Vocabulary D

Front 1

Dangle

Back 1

CHANGING
-to hang loosely and swing
The trainer dangled a treat over the nose of the obedient puppy

Front 2

Dated

Back 2

TIME
-old fashioned, out of style
Though she was pleased to inherit the gown, she secretly thought it might be a bit dated for a modern wedding

Front 3

Daunting

Back 3

DISCOURAGE
-discouraging
While running the New York Marathon may be a duanting task to some, the event consistently draws thousands of participants

Front 4

Debase

Back 4

DECREASE
-to degrade or lower in quality or stature
The president's deceitful actions debased his office

Front 5

Debtor

Back 5

DEPRIVED
-someone who owes something to someone else
The bank sends letters to its debtors to reminds them when their loans are due

Front 6

Deceive

Back 6

FALSE
-meslead, give false impression
In a brilliant maneuver, the general decieved his opponent into thinking that he was attacking from the north when, in reality, he had circled around and attacked from the south

Front 7

Decibel

Back 7

SOUND
-unit of sound intensity
The newspaper sent a reporter armed with a decibel meter to determine which everyday noises are harmful to children

Front 8

Decisive

Back 8

DECISIVE
-colclusive; capable of determining outcome
The defeat of the SPanish Armada was a decisive battle in history, as it marked England's ascendance as a naval power and thereby as a world power

Front 9

Decorous

Back 9

FORMAL
-proper, well behaved
While he wasn't the most intelligent student in class, Greg was always complemented for his decorous behavior in chool

Front 10

Deduction

Back 10

TAKE AWAY
-the drawing of a conclusion through logic
Sherlock Holmes is often know and the Master of Deduction for his abiltiy to solve crimes through logical reasoning

Front 11

Defective

Back 11

WEAK
-faulty
Afer the second blackout in the building, the superintendent realized that the electrical grid was defective and needed to be replaced

Front 12

Defiant

Back 12

BOLD
-boldly resisting
The defiant soldier ignored the general's orders

Front 13

Deft

Back 13

ABLE
-skillful, dexterous
Mario Lemieux deftly skated around his opponents to score the winning goal of the game

Front 14

Degradation

Back 14

SUBSERVIENT
-reduciton in worth of dignity
Due to the degradation of the blood sample, no DNA math could be made

Front 15

Delegate

Back 15

BOSSY
-to give powers to another
A good leader knows when the delegate tasks to others and when to handle an issue directly

Front 16

Delete

Back 16

DECREASE
-remove
After numerous phone calls from the telemarketing
After numerous phone calls from a telemarketing company, we called to have our name deleted from their list

Front 17

Deleterious

Back 17

HARMFUL
-harmful, destructive, detrimental
Enviromentalists are trying to make it illegal to dump deleterious substances into lakes and wildlife reserves

Front 18

Demagogue

Back 18

BOLD
-leader or rabble-souser, usually appealing to emothion or prejudice
The leader is little more than a demagogue, whipping his constituents into a frenzy with fiery speeches instead of addressing the crucial issues

Front 19

Demanding

Back 19

BOSSY
-requiring much effort and attention
Joe had to quit his part-time job in order to keep up with his demanding schedule at school

Front 20

Demeanor

Back 20

PEOPLE
-the way a person behaves
Many psychologists believe that a person's demeanor during an interview--how she sits, where she holds her arms, etc.--can provide a deep insight into her charater

Front 21

Demolish

Back 21

WORSEN
-destroy, damage severely
Before starting construction of the new skyscraper, workers will have to demolish the old buildings that still sit on the site

Front 22

Demolition

Back 22

WORSEN
-the act of destroying
Following the demolition of the ancient temple, many research organizations took it upon themsleves to protect the archeological site from greedy developers

Front 23

Demonize

Back 23

HOSTILE
-to represent as evil
The professor urged us question the ways in which conflicting theories had been demonized in the controversial text

Front 24

Depose

Back 24

TAKE AWAY
-to remove from a high position, as from a throne
Affter being deposed, the king spent the rest of his life in exile

