| Question | Answer |
| dais | raised platform for guests of honor
When he approached the dais, he was greeted by cheers from the people who had come to honor him. |
| dally | trifle with; procrastinate
Laertes told Ophelia that Hamlet could only dally with her affections. |
| dank | damp
The walls of the dungeon were dank and slimy. |
| dapper | neat and trim
In "The Odd Couple," Tony Randall played Felix Unger, an excessively dapper soul who could not stand
to have a hair out of place. |
| dappled | spotted
The sunlight filtering though the screens created a dappled effect on the wall. |
| daub | smear (as with paint)
From the way he daubed his paint on the canvas, I could tell he knew nothing of oils. |
| daunt | intimidate
Your threats cannot daunt me. |
| dauntless | bold
Despite the dangerous nature of the undertaking, the dauntless soldier volunteered for the assignment. |
| dawdle | loiter; waste time
Inasmuch as we must meet a deadline, do not dawdle over this work. |
| deadlock | standstill; stalemate
The negotiations had reached a deadlock. |
| deadpan | wooden; impassive
We wanted to see how long he could maintain his deadpan expression. |
| dearth | scarcity
The dearth of skilled labor compelled the employers to open trade schools. |
| debacle | breaking up; downfall This debacle in the government can only result in anarchy. |
| debase | reduce to lower state
Do not debase youself by becoming maudlin. |
| debauch | corrupt; make intemperate
A vicious newspaper can debauch public ideals. |
| debilitate | weaken; enfeeble
Overindulgence debilitates character as well as physical stamina. |
| debonair | friendly; aiming to please
The debonair youth was liked by all who met him, because of his cheerful and obliging manner. |
| debris | rubble
A full year after the earthquake in Mexico City, workers were still carting away the debris. |
| debunk | expose as false, exaggerated, worthless, etc.; ridicule
Pointing out that he conhsistently had voted afainst strenghtening antipollution legislation, reporters
debunked the candidate's claim that he was a fervent environmentalist. |
| debutante | yound woman making formal entrance into society
As a debutante, she was often mentioned in the society columns of the newspapers. |
| decadence | decay
The moral decadence of the people was reflected in the lewd literature of the period. |
| decant | pour off gently
Be sure to decant this wine before serving it. |
| decapitate | behead
They did not hang Lady Jane Grey; they decapitated her. |
| decelerate | slow down
Seeing the emergency blinkers in the road ahead, he decelerated quickly. |
| deciduous | falling off, as of leaves
The oak is a deciduous tree. |
| decimate | kill, usually one out of ten
We do more to decimate our population in automobile accidents than we do in war. |
| decipher | decode
I could not decipher the doctor's handwriting. |
| declivity | downward slope
The children loved to ski down the declivity. |
| decollete | having a low-cut neckline Fashion decrees that evening gowns be decollete this season; bare shoulders are again the vogue. |
| decomposition | decay
Despite the body's advanced state of decomposition, the police were able to identify the murdered man. |
| decorum | propriety; seemliness
Shocked by the unruly behavior, the teacher criticized the class for its lack of decorum. |
| decoy | lure or bait
The wild ducks were not fooled by the decoy. |
| decrepitude | state of collagse caused by illness or old age
I was unprepared for the state of decrepitude in which I had found my old friend; he seemed to have aged
twenty years in six months. |
| decry | express strong disapproval of ; disparage
The founder of the Children's Defense Fund, Marian Wright Edelman, strongly decries the lack of
financial and moral support for children in America today. |
| deducible | derived byreasoning
If we accept your premise, your conclusions are easily deducible. |
| deface | mar; disfigure
If you deface a library book, you will have to pay a hefty fine. |
| defamation | harming a person's reputation
Such defamation of character may result in a slander suit. |
| default | failure to do
As a result of her husband's failure to appear in court, she was granted a divorce by default. |
| defeatist | resigned to defeat; accepting defeat as a natural outcome
If you maintain your defeatist attitude, you will never succeed. |
| defection | desertion
The children, who had made him an idol, were hurt most by his defection from our cause. |
| deference | courteous regard for another's wish
In deference to his desires, the employers granted him a holiday. |
| defile | pollute; profane
The hoodlums defiled the church with their scurrilous writing. |
