Vocabulary Chapter 4

Groups 16-18“De-: “down,” “down from,”

“opposite of”“dis-”: “opposite of,” “differently,”

“apart,” “away”“se-”: “apart”

(literally, “falling down”) deteriorating; growing worse; declining◦ The decadent rooming house was once a

flourishing hotel

Decadent

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.

deciduous

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.

demented

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

demolish

Move down in grade or rank; degrade; downgrade◦ For being absent without leave, the corporal was

demoted to private.

demote

(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.

dependent

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.”

depreciate

Look down on ; scorn; feel contempt for; abhor; disdain◦ Benedict Arnold was despised by his fellow

Americans for betraying his country.

despise

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.

Deviate

(literally, “gulp down”) eat greedily; eat like a animal◦ Wendy must have been starved; she devoured

her food.

devour

(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.

discontent

Disbelieve; refuse to trust◦ The parents discredited the child’s story, since he

was in the habit of telling falsehoods.

discredit

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.

discrepancy

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.

disintegrate

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.

dispassionate

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.

disrepair

Feel differently; differ in opinion; disagree◦ When the matter was put to a vote, 29 agreed

and 4 dissented.

dissent

(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.

dissident

Draw away, or divert the attention of; confuse; bewilder◦ When the bus s in motion, passengers should do

nothing to distract the driver.

distract

(literally, “go apart”) withdraw from an organization or federation◦ When Lincoln was elected President in 1860,

South Carolina seceded from the Union.

secede

(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.

secession

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.

seclude

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.

secure

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.

sedition

(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.

segregate