disquiet...elation

downcast

adj. directed downward; dejected - The children's downcast faces indicated that they were sad that Santa Claus had brought them nothing for Christmas. - The entire audience seemed downcast by the end of the depressing movie. - My six-week struggle with the flu had left me feeling downcast and weak.

effectual

adj. effective; adequate - Polly is an effectual teacher, but she is not a masterful one; her students come away from her class with a solid understanding of the subject but with little else. - Even with all her years of experience, Mrs. Jones had not yet hit on an effectual method of getting her children to go to bed.

dour

adj. forbidding; severe; gloomy - The Latin teacher was a dour old man who never had a kind word for anyone, even in Latin. - The police officer dourly insisted on giving me a traffic ticket, even though I promised to repair my rear headlight.

draconian

adj. harsh; severe; cruel - The judge was known for handing down draconian sentences; he had once sentenced a shoplifter to life in prison without parole. - Mrs. Jefferson is a draconian grader; her favorite grade is D, and she has never given an A in her entire life.

ecclesiastical

adj. having to do with the church - The priest had a few ecclesiastical duties because he had neither a church nor a congregation. - The large steeple rising from the roof gave the new house an oddly ecclesiastical feel.

droll

adj. humorous; amusing in an odd, often understated, way This word is slightly stilted, and it is not a perfect substitute for funny in every situation. - The children entertained the dinner guests with a droll rendition of their parents' style of arguing. - The speaker's attempts to be droll were met with a chilly silence from the audience.

diurnal

adj. occurring every day; occurring during the daytime Diurnal is the opposite of nocturnal. - The rising of the sun is a diurnal occurrence; it happens every day.

distinct

adj. separate; different; clear and unmistakable - The professor was able to identify eleven distinct species of ants in the corner of his backyard. - The twins were identical, but the personally each was distinct from that of the other.

doleful

adj. sorrowful; filled with grief - A long, doleful procession followed the horse-drawn hearse as it wound slowly through the village. - Aunt Gladys said she loved the pencil holder that her niece had made her for Christmas, but the doleful expression on her face told a different story. An essentially interchangeable word is dolorous.

edifice

n. a big, imposing building - Mr. and Mrs. Stevens had originally intended to build a comfortable little cottage in which to spend their golden years, but one thing led to another and they ended up building a sprawling edifice that dwarfed all other structures in the area.

ecosystem

n. a community of organisms and the physical environment in which they live Ecology is the science of the relationships between organisms and their environment. The adjective is ecological. - The big muddy swamp is a complex ecosystem in which the fate of each species is inextricably linked with the fate of many others.

elation

n. a feeling of great joy - A tide elation swept over the crowd as the clock ticked down to zero and it became clear that the college's team really had made it to the quarterfinals of the countywide tiddlywinks competition. - Harry's brother elation at having defeated him in the golf match was almost more than Harry could bear. To feel elation is to be elated. To cause to feel elated is to elate. - After rowing across the Pacific Ocean in a bathtub, I felt positively elated; I also felt a little tired.

disservice

n. a harmful action; an ill turn - Inez did a disservice to her parents by informing the police that they were growing marijuana in their backyard. - The reviewer did a grave disservice to the author by inaccurately describing what his book was about.

effigy

n. a likeness of someone, especially one used in expressing hatred for the person of whom it is a likeness - The company's founder had been dead for many years, but the employees still passed under his gaze because his effigy had been carved in the side of the building. - The members of the senior class hanged the principal in effigy; they made a dummy out of some old burlap bags and strung it up in the tree beside the parking lot.

dissident

n. a person who disagrees or dissents - The plan to build a nuclear power plant in town was put on hold by a group of dissidents who lay down on the road in front of the bulldozers. - The old Soviet regime usually responded to dissidents by imprisoning them. Dissident can also be an adjective.

dolt

n. a stupid person; a dunce - "Dolts and idiots," said Mrs. Wier when her husband asked her to describe her new students. The adjective form of the word is doltish. - The farmer's doltish son rode the cows and milked the horses.

double entendre

n. a word or phrase having a double meaning, especially when the second meaning is risqué - The class president's speech was filled with double entendres that only the students understood; the teacher were left to scratch their heads at the students were doubled over with laughter.

edict

n. an official decree - The new king celebrated his rise to power by issuing hundreds of edicts governing everything from curbside parking to the wearing of hats. - By presidential edict, all government offices were closed for the holiday.

