Vocabulary Chapter 4 Groups 16-18

1. Vocabulary Chapter 4 Groups 16-18 “De-: “down,” “down from,” “opposite of” “dis-”: “opposite of,” “differently,” “apart,” “away” “se-”: “apart”

2. Decadent • (literally, “falling down”) deteriorating; growing worse; declining • The decadent rooming house was once a flourishing hotel

3. deciduous • Having leavesa that fall off at the end of the growing season; shedding leaves • Maple, elm, birch, and other deciduous trees lose their leasve in the fall.

4. demented • Out of (down from) one’s mind; mad; insane; deranged • Whoever did this must have been demented; no sane person would have acted in such a way.

5. demolish • Pull or tear down; destroy; raze; wreck • A wrecking crew is demolishing the old buiding.

6. demote • Move down in grade or rank; degrade; downgrade • For being absent without leave, the corporal was demoted to private.

7. dependent • (literally, “hanging down from”) unable to exist without the support of another • Children are dependent on their parents until they are able to earn their own living.

8. depreciate • 1. go down in value or price • New automobiles depreciate rapidly, byt antiques tend to go up in value. • 2. Speak slightly of; belittle; disparage • The store manager weould feel you are depreciating him if you refer to his as the “head clerk.”

9. despise • Look down on ; scorn; feel contempt for; abhor; disdain • Benedict Arnold was despised by his fellow Americans for betraying his country.

10. Deviate • Turn aside, or down (from a route or rule); stray; wander; digress • Dr. Parker does not see a patient without an appointment, except in an emergency, and she does not deviate from this policy.

11. devour • (literally, “gulp down”) eat greedily; eat like a animal • Wendy must have been starved; she devoured her food.

12. discontent • (usually followed be with) opposite of “content”; dissatisfied; discontented; disgruntled • Dan was discontent with the mark on this Spanish exam; he had expected at lest ten points more.

13. discredit • Disbelieve; refuse to trust • The parents discredited the child’s story, since he was in the habit of telling falsehoods.

14. discrepancy • Disagreement; difference; inconsistency; variation • The first witness said the incident had occurred at 10:00a.m., but the second witness insisted the time was 10:45. This discrepancy puzzled the police.

15. disintegrate • Do the opposite of “integrate” (make into a whole); break into bits; crumble; decay • The driveway needs to be resurfaced; it is beginning to disintegrate.

16. dispassionate • The opposite of “passionate” (showing strong feeling); calm, composed, impartial • For a dispassionate account of how the fight started, ask a neutral observer, not a participant.

17. disrepair • Opposite of good condition or repair; bad condition • The new owner did not take proper care of the building, and ir soon fell into dierepair.

18. dissent • Feel differently; differ in opinion; disagree • When the matter was put to a vote, 29 agreed and 4 dissented.

19. dissident • (literally, “sitting apart”) not agreeing; dissenting; nonconformist • The compromise was welcomed by all the strikers except a small dissident group who felt that the raises were too small.

20. distract • Draw away, or divert the attention of; confuse; bewilder • When the bus s in motion, passengers should do nothing to distract the driver.

21. secede • (literally, “go apart”) withdraw from an organization or federation • When Lincoln was elected President in 1860, South Carolina seceded from the Union.

22. secession • (literally, “a going apart”) withdrawal from an organization or federation • South Carolina’s secession was followed by that of ten other states and led to the formation of the Confederacy.

23. seclude • Keep apart from the others; place in solitutde; isolate; sequester • Leighann was so upset over losing her job that she secluded herself and refused to see anyone.

24. secure • 1. apart, or free, from care, fear, or worry; confident, assured • Are you worried about passin, or do you feel secure? • 2. Safe against loss, attack, or danger • Guests who want their valuables to be secure are urged to deposit them in the hotel vault.

25. sedition • Going apart from, or against, an established government; action, speech, or writing to overthrow the government; insurrection, treason • The signers of the Declaration of Independence, if captured by the enemy, would probably have been tried for sedition.

26. segregate • (literally, “set apart from the herd”) separate from the main body; isolate • During the swim period, the nonswimmers are segregated from the rest of our group to receive special instruction.