D

Question 1

daunting

(adj.)

Answer 1

intimidating, causing one to lose courage

(He kept delaying the daunting act of asking for a promotion.)

Question 2

dearth

(n.)

Answer 2

a lack, scarcity

(An eager reader, she was dismayed by the dearth of classic books at the library.)

Question 3

debacle

(n.)

Answer 3

a disastrous failure, disruption

(The elaborately designed fireworks show turned into a debacle when the fireworks started firing in random directions.)

Question 4

debase

(v.)

Answer 4

to lower the quality or esteem of something

(The large raise that he gave himself debased his motives for running the charity.)

Question 5

debauch

(v.)

Answer 5

to corrupt by means of sensual pleasures

(An endless amount of good wine and cheese debauched the traveler.)

Question 6

debunk

(v.)

Answer 6

to expose the falseness of something

(He debunked her claim to be the world’s greatest chess player by defeating her in 18 consecutive matches.)

Question 7

decorous

(adj.)

Answer 7

socially proper, appropriate

(The appreciative guest displayed decorous behavior toward his host.)

Question 8

decry

(v.)

Answer 8

to criticize openly

(The kind video rental clerk decried the policy of charging customers late fees.)

Question 9

deface

(v.)

Answer 9

to ruin or injure something’s appearance

(The brothers used eggs and shaving cream to deface their neighbor’s mailbox.)

Question 10

defamatory

(adj.)

Answer 10

harmful toward another’s reputation

(The defamatory gossip spreading about the actor made the public less willing to see the actor’s new movie.)

Question 11

defer

(v.)

Answer 11

to postpone something; to yield to another’s wisdom

(Ron deferred to Diane, the expert on musical instruments, when he was asked about buying a piano.)

Question 12

deferential

(adj.)

Answer 12

showing respect for another’s authority

(His deferential attitude toward her made her more confident in her ability to run the company.)

Question 13

defile

(v.)

Answer 13

to make unclean, impure

(She defiled the calm of the religious building by playing her banjo.)

Question 14

deft

(adj.)

Answer 14

skillful, capable

(Having worked in a bakery for many years, Marcus was a deft bread maker.)

Question 15

defunct

(adj.)

Answer 15

no longer used or existing

(They planned to turn the defunct schoolhouse into a community center.)

Question 16

delegate

(v.)

Answer 16

to hand over responsibility for something

(The dean delegated the task of finding a new professor to a special hiring committee.)

Question 17

deleterious

(adj.)

Answer 17

harmful

(She experienced the deleterious effects of running a marathon without stretching her muscles enough beforehand.)

Question 18

deliberate

(adj.)

Answer 18

intentional, reflecting careful consideration

(Though Mary was quite upset, her actions to resolve the dispute were deliberate.)

Question 19

delineate

(v.)

Answer 19

to describe, outline, shed light on

(She neatly delineated her reasons for canceling the project’s funding.)

Question 20

demagogue

(n.)

Answer 20

a leader who appeals to a people’s prejudices

(The demagogue strengthened his hold over his people by blaming immigrants for the lack of jobs.)

Question 21

demarcation

(n.)

Answer 21

the marking of boundaries or categories

(Different cultures have different demarcations of good and evil.)

Question 22

demean

(v.)

Answer 22

to lower the status or stature of something

(She refused to demean her secretary by making him order her lunch.)

Question 23

demure

(adj.)

Answer 23

quiet, modest, reserved

(Though everyone else at the party was dancing and going crazy, she remained demure.)

Question 24

denigrate

(v.)

Answer 24

to belittle, diminish the opinion of

(The company decided that its advertisements would no longer denigrate the company’s competitors.)

Question 25

denounce | (v.)

Answer 25

to criticize publicly ## Footnote (The senator **denounced** her opponent as a greedy politician.)

Question 26

deplore | (v.)

Answer 26

to feel or express sorrow, disapproval ## Footnote (We all **deplored** the miserable working conditions in the factory.)

Question 27

depravity | (n.)

Answer 27

wickedness ## Footnote (Rumors of the ogre’s **depravity** made the children afraid to enter the forest.)

Question 28

deprecate | (v.)

Answer 28

to belittle, depreciate ## Footnote (Always over-modest, he **deprecated** his contribution to the local charity.)

Question 29

derelict | (adj.)

Answer 29

abandoned, run-down ## Footnote (Even though it was dangerous, the children enjoyed going to the deserted lot and playing in the **derelict** house.)

Question 30

deride | (v.)

Answer 30

to laugh at mockingly, scorn ## Footnote (The bullies **derided** the foreign student’s accent.)

Question 31

derivative | (adj.)

Answer 31

taken directly from a source, unoriginal ## Footnote (She was bored by his music because she felt that it was **derivative** and that she had heard it before.)

Question 32

desecrate | (v.)

Answer 32

to violate the sacredness of a thing or place ## Footnote (They feared that the construction of a golf course would **desecrate** the preserved wilderness.)

