Word List 42

Question 1

decoy

Answer 1

someone or something used to lure or lead another into a trap

e.g. He had a decoy distract the guard.

Question 2

defalcate

Answer 2

to embezzle (funds with which one has been entrusted)

e.g. The officials were charged with defalcating government money.

Question 3

defray

Answer 3

pay

e.g. The grant helped defray the expenses of the trip.

Question 4

demarcate

Answer 4

delimit
to set apart; distinguish

e.g. The plot of land is demarcated by a low brick wall.
demarcate teachers as mentor, master, and model teachers based on their level of education

Question 5

deportment

Answer 5

the manner in which one conducts oneself; behavior

e.g. His stiff deportment matched his strict demeanor.

Question 6

depredate

Answer 6

plunder, ravage

e.g. Superstitious thieves hang veils before the pictures of the room where they depredate.

Question 7

depressant

Answer 7

a chemical substance that makes a body’s systems less active.

Question 8

depute

Answer 8

delegate

e.g. Several officers were deputed to guard the building.

Question 9

deputize

Answer 9

to appoint as deputy
to act as deputy

e.g. I deputize for the newspaper’s editor on the weekends.
He deputized a local citizen to take charge.

Question 10

derangement

Answer 10

insanity

Question 11

desideratum

Answer 11

something desired as essential

e.g. a list of political desiderata

Question 12

desperado

Answer 12

a bold or violent criminal

Question 13

despoil

Answer 13

to strip of belongings, possessions, or value; pillage

e.g. landscape despoiled by industrial development

Question 14

desuetude

Answer 14

discontinuance from use or exercise; disuse

e.g. Despite the long years of desuetude, the old manual typewriter seemed to work just fine.

Question 15

detract

Answer 15

divert 
to diminish (oft. used with from)

e.g. detract attention
small errors that do not seriously detract from the book

Question 16

dictum

Answer 16

a noteworthy statement

Question 17

dipsomania

Answer 17

an uncontrollable craving for alcoholic liquors

Question 18

disfranchise

Answer 18

to deprive of a right; disenfranchise

Question 19

disport

Answer 19

divert, amuse
display
to amuse oneself in light or lively fashion; frolic

e.g. disported themselves with silly games
a full-service resort where vacationers may disport at a variety of indoor and outdoor activities

Question 20

disquisition

Answer 20

a formal inquiry into or discussion of a subject; discourse

e.g. a lengthy disquisition on foreign policy

Question 21

distrait

Answer 21

apprehensively divided or withdrawn in attention; distracted

e.g. He grew more and more distrait as hours passed without confirmation that where were survivors of the plane crash.

Question 22

divagate

Answer 22

diverge, digress

e.g. divagate into an account of his travels

Question 23

dock

Answer 23

to take away a part of; abridge; especially, to fine by deduction of wages

e.g. docked him for tardiness

Question 24

dotage

Answer 24

a state or period of senile decay marked by decline of mental poise and alertness

e.g. He’s now in that stage of his dotage where he has trouble remembering the simplest things.

Question 25

dowdy

Answer 25

not neat or becoming in appearance; shabby
lacking smartness or taste
old-fashioned

e.g. a dowdy hat / a dowdy room
a dowdy institution

Question 26

dowry

Answer 26

the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings to her husband in marriage
a gift of money or property by a man to or for his bride
a natural talent

Question 27

dribble

Answer 27

trickle

e.g. Juice dribbled down his chin.
dribble wine on the carpet / dribble olive oil

Question 28

drollery

Answer 28

• droll

e.g. The film’s sophisticated drolleries elicit smiles and chuckles even upon repeated viewings.
Though generally serious, the novel about a seriously dysfunctional family is not without drollery.

