D Flashcards

Question

decrepitude

Answer 1

state of collagse caused by illness or old age ## Footnote 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.

Answer 2

express strong disapproval of ; disparage ## Footnote 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.

Answer 3

derived byreasoning ## Footnote If we accept your premise, your conclusions are easily deducible.

Answer 4

resigned to defeat; accepting defeat as a natural outcome ## Footnote If you maintain your defeatist attitude, you will never succeed.

Answer 5

desertion ## Footnote The children, who had made him an idol, were hurt most by his defection from our cause.

Answer 6

courteous regard for another's wish ## Footnote In deference to his desires, the employers granted him a holiday.

Answer 7

pollute; profane ## Footnote The hoodlums defiled the church with their scurrilous writing.

Answer 8

destroy leaves ## Footnote In Vietnam the army made extensive use of chemical agents to defoliate the woodlands.

Answer 9

provide ofr the payment of ## Footnote Her employer offered to defray the costs of her postgraduate education.

Answer 10

to strip a priest or minister of church authority ## Footnote We knew the minister had violated church regulations, but we had not realized his offense was serious enough to cause him to be defrocked.

Answer 11

neat, skillful ## Footnote The deft waiter uncorked the champagne without spilling a drop.

Answer 12

dead; no longer in use or existence ## Footnote The lawyers sought to examine the books of the defunct corporation.

Answer 13

turn into a god; idolize ## Footnote Admire the rock star all you want; just don't deify him.

Answer 14

condescend ## Footnote He felt that he would debase himself if he deigned to answer his critics.

Answer 15

harmful ## Footnote Workers in nuclear research must avoid the deleterious effects of radioactive substances.

Answer 16

consider; ponder; unhurried ## Footnote Offered the new job, she asked for time to deliberate before she made her decision.

Answer 17

mental disorder marked by confusion ## Footnote The drunkard in his delirium saw strange animals.

Answer 18

flat plain of mud or sand between branches of a river ## Footnote His dissertation discussed the effect of intermittent flooding on the fertility of the Nile delta.

Answer 19

deceive ## Footnote Do not delude yourself into believing that he will relent.

Answer 20

flood; rush ## Footnote When we advertised the position, we received a deluge of applications.

Answer 21

deceptive; raising vain hopes ## Footnote Do not raise your hopes on the basis of his delusive promises.

Answer 22

dig; investigate ## Footnote delving into old books and manuscripts is part of a researcher's job

Answer 23

person who appeals to people's prejudice; false leader ## Footnote He was accused of being a demogogue because he made promises that aroused futile hopes in his listeners.

Answer 24

degrade; humiliate ## Footnote He felt that he would demean himself if he replied to the scurrilous letter.

Answer 25

behavior; bearing ## Footnote His sober demeanor quieted the noisy revelers.

Answer 26

death ## Footnote Upon the demise of the dictator, a bitter dispute about succession to power developed.

Answer 27

pertaining to the people ## Footnote He lamented the passing of aristocratic society and maintained that a demotic society would lower the nation's standards.

Answer 28

delay; object ----------------------------- grave; serius; coy To demur at this time will only worsen the already serious situation; now is the time for action. She was demure and reserved.

Answer 29

blacken ## Footnote All attempts to denigrate the character of our late President have failed; the people still love him and cherish his memory.

Answer 30

inhabitant of ## Footnote Ghosts are denizens of the land of the dead who return to earth.

Answer 31

outcome; final development of the plot of a play or other literary work ## Footnote The play was childishly written; the denouement was obvious to sophisticated theatergoers as early as the middle of the first act.

Answer 32

regret ## Footnote Although I deplore the vulgarity of your language, I defend your right to express yourself freely.

Answer 33

dethrone; remove form office ## Footnote The army attempted to depose the king and set up a military government.

Answer 34

testimony under oath ## Footnote He made his deposition in the judge's chamber.

Answer 35

corruption; wickedness ## Footnote The depravity of the tyrant's behavior shocked us all.

Answer 36

express disapproval of; protest against; belittle ## Footnote A firm believer in old-fashioned courtesy, Miss Post deprecated the modern tendency to address new acquaintances by their first names.

Answer 37

insane He had to be institutionalized because he was deranged.

Answer 38

neglectful of duty; abandoned ## Footnote The corporal who fell asleep while on watch was thrown into the guardhouse for being derelic in his duty.

Answer 39

scoff at ## Footnote The people derided his grandiose schemes.

Answer 40

ridicule ## Footnote They greeted his proposal with derision and refused to consider it seriously.