Question 33

desiccated | (adj.)

Answer 33

dried up, dehydrated ## Footnote (The skin of the **desiccated** mummy looked like old paper.)

Question 34

desolate | (adj.)

Answer 34

deserted, dreary, lifeless ## Footnote (She found the **desolate** landscape quite a contrast to the hustle and bustle of the overcrowded city.)

Question 35

despondent | (adj.)

Answer 35

feeling depressed, discouraged, hopeless ## Footnote (Having failed the first math test, the **despondent** child saw no use in studying for the next and failed that one too.)

Question 36

despot | (n.)

Answer 36

one who has total power and rules brutally ## Footnote (The **despot** issued a death sentence for anyone who disobeyed his laws.)

Question 37

destitute | (adj.)

Answer 37

impoverished, utterly lacking ## Footnote (The hurricane destroyed many homes and left many families **destitute**.)

Question 38

deter | (v.)

Answer 38

to discourage, prevent from doing ## Footnote (Bob’s description of scary snakes couldn’t **deter** Marcia from traveling in the rainforests.)

Question 39

devious | (adj.)

Answer 39

not straightforward, deceitful ## Footnote (Not wanting to be punished, the **devious** girl blamed the broken vase on the cat.)

Question 40

dialect | (n.)

Answer 40

a variation of a language ## Footnote (In the country’s remote, mountainous regions, the inhabitants spoke a **dialect** that the country’s other inhabitants had difficulty understanding.)

Question 41

diaphanous | (adj.)

Answer 41

light, airy, transparent ## Footnote (Sunlight poured in through the **diaphanous** curtains, brightening the room.)

Question 42

didactic | (adj.)

Answer 42

1. intended to instruct 2. overly moralistic ## Footnote 1. (She wrote up a **didactic** document showing new employees how to handle the company’s customers.) 2. (His **didactic** style of teaching made it seem like he wanted to persuade his students not to understand history fully, but to understand it from only one point of view.)

Question 43

diffident | (adj.)

Answer 43

shy, quiet, modest ## Footnote (While eating dinner with the adults, the **diffident** youth did not speak for fear of seeming presumptuous.)

Question 44

diffuse | 1.(v.) 2.(adj.)

Answer 44

1. to scatter, thin out, break up 2. not concentrated, scattered, disorganized ## Footnote 1. (He **diffused** the tension in the room by making in a joke.) 2. (In her writings, she tried unsuccessfully to make others understand her **diffuse** thoughts.)

Question 45

dilatory | (adj.)

Answer 45

tending to delay, causing delay ## Footnote (The general’s **dilatory** strategy enabled the enemy to regroup.)

Question 46

diligent | (adj.)

Answer 46

showing care in doing one's work ## Footnote (The **diligent** researcher made sure to check her measurements multiple times.)

Question 47

diminutive | (adj.)

Answer 47

small or miniature ## Footnote (The bullies, tall and strong, picked on the **diminutive** child.)

Question 48

dirge | (n.)

Answer 48

a mournful song, especially for a funeral ## Footnote (The bagpipers played a **dirge** as the casket was carried to the cemetery.)

Question 49

disaffected | (adj.)

Answer 49

rebelious, resentful of authority ## Footnote (Dismayed by Bobby’s poor behavior, the parents sent their **disaffected** son to a military academy to be disciplined.)

Question 50

disavow | (v.)

Answer 50

to deny knowledge of or responsibility for ## Footnote (Not wanting others to criticize her, she **disavowed** any involvement in the company’s hiring scandal.)

Question 51

discern | (v.)

Answer 51

to perceive, detect ## Footnote (Though he hid his emotions, she **discerned** from his body language that he was angry.)

Question 52

disclose | (v.)

Answer 52

to reveal, make public ## Footnote (The CEO **disclosed** to the press that the company would have to fire several employees.)

Question 53

discomfit | (v.)

Answer 53

to thwart, baffle ## Footnote (The normally cheery and playful children’s sudden misery **discomfited** the teacher.)

Question 54

discordant | (adj.)

Answer 54

not agreeing, not in harmony with ## Footnote (The girls’ sobs were a **discordant** sound amid the general laughter that filled the restaurant.)

Question 55

discrepancy | (n.)

Answer 55

difference, failure of things to correspond ## Footnote (He was troubled by the **discrepancy** between what he remembered paying for the appliance and what his receipt showed he paid for it.)

Question 56

discretion | (n.)

Answer 56

the quality of being reserved in speech or action; good judgement ## Footnote (Not wanting her patient to get overly anxious, the doctor used **discretion** in deciding how much to tell the patient about his condition.)

Question 57

discursive | (adj.)

Answer 57

rambling, lacking order ## Footnote (The professor’s **discursive** lectures seemed to be about every subject except the one initially described.)

Question 58

disdain | 1.(v.) 2.(n.)

Answer 58

1. to scorn, hold in low esteem 2. scorn, low esteem ## Footnote 1. (Insecure about their jobs, the older employees **disdained** the recently hired ones, who were young and capable.) 2. (After learning of his immoral actions, Justine held Lawrence in **disdain**.)

