Cryptic – mysterious; hidden; secret Nickolas Cage had to go through obstacles to unveil the cryptic map.

Cursory – casual; hastily done The student took a cursory glance at the difficult homework and decided not to do it.

Curtail – shorten; reduce After numerous accidents, the policed curtailed the speed in the parking lot.

propriety; orderliness and good taste in manners Decorum – propriety; orderliness and good taste in manners There was great decorum in how he ate his food; his elbows were always off of the table.

courteous regard for another's wish Deference – courteous regard for another's wish My little sister bowed her head in deference to me, her leader!

Degradation – humiliation; debasement; degeneration The boy experienced degradation when he tripped at the mall and everyone laughed at him.

Delineate – portray; depict; sketch The coworker delineated a proposal for his boss by making a PowerPoint show.

Denounce – condemn; criticize The cookie monster denounced the idea of eating sugar free cookies.

Deplore – regret; disapprove of I spoke to my crush and instantly deplored how badly her breathe smelled.

Depravity – extreme corruption; wickedness Even after his injury, Revolutionary Cat was determined to fight the government’s depravity.

Express disapproval of; protest against; belittle Deprecate – Express disapproval of; protest against; belittle My lacrosse coach is a good coach, because she does not deprecate the team even when we make silly mistakes.

Deride – Ridicule; make fun on Satirical devices are used to deride other works of literature or people.

Derivation – Unoriginal; derived from another source Her outfit was derivative. She wore exactly what Christina wore on Monday.

Despondent – depressed; gloomy There is a very despondent atmosphere at school on rainy days.

Detached – emotionally removed; calm and objective; physically unconnected When Kayden broke up with Marnie, she became very detached, making him think she never cared at all.

something that discourages; hindrance Deterrent – something that discourages; hindrance The dog deterrent did not stop Mr. Freckles the Dalmatian from chewing everything.

Detrimental – harmful; damaging Bill and Ted tried to think of a way to tell Martin that his breath smelled terribly, without having a detrimental effect on their friendship.

Devious – roundabout; erratic; not straightforward The devious criminal kept outsmarting the FBI and leading them into his traps.

Devise – Think up; invent; plan Children always devise ridiculous excuses for their wrong-doings.

The elephant’s gas diffused around the whole zoo. Wordy; rambling; spread out (like a gas) The elephant’s gas diffused around the whole zoo.

Ambivalence – The state of having contradictory or conflicting emotional attitudes.

Affirmation – Positive assertion; confirmation

Anecdote – short account of an amusing or interesting event.

Animosity – active enmity (hate)

Austere – Forbiddingly stern; severely simple and unornamented.