Answer 41

expressing a low opinion ## Footnote I resent your derogatory remarks.

Answer 42

catch sight of ## Footnote In the distance, we could barely descry the enemy vessels.

Answer 43

dry up ## Footnote A tour of this smokehouse will give you an idea of how the pioneers used to desiccate food in order to preserve it.

Answer 44

rob of joy; lay waste to; forsake ## Footnote The bandits desolated the countryside, burning farms and carrying off the harvest.

Answer 45

reckless outlaw ## Footnote Butch Cassidy was a bold desperado with a price on his head.

Answer 46

plunder ## Footnote If you do not yield, I am afraid the enemy will despoil the countryside.

Answer 47

depressed, gloomy ## Footnote To the dismay of his parents, he became more and more depondent every day.

Answer 48

tyranny ## Footnote The people rebelled against the despotism of the king.

Answer 49

extremely poor ## Footnote The costs of the father's illness left the family destitute.

Answer 50

aimless; haphazard; digressing at random ## Footnote In prison Malcolm X set himself the task of reading straight through the dictionary; to him reading was purposeful, not desultory.

Answer 51

emotionally removed; calm and objective; indifferent ## Footnote A psychoanalyst must maintain a detached point of view and stay uninvolved with her patients' perssonal lives.

Answer 52

having a fixed order of procedure; invariable ## Footnote At the royal wedding, the procession of the nobles followed a determinate order of precedence.

Answer 53

slandering; aspersion ## Footnote He is offended by your frequent detractions of his ability as a leader.

Answer 54

going astray; erratic ## Footnote Your devious behavior in this matter puzzles me since you are usually direct and straightforward.

Answer 55

lacking ## Footnote He was devoid of any personal desire for gain in his endeavor to secure improvement in the community.

Answer 56

deputize; pass to others ## Footnote It devolved upon us, the survivors, to arrange peace terms with the enemy.

Answer 57

pious ## Footnote The devout man prayed daily.

Answer 58

crown ## Footnote The king's diadem was on display at the museum.

Answer 59

art of debate ## Footnote I am not skilled in dialectic and therefore, cannot answer your arguments as forcefully as I wish.

Answer 60

sheer; transparent ## Footnote They saw the burglar clearly through the diaphanous curtain.

Answer 61

bitter scolding; invective ## Footnote During the lengthy diatribe delivered by his opponent he remained calm and self-controlled.

Answer 62

branching into two parts ## Footnote The dichotomy of our legislative system provides us with many safeguards.

Answer 63

arthoritative and weighty statement ## Footnote She repeated the statement as though it were the dictum of the most expert worker in the group.

Answer 64

device for stamping or impressing; mold ## Footnote In coining pennies, workers at the old mint squeezed sheets of softened copper between two dies.

Answer 65

shyness ## Footnote You must overcome your diffidence if you intend to become a salesperson.

Answer 66

wordiness; spreading in all directions like a gas ## Footnote Your composition suffers from a diffusion of ideas; try to be more compact.

Answer 67

wandering away from the subject ## Footnote Nobody minded when Professor Renoir's lectures wandered away from their offical theme; his digressions were always more fascinating than the topic of the day.

Answer 68

expand In the dark, the pupils of your eyes dilate.

Answer 69

delaying Your dilatory tactics may compel me to cancel the contract.

Answer 70

aimless follower of the arts; amateur; dabbler He was not serious in his painting; he was rather a dilettante.

Answer 71

lessening; reduction in size The blockaders hoped to achieve victory as soon as the diminution of the enemy's supplies became serious.

Answer 72

continued loud noise The din of the jackhammers outside the classroom window drowned out the lecturer's voice.

Answer 73

small boat (often ship's boat) In the film Lifeboat, an ill-assorted group of passengers from a sunken ocean liner are marooned at sea in a dinghy.

Answer 74

dull; not fresh; cheerless Refusing to be depressed by her dingy studio apartment, Bea spent the weekend polishing the floors and windows and hanging bright posters on the walls.

Answer 75

means; effort By dint of much hard work, the volunteers were able to control the raging forest fire.

Answer 76

like-size, three-dimensional scene from nature or history Because they dramatically pose actual stuffed animals against realistic painted landscapes, the dioramas at the Museum of Natural History particularly impress high school biology students.

Answer 77

disastrous People ignored her dire predictions of an approaching depression.

Answer 78

lament with music The funeral dirge stirred us to tears.

Answer 79

correct a false impression; undeceive I will attempt to diabuse you of your impression of my client's guilt; I know he is innocent.

