- appropriateness of behavior or conduct; propriety
- The countess complained that the vulgar peasants lacked the decorum appropriate for a visit to the palace.
- respect, courtesy
- The respectful young law clerk treated the Supreme Court justuce with the utmost deference.
- to speak of or treat with contempt, to mock
- The awkward child was often derided by his cooler peers.
- to dry out thoroughly
- After a few weeks lying on the desert's baking sands the cow;s carcase became completely desiccated.
- jumping from one thing to another; disconnected
- Diane had a desultory academic redord; she had changed majors 12 times in 3 years.
Similar: aimless, haphazard,indiscriminate,erratic, objectless,random,unplanned
- an abusive, condemnetory speech
- The trucker bellowed a diatribe at the driver who had cut him off.
Similar: fulmination,jeremiad,harangue,invective,obloquy, tirade
- lacking self-confidence
- Steve's diffidence during the job interview stemmed from his nervous nature and lack of experience in the feild.
Similar: Self-effacing, shy,coy,timid,retiring
- to make larger, expand
- When you enter a darkened room your eyes will dialate.
- intended to delay
- The congeressman used dilatory measures to delay the passage of the bill.
- Someone with an amateurish and superficial interest in a topic
- Jerry's freinds were such dilettantes they seemed to have new jobs and hobbies every week.
- a funeral hymn or mournful speech
- The dirge for the presidents funeral was very sad.
- set right, free from error
- Galileo's obervations disabuse scholars of the notion the Sun revolved around the Earth.
- Similar: correct ,undeceive
- to percieve or recognize
- It is easy to discern the difference between butter and butter-flavored topping.
- fundamentally different; entirely unlike
- Although the twins are physically identical, their personalities are disparate.
- to present a false appearance, to disguise one's real intentions or character
- The villian could dissemble to the police no longer- he admitted the deed and tore up the floor to reveal the body of the old man.
Similar: act, affect,assume,counterfeit,dissimulate,mask,pretend
- a harsh and disagreeable combination, especially of sounds
- Cognitive dissonance is the inner conflict produced when long-standing beleifs are contadicted by new evidence.
- a firmly held opinion, esecially a religious belief
- "Linus' central dogma was that children who believed in The Great Pumpkin would be rewarded.
- dictorial in one's opinions
- The dictator was dogmatic; claiming he and only he, was right.
- to deceive or a person whos is easily deceived
- Bugs Bunny was able to dupe Elmer Fudd by dressing up as a lady rabbit.
- selecting from or made up from a variety of sources
- Budapest's architecture is an electric mix of easter and wester styles.
- The efficacy of penicillin was unsurpassed when it was first introduced, eliminating almost all bacterial infections.
Similar: dynamism,effectiveness,vigor,productiveness.strenght, proficiency
- a sorrowful poem or speech
- Though Thomas Gray's Eegy is about death and lossit urges its readers to endure life, and to trust in spirituality.
Similar: dirge lament
- persuasive and moving, especially in speech
- The Gettysburg Address is moving not only becuase of its lofty sentiments but becuase of its eloquent words.
- to add ornamental or fictitious details
- Britt embellished her resume, hoping to make the lowly posotions she had held seem more important.
- to copy; to try to equal or excel
- The graduate student sought to emulate his professor in ever way, copying not only how she taught, but also how she conducted herself outside of class.
- to reduce in strength
- The querrilas hoped that a series of surprise attacks would enervate the regular army.
Similar: debilitate, enfeeble,sap,weaken
- to produce, cause or bring about
- His fear and hatred of clowns was engendered when he witnessed the death of his father at the hands of a clown.
- a puzzle, a mystery
- Speaking in riddles and dressed in old robes, the artist gained a reputation as something of an enigma.
Similar: conundrum, perplexity
- to count, list, itemize
- Moses returned from the mountain with tablets on which the commendments were enumerated.
- lasting a short time
- The lives of mayflies seem ephemeral to us since the flies' average life span is a matter of hours.
- to use expressions of double meaning in order to mislead
- When faced with criticism of his policies, the politician equivocated and left all parties thinking he agreed with them.
- wandering and unpredictable
- The plot seemed predictable until it suddenly took a series of erratic turns that surpised the audience.
- learned,scholarly, bookish
- The annual meeting of philosophy professors was a gathering of the most erudite, well-published individuals in the field.
- known or understand only by a few
- Only a handful of experts are knowledgeable about tthe esoteric world of particle physics.
Similar: abstruse, arcane,obscure
- Most people consider it estimable that Mother Teresa spent her life helping the poor of India.
- speech in praise of someone
- His best friend gave the eulogy, outlining his many achievments and talents.
Similar: commend,extol, laud
- use of an inoffensive word or phrase on place of more distastefull one.
- The funeral director preferred to use the euphemism 'sleeping' instead of the word 'dead.'
- to make worse
- It is unwise to take asprin to try to relieve heartburn, since instead of providing relief, it will only exacerbated the problem.
- to clear from blame, prove innocent
- The legal system is intended to convict thosewho are guilty and exculpate those who are innocent.
- urgent, requiring immediate action
- The patient was losing blood so rapidly that it was exigent to stop the source of bleeding.
- to clear of blame
- The fugitive was exonerate when another criminal confessed to committing the crime.
Similar: absolve, acquit,clear,vindicate,exculpate
- clearly sated or shown; forthright in expression
- In Reading Comprehension, questions that ask directly about a detail in the passage are sometimes called Explcit Text questions.