dauntless
Category: Vocabulary words
dauntless [adjective]: fearless, bold; persevering .
Example: The police officer’s dauntless pursuit of the dreaded bandit finally met with success.
Related words: dauntlessly [adverb], dauntlessness [noun]
dearth
Category: Vocabulary words
dearth [noun]: scarcity; non-availability, lack.
Example: The project had to be discontinued because of a dearth of funds.
defamation
Category: Vocabulary words
defamation [noun]: the act of bringing shame to, or injuring the reputation of someone.
Example: The scandal-hit minister threatened to sue the TV channel for defamation.
Related words: defamatory [adjective], defame [verb]
deference
Category: Vocabulary words
deference [noun]: respectful submission to another.
Example: In deference to his father’s wishes, the boy began to practice Yoga every day.
Related words: deferential [adjective], deferentially [adverb]
deleterious
Category: Vocabulary words
deleterious [adjective]: injurious to health.
Example: The deleterious effects of smoking on human health are well documented in scientific journals.
Related words: deleteriously [adverb], deleteriousness [noun]
delineate
Category: Vocabulary words
delineate [verb]: trace the outline of; describe.
Example: In any professionally run organization, the roles and responsibilities of each employee are clearly delineated.
Related words: delineable [adjective], delineation [noun]
demur
Category: Vocabulary words
demur [verb]: to object; to pause or hesitate.
Example: The bill was passed in the lower house without demur.
Related words: demurrable [adjective]
Notes:
To demur is to object or oppose.
To be demure is to be shy.
denigrate
Category: Vocabulary words
denigrate [verb]: to defame; to sully the reputation of.
Example: The scene was deleted from the movie because the Censor Board felt it denigrated women.
Related words: denigration [noun], denigrative [adjective], denigrator [noun]
deprecate
Category: Vocabulary words
deprecate [verb]: to express disapproval of; to criticize.
Example: The story of the squirrel in the Ramayana teaches us that a contribution to a good cause must never be deprecated, no matter how small that contribution is.
Related words: deprecatingly [adverb], deprecation [noun], deprecative [adjective]
desiccate
Category: Vocabulary words
desiccate [verb]: to remove all moisture from; to dry thoroughly; to become dry.
Example: Over the next few billion years, the expanding sun will bake and desiccate our planet, obliterating all life on it.
Related words: desiccation [noun], desiccative [adjective]
despot
Category: Vocabulary words
despot [noun]: a ruler with unlimited power; a tyrant, an oppressor.
Example: Wielding absolute power in their respective countries, Hitler and Stalin ruled like despots.
Related words: despotic [adjective], despotically [adverb]
destitute
Category: Vocabulary words
destitute [adjective]: lacking food, clothing, and shelter; impoverished.
Example: The economist Jean Dreze has argued that food transfers to the destitute are a good way of using surplus grain .
Related words: destitutely [adverb], destituteness [noun]
desultory
Category: Vocabulary words
desultory [adjective]: lacking a plan or purpose; disconnected.
Example: Some of the students were not interested in the project, and so they went about it in a desultory fashion.
Related words: desultorily [adverb], desultoriness [noun]
..moredeterrent
Category: Vocabulary words
deterrent [adjective]: serving to discourage or prevent.
Example: Jail time can be an effective deterrent to drunken driving.
Related words: deterrently [adverb]
devoid
Category: Vocabulary words
devoid [adjective]: not possessing; lacking; free from.
Example: The judge ruled that the complainant’s charges were devoid of merit.
devout
Category: Vocabulary words
devout [adjective]: devoted; deeply sincere and dedicated.
Example: A devout Catholic, Mother Teresa saw her work as a service to God.
diatribe
Category: Vocabulary words
diatribe [noun]: a piece of sharp criticism.
Example: Members of the opposition launched a diatribe against the union government, calling the latter’s response to the terror attacks weak-kneed.
dichotomy
Category: Vocabulary words
dichotomy [noun]: a division into two opposed parts; the contrast or contradiction between those parts.
..moredidactic
Category: Vocabulary words
diffident
Category: Vocabulary words
digress
Category: Vocabulary words
disabuse
Category: Vocabulary words
discerning
Category: Vocabulary words
discord
Category: Vocabulary words
discrete
Category: Vocabulary words
discretion
Category: Vocabulary words
discretion [noun]: the freedom to decide; also, the ability to make the right decision, esp. with care and caution.
..moredisingenuous
Category: Vocabulary words
disparate
Category: Vocabulary words
disseminate
Category: Vocabulary words
dissent
Category: Vocabulary words
dissolution
Category: Vocabulary words
dissolution [noun]: disintegration; the breaking down of something into its constituent parts.
..moredissonance
Category: Vocabulary words
distend
Category: Vocabulary words
divest
Category: Vocabulary words
divulge
Category: Vocabulary words
dogmatic
Category: Vocabulary words
dogmatic [adjective]: having rigid opinions and asserting them; inflexible and narrow-minded.
..moredormant
Category: Vocabulary words
dormant [adjective]: in an inactive state, as in sleep.
Example: Some pathogens lie dormant in our body, waiting for some trigger to activate them.
Related words: dormancy [noun]