| definitive | most reliable or complee
Carl Sandburg's Abraham Lincoln may be regarded as the definitive work on the life of the Great
Emancipator. |
| deflect | turn aside
His life was saved when his cigarette case deflected the bullet. |
| defoliate | destroy leaves
In Vietnam the army made extensive use of chemical agents to defoliate the woodlands. |
| defray | provide ofr the payment of
Her employer offered to defray the costs of her postgraduate education. |
| defrock | to strip a priest or minister of church authority
We knew the minister had violated church regulations, but we had not realized his offense was serious
enough to cause him to be defrocked. |
| deft | neat; skillful
The deft waiter uncorked the champagne without spilling a drop. |
| defunct | dead; no longer in use or existence
The lawyers sought to examine the books of the defunct corporation. |
| degenerate | become worse; deteriorate
As the fight dragged on, the champion's style degenerated until he could barely keep on his feet. |
| degraded | lowered in rank; debased
The degraded wretch spoke only of his past glories and honors. |
| dehydrate | remove water from; dry out
Vigorous dancing quickly dehydrates the body; between dances, be sure to drink more water than normal. |
| deify | turn into a god; idolize
Admire the rock star all you want; just don't deify him. |
| deign | condescend
He felt that he would debase himself if he deigned to answer his critics. |
| delete | erase; strike out
If you delete this paragraph, the composition will have more appeal. |
| deleterious | harmful
Workers in nuclear research must avoid the deleterious effects of radioactive substances. |
| deliberate | consider; ponder; unhurried
Offered the new job, she asked for time to deliberate before she made her decision. |
| delineate | portray
He is weakest when he attempts to delineate character. |
| delirium | mental disorder marked by confusion
The drunkard in his delirium saw strange animals. |
| delta | flat plain of mud or sand between branches of a river
His dissertation discussed the effect of intermittent flooding on the fertility of the Nile delta. |
| delude | deceive
Do not delude yourself into believing that he will relent. |
| deluge | flood; rush
When we advertised the position, we received a deluge of applications. |
| delusion | false belief; hallucination
This scheme is a snare and a delusion. |
| delusive | deceptive; raising vain hopes
Do not raise your hopes on the basis of his delusive promises. |
| delve | dig; investigate
delving into old books and manuscripts is part of a researcher's job. |
| demagogue | person who appeals to people's prejudice; false leader
He was accused of being a demogogue because he made promises that aroused futile hopes in his listeners. |
| demean | degrade; humiliate
He felt that he would demean himself if he replied to the scurrilous letter. |
| demeanor | behavior; bearing
His sober demeanor quieted the noisy revelers. |
| demented | insane
She became increasingly demented and had to be hospitalized. |
| demise | death
Upon the demise of the dictator, a bitter dispute about succession to power developed. |
| demographic | related to population balance
In conducting a survey, one should take into account demographic trends in the region. |
| demolition | destruction
One of the major aims of the air force was the complete demolition of all means of transportation by the
bombing of rail lines and the terminals. |
| demoniac | fiendish
The Spanish Inquisition devised many demoniac means of torture. |
| demotic | pertaining to the people
He lamented the passing of aristocratic society and maintained that a demotic society would lower the
nation's standards. |
| demur | delay; object
To demur at this time will only worsen the already serious situation; now is the time for action. |
| demure | grave; serius; coy She was demure and reserved. |
| denigrate | blacken
All attempts to denigrate the character of our late President have failed; the people still love him and
cherish his memory. |
| denizen | inhabitant of
Ghosts are denizens of the land of the dead who return to earth. |
| denotation | meaning; distinguishing by name
A dictionary will always give us the denotation of a word; frequently, it will always give us its connotation. |
| denouement | outcome; final development of the plot of a play or other literary work
The play was childishly written; the denouement was obvious to sophisticated theatergoers as early as the
middle of the first act. |
| denounce | condemn; critcize
The reform candidate denounced the corrupt city officers for having betrayed the public's trust. |
| depict | portray