Front 25

Deride

Back 25

CRITICIZE
-to mock, ridicule, or make fun of
Often derided as a child, the teacher had no tolerance for teasing in the classroom

Front 26

Desolate

Back 26

ALONE
-deserted, lifeless, barren
The desolate landscape in the desert left the group hungry for the plush greenery of their hometown

Front 27

Despotism

Back 27

BOSSY
-dominance through threat of violence
Unwillling to resort to the despotism of past rulers, the king granted unprecedented freedom to his people as they threatened to revolt

Front 28

Destitution

Back 28

DEPRIVED
-complete poverty
The destitution of certain parts of the state has only begun to be addressed by the governer

Front 29

Determine

Back 29

DECISIVE
-to decide, to establish
The scientist were unable to determine the cause of the strange ailment

Front 30

Detractor

Back 30

CRITICIZE
-one who belittles something else
The president's detractors noted that, although well delievered, the address was definitely penned by a professional

Front 31

Devastate

Back 31

WORSEN
-destroy; everwhelm, stun
The ruthless invaders sought to do much more than simply intimidate the empire; they meant to devastate the land and its people

Front 32

Devious

Back 32

HIDDEN
-shifty, not straightfoward
No on e would realize how devious Sue Ann had been until the damage from her secret plotting was revealed

Front 33

Devour

Back 33

ORGANISMS
-eats greedily, consume
Robert was so hungry after his bike race that he devoured an entire pizza

Front 34

Diffidnet

Back 34

PROUD
-shy, lacking confidence
Steves nervous nature and lack of experience explained his diffident behavior at the job interview

Front 35

Diffuse

Back 35

MOVING
-widely spread out
The smoke was diffuse, dissipating throughout the hall instead of concentrating in the room in which the fire had started

Front 36

Dignity

Back 36

PROUD
-poise and self respect
It's important for people in high public positions ot comport themselves with dignity and protect the reputation of their ranks

Front 37

Digression

Back 37

INDECISIVE
-the act of straying, an instance of straying
The number of digressions from the main point of the discussion made the lecture difficult to follow

Front 38

Dingy

Back 38

UNATTRACTIVE
-shabby, drab
Compared to the five-star hotel we stayed in on our last vacation, this perfectly adequate room looks dingy

Front 39

Disavow

Back 39

DISAPPROVE
-to refuse to acknowledge
Despite claims by his critics that he knew of the impending invasion, the king disavowed any priorknowledge of the attack

Front 40

Disclose

Back 40

CLEAR
-to make known, to expose to view
The reporter refused to disclose the sources mentioned in his article, bound as he was to preserve their anonymity

Front 41

Discomfit

Back 41

WORSEN
-make uneasy, embarrass
the pricvipal was afraid the fire drill would discomfit some students, so he let the younger classes leave the assembly early

Front 42

Disconcert

Back 42

WORSEN
-ruffle, upset one's self-possession
David was disconcerted when he came to school one day and noticed that no one else from his class was there

Front 43

Discordance

Back 43

HOSTILE
-state of disagreement
Because of the complete discordance of opinions, the committee argued uselessly through the night

Front 44

Discourage

Back 44

DISCOURAGE
-dishearten, deprive of hope or spirit
Despite five hours of frustrating study for her exam, Athena refused to let the struggle discourge her, as she committed to doing her best

Front 45

Discourteous

Back 45

DISAGREE
-rude
Sally's parents, disturbed by the discourteous manner in which their daughter's boyfriend addressed them, promptly sent him away

Front 46

Discredit

Back 46

HARMFUL
-to harm the reputation of, dishonor, or disgrace
Unfortunately, in today's political arena, more time is spent trying to discredit one's opponents than discussing the actual issues

Front 47

Discretion

Back 47

EXPERIENCED
-ability to judge on one's own
Rather than trying to make unilateral decisions for the entire company, the president let the store managers use their own discretion when deciding how many employees to hire

Front 48

Discretionary

Back 48

EXPERIENCED
-subject to one's own judgement
Ambassadors have some discretionary powers, thought they must bow to the authority of the secretary of state

