- Decorum: Appropriateness of behavior or conduct (ex. The countess complained that the vulgar peasants lacked the _____ appropriate for a visit to the palace.)
- Deference: Respect, courtesy (ex. The respectful young law clerk treated the Supreme Court justice with the utmost _____.)
- Deride: To speak of or treat with contempt; to mock (ex. The awkward child was often _____ by his "cooler" peers.)
- Desiccate: To dry out thoroughly (ex. After a few weeks of lying on the desert's baking sands, the cow's carcass became completely _____.)
- Desultory: Jumping from the one thing to another; disconnected (ex. Diane had a _____ academic record; she had changed majors 12 times in three years.)
- Diatribe: An abusive, condemnatory speech (ex. The trucker bellowed a _____ at the driver who had cut him off.)
- Diffident: Lacking self-confidence (ex. Steve's _____ manner during the job interview stemmed from his nervous nature and lack of experience in the field.)
- Dilate: To make larger; to expand (ex. When you enter a darkened room, the pupils of your eyes _____ to let in more light.)
- Dilatory: Intended to delay (ex. The congressman used _____ measures to delay the passage of the bill.)
- Dilettante: Someone with an amateurish and superficial interest in a topic (ex. Jerry's friends were such _____ that they seemed to have new jobs and hobbies every week.)
- Dirge: A funeral hymn or mournful speech (ex. Melville wrote the poem "A _____ for James McPherson" for the funeral of a Union general who was killed in 1864.)
- Disabuse: To set right; to free from error (ex. Galileo's observations _____ scholars of the notion that the Sun revolved around the Earth.)
- Discern: To perceive; to recognize (ex. It is easy to _____ the difference between butter and butter-flavored topping.)
- Disparate: Fundamentally different; entirely unlike (ex. Although the twins appear to be identical physically, their personalities are _____.)
- Dissemble: To present a false appearance; to disguise one's real intentions or character (ex. The villain could _____ to the police no longer--he admitted the deed and tore up the floor to reveal the body of the old man.)
- Dissonance: A harsh and disagreeable combination, often of sounds (ex. Cognitive _____ is the inner conflict produced when long-standing beliefs are contradicted by new evidence.)
- Dogma: A firmly held opinion, often a religious belief (ex. Linus' central _____ was that children who believed in the Great Pumpkin would be rewarded.)
- Dogmatic: Dictatorial in one's opinions (ex. The dictator was _____--he, and only he, was right.)
- Dupe: To deceive; a person who is easily deceived (ex. Bugs Bunny was able to _____ Elmer Fudd by dressing up as a lady rabbit.)
Top GRE Words in Context (D)