Barron's 3500 List 13 Flashcards
<p>deciduous</p>
<p>ADJ. falling off as of leaves. The oak is a deciduous tree; in winter it looks quite bare.</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>decimate</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>V. kill, usually one out of ten. We do more to decimate our population in automobile accidents than we do in war.</p>
<p>decipher</p>
<p>V. interpret secret code. Lacking his code book, the spy was unable to decipher the scrambled message sent to him from the KGB.</p>
<p>declivity</p>
<p>N. downward slope. The children loved to ski down the declivity.</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>decollete</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>ADJ. having a low-necked dress. Current fashion decrees that evening gowns be decollete this season; bare shoulders are again the vogue.</p>
<p>decomposition</p>
<p>N. decay. Despite the body's advanced state of decomposition, the police were able to identify the murdered man.</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>decorum</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>N. propriety; orderliness and good taste in manners. Even the best-mannered students have trouble behaving with decorum on the last day of school. decorous,ADJ.</p>
<p>decoy</p>
<p>N. lure or bait. The wild ducks were not fooled by the decoy. alsoV.</p>
<p>decrepit</p>
<p>ADJ. worn out by age. The decrepit car blocked traffic on the highway.</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>decrepitude</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>N. state of collapse caused by illness or old age. I was unprepared for the state of decrepitude in which I had found my old friend; he seemed to have aged twenty years in six months.</p>
<p>decry</p>
<p>V. express strong disapproval of; disparage. The founder of the Children's Defense Fund, Marian Wright Edelman, strongly decries the lack of financial and moral support for children in America today.</p>
<p>deducible</p>
<p>ADJ. derived by reasoning. If we accept your premise, your conclusions are easily deducible.</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>deface</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>V. mar; disfigure. If you deface a library book, you will have to pay a hefty fine.</p>
<p>defame</p>
<p>V. harm someone's reputation; malign; slander. If you try to defame my good name, my lawyers will see you in court. If rival candidates persist in defaming one another, the voters may conclude that all politicians are crooks. defamation, N.</p>
<p>default</p>
<p>N. failure to act. When the visiting team failed to show up for the big game, they lost the game by default. When Jack failed to make the payments on his Jaguar, the dealership took back the car because he had defaulted on his debt.</p>
<p>defeatist</p>
<p>ADJ. attitude of one who is ready to accept defeat as a natural outcome. If you maintain your defeatist attitude, you will never succeed. also N.</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>defection</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>N. desertion. The children, who had made him an idol, were hurt most by his defection from our cause.</p>
<p>defer</p>
<p>V. delay till later; exempt temporarily. In wartime, some young men immediately volunteer to serve; others</p>
<p>defer</p>
<p>making plans until they hear from their draft boards. During the Vietnam War, many young men, hoping to be deferred, requested student deferments.</p>
<p>defer</p>
<p>V. give in respectfully; submit. When it comes to making decisions about purchasing software, we must defer to Michael, our computer guru; he gets the final word. Michael, however, can defer these questions to no one; only he can decide.</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>deference</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>N. courteous regard for another’s wish. In deference to the minister’s request, please do not take photographs during the wedding service.</p>
<p>defiance</p>
<p>N. refusal to yield; resistance. When John reached the "terrible two's," he responded to every parental request with howls of defiance. defy,V.</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>defile</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>V. pollute; profane. The hoodlums defiled the church with their scurrilous writing.</p>
<p>definitive</p>
<p>ADJ. final; complete. Carl Sandburg's Abraham Lincoln may be regarded as the definitive work on the life of the Great Emancipator.</p>
<p>deflect</p>
<p>V. turn aside. His life was saved when his cigarette case deflected the bullet.</p>
<p>defoliate</p>
<p>V. destroy leaves. In Vietnam the army made extensive use of chemical agents to defoliate the woodlands.</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>defray</p>
<p class=”large” style=”text-align:center”;>V. pay the costs of. Her employer offered to defray the costs of her postgraduate education.</p>
<p>deft</p>
<p>ADJ. neat; skillful. The deft waiter uncorked the champagne without spilling a drop.</p>
<p>defunct</p>
<p>ADJ. dead; no longer in use or existence. The lawyers sought to examine the books of the defunct corporation.</p>
<p>defuse</p>
<p>V. remove the fuse of a bomb; reduce or eliminate a threat. Police negotiators are trained to defuse dangerous situations by avoiding confrontational language and behavior.</p>