In this book, the author depicts the slave owners as kind and benevolent masters. |
| deplete | reduce; exhaust
We must wait until we deplete our present inventory before we order replacements. |
| deplore | regret
Although I deplore the vulgarity of your language, I defend your right to express yourself freely. |
| deploy | move troops so that the battle line is extended at the expense of depth
The general ordered the battalion to deploy in order to meet the offensive of the enemy. |
| depose | dethrone; remove form office
The army attempted to depose the king and set up a military government. |
| deposition | testimony under oath
He made his deposition in the judge's chamber. |
| depravity | corruption; wickedness
The depravity of the tyrant's behavior shocked us all. |
| deprecate | express disapproval of; protest against; belittle
A firm believer in old-fashioned courtesy, Miss Post deprecated the modern tendency to address new
acquaintances by their first names. |
| depreciate | lessen in value
If you neglect this properly, it will depreciate. |
| depredation | plundering
After the depredations of the invaders, the people were penniless. |
| deranged | insane
He had to be institutionalized because he was deranged. |
| derelict | neglectful of duty; abandoned
The corporal who fell asleep while on watch was thrown into the guardhouse for being derelic in his duty. |
| deride | scoff at
The people derided his grandiose schemes. |
| derision | ridicule
They greeted his proposal with derision and refused to consider it seriously. |
| derivative | unoriginal; obtained from another source
Although her early poetry was clearly derivative in nature, the critics thought she had promise and
eventually would find her own voice. |
| dermatologist | one who studies the skin and its diseases
I advise you to consult a dermatologist about your acne. |
| derogatory | expressing a low opinion
I resent your derogatory remarks. |
| descry | catch sight of
In the distance, we could barely descry the enemy vessels. |
| desecrate | profane; violate the sanctity of
The soldiers desecrated the temple. |
| desiccate | dry up
A tour of this smokehouse will give you an idea of how the pioneers used to desiccate food in order to
preserve it. |
| desolate | rob of joy; lay waste to; forsake
The bandits desolated the countryside, burning farms and carrying off the harvest. |
| desperado | reckless outlaw
Butch Cassidy was a bold desperado with a price on his head. |
| despicable | contemptible
Your despicable remarks call for no reply. |
| despise | scorn
I despise your attempts at a reconciliation at this time and refuse to meet you. |
| despoil | plunder
If you do not yield, I am afraid the enemy will despoil the countryside. |
| despondent | depressed; gloomy To the dismay of his parents, he became more and more depondent every day. |
| despotism | tyranny
The people rebelled against the despotism of the king. |
| destitute | extremely poor
The costs of the father's illness left the family destitute. |
| desultory | aimless; haphazard; digressing at random
In prison Malcolm X set himself the task of reading straight through the dictionary; to him reading was
purposeful, not desultory. |
| detached | emotionally removed; calm and objective; indifferent
A psychoanalyst must maintain a detached point of view and stay uninvolved with her patients' perssonal
lives. |
| determinate | having a fixed order of procedure; invariable
At the royal wedding, the procession of the nobles followed a determinate order of precedence. |
| deterrent | something that discourages; hindrance
Does the threat of capital punishment serve as a deterrent to potential killers? |
| detonation | explosion
The detonation of the bomb could be heard miles away. |
| detraction | slandering; aspersion
He is offended by your frequent detractions of his ability as a leader. |
| detrimental | harmful; damaging
Your acceptance of her support will ultimately prove detrimental rather than helpful to your cause. |
| deviate | turn away from
Do not deviate from the truth; you must face the facts. |
| devious | going astray; erratic
Your devious behavior in this matter puzzles me since you are usually direct and straightforward. |
| devoid | lacking
He was devoid of any personal desire for gain in his endeavor to secure improvement in the community. |
| devolve | deputize; pass to others
It devolved upon us, the survivors, to arrange peace terms with the enemy. |
| devotee | enthusiastic follower
A devotee of the opera, he bought season tickets every year. |
| devout | pious
The devout man prayed daily. |
| dexterous | skillful
The magician was so dexterous that we could not follow his movements as he performed his tricks. |
