John Wiley And Sons Webster''s New World - Essential vocabulary_D -2

a degenerate person, especially one who is sexually perverse —vi.. • Does reading degenerate magazines corrupt one, or must one be degenerate to buy such magazines?. a destitute person w

debilitating (di BIL i TAYT ing) adj weakening; making weak and feeble;

ennervating

• Lou Gehrig was a great baseball player before developing the debilitating

disease, ALS, which carries his name

• When Dylan was 2 years old, he developed a debilitating temper that

caused him to bang his head on things

[-ly adv.] [Syn weakening]

decimate (DE sim ayt) vt to kill or destroy a large part of the population

• The city officials are hoping that by spraying in swamps they will be able

to decimate the mosquito population.

• Every seven years or so, locusts decimate the crops in some farm areas.

[-d, decimating]

defamation (DEF im AY shin) n an injuring of someone’s character by making

false statements about him or her; slandering; maligning

• Defamation of character is an offense that one can sue for in a civil court.

• The judge ruled that the false statements Girard made about Ruth

consti-tuted defamation.

[Syn slander]

deficiency (di FISH in see) n the state of lacking in some essential quality or

element; incompleteness; shortage; deficit

• Mark’s intellectual deficiency leaves him two cans short of a six-pack.

• When Violet bought the car, she found there was a deficiency in the rear

seat belt

[Syn shortage]

degenerate (di JEN er it for adj and n., di JEN er AYT for v.) adj 1 sunken below a

former normalcy of condition or character; 2 morally corrupt —n a degenerate person, especially one who is sexually perverse —vi to decline morally, culturally, and so on

• Helen’s degenerate lifestyle was the result of a difficult childhood.

• Does reading degenerate magazines corrupt one, or must one be degenerate

to buy such magazines?

• Helen, mentioned above, is a degenerate.

• As one ages, one’s sense of humor tends to degenerate, and the jokes get racier.

[-ly adv.] [Syn depraved]

demise (dim YZ) vt 1 to transfer an estate by lease (especially for a fixed amount of

time); 2 to transfer sovereignty by abdication or death —n 1 a transfer of an estate by

lease (for a fixed term); 2 the transfer of sovereignty by death or abdicating; 3 death

• “Demising an apartment” is not a phrase you’ll see or hear every day.

• The “demise of a monarch” is a much more likely use of the word, even

though there are few monarchs left today

• “Death” is the most commonly used meaning of the term, so let this be

the demise of this discussion.

[-d, demising] [Syn death]

268

demographic (DEM uh GRA fik) n a vital statistic of human population, such

as age, income, sex, and so on, used mainly for marketing research

• Demographics are a major concern to businesses.

• Before McDonald’s picks a location for a restaurant, they need to know

that the demographics are such that there are many young couples with

children that have enough money to eat out a couple times a week

denigrate (DEN ig RAYT) vt 1 to blacken; 2 to defame; to disparage the

char-acter of

• During an election campaign, it has become customary for one candidate

to attempt to denigrate the other’s reputation.

• Negative advertising consists of denigrating one’s competitor’s product.

[-d, denigrating] [Syn defame, disparage]

derelict (DER il ikt) adj 1 deserted by the owner; forsaken; abandoned;

2 remiss in performance of duty; neglectful of duty; negligent —n 1 an

aban-doned property; 2 a destitute person with no home or job

• The derelict boat bobbed up and down in the waves, just waiting to be

swamped

• The reason the burglars gained access was because the gate guard was

derelict in his duty.

• The derelict building was an eyesore and a haven for a swarm of rats.