Front 49

Disdain

Back 49

DISAPPROVE
-to regard with scorn or contempt
The gorgeous contestant disdained her competitiors, certain that she would win the Miss America crown

Front 50

Disheveled

Back 50

MESSY
-marked by disorder, untidy
The teacher noted the student's disheveled appearance and sent him into the hall to neaten up

Front 51

Disingenuous

Back 51

FALSE
-not straightfoward, insincere
It will be hard for the politician to salvage his reputation for integrity after a series of obviously disingenous remarks

Front 52

Disinterested

Back 52

UNINTERESTED
-unbiased
The dispute was mediated by a disinterested third party

Front 53

Disparate

Back 53

ALONE
-dissimilar, different in kind
Although the twins are virtually identical physically, their personalities are disparate

Front 54

Display

Back 54

COMMUNICATION
-to show, to exhibit, to present
Unwilling to display her artwork to the public, Sandra kept most of her paintings in her room for only friends and family to see

Front 55

Disregard

Back 55

UNIMPORTANT
-ignore
The building manager knew that people were goiong to disregard the "Do Not Enter" sign, so he put a security guard in front of the broken elevator

Front 56

Dissemble

Back 56

FALSE
-to pretend, to disguise one's motives
The villain could dissemble no longer; he finally confessed the forgery to the polics

Front 57

Dissipate

Back 57

DECREASE
-to vanish; to pursue pleasure to excess
The fog gradually dissipated, revealing all the ships docked in the harbor

Front 58

Distant

Back 58

DISTANCE
-separate, far apart
Mary sounded very distant on the telephone, so her mother worried that something might be wrong

Front 59

Distinctive

Back 59

UNUSUAL
-distinguishing, characteristic
Ernest Hemingway writes with such a distinctive style that it would be nearly impossible to mistake him for another author

Front 60

Distract

Back 60

TAKE AWAY
-cause to lose focus, to divert attention
Some students find that listening to music can distract them, so they prefer to study in silence

Front 61

Divert

Back 61

TAKE AWAY
-to turn aside, to distract
To keep the child quiet during the doctor's examination, the nurse deverted his attention with puppets

Front 62

Divination

Back 62

SPIRITUAL
-foretelling the future using supernatural means
Madame Culova claimed to be an expert in divination, reding palms, tea leaves, and crystal balls

Front 63

Divulge

Back 63

CLEAR
-to make known
Pat was fired for divulging the company's secrets to its competitors

Front 64

Dominant

Back 64

BOSSY
-most prominent, exercising the most control
The dominant reasons for the company's relocation were the cheaper rent and larger workforce

Front 65

Drab

Back 65

UNATTRATIVE
-faded, dull, dreary
The cheerleaders were tired of having such drab uniforms and decided to change the school colors to something more lively

Front 66

Drawback

Back 66

TAKE AWAY
-disadvantage, inconvenience
The drawback of being famous is not having any privacy when you go out in public

Front 67

Drought

Back 67

WEAK
-long period of abnormally low rainfall
After three months of the drought, the town officials began to worry that the resevoirs were running low

Front 68

Drub

Back 68

HOSTILE
-defeat soundly, beat
The spectators cheered wildly as they watched the varsity team drub their opponents in a stunning victory

Front 69

Dual

Back 69

GROUPED
-having two parts, double
The highly successful Martix trilogy popularized a belief in the dual nature of reality, in which people's minds and bodies could belong to separate worlds

Front 70

Duplicate

Back 70

INCREASE
-an exact copy
While comparing submitted homework assignments, the teacher discovered that one student's paper was a duplicate of someone else's and was forced to fail both students for cheating

Front 71

Duplicity

Back 71

FALSE
-deception, dishonesyt, double dealing
Diplomatic relations between the two superpowers were outwardly friendly but characterized by duplicity

Front 72

Duration

Back 72

TIME
-period of time that something lasts
Doreen was seasick inher cabin for the duration of the voyage

Front 73

Dwarf

Back 73

SIZE
-to make look small by comparison
Each year,thousands of visitors find themselves dwarfed by the magnitude of Michelangelo's David