Recently Added Articles Page #117

dearth - vocabulary

dearth - noun Scarcity, inadequate supply (usually of something desirable). Reverence is the highest quality of man’s nature; and that individual, or nation, which has it slightly developed, is so far unfortunate. It is a strong spiritual instinct,...

debase - vocabulary

debase - verb To lower in character or virtue, to reduce in value or quality, as in The Fed debased the dollar; to lower in rank, significance, or dignity. Hygiene is the corruption of medicine by morality. It is impossible to find a hygienest who do...

decimate - vocabulary

decimate - verb To destroy a measurable or large proportion of.Note: Originally, decimate meant to select by lot and execute every tenth soldier of a unit. But the current usage of the word, originating in the 19th century, means to destroy a large a...

decorous - vocabulary

decorous - adjective Characterized by dignity, good manners, good taste, appropriateness.Note: Decorum is the noun form. But, by a curious twist, it is not the leadership that is old and decorous that fetches him [the American], but the leadership th...

deduce - vocabulary

deduce - verb To derive or draw as a conclusion by reasoning from given premises or principles. In no department are American universities weaker than in the department of English. The æsthetic opinion that they disseminate is flabby and childish, a...

degradation - vocabulary

degradation - noun Diminution, as of strength or magnitude; changing to a lower or less respected state.Note: Degrade is the verb form. [Former U.S. Sen. David Boren] went on to say that the country's standing in the world has sunk to unprecedented l...

deign - vocabulary

deign - verb To deem worthy of notice or account; to think it appropriate to one’s dignity. No professor, so far as I know, has ever deigned to give the same sober attention to the sermo plebeius [uneducated speech] of his country that his colleagu...

deleterious - vocabulary

deleterious - adjective Harmful or injurious, morally or physically. I will follow that system of regimen which, according to my ability and judgment, I consider for the benefit of my patients, and abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous...

delineate - vocabulary

delineate - verb To represent by sketch or diagram; to trace the outline of; sketch or trace in outline; to represent pictorially, as in She delineated the state of New York on the map with a blue pencil. To portray in words; describe or outline with...

demagogue - vocabulary

demagogue - noun An orator or politician who gains popularity and power by arousing emotions, passions, and prejudices.Note: Also used as a verb. We shall achieve industrial democracy because we shall steer a similar middle course between the extreme...

demonstrable, demonstrative - vocabulary

demonstrable, demonstrative - adjective Demonstrable: capable of being demonstrated by positive proof; clearly evident or obvious. It is plain and demonstrable, that much ale is not good for Yankee, and operates differently upon them from what it doe...

denizen - vocabulary

denizen - noun Inhabitant or resident; one who frequently inhabits a place, as in the denizens of the local pub. A tanned skin is something more than respectable, and perhaps olive is a fitter color than white for a man,—a denizen of the woods. “...

denote - vocabulary

denote - verb To indicate, to be a sign of, as in A rise in the price of gold often denotes a fall in the U.S. dollar. Note: Denote and connote are often confused because both words have senses that entail signification. Denote means "to signify dire...

deprecate - vocabulary

deprecate - verb To express disapproval of; to belittle.Note: The word deprecate has come to mean depreciate (to belittle), though the words share no common origins. Rarely do we see her self-depreciating humor. Instead, it’s self-deprecating humor...

despot, despotism - vocabulary

despot, despotism - noun Despot: a monarch or other rule with absolute power; a tyrant or oppressor.Despotism: rule by an autocratic government; tyranny; a country ruled by a despot. There are three kinds of despots. There is the despot who tyrannise...

didactic - vocabulary

didactic - adjective Pertaining to teaching, intended for instruction; inclined to teach or lecture (to excess), as in a boring, didactic speaker. A didactic play attempts to explain what man must do to make the world better and life more rational; a...

diffident - vocabulary

diffident - adjective Lacking confidence in one’s own ability or worth; timid, shy. [Treasury Secretary Nicholas F. Brady] is bland on television and awkward as a public speaker. In a city of bombast and pomposity, Mr. Brady is unusually gentle and...

dilatory - vocabulary

dilatory - adjective Tending to delay or procrastinate; tardy, slow. Diligence increaseth the fruit of toil. A dilatory man wrestles with losses.—Hesiod Works and Days Note: You may download the Grammar eBook Build Your Vocabulary and get all 406 v...

dilettante - vocabulary

dilettante - noun One who engages in art or other subject for amusement, usually in a desultory or superficial way; a dabbler. Also used to refer to a lover of the fine arts. The second reason for his delay was a personal one. He had dawdled over his...

diminution - vocabulary

diminution - noun The process, act, or fact of lessening or diminishing; reduction.Note: The adjective form diminutive often refers to people or things that are small or short. In grammar, a diminutive formation denotes smallness, familiarity, or tri...

discomfit - vocabulary

discomfit - verb Discomfit, to confuse, disconcert; to thwart, to frustrate the plans of, to foil. Whether the issue is birth control or global warming or clean air, this administration has already acquired a special place in regulatory history for t...

disenfranchise - vocabulary

disenfranchise - verb To deprive of any right privilege or power; to deprive of voting rights. From the early indications, Americans are feeling enthusiastic about their constitutionally guaranteed right to vote. The Supreme Court should encourage, n...

disingenuous - vocabulary

disingenuous See the discussion of ingenuousNote: You may download the Grammar eBook Build Your Vocabulary and get all 406 vocabulary words. Next Word: disjunctive Previous Word: disenfranchise....

disjunctive - vocabulary

disjunctive - adjective Helping or serving to disconnect or separate; dividing; distinguishing.Note: In grammar, disjunctive describes the process of syntactically setting two or more elements in opposition to each other, as in poor but happy, or exp...

disparage - vocabulary

disparage - verb To regard or speak of slightingly; to belittle; to bring reproach or discredit on. People disparage knowing and the intellectual life, and urge doing. I am content with knowing, if only I could know.—Ralph Waldo Emerson “Experien...