• It is not unusual to see a derelict sleeping in a cardboard hovel by the side

of a building on the Bowery

[-ion n.] [Syn remiss, negligent]

desiccant (DES ik int) adj drying —n a substance that attracts water and is

packed with some goods to prevent water from damaging them

• Silica gel is a desiccant often packaged with pills in a plastic, ventilated tube

so that water doesn’t damage the pills

• Desiccants are sometimes packed with clothing or paper goods in little

cloth bags

[Syn dryer]

desiccate (DES ik ayt) vt 1 to completely dry; 2 to preserve food by

freeze-drying, or just drying it

• Cranberries are completely washed and then dessicated before they are

packaged for shipping

• Coffee dessicated by freeze-drying is as popular as the brewed type in most

homes in the United States

[-d, desiccating]

desultory (dis UHL ter ee) adj 1 lacking connection; aimless; random; 2

lack-ing in relevance

• The professor’s lecture seemed desultory, having no connection to anything

the class was studying

• When Francine went to get her blood drawn for the test, the nurse’s asking

her to step on the scale seemed to be desultory.

[Syn random]

D: GRE Words 269

detest (di TEST) vt to intensely dislike; to abhor; to hate

• President George H W Bush shocked many growers when he announced

that he detested broccoli.

• Most people detest having to visit the dentist’s office.

[-ed, -ing] [Syn hate]

deuterium (doo TEAR ee uhm) n an isotope of hydrogen (atomic weight of

2.014, symbol D) used in nuclear reactors

• Deuterium oxide is known as heavy water.

• Regular hydrogen has a single proton in its nucleus; deuterium’s nucleus

has a proton and a neutron

deviance (DEE vee ins) n a turning away from what is usual or what is accepted

as being normal

• Pouring orange juice over your breakfast cereal would definitely be

consid-ered a deviance from the norm.

• Deviance is not necessarily a negative thing, as proven by the Wright

broth-ers at Kitty Hawk in 1903

diatribe (DY i TRYB) n an abusive, bitter, ranting criticism or denouncing

• Fidel Castro is renowned for his long diatribes against the U.S government.

• Diatribes tend to cause the listener to close his or her ears and mind after a

short length of time

[Syn denunciation]

diffidence (DIF i dins) n lack of self-confidence marked by hesitation in speech

• Stuttering is often an expression of diffidence.

• Diffidence in speech can often be overcome by overpreparing.

[Syn shyness]

digress (di GRESS) vi to momentarily or temporarily stray from the main subject

• Max Schulman’s Dobie Gillis is famous for straying from his subject and

then going back to it with the phrase “but I digress.”

• While explaining to her class how to find the areas of different quadrilaterals,

Mrs Green digressed and told how much she had enjoyed that day’s lunch.

[-ed, -ing] [Syn deviate]

diminutive (di MIN yoo tiv) adj small of stature; much smaller than average;

tiny —n 1 a very small person; 2 a word formed from another by adding a suffix

indicating smallness

• Gail was diminutive, with the top of her head barely reaching Michael’s

chest

• The diminutive of kitchen is kitchenette.

[-ly adv.] [Syn small]

dirge (DOERJ) n a slow, sad, funereal hymn or poem expressing grief; a lament

• Dirges are customary as part of certain religions’ funeral ceremonies.

• An elegy is a type of dirge without music.

[Syn lament]

disabuse (dis uh BYOOZ) vt to get rid of false ideas; to set straight; to free from

misconception

• Part of growing up is to disabuse ourselves of the notion that whatever we

need will be given to us

• It is just as important to disabuse ourselves of the idea that good deeds are

always rewarded

[-d, disabusing] [Syn correct]

disburse (dis BOERS) vt to pay out; to expend (a sum of money)

• Inez disbursed $23.47 at the grocery store.

• On payday, your employer disburses your salary in the form of a paycheck.

[-d, dispersing] [Syn expend]

discontent (DIS cuhn TENT) n a dissatisfaction with a person, thing, or state

of affairs; a desire for something more or different —vt to make discontent

• Now is the winter of our discontent after having shoveled all that snow.

• After 10 days of eating steak and potatoes, one becomes discontent with

that diet

D: GRE Words 271

disinter (dis in TER) vt 1 to dig up from the grave; to exhume; 2 to bring to

light something that had been hidden

• The medical examiner sometimes has to disinter a body from the grave in

order to perform an autopsy on it

• It is only with the passage of time that the actual tape recordings of

Lyndon Johnson’s White House conversations were disinterred.