duress

n. coercion; compulsion by force or threat This word is often preceded by under. - Mrs. Maloney was under duress when she bought her son a candy bar; the nasty little boy was screaming and crying. - The court determined that the old man had been under duress when he signed his new will, in which he left all his money to his lawyer; in fact, the court determined that the lawyer had held a gun to the old man's head while he signed it.

efficacy

n. effectiveness - Federal law requires manufacturers to demonstrate both the safety and the efficacy of new drugs. The manufacturers must prove that the new drugs are efficacious.

doldrums

n. low spirits; a state of inactivity This word is in plural form, but it takes a singular verb. In addition, it is almost always preceded by "the." To sailors, the doldrums is an ocean area near the equator where there is little wind. A sailing ship in the doldrums is likely to be moving slowly or not moving at all. To the rest of us, the doldrums is a state of mind comparable to that frustratingly calm weather near the equator. - Meredith has been in the doldrums ever since her pet bees flew away; she mopes around the house and never wants to do anything.

dotage

n. senility; foolish affection To dote on something is to be foolishly or excessively affectionate toward it. - My grandmother is in her dotage; she spends all day in bed watching soap operas and combing the hair on an old doll she had as a little girl. A senile person is sometimes called a dotard.

dross

n. worthless stuff, especially worthless stuff arising from the production of valuable stuff - Hillary's new novel contains three or four good paragraphs; the rest is dross. - The living room was filled with the dross of Christmas; mounds of wrapping paper and ribbon, empty boxes, and toys that no one would ever play with.

dissemble

v. to conceal the real nature of; to act or speak falsely in order to deceive - Anne successfully dissembled her hatred for Beth; in fact, Beth viewed Anne as her best friend. To dissemble is not the same thing as to disassemble, which means to take apart.

ebb

v. to diminish; to recede Ebb comes from an old word meaning low tide, and it is still used in this way. When a tide ebbs, it pulls back or goes down. Other things can ebb, too. - My interest ebbed quickly when my date began to describe the joys of stamp collecting. - The team's enthusiasm for the game ebbed as the other team ran up the score.

dissent

v. to disagree; to withhold approval - The chief justice dissented from the opinion signed by the other justices; in fact, he thought their opinion was crazy. - Jim and Bob say I'm a jerk; I dissent. A person who dissents is a dissenter. - The meeting had lasted so long that when I moved that it be adjourned, there were no dissenters. Dissent can also be a noun. - The dissent of a single board member was enough to overturn any proposal; every board member had absolute veto power.

divine

v. to intuit; to prophesy - I used all of my best mind-reading skills, but I could not divine what Lester was thinking. - The law firm made a great deal of money helping its clients divine the meaning of obscure federal regulations. The act of divining is called divination.

eclipse

v. to lock the light of; to overshadow; to reduce the significance of; to surpass This word can be used figuratively. - Lois's fame eclipsed that of her brother, Louis, who made fewer movies and was a worse actor. - The spelling team's glorious victory in the state spelling championship was eclipsed by the arrest of their captain on charges of possessing cocaine.

disquiet

v. to make uneasy - The movie's graphic depiction of childbirth disquieted the children, who had been expecting a story about a stork. - The silence in the boss's office was disquieting; everyone was afraid that it was the calm before the storm. Disquiet can also be used as a noun meaning unease or nervousness.

downplay

v. to minimize; to represent as being insignificant - The doctor had tried hard to downplay the risks involved in the operation, but Harry knew that having his kidneys replaced was not a minor surgery. - the parents tried to downplay Christmas because their daughter was very young and they didn't want her to become so excited that she wouldn't be able to sleep. - Superman downplayed his role in rescuing the children, but everyone knew what he had done.

dissuade

v. to persuade not to Dissuade is the opposite of persuade. - The 100 degree heat and the 100 percent relative humidity did not dissuade me from playing tennis all afternoon. Dissuasion is the opposite of persuasion. - Gently discussion is usually more effective than hitting a person over the head with a two-by-four.

divulge

v. to reveal, especially to reveal something that has been a secret - The secret agent had to promise not to divulge the contents of the government files, but the information in the files was so fascinating that he told everyone he knew. - We begged and pleaded, but we couldn't persuade Lester to divulge the secret of his chocolate-chip cookies.

document

v. to support with evidence especially written evidence - Arnold documented his record-breaking car trip around the world by taking a photograph of himself and his car every hundred miles. - The scientist made a lot of headlines by announcing that he had been taken aboard a flying saucer, but he was unable to document his claim, and his colleagues didn't believe him. - The first documented use of the invention occurred in 1978, according to the encyclopedia.