Deck 1 Flashcards
deride
to mock; to laugh at in scorn or contempt
Democrats Deride Bush And Dismiss One Another.
derivative
something derived; unoriginal
The drug morphine is the principal derivative of opium, which is the juice in the unripe seed pods of the opium poppy.
desiccate
to dry completely
The dry desert air caused the bodies of the dead animals to desiccate quickly.
desuetude
state of disuse; state of no longer being used or practiced
NASA is considering a plan to refurbish booster rockets from the Apollo Program that have fallen into desuetude.
desultory
random; disconnected; rambling
The jury had difficulty following the witnesses’ desultory testimony.
deterrent
something that discourages or hinders
During the Cold War, the United States maintained a large number of nuclear weapons as a deterrent to aggression by the Soviet Union and its allies.
detraction
the act of taking away; derogatory comment on a person’s character
The writer reponded in a letter to the critic’s long list of detractions about his book.
diaphanous
transparent; fine-textured; insubstantial; vague
In World War II, many soldiers went to war with diaphanous dreams of glory, but found instead horror and death.
diatribe
bitter verbal attack
The speaker launched into a diatribe against what he called “the evils of technology”.
dichotomy
division into two usually contradictory parts
The philosopher is a dualist who argues that there is a dichotomy between the mind and physical phenomena.
diffidence
shyness; lack of confidence
As a result of the strength of his opposition to the Vietnam War Senator Eugene McCarthy overcame his diffidence and ran against President Lyndon Johnson for the Democratic nomination for president.
diffuse
to spread out
The idea of equality and liberty diffused through society after the French Revolution.
digression
act of straying from the main point
The novel Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M.Pirsig contains many fascinating digressions from the main story that discuss topics such as Platonic philosophy.
disabuse
to free from a misconception
The chairman of the Federal Reserve used his testimony before Congress to disabuse his audience of the idea that the busines cycle had been eliminated by the unprecedented period of prosperity.
discerning
perspective; exhibiting keen insight and good judgement
Discerning movie critics have praised the work of producer Stanley Kubrick, who produced such excellent films…
discomfit
to make uneasy; disconcert
The young man was discomfited being the only male in the play.
discordant
not in tune; disagreeing
In a pluralistic society there exists a cacophony of discordant voices, each shouting to be heard.
discredit
to dishonor; disgrace; cause to be doubted
The candidate’s attempt to discredit his opponent by spreading damaging rumors about him failed.
discrepancy
difference; inconsistency
The book studies the discrepancy in values and outlook between men who fought in the war, whether volutarily or not, and those who remained civilians.
discrete
constituting a separate thing; distinct
Like the physicist, the abstract artist strives to identify the discrete elements of reality and to understand how they interact.
discretion
quality of showing self-restraint in speech or actions; freedom of judgement or choice
In nineteenth-century Britain gentlemen were expected to behave with discretion.
disingenuous
lacking in frankness, candor, or sincerety; falsely ingenuous
When a person starts a sentence, “I don’t mean to appear disingenuous,” one might be tempted to suspect that the person is being just that.
disinterested
unprejudiced, objective
The newspaper reporter looked for **disinterested ** witnesses to the events so that she could get an objective account of what had happened.
disjointed
lacking order or coherence; dislocated
The technique of telling a story through a disjointed narrative is a technique best left to masters of the modern novel such as James Joyce and William Faulkner.
dismiss
to put away from consideratoin; reject
Investigators dismissed the man’s account of a visit to another planet aboard an alien spacecraft as the product of an overactive imagination.
disparage
to speak or treat slightingly; depreciate
Though sometimes disparaged as merely an intelletual game, philosophy provides us with a method for inquiring systematically into problems that arise in areas such as medicine, science, and technology.
disparate
distinct in kind; dissimilar
Many technological projects are interdisciplinary, requiring a knowledge of fields as disparate as physics and biology.
dissemble
to pretend; conceal the truth or real nature of
I believe you are dissembling. I want you to tell me the whole truth about what happened that night.