[-red, -ring] [Syn exhume]

disinterestedness (dis IN trist id niss) n a lack of caring, involvement, or concern

• When asked whether she would like to go to the Dodgers game, Maria

expressed a total disinterestedness.

• Joel’s disinterestedness in getting his schoolwork done on time led to his

failing grades

[Syn indifference]

disputatious (DIS pyoo TAY shis) adj fond of arguing; contentious; eager to

dispute

• Allen’s disputatious nature made him a likely candidate for the debating team.

• Whenever Daphne was accused of being disputatious, she would retort

“That’s debatable.”

[-ly adv.]

dissonance (DIS uh nins) n 1 inharmonious sounds; chords containing

clash-ing sounds; 2 a lack of harmony or agreement; discord; incongruity

• If you want to learn the true meaning of dissonance, go listen to an

ele-mentary school band concert

• The later works of Igor Stravinsky are famous for their deliberate use of

distillation (DIS til AY shin) n 1 a process by which a liquid is vaporized, and

the vapor is cooled to form a purer or more highly concentrated substance; 2 apurifying or refining by distillation

• Alcoholic spirits are removed from fermented mash by means of

distillation.

• Distillation is used to separate gasoline from crude oil.

[Syn concentration, purification]

diversity (di VERS i tee) n the quality or state of being different or varied

• The diversity of its people is thought to be one of the great strengths of the

• For failing to follow orders, the sergeant was divested of his stripes.

• Given the recent performance of the stock market, now seems like a pretty

good time to divest your portfolio of poor performers.

[-ed, -ing] [Syn strip]

divulge (di VULJ) vt to make known, disclose, reveal

• You must promise never to divulge the location of the hidden treasure, or

else!

• Unless you pay to see my hand, I do not have to divulge which cards I was

holding when I won that hand

[-d, divulging] [Syn reveal]

dogmatic (dawg MAT ik) adj 1 of or like dogma; 2 accepted without proof;

3 stating an opinion with arrogance

• In the early part of the twentieth century, the story about a young George

Washington chopping down a cherry tree was dogmatic.

• The scientific community encourages its members to question everything

and to avoid being dogmatic.

• Dr Jackson tends to be dogmatic when he hands out his diagnoses to the

medical students

[-ally adv.] [Syn dictatorial]

dolt (DOHLT) n stupid, slow-witted person; blockhead

• The way that man slipped into the bus seat before the pregnant woman

could take it marks him as a dolt.

• Who but a dolt goes out of the house wearing his or her shoes on the

wrong feet?

[-ish adj., -ishly adv., -ishness n.]

D: GRE Words 273

dormant (DAWR mint) adj 1 asleep; 2 as if asleep; resting; 3 inactive;

inoperative

• The night watchman was dormant on the job.

• While the cat may appear dormant, it is aware of everything going on

around it

• A dormant volcano might not have erupted in the last 100 years, yet it is

still alive

• Most of the volcanoes in the Cascades are considered to be dormant.

[-ly adv., dormancy n.] [Syn latent]

dross (DRAWSS) n 1 a scum that forms on the surface of molten metal;

2 waste material; worthless stuff; rubbish

• In a steel mill or foundry, dross ends up on the rubbish heap.

• Good garage-sale shoppers learn to separate treasure from dross.

dubious (DOO bee is) adj 1 causing doubt; vague; ambiguous; 2 of doubtful

value; questionable; shady; 3 skeptical; hesitating

• Valerie was rather dubious about whether she was coming to the basketball

• That weight lifter is strong as a dynamo.

dysfunctional (dis FUNK shi nuhl) adj 1 unable to perform normally or

properly; 2 showing impaired or abnormal psychosocial functioning

• A person with dysfunctional kidneys has to make use of a dialysis

machine

• Serial killers are among the most dysfunctional personalities in the world.

274 Essential Vocabulary

E – F

edify (ED i FY) vt to instruct so as to enlighten or improve morally, intellectually,

or spiritually

• It might edify you to know that by the time Mozart was 13, he had been

appointed honorary concertmaster at the Court of Salzburg

• Watching how a building is constructed can be a very edifying experience

(no pun intended)

• Edify means to build, but that usage is pretty much obsolete by now.