| diabolical | devilish
This scheme is so diabolical that I must reject it. |
| diadem | crown
The king's diadem was on display at the museum. |
| dialectic | art of debate
I am not skilled in dialectic and therefore, cannot answer your arguments as forcefully as I wish. |
| diaphanous | sheer; transparent
They saw the burglar clearly through the diaphanous curtain. |
| diatribe | bitter scolding; invective
During the lengthy diatribe delivered by his opponent he remained calm and self-controlled. |
| dichotomy | branching into two parts
The dichotomy of our legislative system provides us with many safeguards. |
| dictum | arthoritative and weighty statement
She repeated the statement as though it were the dictum of the most expert worker in the group. |
| didactic | teaching; instructional; preaching or moralizing
The didactic qualities of his poetry overshadow its literary qualities; the lesson he teaches is more
memorable than the lines. |
| die | device for stamping or impressing; mold
In coining pennies, workers at the old mint squeezed sheets of softened copper between two dies. |
| diffidence | shyness
You must overcome your diffidence if you intend to become a salesperson. |
| diffusion | wordiness; spreading in all directions like a gas
Your composition suffers from a diffusion of ideas; try to be more compact. |
| digression | wandering away from the subject
Nobody minded when Professor Renoir's lectures wandered away from their offical theme; his digressions
were always more fascinating than the topic of the day. |
| dilapidated | ruined because of neglect
We felt that the dilapidated building needed several coats of paint. |
| dilate | expand
In the dark, the pupils of your eyes dilate. |
| dilatory | delaying
Your dilatory tactics may compel me to cancel the contract. |
| dilemma | problem; choice of two unsatisfactory alternatives
In this dilemma, he knew no one to whom he could turn for advice. |
| dilettante | aimless follower of the arts; amateur; dabbler
He was not serious in his painting; he was rather a dilettante. |
| diligence | steadiness of effort; persisten hard work
Her employers were greatly impressed by her diligence and offered her a partnership in the firm. |
| dilute | make less concentrated; reduce in strength
She preferred her coffee diluted with milk. |
| diminution | lessening; reduction in size
The blockaders hoped to achieve victory as soon as the diminution of the enemy's supplies became serious. |
| din | continued loud noise
The din of the jackhammers outside the classroom window drowned out the lecturer's voice. |
| dinghy | small boat (often ship's boat)
In the film Lifeboat, an ill-assorted group of passengers from a sunken ocean liner are marooned at sea in a
dinghy. |
| dingy | dull; not fresh; cheerless
Refusing to be depressed by her dingy studio apartment, Bea spent the weekend polishing the floors and
windows and hanging bright posters on the walls. |
| dint | means; effort
By dint of much hard work, the volunteers were able to control the raging forest fire. |
| diorama | like-size, three-dimensional scene from nature or history
Because they dramatically pose actual stuffed animals against realistic painted landscapes, the dioramas at
the Museum of Natural History particularly impress high school biology students. |
| dire | disastrous
People ignored her dire predictions of an approaching depression. |
| dirge | lament with music
The funeral dirge stirred us to tears. |
| disabuse | correct a false impression; undeceive
I will attempt to diabuse you of your impression of my client's guilt; I know he is innocent. |
| disaffected | disloyal
Once the most loyal of Gorbachev's supporters, Shverdnaze found himself becoming increasingly
disaffected. |
| disapprobation | disapproval; condemnation
The conservative father viewed his daughter's radical boyfriend with disapprobation. |
| disarray | a disorderly or untidy state
After the New Year's party, the once orderly house was in total disarray. |
| disavowal | denial; disclaiming
His disavowal of his part in the conspiracy was not believed by the jury. |
| disband | dissolve; disperse
The chess club disbanded after its disastrous initial season. |
| disburse | pay out
When you disburse money on the company's behalf, be sure to get a receipt. |
| discernible | distinguishable; perceivable
The ships in the harbor were not discernible in the fog. |
| discerning | mentally quick and observant; having insight
Because he was considered the most discerning member of the firm, he was assigned the most difficult
cases. |
| disclaim | disown; renounce claim to
If I grant you this previlege, will you disclaim all other rights? |