disseminate
to spread; scatter; disperse
Belief in reincarnation appeared as doctrine first in India and was disseminated throughout Asia by Buddhism.
dissident
person who disagrees
Some of the most notorious concentration camps in history were the Gulag camps used by the Soviet Union to control dissidents.
dissolution
disintegration; debauchery
Some philosophers maintain that the dissolution of the body does not mean the destruction of the mind.
dissonance
discord; lack of harmony
In psychology, the term “cognitive dissonance” refers to a conflict resulting from inconsistency between one’s beliefs and one’s actions.
distend
to expand; swell out
People in an advanced stage of starvation often have distended bellies.
distill
to extract the essential elements
In his book…, Bryan Magee manages to distill the essence of leading thinkers such as …
distrait
inattentive because of distracting worries; preoccupied
The chairperson became distrait because his secretary was not sitting in her usual position on his right.
diverge
to vary; go in different directions from the same point
divest
to strip of clothig, ornament, etc.; deprive; rid
The candidate for secretary of defense pledged to divest himself of the shares he held in defense-related companies.
divulge
to make known something that is secret; disclose or reveal
Under the Geneva Conventions, prisoners of war cannot be tortured and forced to divulge information.
doctrinaire
n. adj. (relating to a) person who cannot compromise about points of a theory or doctrine; dogmatic; unyielding
The doctrinaire Marxists say that capitalism is merely a temporary phenomenon on the road to socialism.
document
to provide with written evidence to support
The insurance company asked Debbie to document her claim with letters from the doctors who treated her for her condition.
doggerel
poor verse
In his book…, the literary critic Paul Fussell quotes this bit of doggerel from a U.S. Army latrine during World War II:
Soldiers who wish to be a hero Are practically zero. But those who wish to be civilians, Jesus, they run into millions.
dogmatic
stating opinions without proof
Since every case is unique, jurists must not be dogmatic in applying precedents to make their decision, but instead must base their decision on a combination of such precedents and the facts of the case at hand.
dormant
inactive
There is a considerable body of evidence showing that many diseases, such as ulcers, asthma, and hypertension have a large psychological component; the working hypothesis is that they represent manifestations of dormant emotional disturbances.
dross
waste; worthless matter; trivial matter
One of the ways the dross among blogs on the Internet are filtered out from the worthwhile ones is through links good blogs provide to other good blogs.
dupe
to deceive; trick
In friendship, as well as in love, the mind is often duped by the heart.”
ebullient
overflowing with fervor, enthusiasm, or excitement
The ebullient candidate for president appeared before his supporters to announce that he had won in a landslide.
eclectic
selecting from various sources
But in a shift mirrored by many other Internet users, Mr. Dudley’s interest in the Web is no longer driven by eclectic imagination. When he logs on now, he knows what he wants and he mostly knows where to get it.
(nytimes)
effervescence
state of high spirits of liveliness; the process of bubbling as gas escapes
A person who believes himself to be physically unattractive might develop an effervescent personality as a compensation for his perceived deficiency.
effete
depleted of vitality; overrefined; decadent
“A spirit of national masochism prevails, encouraged by an effete corps of impudent snobs who characterize themselves as intellectuals.”
efficacy
efficiency; effectiveness
A cardinal rule of medicine is that the efficacy of a treatment should be measured against the seriousness of its side effects.
effrontery
shameless boldness; presumptuousness
In her essay the student had the effrontery to argue that school is largely a waste of time.
egotistical
excessively self-centered; conceited
The critics accused the writer of being egotistical since she wrote only about herself.
elicit
to provoke; draw out
The Socratic method is designed to elicit responses that guide the student toward understanding.
elixir
a substance believed to have the power to cure ills
The doctor said that her prescription would help to alleviate my condition but that I could not expect it to be an elixir.
