Vocabulary Word Meanings: From Divergence, Diatribe to Disperse

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Divergence

Meaning: the act of splitting off into different directions

Also used as: Diverge (verb) ; divergent (adj)

A divergence of opinion ended their friendship.

Diatribe

Meaning: noun – a bitterly critical speech

Sentence: when something went wrong, he went into a diatribe.

Defame

verb- to say things harmful to person՚s reputation; malign; vilify

Also used as: Defamation (noun) ; defamatory (adj)

The man was defamed by the accusations of criminal conduct.

Digress

verb- to move away from the main topic when writing or speaking; to go off on a tangent

Also used as: Digression (noun) ; digressive (adj) ; digressively (adv)

In writing, if you digress from the main point for too long, you may lose your reader.

Depleted

verb- emptied; drained; used up

Also used as: Depletion (noun) ; depletable (adj)

The epidemic becomes a medical emergency when supplies of the antibiotic were depleted.

Dissolution

noun- separation into parts; the process of dissolving

Also used as: Dissolve (verb)

Another way of saying divorce is “dissolution of marriage” .

Despondent

adj – feeling hopeless or depressed no self confidante.

Also used as: Despondency (noun) ; despondently (adv)

After the fire, Sam was despondent for weeks.

Disparage

verb – say negative things; belittle

Also used as: Disparaging (adj) ; disparagingly (adv)

No one likes to hear disparaging remarks.

don՚t confuse with “disparate” .

Disparate

adj- different

Also used as: Disparity (noun) ; disparate ethnic groups.

Most cities contain disparate ethnic groups.

Decadence

noun- moral decay or decline of mixable value

Also used as: Decadent (adj) ; decadently (adv)

Some historians attribute the fall of the Roman Empire to internal decadence.

Disclose

verb- provide information, reveal

Also used as: Disclosure (noun)

Sue disclosed more to the stranger than she՚d intended.

Disperse

verb- spread around, scatter

Note: don՚t confuse with “disburse” which means “to pay out.”

The police used tear gas to disperse the cord.