D's Flashcards
Debase
Degrade; lower in quality, value, rank, etc.; lower in moral quality.
I can tell from the weight that this isn’t pure gold, but rather some debased mixed metal.
You have debased yourself by accepting bribes.
Debilitating
Weakening, disabling.
Debunk
Expose, ridicule, or disprove false or exaggerated claims.
Galileo spent his last years under house arrest for debunking the widely held idea that the Sun revolved around the Earth.
The show MythBusters debunks pseudoscientific claims.
Decry
Condemn openly. The “cry” in decry has the dense of “cry out against,” as in The activist decried the destruction of the animals’ habitat.
Deem
Judge; consider.
“You can take the black belt exam when i deem you ready and not a moment before,” said the karate master.
Deflect
Cause to curve; turn aside, esp. from a straight course; avoid.
The purpose of a shield is to deflect arrows or bullets.
Every time he was asked a difficult question, Senator Warrington deflected by changing the topic.
Delimit
Fix, mark, or define the boundaries of.
The role of an executive coach is delimited by our code of conduct - we may not counsel people for psychological conditions, for instance.
Demote
Be a name or symbol for. A denotation is the literal meaning of a word; a connotation is the feeling that accompanies that word.
There’s nothing in the denotation of “crotchety” (grumpy, having strong and irrational preferences) that indicates any particular group of people, but because of the expressions “crotchety old man,” the word connotes, for many people, an image of an especially unpleasant male senior citizen.
Deride
Mock, scoff at, laugh at contemptuously.
The manager really thought that deriding his employees as “stupid” or “lazy” would motivate them to work harder; instead, it motivated them to hid his office supplies as an act of revenge.
Deterrent
Something that restrains or discourages.
Some argue that punishment should also function as a deterrent to crime; that is, the point is not just to punish the guilty, but to frighten other prospective criminals.
Dichotomy
Division into two parts or into two contradictory groups.
There is a dichotomy in the sciences between theoretical or “pure” sciences, such as physics and chemistry, and the life sciences, which often deal more with the real-world considerations than with theorizing.
Disclosure
Revealing, exposing the truth; something that has been revealed. Full disclosure is an expression meaning telling everything. In journalism, the expression is often used when a writer reveals a personal connection to the story. For instance, a news article might read, “MSNBC may have forced the departure of popular anchor Keith Olbermann (full disclosure: this author was employed as a fact-checker for MSNBC in 2004).”
Discount
Ignore, especially to ignore information because it is considered untrustworthy; to underestimate, minimize, regard with doubt. To discount an idea is to not count it as important.
After staying up all night to finish the presentation, he was understandably unhappy that his boss discounted his contribution, implying that she had done most of the work herself.
Discredit
Injure the reputation of, destroy credibility of or confidence in.
The unethical consultant tried to discredit the work of one of his client’s prospective hires because the consultant hoped to be offered the job himself.
Discrepancy
Difference or inconsistency.
When there is a discrepancy between a store’s receipts and the amount of money in the register, the cashier’s behavior is generally called into question.
