List Of Word D Flashcards
Dearth (durth)
Noun
Lack ; scarcity
There is not dearth of comedy at a convention of clowns.
Daunt (dawnt)
V
To make fearful ; to intimidate
The steepness of the mountain daunted the team of amateur climbers, who hadn’t realized what they were in for.
Debacle ( di BAHK Ul)
Noun
Violent breakdown; sudden overthrow; overwhelming defeat
A political debate would become a debacle of the candidates began screaming and throwing dinner rolls at each other.
Debauchery ( di BAW chuh ree)
Noun
Wild living ; excessive intemperance
Debauchery can be expensive ; fortunately for Jeff, his wallet matched his appetite for extravagant pleasures. He died a poor, albeit happy, man.
Debilitate ( di BIL uh tayt)
V
To weaken ; to cripple
The football player’s career was ended by a debilitating injury to his knee.
Decadent ( DEK uh dunt)
Adjective
Decaying or decayed, especially in terms of morals
A person who engages in decadent behavior is a person whose morals have decayed or fallen into ruin.
Decimate ( DES uh mayt)
V
To kill or destroy a large part of
To decimate an army is to come close to wiping it out.
Decorous ( DEK ur us)
Adjective
Proper ; in good taste ; orderly
Decorous behavior is good, polite, orderly behavior.
To be decorous is to be sober and tasteful.
Deduce (di DOOS)
V
To conclude from the evidence ; to infer
To deduce something is to conclude it without being told it directly!
Defame ( di FAYM)
V
To libel or slander; to ruin the good name of
The local businessman accused the newspaper of defaming him by publishing an article that said his company was poorly!
Deference ( DEF ur nus)
Noun
Submission to another’s will ; country ; respect
To show deference to someone is to place someone’s will ahead of your will.
Definitive ( di FUN uh tiv)
Adjective
Conclusive; providing the last word
Walter complied the conclusive biography of Keats; nothing could have been added by any other author.
Degenerate (di JEN uh rayt)
V
To break down; to deteriorate
The discussion quickly degenerated into an argument.
Deleterious (del uh TIR ee us)
Adjective
Harmful
Smoking cigarettes is deleterious to your health.
Delineate (di LIN ee ayt)
V
To describe accurately; to draw in outline
The portrait artist delineated Sarah’s features then filled in the shading.
Delude (dye LOOD)
V
To mislead the mind or judgement of
The deluded mental patient believed that he was a chicken sandwich.
Deluge (DEL yooj)
Noun
A flood; an inundation
A deluge is a flood, but the word is often used figuratively.
Demagogue (DEM uh gawg)
Noun
A leader of the people, but more a rabble rouser
A demagogue is a leader, but not in a good sense of the word. He manipulates the public to support his aims, but he is little different from a dictator. A demagogue is often a despot.
Denizen ( DEN i zun)
Noun
Inhabitant
To be denizen of a country is to live there. A citizen of a country is usually also a denizen.
Depravity (di PRAV uh tee)
Noun
Extreme wickedness or corruption
To exhibit depravity is to be depraved (di PRAYVD)
Deprecate (DEP ruh kayt)
Verb
To express disapproval of
To deprecate a colleague’s work is to risk making yourself unwelcome in your colleague’s office.
Depreciate ( dih PREE shee ayt)
To depreciate a colleague’s work would be to represent it a being of little value.
Deride (di RYDE)
V
To ridicule; to laugh at contemptuously
The boss derided his secretary mercilessly, so she quit her job. She was someone who could not accept derision (di RIZH un)
Derogatory (dih RAHG uh tor ee)
Adjective
Disapproving; degrading
Stephen could never seem to think of anything nice to say about anyone; virtually all of his comments were derogatory.
Desiccate (DES uh kayt)
V
To dry out
After a week without water, the desiccated plant fell over and died.