Question 59

disgruntled | (adj.)

Answer 59

upset, not content ## Footnote (The child believed that his parents had unjustly grounded him, and remained **disgruntled** for a week.)

Question 60

disheartened | (adj.)

Answer 60

feeling a loss of spirit or morale ## Footnote (The team was **disheartened** after losing in the finals of the tournament.)

Question 61

disparage | (v.)

Answer 61

to criticize or speak ill of ## Footnote (The saleswoman **disparaged** the competitor’s products to persuade her customers to buy what she was selling.)

Question 62

disparate | (adj.)

Answer 62

sharply differing, containing sharply contrasting elements ## Footnote (Having widely varying interests, the students had **disparate** responses toward the novel.)

Question 63

dispatch | (v.)

Answer 63

to send off to accomplish a duty ## Footnote (The carpenter **dispatched** his assistant to fetch wood.)

Question 64

disrepute | (n.)

Answer 64

a state of being held in low regard ## Footnote (The officer fell into **disrepute** after it was learned that he had disobeyed the orders he had given to his own soldiers.)

Question 65

dispel | (v.)

Answer 65

to scatter, cause to scatter ## Footnote (When the rain began to pour, the crowd at the baseball game quickly **dispersed**.)

Question 66

dissemble | (v.)

Answer 66

to conceal, fake ## Footnote (Not wanting to appear heartlessly greedy, she **dissembled** and hid her intention to sell her ailing father’s stamp collection.)

Question 67

disseminate | (v.)

Answer 67

to spread widely ## Footnote (The politician **disseminated** his ideas across the town before the election.)

Question 68

dissent | 1.(v.) 2.(n.)

Answer 68

1. to disagree 2. the act of disagreeing ## Footnote 1. (The principal argued that the child should repeat the fourth grade, but the unhappy parents **dissented**.) 2. (Unconvinced that the defendant was guilty, the last juror voiced his **dissent** with the rest of the jury.)

Question 69

dissipate | (v.)

Answer 69

1. to disappear, cause to disappear 2. to waste ## Footnote 1. (The sun finally came out and **dissipated** the haze.) 2. (She **dissipated** her fortune on a series of bad investments.)

Question 70

dissonance | (n.)

Answer 70

lack of harmony or consistency ## Footnote (Though the president of the company often spoke of the company as reliant solely upon its workers, her decision to increase her own salary rather than reward her employees revealed a striking **dissonance** between her alleged beliefs and her actions.)

Question 71

dissuade | (v.)

Answer 71

to persuade someone not to do something ## Footnote (Worried that he would catch a cold, she tried to **dissuade** him from going out on winter nights.)

Question 72

distend | (v.)

Answer 72

to swell out ## Footnote (Years of drinking beer caused his stomach to **distend**.)

Question 73

dither | (v.)

Answer 73

to be indecisive ## Footnote (Not wanting to offend either friend, he **dithered** about which of the two birthday parties he should attend.)

Question 74

divine | (adj.)

Answer 74

godly, exceedingly wonderful ## Footnote (Terribly fond of desserts, she found the rich chocolate cake to be **divine**.)

Question 75

divisive | (adj.)

Answer 75

causing dissent, discord ## Footnote (Her **divisive** tactics turned her two friends against each other.)

Question 76

divulge | (v.)

Answer 76

to reveal something secret ## Footnote (Pressured by the press, the government finally **divulged** the previously unknown information.)

Question 77

docile | (adj.)

Answer 77

easily taught or trained ## Footnote (She successfully taught the **docile** puppy several tricks.)

Question 78

dogmatic | (adj.)

Answer 78

aggressively and arrogantly certain about unproved principles ## Footnote (His **dogmatic** claim that men were better than women at fixing appliances angered everyone.)

Question 79

dormant | (adj.)

Answer 79

sleeping, temporarily inactive ## Footnote (Though she pretended everything was fine, her anger lay **dormant** throughout the dinner party and exploded in screams of rage after everyone had left.)

Question 80

dour | (adj.)

Answer 80

stern, joyless ## Footnote (The children feared their **dour** neighbor because the old man would take their toys if he believed they were being too loud.)

Question 81

dubious | (adj.)

Answer 81

doubtful, of uncertain quality ## Footnote (Suspicious that he was only trying to get a raise, she found his praise **dubious**.)

Question 82

duplicity | (n.)

Answer 82

crafty dishonesty ## Footnote (His **duplicity** involved convincing his employees to let him lower their salaries and increase their stock options, and then to steal the money he saved and run the company into the ground.)

Question 83

duress | (n.)

Answer 83

hardship, threat ## Footnote (It was only under intense **duress** that he, who was normally against killing, fired his gun.)

Question 84

dynamic | (adj.)

Answer 84

actively changing ## Footnote (The parents found it hard to keep up with the **dynamic** music scene with which their children had become very familiar.)