The Words You Should Know to Sound Smart Read Online Free PDF

(deh-BOW-chair-ee), noun
    Frequent indulgence in sensual pleasures.
    “The geniuses, the mad dreamers, those who speak of DEBAUCHERY in the spirit, they are the condemned of our times.” – Harlan Ellison, American author
    debilitate
(dih-BILL-uh-tayt), verb
    To make weak or feeble.
    Several hours on the polo fields are enough to DEBILITATE even the most robust player.
    decimate
(DESS-ih-mate), verb
    To reduce something greatly, to the point of wiping it out.
    “Every doctor will allow a colleague to DECIMATE a whole countryside sooner than violate the bond of professional etiquette by giving him away.” – George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright
    déclassé
(day-klass-AY), adjective
    Of a fallen social position or inferior status.
    Jean thought her imitation designer bag looked exactly like the real thing, but the other girls in her exclusive private school quickly ridiculed Jean—and her bag—for being DÉCLASSÉ.
    decorous
(DEH-kore-us), adjective
    Behaving in a manner acceptable to polite society; having good taste and good manners.
    “Another week with these DECOROUS drones and I’ll jump out the window,” the young girl complained to her mother of her fellow debutantes.
    de facto
(dee-FAK-toe), adjective
    Existing in fact.
    Although we eschew titles, Sasha clearly is the DE FACTO head of our arts-patronage club.
    deflation
(dee-FLAY-shun), noun
    A weakened economy in which prices fall because of a decline in consumer spending.
    We were pleased to learn that DEFLATION has not harmed sales at Wempe’s on Fifth Avenue, our favorite purveyor of watches.
    defunct
(dih-FUNKT), adjective
    An institution, object, etc., that has ceased to exist.
    “Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence, are usually the slaves of some DEFUNCT economist.” – John Maynard Keynes, British economist
    deification
(DEE-if-ih-kay-shin), noun
    The process of making someone or something into—and worshipping them as—a god.
    “Poetry is the DEIFICATION of reality.” – Edith Sitwell, British poet
    deleterious
(dell-ih-TEAR-ee-us), adjective
    Harmful; damaging.
    Smoking has been proven to have a DELETERIOUS effect on one’s health.
    delineate
(dih-LINN-ee-ate), verb
    To use words to outline or describe with precision an object or person.
    With efficiency, Prescott DELINEATED plans for the new wing of his family’s Connecticut beach house.
    demagogue
(DEM-ah-gog), noun
    A politician who owes his popularity largely to pandering to popular opinion and catering to the wishes of his constituency.
    “A DEMAGOGUE is a person with whom we disagree as to which gang should mismanage the country.” – Don Marquis, American journalist and humorist
    demiurge
(DEM-ee-urj), noun
    A powerful creative force or a creative personality.
    After trying a few different professions, Jackson realized that his ability with artifice, combined with his family connections, would make him a marketing DEMIURGE.
    demotic
(dih-MAH-tik), adjective
    Language used by ordinary people.
    Eileen always avoids the DEMOTIC because she does not want to be mistaken for someone from the middle class.
    demur
(di-MURR), verb
    To make an objection on the grounds of scruples.
    “Assent, and you are sane; / DEMUR,—you’re straightway dangerous, / And handled with a chain.” – Emily Dickinson, American poet
    denigrate
(DEN-ih-grayt), adjective
    Insulting; put down; demean; belittle.
    “Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, DENIGRATE or despise, serves to defeat us in the end.” – Henry Miller, American author and painter
    dénouement
(day-new-MAH), noun
    The conclusion of a complex series of events.
    Marjorie was disappointed with the opera because she felt its DÉNOUEMENT left too many loose ends.
    deprecate
(DEPP-rih-kate), verb
    To express severe disapproval of another’s actions.
    “Those who profess to favor freedom and yet DEPRECATE agitation, are men who