Wrath: A Dictionary for the Enraged Read online

  deface

  (dih-FAYS)

  VERB: To ruin or damage the appearance of something; soil.

  defamation

  (def-uh-MAY-shun)

  NOUN: An unfounded attack on someone’s reputation; slander.

  You must apologize to Irene for announcing her misdeeds to the public; such DEFAMATION was not warranted.

  defenestration

  (dee-FEN-uh-STRAY-shun)

  NOUN: The act of throwing an object or person out of a window.

  deign

  (dayn)

  VERB: To condescend or demean oneself; to stoop.

  deleterious

  (del-ih-TEER-ee-us)

  ADJECTIVE: An effect that is harmful or damaging.

  delusion

  (de-LOO-zhun)

  NOUN: A false illusion or belief; fallacy.

  Even with your success as a model, your extreme self-loathing has you under the DELUSION that you are not beautiful.

  denigrate

  (DEN-ih-grayt)

  VERB: To disparage one’s character or reputation; defame.

  denounce

  (dih-NOWNTS)

  VERB: To criticize harshly; condemn.

  deplorable

  (de-PLOHR-uh-bull)

  ADJECTIVE: Wretched or dreadful.

  depose

  (dih-POHZ)

  VERB: To remove someone from a position of authority. In a legal sense, it means to record the testimony of someone who is under oath.

  depraved

  (duh-PRAYVD)

  ADJECTIVE: Immoral or wicked; degenerate.

  depravity

  (dih-PRAV-ih-tee)

  NOUN: A state of corruption or immorality; wickedness.

  deprecate

  (DEP-rih-kate)

  VERB: To condemn or belittle a person, thing, or idea; criticize.

  derange

  (dih-RAYNJ)

  VERB: To throw into disorder; to disturb the condition of; to make insane.

  deride

  (dih-RYD)

  VERB: To ridicule or mock someone with malicious intent; disparage.

  derision

  (de-RIZH-un)

  NOUN: Scorn or contempt for a person, thing, or idea.

  Her unfounded DERISION for cultures other than her own made traveling to foreign countries loathsome.

  derogatory

  (dih-ROG-uh-tore-ee)

  ADJECTIVE: Insulting or offensive; disparaging.

  desecrate

  (DESS-ih-krayt)

  VERB: To damage or destroy something sacred; defile.

  despotism

  (DESS-po-tiz-um)

  NOUN: Authoritarian rule. Despotism is a system where one dominant figure exercises complete power.

  Since Hitler’s DESPOTISM, Germans have been wary of authority figures emerging from nowhere and gaining power quickly.

  détente

  (DAY-tahnt)

  NOUN: From the French word meaning “to slacken,” détente is a reduction of hostility in a strained relationship.

  detrimental

  (det-rih-MEN-tul)

  ADJECTIVE: Having a damaging or harmful effect.

  diabolical

  (dye-uh-BOL-ih-kul)

  ADJECTIVE: Stemming from the word for “devil,” something that is diabolical is wicked or evil.

  diatribe

  (DY-uh-tryb)

  NOUN: An abusive verbal or written attack against a person or idea.

  dichotomy

  (dy-KOT-uh-mee)

  NOUN: The division of two contrasting parts or ideas.

  disabuse

  (diss-uh-BYOOZ)

  VERB: To realize or force someone else to realize that an incorrect notion is, in fact, incorrect.

  disapprobation

  (dis-ap-ruh-BAY-shuhn)

  NOUN: Disapproval; moral condemnation.

  discombobulate

  (diss-kum-BOB-yoo-layt)

  VERB: To confuse or disconcert.

  It is easy to DISCOMBOBULATE your blind sister by rearranging the furniture.

  discomfit

  (diss-KUM-fit)

  VERB: To confuse or embarrass someone; to frustrate one’s plans.

  discomfort

  (diss-KUM-fort)

  NOUN: Mental or bodily distress or unease.

  disconsolate

  (dis-KON-suh-lut)

  ADJECTIVE: Incredibly unhappy, so much so that he or she is beyond consolation; melancholy.

  Nor hell a fury

  like a woman scorned.

  —WILLIAM CONGREVE

  discordant

  (dis-KOR-dunt)

  ADJECTIVE: In disagreement with; conflicting.

