to enjoy being at home or to be skillful at doing things around the house.
- Domestic wine is wine from this country, as opposed to wine imported from, say, France.
- The domestic steel industry is the steel industry in this country.
- A country that enjoys domestic tranquility is a happy country on the homefront.