Answer 80

disloyal Once the most loyal of Gorbachev's supporters, Shverdnaze found himself becoming increasingly disaffected.

Answer 81

a disorderly or untidy state After the New Year's party, the once orderly house was in total disarray.

Answer 82

denial; disclaiming His disavowal of his part in the conspiracy was not believed by the jury.

Answer 83

dissolve; disperse The chess club disbanded after its disastrous initial season.

Answer 84

pay out When you disburse money on the company's behalf, be sure to get a receipt.

Answer 85

distinguishable; perceivable The ships in the harbor were not discernible in the fog.

Answer 86

mentally quick and observant; having insight Because he was considered the most discerning member of the firm, he was assigned the most difficult cases.

Answer 87

disown; renounce claim to If I grant you this previlege, will you disclaim all other rights?

Answer 88

confused; discomposed The novice square dancer became so discombobulated that he wandered into wrong set.

Answer 89

put to rout; defeat; disconcert This ruse will discomfit the enemy.

Answer 90

confuse; upset; embarrass The lawyer was disconcerted by the evidence produced by her adversary.

Answer 91

sad The death of his wife left him disconsolate.

Answer 92

inharmonious; conflicting She tried to unite the discordant factions.

Answer 93

formal disscussion; conversation The young Plato was drawn to the Agora to hear the philosophical discourse of Socrates and his followers.

Answer 94

digressing; rambling They were annoyed and bored by her discursive remarks.

Answer 95

deprive of a civil right The imposition if the poll tax effectively disenfranchised poor Southern blacks, who lost their right to vote.

Answer 96

surrender something; efect; vomit Unwilling to disgorge the cash he had stolen from the pension fund, the embezzler tried to run away.

Answer 97

make discontented The passengers were disgruntled by the numerous delays.

Answer 98

not naive, sophisticated Although he was young, his remarks indicated that he was disingenous.

Answer 99

dig up; unearth They disinterred the body and held an autopsy.

Answer 100

unprejudiced The only disinterested person in the room was the judge.

Answer 101

remove (forcible) Thrusting her fist up under the choking man's lower ribs, Margaret used the Heimlich maneuver to dislodge the food caught in this throat.

Answer 102

eliminate from consideration; reject Believing in John's love for her, she dismissed the notion that he might be unfaithful.

Answer 103

belittle Do not disparage anyone's contribution; these little gifts add up to large sums.

Answer 104

basically different; unrelated It is difficult, if not impossible, to organize these disparate elements into a coherent whole.

Answer 105

speediness; prompt execution; message sent with all due speed Young Napoleon defeated the enemy with all possible dispatch; he then sent a dispatch to headquarters, informing his commander of the great victory.

Answer 106

scatter; drive away; cause to vanish The bright sunlight eventually dispelled the morning mist.

Answer 107

amuse The popularity of Florida as a winter resort is constantly increasing; each year, thousands more disport themselves at Miami and Palm Beach.

Answer 108

argumentative; fond of argument People avoided discussing contemporary problems with him because of his disputatious manner.

Answer 109

a formal systematic inquiry; an explanation of the results of a formal inquiry In his disquisition, he outlined the steps he had taken in reaching his conclusions.

Answer 110

disguise; pretend Even though John tried to dissemble his motive for taking modern dance, we all knew there not to dance but to meet girls.

Answer 111

scatter (like seeds) The invention of the radio helped propagandists to disseminate their favorite doctrines very easily.

Answer 112

disagree In a landmark Supreme Court decision, Justice Marshall dissented from the majority opinion.

Answer 113

dissenting; rebellious In the purge that followed the student demonstrations at Tianamen Square, the government hunted down the dissident students and their supporters.

Answer 114

pretend; conceal by feigning She tried to dissimulate her grief by her exuberant attitude.

Answer 115

squander The young man quickly dissipated his inheritance and was soon broke.

Answer 116

disintegration; looseness in morals The profligacy and dissolution of life in Caligula's Rome appall some historians.

Answer 117

reserved or aloof, cold in manner His distant greeting made me feel unwelcome from the start.

Answer 118

expand;swell out I can tell when he is under stress by the way the veins distend on his forehead.

Answer 119

purify; refine; concentrate A moonshiner distills mash into whiskey; an epigrammatist distills thoughts into quips.

Answer 120

absentminded Because of his concentration on the problem, the professor often appeared distrait and unconcerned about routine.

Answer 121

upset; distracted by anxiety The distraught parents frantically searched the ravine for their lost child.

Answer 122

operatic singer; prima donna Although world famous as a diva, she did not indulge in fits of temerament.