Elysian
blissful; delightful
* Elysium is described in Homer’s Odyssey as a place of eternal spring where the souls of heroes and others who are blessed by the gods wander blissfully.
emaciated
thin and wasted, abnormally thin because of lack of nutrition or disease
The prisoner was emaciated after being fed only bread and water for three months.
embellish
to adorn; decorate; enhance; make more attractive by adding details
The story he had been told was so powerful that the writer felt no need to embellish it.
gullible
easily deceived or cheated
In the nineteenth century, snake oil salesmen traveled around America selling elixirs to gullible people.
garner
[穀物倉・貯蔵庫などに]蓄える、蓄積する to get; acquire; earn
The politician has found a grassroots approach to garnering support to be most efficacious.
conceited
having an excessively favorable opinion about one’s ability, appearance, etc
emollient
soothing; mollifying
The politician’s speech is filled with emollient phrases to make his message more palatable.
emulate
to imitate; copy
Bionics uses technology to emulate nature, but sometimes a similar process occurs in reverse, in which scientists use technology as a heuristic tool to better understand natural processes.
encomium
a formal expression of praise
The prime minister asked her speechwriter to compose an encomium for the retiring general.
endemic
natural to or characteristic of specific people or place
Malaria, once endemic to the area, has now been largely eradicated.
enervate
to weaken
During World War II Russian commanders counted on the bitter cold to enervate German soldiers invading their country.
engender
to cause; produce
Hatred engenders violence.
enunciate
to pronounce clearly
In everyday speech the sounds of many words are not enunciated clearly.
prodigious
extraordinary in size, amount, extent, degree, force, etc.
a prodigious research grant
emancipate
to free from restraint, influence, or the like
Charles Darwin emancipated science from the ideologies of philosophy and religion by being fiercely independent in his thinking, rejecting all prevailing dogmas…
ephemeral
short-lived
Impressioninst painters such as Claude Monet share with Romantics an affinity for nature, but the Impressionists took a more scientific interest in it, attempting to accurately depict ephemeral phenomena such as the play of light on water.
equable
free from many changes or variations; serene
Throughout the crisis the president remained equable.
equitable
characterized by equity or fairness; just and right; fair; reasonable
equitable treatment of all citizens
equanimity
mental or emotional stability or composure; calmness
Emergency room doctors and nurses are trained to maintain their equanimity when treating patients.
equivocate
to intentionally use vague language
The businessperson has earned a reputation as someone who never equivocates and can be trusted to do exactly what he promises.
errant
mistaken; straying from the proper course
The pitcher’s errant fastball struck the batter on the shoulder.
erudite
characterized by great knowledge; learned or scholarly
Fredercik Copleston, author of the nine-volume History of Philosophy, was undoubtedly one of the most erudite people who ever lived.
esoteric
hard to understand; known only to a few
Epidemiologists, using esoteric statistical analyses, …, investigate the cause of a disease, its distribution, method of spread and measures for preventing or controlling it.
essay
to try; attempt; subject to a test
The composer began work on a sonata, a form she had not previously essayed.
estimable
admirable; possible to estimate
Alistair Cooke’s book Six Men contains character studies of estimable modern figures including …
veer
to change direction or turn about or aside; shift
The missile had to be destroyed after it veered off course.
overshadow
to be more important or significant by comparison
an author who does not allow facts to be overshadowed by politics
illuminate
to supply or brighten with light; light up
obscure
adj.v. not clear or plain; ambiguous
this author does not permit them to obscure his comprehensive description of what we know about our biosphere.
temperance
moderation or self-restraint in action, statement, etc.; self-control
Temperance is the best physic.
tumultuous
full of tumult or riotousness; marked by disturbance and uproar; 騒然とした; 動乱の; 無秩序の
The more his eminence as an artist increased, the more tumultuous his life became.
providence
the foreseeing care and guidance of God or nature over the creatures of earth; 神の導き
dispassionate
free from or unaffected by passion; devoid of personal feeling or bias
a dispassionate critic
precarious
dependent on circumstances beyond one’s control; uncertain; unstable
a precarious livelihood
relentless
unyieldingly severe, strict, or harsh; 無慈悲な; 容赦ない
a relentless enemy
trifling
of very little importance; trivial; insignificant
a trifling matter
ameliorate
to make or become better, more bearable, or more satisfactory; improve
ameliorate a condition