| disclose | reveal
Although competitors offered him bribes, he refused to disclose any information about his company's
forthcoming product. |
| discombobulated | confused; discomposed
The novice square dancer became so discombobulated that he wandered into wrong set. |
| discomfit | put to rout; defeat; disconcert
This ruse will discomfit the enemy. |
| disconcert | confuse; upset; embarrass
The lawyer was disconcerted by the evidence produced by her adversary. |
| disconcolate | sad
The death of his wife left him disconsolate. |
| discordant | inharmonious; conflicting
She tried to unite the discordant factions. |
| discount | disregard
Be prepared to discount what he has to say about his ex-wife. |
| discourse | formal disscussion; conversation
The young Plato was drawn to the Agora to hear the philosophical discourse of Socrates and his followers. |
| discredit | defame; destroy confidence in; disbelieve The campaign was highly negative in tone; each candidate tried to discredit the other. |
| discrepancy | lack of consistency; difference
The police noticed some discrepancies in his description of the crime and did not believe him. |
| discrete | separate; unconnected
The universe is composed of discrete bodies. |
| discretion | prudence; ability to adjust actions to circumstances
Use your discretion in this matter and do not discuss it with anyone. |
| discrimination | ability to see differences; prejudice
They feared he lacked sufficient discrimination to judge complex works of modern art. |
| discursive | digressing; rambling
They were annoyed and bored by her discursive remarks. |
| disdain | treat with scorn or contempt
You make enemies of all you disdain. |
| disembark | go ashore; unload cargo from a ship
Before the passengers could disembark, they had to pick up their passports from the ship's purser. |
| disenfranchise | deprive of a civil right
The imposition if the poll tax effectively disenfranchised poor Southern blacks, who lost their right to vote. |
| disengage | uncouple; separate; disconnect
A standard movie routine involves the hero's desperate attempt to disengage a railroad car from a moving
train. |
| disfigure | mar the appearance of; spoil
An ugly frown disfigured his normally pleasant face. |
| disgorge | surrender something; efect; vomit
Unwilling to disgorge the cash he had stolen from the pension fund, the embezzler tried to run away. |
| disgruntle | make discontented
The passengers were disgruntled by the numerous delays. |
| dishearten | discourage
His failure to pass the bar exam disheartened him. |
| disheveled | untidy
Your disheveled appearance will hurt your chances in this interview. |
| disinclination | unwilingness
Some mornings I feel a great disinclination to get out of bed. |
| disingenuous | not naive; sophisticated Although he was young, his remarks indicated that he was disingenous. |
| disinter | dig up; unearth
They disinterred the body and held an autopsy. |
| disinterested | unprejudiced
The only disinterested person in the room was the judge. |
| disjointed | disconnected
His remarks were so disjointed that we could not follow his reasoning. |
| dislodge | remove (forcible)
Thrusting her fist up under the choking man's lower ribs, Margaret used the Heimlich maneuver to
dislodge the food caught in this throat. |
| dismantle | take apart
When the show closed, they dismantled the scenery before restoring it. |
| dismember | cut into small parts
When the Austrian Empire was dismembered, several new countries were established. |
| dismiss | eliminate from consideration; reject
Believing in John's love for her, she dismissed the notion that he might be unfaithful. |
| disparage | belittle
Do not disparage anyone's contribution; these little gifts add up to large sums. |
| disparate | basically different; unrelated
It is difficult, if not impossible, to organize these disparate elements into a coherent whole. |
| disparity | difference; condition of inequality
The disparity in their ages made no difference at all. |
| dispassionate | calm; impartial
In a dispassionate analysis of the problem, he carefully examined the causes of the conflict and proceeded
to suggest suitable remedies. |
| dispatch | speediness; prompt execution; message sent with all due speed
Young Napoleon defeated the enemy with all possible dispatch; he then sent a dispatch to headquarters,
informing his commander of the great victory. |
| dispel | scatter; drive away; cause to vanish
The bright sunlight eventually dispelled the morning mist. |
| disperse | scatter
The police fired tear gas into crowd to disperse the protesters. |
| dispirited | lacking in spirit
