The Highly Selective Dictionary for the Extraordinarily Literate (13 page)

discomfiture
(dis-KUM-fi-ch
e
r)
noun

embarrassment, confusion; frustration.

discomfort
(dis-KUM-f
e
rt)
noun

1. uneasiness, hardship, or mild pain.

2. (
verb
) make uncomfortable or uneasy.

Do not confuse the verb
discomfort
with the verb
discomfit
. Many of today's speakers and writers are not aware at all of the word
discomfit
, and when they occasionally meet the word in a book think it is a misprint. The most assiduous of such readers may turn to a dictionary for help, but the next time they meet the word they must go back to the dictionary. Rest assured that
discomfit
, meaning
disconcert
, is still in use and serves a good purpose, as does
discomfort
, a word that gives readers and writers no trouble.

Related words:
discomfortable
adjective
,
discomfortingly
adverb
.

disconsolate
(dis-KON-s
e
-lit)
adjective

1. disappointed; unhappy at the loss of something.

2. hopelessly unhappy; gloomy; inconsolable.

Related words:
disconsolately
adverb
,
disconsolation
(dis-
KON
-s
e
-LAY-sh
e
n) and
disconsolateness
both nouns
.

discreet
(di-SKREET)
adjective

1. showing caution and good judgment in what one does; judicious; not giving away secrets.

2. unostentatious, not showy or obtrusive.

Do not confuse
discreet
with
discrete
, which see.

Related words:
discreetly
adverb
,
discreetness
and
discretion
(dis-KRESH-
e
n) both
nouns
.

discrete
(di-SKREET)
adjective

discontinuous; detached from others; individually distinct.

Seldom can the transposition of two letters in a word create as much misunderstanding as in the mistaken use of
discrete
,
individually distinct
, in place of
discreet
,
judicious, unostentatious
, when the latter word is clearly intended. This error appears to stem from the tendency of unskilled writers to want to appear learned by using relatively uncommon words in place of common words. (Or could it merely be a keyboarding error that goes undiscovered by word processing features that check one's spelling?) Whatever the reason,
discrete
in place of
discreet
is an error that can hold a writer up to ridicule as well as to misunderstanding. Take care to avoid this confusion.

Related words:
discretely
adverb
,
discreteness
noun
.

disingenuous
(
DIS
-in-JEN-yoo-
e
s)
adjective

insincere, not frank; hypocritically ingenuous.

Related words:
disingenuously
adverb
,
disingenuousness
noun
.

disinterested
(dis-IN-t
e
-
RES
-tid)
adjective

impartial; not influenced by self-interest.

The adjective
disinterested
increasingly is misconstrued as a synonym for
uninterested
. So prevalent has this misuse become that descriptive dictionaries give
uninterested
as a second meaning of
disinterested
, although some supply the label
colloquial
for this sense, implicitly suggesting that this is the way ordinary people use the word and, perhaps, that the best speakers and writers do not accept this definition. An argument is made by descriptivists that
disinterested
historically was defined as
indifferent; not interested
, and that many people still use the word in this sense. Most careful 20th-century writers, however, choose not to accept this attitude. They find satisfaction in promoting the sense of
impartial
for
disinterested
, and you should cast your lot with them and indicate by the way you frame your sentences that you mean
disinterested
to be taken in the sense of
impartial
.

Related words:
disinterestedly
adverb
,
disinterestedness
noun
.

disparage
(di-SPAR-ij)
verb

belittle; speak of in a slighting way.

Related words:
disparager
and
disparagement
both nouns
,
disparaging
adjective
,
disparagingly
adverb
.

disparate
(DIS-p
e
r-it)
adjective

different in kind; without relation or comparison.

Related words:
disparately
adverb
,
disparateness
noun
.

dispassionate
(dis-PASH-
e
-nit)
adjective

calm, impartial; free from emotion.

Related words:
dispassion
and
dispassionateness
both nouns
,
dispassionately
adverb
.

disquisition
(
DIS
-kw
e
-ZISH-
e
n)
noun

a long elaborate spoken or written account of something.

Related word:
disquisitional
adjective
.

dissemble
(di-SEM-b
e
l)
verb

conceal (one's true motives or feelings); pretend.

Related words:
dissembler
noun
,
dissemblingly
adverb
.

dissentient
(di-SEN-sh
e
nt)
adjective
.

1. dissenting, especially from the views of the majority.

2. (
noun
) a person who dissents, especially from the views of the majority.

Related words:
dissentience
and
dissentiency
both nouns
,
dissentiently
adverb
.

dissentious
(di-SEN-sh
e
s)
adjective

quarrelsome; contentious.

dither
(DI
TH
-
e
r)
verb

1. tremble or quiver.

2. hesitate indecisively.

Related words:
ditherer
noun
,
dithery
adjective
.

divagate
(D
I
-v
e
-
GAYT
)
verb

1. stray, wander.

2. digress.

Related word:
divagation
(
D
I
-v
e
-GAY-sh
e
n)
noun
.

doctrinaire
(
DOK
-tr
e
-NAIR)
adjective

1. applying theories or principles without regard for practical considerations.

2. (
noun
) a pedantic theorist.

Related word:
doctrinairism
(
DOK
-tr
e
-NAIR-iz-
e
m)
noun
.

dolmen
(DOHL-m
e
n)
noun

a prehistoric structure, considered to be a tomb, with a large, relatively flat stone laid atop large upright stones.

Related word:
dolmenic
(dohl-MEN-ik)
adjective
.

dottle
(DOT-
e
l)
noun
, also given as
dottel

the plug of unburned tobacco left in a pipe after smoking.

dour
(duur)
adjective

gloomy; stern; obstinate.

Related words:
dourly
adverb
,
dourness
noun
.

doyen
(dwah-YA
N
),
doyenne
(dwah-YEN),
both nouns, plurals
doyens
and
doyennes

the senior member (male
doyen
, female
doyenne
) of a body of colleagues.

dross
(draws)
noun

1. impurities; rubbish.

2. scum on molten metal.