  You have told me two DISCORDANT versions of the same story, and I’m having trouble determining which is the truth.

  discrepancy

  (dis-KREP-un-see)

  NOUN: A difference between two things that should be the same; inconsistency.

  disdain

  (diss-DAYN)

  NOUN: Extreme contempt or scorn; as a verb, it means to view someone with such contempt.

  disgruntled

  (diss-GRUN-tulld)

  ADJECTIVE: Discontented or dissatisfied to the point of annoyance.

  disingenuous

  (diss-in-JEN-yoo-uss)

  ADJECTIVE: Not genuine or truthful; insincere or calculating.

  When you are DISINGENUOUS by lying about one topic, people are less inclined to trust you in other topics.

  disparage

  (diss-PAYR-udge)

  VERB: To speak about someone in a belittling manner; defame or criticize.

  dispel

  (dis-PELL)

  VERB: To dismiss an idea that is incorrect; disabuse.

  displeasure

  (dis-PLEZH-er)

  NOUN OR VERB: As a noun, dissatisfaction; disapproval; annoyance; discomfort; uneasiness; pain. As a verb, to displease.

  disputation

  (dis-pyoo-TAY-shun)

  NOUN: An argument or debate, particularly a formal one.

  dissemble

  (diss-SEM-bul)

  VERB: To act in a disingenuous or misleading way; evade.

  dissidence

  (DISS-uh-dents)

  NOUN: Disagreement, particularly with a widely held opinion or government.

  dissuade

  (diss-SWAYD)

  NOUN: To convince someone not to act in a way that he or she had planned to; discourage.

  distemper

  (dis-TEM-per)

  NOUN: A deranged condition of mind or body; a disorder; a disturbance.

  distraught

  (dih-STRAWT)

  ADJECTIVE: Extremely upset or distressed; hysterical.

  divulge

  (dih-VULJ)

  VERB: To make known something confidential or private.

  dogged

  (DAW-gihd)

  ADJECTIVE: Utterly determined; relentless.

  doleful

  (DOHL-full)

  ADJECTIVE: Extremely sad or unhappy; miserable.

  I pitied Penelope; her DOLEFUL temperament left her weepy, dark, and listless most days, with no potential to be cheered up.

  donnybrook

  (DAHN-ee-brook)

  NOUN: A wild dispute or brawl; fracas.

  duplicity

  (doo-PLISS-ih-tee)

  NOUN: Deceptiveness or dishonesty.

  duress

  (dur-ESS)

  NOUN: Constraint by threat; coercion.

  dyspeptic

  (diss-PEP-tick)

  ADJECTIVE: Ill-tempered or irritable; acting

  as if one is suffering from dyspepsia, or indigestion.

  dystopia

  (diss-TOHP-ee-uh)

  NOUN: The opposite of a utopia, a dystopia is an imagined place where everything is at its absolute worst.

  After the constant bombing and subsequent adversarial occupation, the once beautiful city became a DYSTOPIA, the place of nightmares.

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  effrontery

  (ih-FRON-ter-ee)

  NOUN: Immense nerve; audacity.

  egocentric

  (ee-go-SEN-trik)

  ADJECTIVE: Behaving as if you are the only person who matters; extremely self-centered.

  emasculate

  (ee-MASS-kyoo-layt)

  VERB: To weaken someone’s strength or power; castrate.

  embroil

  (em-BROYL)

  VERB: To entangle someone in a conflict or situation.

  Though Harold was not initially involved in the dispute, Thomas would later EMBROIL him into it in hopes of having someone on his side.

  enjoin

  (en-JOYN)

  VERB: To direct someone to do something or to prohibit someone from doing something.

  enmesh

  (en-MESH)

  VERB: To embroil someone in a situation from which it is difficult to extricate oneself; entangle.

  enmity

  (EN-mi-tee)

  NOUN: Shared hatred or hostility between two opposing forces or enemies.

  eradicate

  (ee-RAD-ih-cayt)

  VERB: To completely eliminate or destroy something; exterminate.

  estranged

  (ih-STREYNJD)

  ADJECTIVE: Alienated or separated.

  evade

  (ee-VAYD)

  VERB: To avoid or dodge a person or thing, often by deception or trickery; elude.

  You may have been able to EVADE your father up to this point by hiding at school, but eventually you will have to go home, where he will surely find you.

  If an injury has to be done to a man, it should be so severe that his vengeance need

  not be feared.

  —NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI

  eviscerate

  (ee-VIS-uh-rayt)

  VERB: To disembowel; to remove a vital part of something.

  exacerbate

  (ig-ZASS-ur-bayt)

  VERB: To aggravate an already existing problem; worsen.

  excommunicate

  (eks-kuh-MYOO-nih-kayt)

  VERB: To formally banish or exclude someone from participating in a group.

  excoriate

  (ik-SKORE-ee-ayt)

  VERB: To attack a person, thing, or idea harshly; berate.