Question 29

dullard

Answer 29

a stupid or unimaginative person

Question 30

dunce

Answer 30

a slow-witted or stupid person

Question 31

ecdysis

Answer 31

the act of molting or shedding an outer cuticular layer

Question 32

éclat

Answer 32

ostentatious display; publicity
dazzling effect; brilliance
brilliant or conspicuous success
praise, applause

e.g. The eclat of their reception, and the influence of the bribes, seemed to silence opposition to the scheme.

Question 33

eclogue

Answer 33

a pastoral poem, usually in dialogue form

Question 34

ecumenical

Answer 34

worldwide or general in extent, influence, or application
interreligious or interdenominational
including or containing a mixture of diverse elements or style

e.g. an ecumenical marriage
an ecumenical meal of German, Italian, and Chinese dishes

Question 35

edict

Answer 35

a proclamation having the force of law
order, command

e.g. issue an edict banning public demonstrations

Question 36

emasculate

Answer 36

to deprive of strength, vigor, or spirit; weaken
castrate

e.g. a meek husband emasculated by his domineering wife
Critics charged that this change would emasculate the law.

Question 37

embankment

Answer 37

a raised structure used especially to hold back water or to carry a roadway

Question 38

emblazon

Answer 38

to inscribe or adorn with or as if with heraldic bearings or devices
celebrate, extol

e.g. have his deeds emblazoned by a poet

Question 39

emolument

Answer 39

the returns arising from office or employment usually in the form of compensation or perquisites

e.g. Tips are an emolument in addition to wages.

Question 40

empyrean

Answer 40

the highest heaven; the true and ultimate heavenly paradise
also - empyreal

e.g. ascended into the empyrean after a life filled with good deeds
envision the empyrean that winning the lottery would bring about

Question 41

endue

Answer 41

provide, endow
imbue, transfuse

e.g. professional soldiers endued with an ironclad sense of duty and honor
endued with an unquenchable optimism

Question 42

ensnare

Answer 42

to take in or as if in a snare

e.g. The police successfully ensnared the burglar.

Question 43

entrench

Answer 43

to place within or surround with a trench especially for defense 
to place (oneself) in a strong defensive position 
to establish solidly 

e.g. entrenched themselves in the business
a father who entrenched in our minds the belief that hard work pays off

Question 44

envisage

Answer 44

to view or regard in a certain way
to have a mental picture of especially in advance of realization

e.g. envisages the slum as a hotbed of crime
envisage an entirely new system of education

Question 45

epicurean

Answer 45

fond of or adapted to luxury or indulgence in sensual pleasures; having luxurious tastes or habits, especially in eating and drinking
of or relating to an epicure

e.g. a person of epicurean tastes

Question 46

estuary

Answer 46

a water passage where the tide meets a river current; especially, an arm of the sea at the lower end of a river

e.g. the deep estuary where the Hudson River meets the Atlantic Ocean

Question 47

exceptionable

Answer 47

being likely to cause objection; objectionable

e.g. As long as the language is not exceptionable, people can discuss any topic they want in the chat room.

Question 48

exchequer

Answer 48

treasury; especially, a national or royal treasury
pecuniary resources; funds

e.g. Their son would make beseeching requests for more money whenever his personal exchequer was getting low.

Question 49

excogitate

Answer 49

to think out; devise

e.g. a master at excogitating reasons not to do her assignments

Question 50

execrate

Answer 50

to declare to be evil or detestable; denounce
to detest utterly

e.g. She came to execrate the hypocritical values of her upper-class upbringing. 
execrate the terrorists responsible for the bomb blast

Question 51

exiguous

Answer 51

excessively scanty; inadequate

e.g. Computer equipment would be prohibitively expensive, given the rural school’s exiguous resources.

Question 52

expatiate

Answer 52

to move about freely or at will; wander
to speak or write at length or in detail

e.g. expatiate upon the value of the fabric

Question 53

expatriate

Answer 53

banish, exile

to withdraw from residence in or allegiance to one’s native country

Question 54

expiate

Answer 54

to extinguish the guilt incurred by
to make amends for

e.g. permission to expiate their offenses by their assiduous labors