The coach used all the tricks at his command to buoy up the enthusiasm of his team, which I had become dispirited at the loss of the star player. |
| disport | amuse
The popularity of Florida as a winter resort is constantly increasing; each year, thousands more disport
themselves at Miami and Palm Beach. |
| disputatious | argumentative; fond of argument
People avoided discussing contemporary problems with him because of his disputatious manner. |
| disquisition | a formal systematic inquiry; an explanation of the results of a formal inquiry
In his disquisition, he outlined the steps he had taken in reaching his conclusions. |
| dissection | analysis; cutting apart in order to examine
The dissection of frogs on the laboratory is particularly unpleasant to some students. |
| dissemble | disguise; pretend
Even though John tried to dissemble his motive for taking modern dance, we all knew there not to dance
but to meet girls. |
| disseminate | scatter (like seeds)
The invention of the radio helped propagandists to disseminate their favorite doctrines very easily. |
| dissent | disagree
In a landmark Supreme Court decision, Justice Marshall dissented from the majority opinion. |
| dissertation | formal essay
In order to earn a graduate degree from many of our universities, a candidate is frequently required to
prepare a dissertation on some scholarly subject. |
| dissident | dissenting; rebellious
In the purge that followed the student demonstrations at Tianamen Square, the government hunted down
the dissident students and their supporters. |
| dissimulate | pretend; conceal by feigning
She tried to dissimulate her grief by her exuberant attitude. |
| dissipate | squander
The young man quickly dissipated his inheritance and was soon broke. |
| dissolution | disintegration; looseness in morals
The profligacy and dissolution of life in Caligula's Rome appall some historians. |
| dissonance | discord
Some contemporary musicians deliberately use dissonance to achieve certain effects. |
| dissuade | advise against
He could not dissuade his friend from joining the conspirators. |
| distant | reserved or aloof; cold in manner His distant greeting made me feel unwelcome from the start. |
| distend | expand;swell out
I can tell when he is under stress by the way the veins distend on his forehead. |
| distill | purify; refine; concentrate
A moonshiner distills mash into whiskey; an epigrammatist distills thoughts into quips. |
| distortion | twisting out of shape
It is difficult to believe the newspaper accounts of this event because of the distortions and exaggerations
of the reporters. |
| distrait | absentminded
Because of his concentration on the problem, the professor often appeared distrait and unconcerned about
routine. |
| distraught | upset; distracted by anxiety
The distraught parents frantically searched the ravine for their lost child. |
| diurnal | daily
A farmer cannot neglect his diurnal tasks at any time; cows, for example, must be milked regularly. |
| diva | operatic singer; prima donna
Although world famous as a diva, she did not indulge in fits of temerament. |
| diverge | vary; go in different directionsfrom the same point
The spokes of the wheel diverge from the hub. |
| divergent | differing; deviating
The two witnesses presented the jury with remarkably divergent accounts of the same epipode. |
| diverse | differing in some characteristics; various
There are diverse ways of approaching this problem. |
| diversion | act of turning aside; pastime
After studying for several hours, he needed a diversion from work. |
| diversity | variety; dissimilitude
The diversity of colleges in this country indicates that many levels of ability are being served. |
| divest | strip; deprive
He was divested of his power to act and could no longer govern. |
| divine | perceive intuitively; foresee the future
Nothing infuriated Tom more than Aunt Polly's ability to divine when he was not telling the truth. |
| divulge | reveal
I will not tell you this news because I am sure you will divulge it prematurely. |
| docile | obedient; easily managed
As docile as he seems today, that old lion was once a ferocious, snarling beast. |
| docket | program asfor trial; book where such entries are made
The case of Smith v. Jones was entered in the docket for July 15. |
| doctrinaire | unable to compromise about points of doctrine; dogmatic; unyielding
Weng had hoped that the student-led democracy movement might bring about change in China, but the
repressive response of the doctrinaire hard-liners crushed his dreams of democracy. |
| document | provide written evidence
She kept all the receipts from her business trip in order to document her expenses for the firm. |
| doddering | shaky; infirm from old age
