Set 14 Flashcards
Debacle
Rout, fiasco, complete failure
The performance was a complete debacle; not only did I end up singing, but the cloud props we were using also fell down midway through the play, prompting the audience to shout “the sky is falling, the sky is falling”
Debunk
To expose as being pretentious, false, or exaggerated
The notion that the earth is flat has been completely debunked
Decorum
Politeness or appropriateness of conduct or behavior
Where did we ever get the notion that extending one’s pinky finger while drinking tea was the height if decorum
Something marked by decorum is decorous
Deleterious
Injurious; harmful
The it originally seemed like a good idea to cut the quality of the product, the overall effect on customer relationships has been deleterious
Demur
To question or oppose
I hesitated to demur from the professor, until he said something factually inaccurate, at which point I felt I had to speak up
Denigrate
Blacken, belittle, sully, defame, disparage
Edna was notorious for denigrating everyone else’s work, but never being willing to hear the slightest criticism of her own
Denouement
An outcome or solution; the unraveling of a plot
Receiving the Nobel prize was a fitting denouement to his brilliant research
Deprecate
To disparage or belittle
You can deprecate his work all you want but it won’t affect my opinion; I don’t care if his writing is sometimes amateurish, I still like it
*to be self-deprecating is to belittle yourself or your accomplishments
Deprecate
To plunder, pillage, ravage or destroy; to exploit in a predatory manner
The pirates depredated every ship that came through the straits for two years, until no captain was willing to risk that route and the port town became deserted
*depredations are attacks, or ravages
Ten years of the dictator’s depredations had left the country a wasteland
Dearth
Smallness of quantity or number; scarcity; lack
The dearth of snow this winter increases the likelihood of a drought next summer
