Recently Added Articles Page #118

credence - vocabulary

credence - noun Acceptance as true or valid; belief. A letter found in 1991 by State Archivist David Olson lends credence to another more direct theory [on the origin of “Tar Heels”]. A letter from Maj. Joseph Engelhard describes a fight involvin...

credible, credulous - vocabulary

credible, credulous - adjective Credible: capable of being believed; worthy of belief, as in a credible witness.Credulous: willing to believe too readily; gullible.Note: The term incredulous means disinclined to believe, skeptical. Today's preferred ...

criterion - vocabulary

criterion - noun A standard, rule, or principle by which to determine the correctness of a judgment or conclusion.Note:  The word criterion is singular. Though criterions is an acceptable plural form, most usage panels and writers use criteria as th...

culpable - vocabulary

culpable - adjective Guilty, deserving blame or censure, blameworthy. "You were a full participant, and you were at least equally culpable with every other man sentenced in this case," Hudson told Vick. —U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson sentenci...

cursory - vocabulary

cursory - adjective Rapid and superficial, hasty without noticing details, not thorough. "In India, there is the priestly caste . . . ," "The Arunta, an aboriginal tribe from central Australia . . . ," "In the tongue of the Piscataway Indians who fir...

data, datum - vocabulary

data, datum - noun Facts, statistics, or items of information. Note:Data is a plural of datum, which is originally a Latin noun meaning “something given.” Today, data is used in English both as a plural noun meaning “facts or pieces of informat...

dauntless - vocabulary

dauntless - adjective Fearless, intrepid, bold. For Thought has a pair of dauntless wings.—Robert Frost ”Bond and Free” (1920) Note: You may download the Grammar eBook Build Your Vocabulary and get all 406 vocabulary words. Next Word: dear...

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...