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Putnam's Word Book / A Practical Aid in Expressing Ideas Through the Use of an Exact and Varied Vocabulary cover

Putnam's Word Book / A Practical Aid in Expressing Ideas Through the Use of an Exact and Varied Vocabulary

Chapter 9: D
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About This Book

The volume compiles synonyms, antonyms, and associated words in alphabetic order to aid precise expression, including abbreviations and usage notes. It emphasizes that listed words are similar but not always interchangeable and encourages consulting a dictionary for exact meanings. The collection includes technical and regional terms, memory-help associated-word lists, and an addenda of additional entries. Its practical organization targets students, writers, and specialists seeking alternatives and nuanced vocabulary.

D

Dabbler, n. superficialist, sciolist, smatterer, dilettante.

dabblingly, adv. superficially, cursorily.

dabster, n. (Colloq.) expert, adept, master-hand.

dagger, n. stiletto, poniard, bowie knife, dirk; obelisk.

daily, a. diurnal, quotidian.

dainty, n. delicacy, tidbit, treat, rarebit, bonne bouche.

dainty, a. fastidious, squeamish, finical; delicate, exquisite.

dale, n. glen, dell, dingle, vale, valley.

dalliance, n. fondling, endearments; delay, procrastination, postponement.

dally, v. dawdle, trifle; fondle, wanton; delay, postpone, procrastinate.

dam, n. barrier, weir, burrock.

dam, v. restrain, obstruct.

damage, v. injure, hurt, harm, despoil, scathe, deface, impair, disfigure, damnify.

damage, n. injury, detriment, impairment, defacement, harm, hurt, mischief.

damages, n. pl. indemnity, satisfaction, reparation.

damn, v. condemn, curse, reprobate, denounce.

damnable, a. accursed, atrocious, execrable, heinous.

damnation, n. condemnation, reprobation, perdition.

damning, a. condemnatory, damnatory.

damp, a. moist, wet, humid, dank.

dampen, v. moisten, damp; check, repress, restrain, discourage, depress.

damper, n. check, setback, wet blanket, discouragement, rebuff.

dampness, n. moisture, humidity.

dance, n. ballet, cotillion, quadrille, waltz, reel, fandango, polka, two-step, polonaise, mazurka, schottische, allemande cancan, minuet, courant, bolero, gavot. Associated words: terpsichorean, Terpsichore, choregraphy, dervish.

dancing-mania, n. epidemic chorea, choromania, cory-bantism

dander, n. (Slang) anger, resentment, ire, wrath, dudgeon.

dandified, a. foppish, coxcombical. Antonyms: slovenly, careless, seedy.

dandy, n. fop, exquisite, dude, coxcomb, popinjay, incroyable, jackadandy. Antonym: sloven.

danger, n. jeopardy, hazard, peril, insecurity, risk, exposure, imminence, impediment. Antonyms: safety, immunity, security, shelter, safeguard, protection.

dangerous, a. perilous, hazardous, risky, unsafe, critical, parlous, imminent. Antonyms: See safe.

Danish Parliament. Rigsdag (Landsthing and Folkething).

dapper, a. spruce, trim, natty, spry, nimble.

dappled, a. piebald, spotted, pied, mottled.

dare, v. venture, presume; defy, challenge, stump.

dare, n. defiance, provocation, challenge.

dare-devil, a. reckless, rash, inconsiderate, venturesome.

dark, a. unilluminated, sunless, dusky, rayless, Cimmerian, pitchy, tenebrific, murk, murky, dingy, shadowy, shady, mirky, lowering, overcast, gloomy, sullen, Stygian, sombre; obscure, mysterious, incomprehensible, recondite abstruse, cabalistic, cryptic, enigmatical, occult; brunette, swart, swarthy.

darken, v. shade, obscure, infuscate, shadow, becloud, obfuscate; perplex, confuse; sully, tarnish, discolor.

darkness, n. obscurity, shadow, dimness, gloom, infuscation, murkiness, obfuscation, tenebrosity; unenlightenment. Associated words: Erebus, Ahriman, Cimmerii.

dart, v. hurl, launch, jaculate; spring, dodge, bolt, shoot.

dash, n. collision, allision, crash; abashment, frustration; infusion, smack, tincture, sprinkling; onset, rush, sally; energy, animation, vigor; (Slang) parade, flourish, show, ostentation.

dashboard, n. splashboard, dasher.

dashing, a. spirited, bold, brilliant, ostentatious, gay; roaring, rushing, headlong.

dastard, n. coward, craven, poltroon. See coward.