Although he is not as yet a doddering and senile old man, his ideas and opinions no longer can merit the
respect we gave them years ago. |
| doff | take off
A gentleman used to doff his hat to a lady. |
| dogged | determined;stubborn
Les Miserables tells of Inspector Javert's long, dogged pursuit of the criminal Jean Valjean. |
| doggerel | poorverse
Although we find occasional snatches of genuine poetry in her work, most of her writing is mere doggerel. |
| dogmatic | positive; arbitrary
Do not be so dogmatic about that statement; it can be easily refuted. |
| doldrums | blues; listlessness; slack period
Once the excitement of meeting her deadline was over, she found herself in the doldrums. |
| dolorous | sorrowfrl
He found the dolorous lamentations of the bereaved family emotionally disturbing and he left as quickly as
he could. |
| dolt | stupid person
I thought I was talking to a mature audience; instead, I find myself addressing a pack of dolts. |
| domicile | home
Althoughhis legal domicile was in New York City, his work kept him away from his residence for many
years. |
| domineer | rule over tyrannically
Students prefer teachers who guide, not ones who domineer. |
| don | put on
When Clark Kent had to don his Superman outfit, he changed clothes in a convenient phone booth. |
| dormant | sleeping; lethargic; torpid
Sometimes dormant talents in our friends surprise those of us who never realize how gifted our
acquaintances really are. |
| dormer | window projecting from roof
In remodeling the attic into a bedroom, we decided that we needed to put in dormers to provide sufficient
ventilation for the new room. |
| dorsal | relating to the back of an animal
A shark may be identified by its dorsal fin, which projects above the surface of the ocean. |
| dossier | file of documents on a subject
Ordered by J. Edgar Hoover to investigate the senator, the FBI compiled a complete dossier. |
| dotage | senility
In his dotage, the old man bored us with long tales of events in his childhood. |
| dote | be excessively fond of; show signs of mental decline
Not only grandmothers bore you with stories about their brilliant grandchildren; grandfathers dote on the
littel rascals, too. |
| dour | sullen; stubborn
The man was dour abd taciturn. |
| douse | plunge into water; drench; extinguish
They doused each other with hoses and balloons. |
| dowdy | slovenly; untidy
She tried to change her dowdy image by buying a fashionable new wardrobe. |
| downcast | disheartened; sad
Cheerful and optimistic by nature, Beth was never downcast despite the difficulties she faced. |
| drab | dull; lacking color; cheerless
The Dutch woman's drab winter coat contrasted with the distinctive, colorful native costume she wore
beneath it. |
| dregs | sediment; worthless residue
David poured the wine carefully to avoid stirring up the dregs. |
| droll | queer and amusing
He was a popular guest because his droll anecdotes were always entertaining. |
| drone | idle person; male bee
Content to let his wife support him, the would-be writer was in reality nothing but a drone. |
| drone | talk dully; buzz or murmur like a bee
On a gorgeous day, who wants to be stuck in a classroom listening to the teacher drone? |
| dross | waste matter; worhtless impurities
Many methods have been devised to separate the valuable metal from the dross. |
| drudgery | menial work
Cinderella's fairy godmother rescued her from a life of drudgery. |
| dubious | doubtful
He has the dubious distinction of being the lowest man in his class. |
| ductility | malleability; flexibility; ability to be drawn out
Copper wire has many industrial uses because of its extreme ductility. |
| dulcet | sweet sounding
The dulcet sounds of the birds at dawn were soon drowned out by the roar of traffic passing our motel. |
| dupe | someone easily fooled
While the gullible Watson often was made a dupe by unscrupulous parties, Sherlock Holmes was far more
difficult to fool. |
| deplicity | double-dealing; hypocrisy
People were shocked and dismayed when they learned of his duplicity in this affair, as he had always
seemed honest and straightforward. |
| duress | forcible restraint, especially unlawfully
The hostages were held under duress until the prisoners' demands were met. |
| dutiful | respectful; obedient
The dutiful child grew up to be a conscientious adult aware of his civic obligations. |
| dwindle | shrink; reduce
They spent so much money that their funds dwindled to nothing. |
| dynamic | active; efficient
A dynamic government is necessary to meet the demands of a changing society. |
| dyspeptic | suffering from indigestion
All the talk about rich food made him feel dyspeptic. |