[edified, -ing, edification n.]

egalitarian (ee GAL i TER ee in) adj advocating that people should all have

equal social, economic, and political rights —n one who so advocates

• The so-called ERA, or Equal Rights Amendment, for women was supported

by egalitarian groups.

• Egalitarians supported the civil rights movement of the late 1960s.

elegy (EL i gee) n 1 a song or poem of praise for the dead; 2 any mournful

song or poem

• Gray’s “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” is an elegy that laments

the loss of ordinary people

• Shelly’s “Adonais” is an elegy mourning the death of John Keats.

elemental (EL im EN til) adj 1 of or like natural forces; typical of the physical

universe; 2 basic and powerful rather than subtle or refined; 3 of any of the fourtraditional elements (earth, air, fire, and water) traditionally thought to compriseall things

• It is elemental that satellites orbit their planets.

• The force of an erupting volcano is elemental in its power.

• Hunger is an elemental drive; the urge to be entertained is not.

[-ly adv.] [Syn basic]

elucidate (il OO si DAYT) vt to clear up (especially something abstract); to

explain

• Please elucidate on the subject of why you did not come home last night

until after midnight

• Mrs Jones would appreciate your elucidating on Einstein’s theory of

relativ-ity so that it is clear to her whether you understand it

[-ed, -ing] [Syn explain]

emaciate (im AY shee AYT) vt to cause to grow excessively thin; to cause to

waste away

• Starvation emaciates the body.

• People suffering from anorexia emaciate.

[-d, emaciating, emaciation n.] [Syn thin, waste away]

276

emancipate (im AN si PAYT) vt 1 to set free from bondage, slavery, serfdom,

and the like; 2 to free from control or restraint

• Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of 1862 did not emancipate the slaves

living in the Union, only those in the Confederacy, where he had nopower

• At age 18 in most states, a child can be emancipated from his or her parents’

control

[-d, emancipating, emancipation n.] [Syn free]

embezzle (em BEZ il) vt to steal by fraud; to take money from someone on

false pretense and then spend it on oneself

• Several corporate executives spent the late 1990s embezzling their

stockhold-ers’ money

• Con men are skilled in the art of embezzling.

[-d, embezzling, -ment, -r n.] [Syn steal]

emit (ee MIT) vt to send out; send forth; give off; utter; discharge

• A transmitter’s antenna emits some kind of waves.

• A speaker stands before an audience and emits words.

• Old Faithful emits hot water at regular intervals.

[-ted, -ting] [Syn discharge]

emollient (im AHL yint) adj softening; soothing —n a substance that has a

softening effect when applied to the skin

• Many medicinal preparations have an emollient effect.

• Proper skin care requires replacing skin moisture every day by using

emollients.

encomium (in KOHM ee uhm) n a formal expression of praise; a hymn or

eulogy

• “America the Beautiful” is an encomium to the natural beauty of the country.

• “Adonais” is Shelly’s encomium to the poet John Keats.

• Traveling faster than the speed of light is the stuff of science fiction but is

enigmatic to today’s science.

[-ally adv.] [Syn obscure]

enunciate (in UHN see AYT) vt 1 to state in a systematic way; 2 to pronounce

words clearly; 3 to announce

• Einstein first enunciated his theory of relativity in 1905.

• It is important to enunciate clearly to make your position understood by

others

• Bob and Carol enunciated their engagement to each other.

[-d, enuciating] [Syn utter]

E – F: GRE Words 277

enzyme (EN zym) n any one of many proteins developed by plants and

ani-mals that act as catalysts in certain chemical reactions

• Chlorophyll acts as an enzyme in green plants’ process of photosynthesis.

• Pepsin and retsyn are two enzymes that aid in human digestion.

epicure (EP ik yur) n a person who has an appreciation of fine food and drink,

and enjoys consuming same

• French cuisine has a great appeal to the epicure.

• Snails, while a common delicacy in France, are the exclusive domain of the

epicure in this country.

