Unit 21

Question 1

Deride

Answer 1

(v) to mock

e. g. The decision was derided by environmentalists.

Question 2

Derivative

Answer 2

(n) something derived; unoriginal
- Derivative (adj)
- Derive (v): obtained from another source

e.g. The drug morphine -considered by doctors to be one of the most effective analgesics- is principal derivative of opium, which is the juice in the unripe seed pods of the opium poppy.

Question 3

Desiccate

Answer 3

(v) to dry completely

e. g. The dry dessert air caused the bodies of the dead animals to desiccate quickly.

Question 4

Desuetude

Answer 4

(n) state of disuse

e. g. NASA is considering a plan to refurbish booster rockets from the Apollo program that have fallen into desuetude.

Question 5

Desultory

Answer 5

(adj) random; disconnected; rambling

e. g. The jury had difficulty following the witnesses’ desultory testimony.

Question 6

Deterrent

Answer 6

(n) something that discourages and hinders
e. g. 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.

Question 7

Detraction

Answer 7

(n) the act of taking away; derogatory comment on a person’s character
e. g. The writer responded in a letter to the critic’s long list of detractions about his book.

Question 8

Diaphanous

Answer 8

(adj) transparent; fine-textured; insubstantial; vague

e. g. In World War II, many soldiers went to war with diaphanous dreams of glory, but found instead horror and death.

Question 9

Diatribe

Answer 9

(n) bitter verbal attack

e. g. The speaker launched into a diatribe against what he called “the evils of technology”.

Question 10

Dichotomy

Answer 10

(n) division into two usually contradictory parts

e. g. The philosopher is a dualist who argues that there is dichotomy between the mind and physical phenomena.