  George was EXCORIATED by the teacher in front of the class for not doing his homework.

  execrable

  (ek-ZEK-ruh-bul)

  ADJECTIVE: Appalling or disgusting.

  expletive

  (EK-splih-tihv)

  NOUN: A profane exclamation or swear word.

  exploit

  (eck-SPLOYT)

  VERB: To use a person or situation for personal gain or profit; to take advantage of a person or situation.

  F

  fabricate

  (FAB-rih-kayt)

  VERB: To manufacture something, including a story that is not true.

  fabulist

  (FAB-yuh-list)

  NOUN: A person who tells outrageous lies.

  She was such an incredible FABULIST that eventually no one believed anything she said at all.

  fallacy

  (FALL-uh-see)

  NOUN: An erroneous notion; misconception.

  farouche

  (fuh-ROOSH)

  ADJECTIVE: From the French word meaning “belonging outside,” farouche is used to describe an unsociable or sullen person; menacing.

  faux pas

  (foe PAH)

  NOUN: An embarrassing social error or gaffe.

  faze

  (fayz)

  VERB: To bother or disturb somebody.

  felonious

  (fuh-LOHN-ee-uss)

  ADJECTIVE: Pertaining to the behavior of a felon; criminal or villainous.

  ferret

  (FER-it)

  VERB: To drive out by force, as if one were using ferrets.

  ferule

  (FER-uhl)

  NOUN: A stick or piece of wood used to punish a child, typically by hitting them on the hand.

  The nuns at the school were all equipped with a FERULE, which they would use to punish unruly children.

  fetters

  (FET-urz)

  NOUN: Shackles, handcuffs, or some sort of restraint.

  fiasco

  (fee-ASS-koe)

  NOUN: A complete failure or disaster; debacle.

  filch

  (filch)

  VERB: To steal something, particularly a small amount or something very inexpensive.

  finagle

  (fih-NAY-gul)

  VERB: To manipulate a person or situation—usually with trickery—in order to achieve a goal.

  flagellate

  (FLADGE-uh-layt)

  VERB: To whip or flog a person or thing.

  flagitious

  (fluh-JISH-us)

  ADJECTIVE: A person or situation that is particularly shameful or wicked; vicious.

  No one had ever seen such a FLAGITIOUS little girl; with her violence and language they began to believe she was possessed by a demon.

  flagrant

  (FLAY-grunt)

  ADJECTIVE: Something that blatantly goes against typical conduct or standards.

  flare up

  (flayr up)

  VERB: To burn, as a torch; to burst out in sudden, fierce activity or passion.

  flashpoint

  (FLASH-point)

  NOUN: A place where violence is likely to occur, or has occurred in the past, often as a result of political tensions.

  fleer

  (fleer)

  VERB: To smirk or laugh derisively. As a noun, a scathing look or comment; smirk.

  flippant

  (FLIP-unt)

  ADJECTIVE: Disrespectful or dismissive; glib.

  She was so FLIPPANT about her father’s death that we suspected she knew about it before it happened.

  flout

  (flowt)

  VERB: To break a law; to behave in a contemptible manner.

  foist

  (foyst)

  VERB: To force an undesirable thing on someone; impose.

  foolhardy

  (FOOL-har-dee)

  ADJECTIVE: Reckless or rash; making quick decisions but not using good sense.

  forcible

  (FORSS-ih-bul)

  ADJECTIVE: Using aggressive or physical power to attain a goal.

  formidable

  (FOR-mih-duh-bull)

  ADJECTIVE: A person or thing that quickly inspires fear or respect because of its strength and power.

  forsake

  (for-SAYK)

  VERB: To abandon or renounce.

  fracas

  (FRAK-us)

  NOUN: A noisy argument or quarrel; brawl.

  By leaving the pub early, you avoided the violent FRACAS that later ensued between two men over one woman.

  Usually when people are sad, they don’t do anything. They just cry over their condition. But when they get angry, they bring about a change.

  —MALCOLM X

  fractious

  (FRAK-shuss)

  ADJECTIVE: Prone to complaining and misbehavior; irritable.

  fratricide

  (FRAT-rih-syd)

  NOUN: The act of killing one’s brother.

  fret

  (fret)

  VERB: To experience worry, annoyance, discontent; to torment; to wear away by gnawing.