Set 15

Question 1

Derivative

Answer 1

Unoriginal, obtained from another source

Some people claim that there is nothing new under the sun, and that all contemporary art is therefore derivative of work that came before it

Question 2

Desiccate

Answer 2

To dry out or dehydrate; to make dry or dull

His skin was so desiccated by sub exposure that it looked like parchment

Question 3

Desuetude

Answer 3

Disuse

After sitting abandoned for years, the house’s desuetude came to an end when the county bought it and turned it into a teen center

Question 4

Desultory

Answer 4

Random; thoughtless; marked by a lack of plan or purpose

His desultory efforts in studying for the test were immediately obvious to his teacher as soon as she began to score his exam

Question 5

Detraction

Answer 5

Slandering, verbal attack, aspersion

Apparently the mayor’s campaign of Detraction backfired, since a record number of people voted for his opponent, many of them citing the vitriol of the mayor’s attacks as the reason they voted against him

Question 6

Diaphanous

Answer 6

Transparent, gauzy

Her diaphanous gown left little to the imagination

Question 7

Derision

Answer 7

Scorn, ridicule, contemptuous treatment

Her derision was all the more painful because I suspected that her review of my performance was accurate

*to deride is to express contempt

The media derided her attempted comeback, calling her a “has been,” even though she had been their darling only a few months before