daub, v. smear, bedaub, besmear, soil, sully.

daughter, n. Associated words: filial, filiation, filicide.

daunt, v. cow, intimidate, frighten, alarm, appall, dishearten, scare.

dauntless, a. intrepid, valorous, daring, fearless.

dawn, n. daybreak, aurora, dayspring, sunrise.

day, n. daytime, nycthemeron; time, age, generation, epoch, era. Associated words: metemptosis, proemptosis, daily, diurnal, quotidian, ephemeral, sine die, ferial, per diem.

day-blindness, n. nyctalopia.

day-dream, n. revery.

day scholar. extern.

day-sight, n. hemeralopia.

dazzle, v. daze, blind; bewilder, astonish, overpower.

dazzling, a. brilliant, intense, glaring.

deacon, n. Associated words: diaconal, diaconate.

dead, a. lifeless, deceased, inanimate, defunct, extinct, departed; inert, obtuse, impassive, callous, torpid, unfeeling, subdued.

dead body. See corpse.

deadborn, a. stillborn.

deaden, v. blunt, benumb, hebetate, moderate; devitalize, subdue.

dead-house, n. morgue; ossuarium, charnel-house, mortuary, tomb.

deadly, a. fatal, mortal, lethal, lethiferous, noxious, internecine; implacable, unrelenting.

deaf-mute, n. Associated word: dactylology.

deal, v. distribute, apportion, dispense, allot; trade, traffic, negotiate.

dealer, n. trader, dispenser, trafficker, retailer, shopkeeper, merchant, monger, vender, tradesman, broker, mercer, commission dealer, jobber.

dealing, n. distribution, apportionment; traffic, intercourse, barter, business, transaction, negotiation, commerce, trade.

dear, a. costly, expensive, high-priced; beloved, darling, precious. Antonyms: cheap, inexpensive.

dearth, n. scarcity, lack, deficiency, paucity, want. Antonyms: See plenty.

death, n. decease, demise, dissolution, dying, mortality, expiration, quietus, mort, obit, extinction; euthanasia (an easy death). Associated-words: eschatology, thanatology, thanatopsis, necrology, thanatophobia, necrophobia, necrolatry, requiem, necromancy, posthumous, post-mortem, ante-mortem, euthanasian, dirge, crossbones, placebo, in extremis, decedent, funeral, obit, obitual, necrologist, fatality, fatal, casualty.

deathless, a. immortal, imperishable, undying.

death notice. obituary, necrology.

debar, v. preclude, exclude.

debase, v. degrade, deteriorate, abase, vitiate, corrupt, alloy, humiliate.

debasement, n. degradation, abasement, deterioration, vitiation, depravation.

debatable, a. contestable, moot, disputable, mooted, controvertible. Antonyms: incontestable, indisputable, incontrovertible.

debate, v. argue, discuss, moot, contend, controvert.

debate, n. discussion, argument, moot, dispute, controversy, disputation, forensic.

debauch, v. vitiate, deprave, corrupt, demoralize; ravish, rape.

debauch, n. debauchery, dissipation, abandon, drunkenness saturnalia, orgies, bacchanals, lechery; rape. Antonyms: temperance, continence, moderation.

debauched, a. dissolute, licentious, dissipated, corrupt.

debauchee, n. libertine, lecher, fornicator, rake, drunkard, satyr.

debauchery, n. lechery, libertinism, sensuality, licentiousness, bestiality.

debonair, a. suave, courteous, urbane, complaisant, gracious.

debt, n. liability, due, obligation, debit. Antonyms: asset, resource. Associated words: garnishee, distrain, distress, debenture.

decadent, a. deteriorating, degenerating.--n. degenerate.

decay, v. decline, retrograde, deteriorate; rot, decompose, putrefy, moulder.

decay, n. deterioration, corruption, decline, decadence, senescence, retrogradation, decomposition, caducity; putrefaction, putrescence, rot; eremacausis.

decayed, a. rotten, corrupt, putrefied, carious, putrescent, decomposed.

decaying, a. rotting, corrupt, mouldering, decadent, putrefying, carious. Antonym: imputrescible.

decease, n. demise, death.

deceased person. decedent.

deceit, n. deception, imposition, trickery, chicanery, artifice, delusion, circumvention, guile, duplicity, imposture finesse, dissimulation, cozenage, trumpery, fallacy.

deceitful, a. deceptive, illusive, insidious, fraudulent, wily, artful, disingenuous.

deceivable, a. deceptible, gullible, credulous. Antonyms: indeceptible, undeceivable.