• Chinese, French, and Italian cuisines are no longer for the enjoyment of

American epicures only.

[Syn gourmet, gastronome]

epithet (EP i THET) n 1 an often derogatory word or phrase used to

character-ize someone; 2 a descriptive name or title (for example, Alexander the Great)

• Egghead is an epithet for an intellectual person.

• In King Ethelred the Unready’s name, “the Unready” is an epithet.

equable (EK wib il) adj not varying very much; even tempered; serene; not

readily upset

• Tropical climates are equable rather than seasonal.

• It was strange to see George fly off the handle because he is usually quite

equable.

[equably adv., equability n.] [Syn steady]

equivalence (ik WIV il ens) n equality of value, meaning, force, grade, weight,

and so on

• The equivalence of 2.54 centimeters and 1 inch is a well-known relationship.

• A generic drug has the chemical equivalence of its brand-name cousin at a

lower price

equivocal (ik WIV ik il) adj 1 capable of being interpreted in more than one

way; purposely vague; obscure; 2 uncertain; doubtful; 3 suspicious; questionableconduct

• Almost every character in Lewis Carroll’s books is equivocal, except for

Alice

• The origin of the hamburger is equivocal, but everyone attributes the origin

of the ice-cream cone to the St Louis World’s Fair

• The shopkeeper called the police when he considered the behavior of the

person hanging around outside his shop to be equivocal.

[-ly adv.] [Syn obscure]

equivocate (ik WIV ik AYT) vi mislead; hedge; deceive; be deliberately vague or

ambiguous

• Part of a defense attorney’s job is to equivocate, so as to leave the jury with

a reasonable doubt

• When the police are interviewing a suspect and he or she equivocates, they

can be pretty sure they’ve found the right person

[-d, equivocating] [Syn lie]

erode (ir OHD) vt 1 to wear away; eat into; disintegrate; 2 to cause to wear

away; 3 to form by gradually wearing away

• Anything that is continually rubbed against erodes.

• Rain has eroded the rocks of Bryce Canyon, Utah, to make all the beautiful,

statuesque formations

• The Grand Canyon is the result of rock being eroded over millions of years

by the Colorado River

[-d, eroding] [Syn wear (away)]

erudition (ER yoo DISH in) n learning acquired through scholarship (by

read-ing and study)

• Everything we know about ancient Greek civilization is the result of

archaeology and erudition.

• Erudition in some form continues throughout life for any intellectually

curious person

[Syn information]

E – F: GRE Words 279

esoterica (ES oh TER ik uh) n 1 things meant to be understood only by an

elite few; 2 confidential things

• The Native American medicine man was responsible for passing down the

esoterica of his calling to the next generation.

• Every religion has certain persons to whom are entrusted the esoterica of

the group

eulogy (YOO li jee) n a speech or writing in praise of a person who has recently

died, or a project that has been killed

• It is customary for a eulogy to be given by one or more persons at a funeral

service

• Traditionally, any ill traits of the deceased are not mentioned during a eulogy.

[Syn tribute]

euphemism (YOO fi MIZ im) n 1 a word or phrase that is less expressive

sub-stituted for a more expressive one to lessen its impact (the remains rather than the corpse); 2 the use of such a word

• The “dearly departed” is a euphemism for the “dead person.”

• Many people speak in euphemisms, requiring the listeners to interpret what

they are hearing

[euphemistic adj., euphemistically adv.]

evolve (ee VOLV) vt., vi 1 to develop by gradual change; unfold; 2 to change

by evolution

• A winning baseball team evolves as all the right players are assembled and

become comfortable playing together

• Modern man is thought to have evolved from earlier species, such as

Cro-Magnon man

[-d, evolving] [Syn unfold]

excoriate (iks KAW ree ayt) vt 1 to harshly denounce; 2 to rub off the skin of;

to abrade; to flay

• Mr Brown excoriated his class for having misbehaved on the class trip.

• Jack excoriated his right elbow when he slid into second base.

[-d, excoriating, excoriation n.]

280 Essential Vocabulary