Answer 123

vary; go in different directionsfrom the same point The spokes of the wheel diverge from the hub.

Answer 124

act of turning aside; pastime After studying for several hours, he needed a diversion from work.

Answer 125

strip; deprive He was divested of his power to act and could no longer govern.

Answer 126

perceive intuitively; foresee the future Nothing infuriated Tom more than Aunt Polly's ability to divine when he was not telling the truth.

Answer 127

reveal I will not tell you this news because I am sure you will divulge it prematurely.

Answer 128

program asfor trial; book where such entries are made The case of Smith v. Jones was entered in the docket for July 15.

Answer 129

unable to compromise about points of doctrine; dogmatic; unyielding Weng had hoped that the student-led democracy movement might bring about change in China, but the repressive response of the doctrinaire hard-liners crushed his dreams of democracy.

Answer 130

shaky; infirm from old age Although he is not as yet a doddering and senile old man, his ideas and opinions no longer can merit the respect we gave them years ago.

Answer 131

take off A gentleman used to doff his hat to a lady.

Answer 132

determined;stubborn Les Miserables tells of Inspector Javert's long, dogged pursuit of the criminal Jean Valjean.

Answer 133

poorverse Although we find occasional snatches of genuine poetry in her work, most of her writing is mere doggerel.

Answer 134

positive; arbitrary Do not be so dogmatic about that statement; it can be easily refuted.

Answer 135

blues; listlessness; slack period Once the excitement of meeting her deadline was over, she found herself in the doldrums.

Answer 136

sorrowfrl He found the dolorous lamentations of the bereaved family emotionally disturbing and he left as quickly as he could.

Answer 137

stupid person I thought I was talking to a mature audience; instead, I find myself addressing a pack of dolts.

Answer 138

rule over tyrannically Students prefer teachers who guide, not ones who domineer.

Answer 139

put on When Clark Kent had to don his Superman outfit, he changed clothes in a convenient phone booth.

Answer 140

window projecting from roof In remodeling the attic into a bedroom, we decided that we needed to put in dormers to provide sufficient ventilation for the new room.

Answer 141

file of documents on a subject Ordered by J. Edgar Hoover to investigate the senator, the FBI compiled a complete dossier.

Answer 142

senility In his dotage, the old man bored us with long tales of events in his childhood.

Answer 143

be excessively fond of; show signs of mental decline Not only grandmothers bore you with stories about their brilliant grandchildren; grandfathers dote on the littel rascals, too.

Answer 144

sullen; stubborn The man was dour abd taciturn.

Answer 145

plunge into water; drench; extinguish They doused each other with hoses and balloons.

Answer 146

slovenly; untidy She tried to change her dowdy image by buying a fashionable new wardrobe.

Answer 147

disheartened; sad Cheerful and optimistic by nature, Beth was never downcast despite the difficulties she faced.

Answer 148

dull; lacking color; cheerless The Dutch woman's drab winter coat contrasted with the distinctive, colorful native costume she wore beneath it.

Answer 149

sediment; worthless residue David poured the wine carefully to avoid stirring up the dregs.

Answer 150

queer and amusing He was a popular guest because his droll anecdotes were always entertaining.

Answer 151

idle person; male bee Content to let his wife support him, the would-be writer was in reality nothing but a drone.

Answer 152

talk dully; buzz or murmur like a bee On a gorgeous day, who wants to be stuck in a classroom listening to the teacher drone?

Answer 153

waste matter; worhtless impurities Many methods have been devised to separate the valuable metal from the dross.

Answer 154

menial work Cinderella's fairy godmother rescued her from a life of drudgery.

Answer 155

doubtful He has the dubious distinction of being the lowest man in his class.

Answer 156

malleability; flexibility; ability to be drawn out Copper wire has many industrial uses because of its extreme ductility.

Answer 157

sweet sounding The dulcet sounds of the birds at dawn were soon drowned out by the roar of traffic passing our motel.

Answer 158

someone easily fooled While the gullible Watson often was made a dupe by unscrupulous parties, Sherlock Holmes was far more difficult to fool.

Answer 159

double-dealing; hypocrisy People were shocked and dismayed when they learned of his duplicity in this affair, as he had always seemed honest and straightforward.

Answer 160

forcible restraint, especially unlawfully The hostages were held under duress until the prisoners' demands were met.

Answer 161

respectful; obedient The dutiful child grew up to be a conscientious adult aware of his civic obligations.

Answer 162

suffering from indigestion All the talk about rich food made him feel dyspeptic.

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D Flashcards

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