deceive, v. delude, beguile, mislead, gull, impose upon, dupe, circumvent, hoodwink, bamboozle. Antonyms: undeceive, disillusionize, disabuse.

deceiver, n. impostor, charlatan, mountebank, swindler, knave, cogger.

decency, n. propriety, seemliness, decorum, modesty, Antonyms: See indecency.

decent, a. suitable, modest, decorous, seemly, respectable. Antonyms: See indecent.

deception, n. imposition, craft, duplicity, deceit, hoax, fallacy, ruse, imposture, artifice, illusion, prevarication, finesse, dissimulation, cozenage, sophistry, coggery. Antonyms: guilelessness, candor, disillusionment, fair dealing, sincerity.

deceptive, a. delusive, fallacious, deceitful, specious, insidious, sophistical. Antonyms: guileless, candid, ingenuous, sincere, open.

decharm, v. disillusionize, disenchant, disabuse.

decide, v. determine, settle, conclude, resolve.

decided, a. unequivocal, determined, pronounced, unwavering, positive, incontrovertible.

decision, n. determination, settlement, conclusion, verdict, inference, deduction; firmness, resolution, constancy, steadfastness. Antonyms: indecision, irresolution, vacillation.

decisive, a. conclusive, final, peremptory, summary.

deck, v. bedeck, bedizen, array.

declaration, n. assertion, affirmation, avowal, predication, pronunciamento.

declare, v. affirm, assert, aver, state, asseverate, predicate.

decline, v. lean, incline, bend; languish, sink, wane, diminish, decrease, deteriorate, retrograde; deviate, stray; shun, refuse.

decline, n. deterioration, retrogradation, diminution, retrogression, degeneracy, declension, declination, decay; progressive emaciation, marasmus. Antonyms: progress, advancement, improvement.

decolor, v. decolorate, decolorize.

decorate, v. embellish, adorn, beautify, ornament, garnish, enrich, trim, bedizen, bedeck.

decorated, a. embellished, ornate, ornamented, trimmed. Antonyms: See plain.

decoration, n. embellishment, garniture, bedizenment, adorning, ornamentation, decking, insignia, regalia, purfling; paraphernalia.

decorative, a. ornamental, embellishing, adorning.

decoy, v. entice, lure, allure, ensnare, entrap.

decoy, n. lure, enticement, magnet, allurement.

decrease, n. decrement, diminution, reduction, decline, depreciation, abatement, subsidence.

decrease, v. diminish, reduce, dwindle, subside, depreciate, abate, wane.

decreasing, a. decrescent, diminishing, waning.

decrease of motion retardation.

decree, n. edict, fiat, mandate, decretal, rescript.--v. enact, ordain, enjoin.

decrial, n. condemnation, disparagement, dispraise, detraction, derogation, belittling.

decry, v. disparage, belittle.

dedicate, v. consecrate.

dedication, n. consecration. Associated words: dedicate, dedicator, dedicatorial, dedicatory, dedicatee.

deduct, v. subtract, rebate.

deduction, n. subtraction, discount; inference, conclusion, corollary, illation.

deed, n. exploit, act, feat, perpetration, performance, stunt.

deed, n. Associated words: defeasance, feoffment, muniment.

deep, a. profound, intricate, inexplicable, unfathomable, incomprehensible, recondite, abstruse; abysmal; sagacious, cunning, astute, shrewd; dark, intense; grave, grum, full-toned, guttural. Antonyms: superficial, shallow.

deepen, v. intensify.

deer, n. Cervidæ; fallow deer, red deer, mule deer, reindeer; buck (fawn, brocket, pricket, sorel, sore, spitter); (female) doe, roe; (male red deer) stag, hart; hind, roe (female red deer); havier (castrated); halfer; antelope hummel; staggard. Associated words: venison, fumet, umbles, cervine, deerstalking, capreoline.

deerhound, n. staghound.

deface, v. mar, disfigure, mutilate.

defacement, n. disfigurement, mutilation, marring.

defamation, n. calumny, libel, lampoon, traducement, roorback. See slander.

defamatory, a. slanderous, calumnious, libellous, vituperative, contumelious.

defame, v. calumniate, malign, vilify, lampoon, vituperate, slander.

defaulter, n. delinquent, peculator, embezzler, defalcator.

defeat, n. repulse, overthrow, vanquishment, foil, rout, frustration, disappointment.

defeat, v. conquer, vanquish, repulse, discomfit, rout, checkmate, outwit, balk, foil, frustrate.

defect, n. blemish, flaw, imperfection, foible, failing, shortcoming, infirmity.