Page 91 - WEBSTER Essential vocabulary

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Essential Vocabulary
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dingy (DIN gee) adj. 1. yucky; dull; not clean; grimy; 2. ragged; gloomy
• If you don’t use chlorine bleach on your cotton whites, you’re likely to
have them come out a dingy yellow.
• Jane’s attempt to wangle an invitation to the party was rather dingy.
[dingily adv., dinginess n.]
discern (dis OERN) vt. 1. to clearly distinguish one thing from another or others;
to recognize as distinct or separate; 2. to clearly make out
• It was not hard to discern the difference between the hearts and the spades
in the deck of cards.
• Terry discerned a feeling of approval rising from her captive audience.
[-ed, -ing, -able adj., -ably adv.] [Syn. perceive, distinguish]
discordant* (dis KAWR dint) adj. 1. not in agreement; conflicting; 2. out of
harmony; clashing; dissonant
• The unhappy incoming news was discordant with the recipient’s more
uplifting expectations.
•A discordant note was struck by the politician addressing the labor union
leadership.
[discordance or discordancy n., -ly adv.]
discount (DIS cownt for n., dis COWNT for v.) n. 1. money off the usual price;
2. a deduction from a debt allowed for paying it early or in cash; 3. the interest rate
charged —vt. 1. to pay or get the present value of a note less the interest; 2. to sub-
tract an amount or percent from (a bill, price, etc.); 3. to sell at less than the usual
price; 4. to take a story, statement, opinion, etc. at less than face value, or to totally
disregard it as exaggeration
• Everything in the store was discounted 15%.
• Many Treasury bonds are sold at a discounted rate to allow for the interest
that will accrue between purchase and maturity.
• Corporate bonds are often sold at a discount rate so that the purchaser pays
less than the face value.
• In certain furniture stores, the pieces are marked so that the customer can
discount 50% to get the selling price.
• The police officer discounted most of Denise’s story, which made her role
look better than it actually was.
[-ed, -ing] [Syn. reduction]
discourse* (DIS kawrs) n. 1. exchange of ideas, information, etc. usually
through talking; conversation; 2. a long, formal speech or essay on a subject; lec-
ture; treatise; dissertation —vi. 1. to carry on a talk; confer; 2. to speak or write for-
mally and at some length
• The secretary of state gave a discourse on foreign policy.
• The doctoral candidate’s dissertation was a discourse on the number of seeds
that one might expect to find on various breeds of strawberries and why.
• The two musicians discoursed with each other about the meaning of
Beethoven’s notations in the margins of his pieces.
• The president discoursed at some length about not knowing how the terri-
ble economy could be fixed and about how it wasn’t his fault anyway.
[-d, discoursing] [Syn. speak]