“De-: “down,” “down from,” “opposite
of”
“dis-”: “opposite of,” “differently,”
“apart,” “away”
“se-”: “apart”

(literally, “falling down”) deteriorating; growing
worse; declining
◦ The decadent rooming house was once a flourishing
hotel

Having leavesa that fall off at the end of the
growing season; shedding leaves
◦ Maple, elm, birch, and other deciduous trees lose their
leasve in the fall.

Out of (down from) one’s mind; mad; insane;
deranged
◦ Whoever did this must have been demented; no sane
person would have acted in such a way.

Pull or tear down; destroy; raze; wreck
◦ A wrecking crew is demolishing the old buiding.

Move down in grade or rank; degrade;
downgrade
◦ For being absent without leave, the corporal was
demoted to private.

(literally, “hanging down from”) unable to exist
without the support of another
◦ Children are dependent on their parents until they are
able to earn their own living.

1. go down in value or price
◦ New automobiles depreciate rapidly, byt antiques tend
to go up in value.
• 2. Speak slightly of; belittle; disparage
◦ The store manager weould feel you are depreciating
him if you refer to his as the “head clerk.”

Look down on ; scorn; feel contempt for; abhor;
disdain
◦ Benedict Arnold was despised by his fellow Americans
for betraying his country.

Turn aside, or down (from a route or rule); stray;
wander; digress
◦ Dr. Parker does not see a patient without an
appointment, except in an emergency, and she does not
deviate from this policy.

(literally, “gulp down”) eat greedily; eat like a
animal
◦ Wendy must have been starved; she devoured her food.

(usually followed be with) opposite of “content”;
dissatisfied; discontented; disgruntled
◦ Dan was discontent with the mark on this Spanish exam;
he had expected at lest ten points more.

Disbelieve; refuse to trust
◦ The parents discredited the child’s story, since he was in
the habit of telling falsehoods.

Disagreement; difference; inconsistency; variation
◦ The first witness said the incident had occurred at
10:00a.m., but the second witness insisted the time was
10:45. This discrepancy puzzled the police.

Do the opposite of “integrate” (make into a
whole); break into bits; crumble; decay
◦ The driveway needs to be resurfaced; it is beginning to
disintegrate.

The opposite of “passionate” (showing strong
feeling); calm, composed, impartial
◦ For a dispassionate account of how the fight started, ask
a neutral observer, not a participant.

Opposite of good condition or repair; bad
condition
◦ The new owner did not take proper care of the building,
and ir soon fell into dierepair.

Feel differently; differ in opinion; disagree
◦ When the matter was put to a vote, 29 agreed and 4
dissented.

(literally, “sitting apart”) not agreeing; dissenting;
nonconformist
◦ The compromise was welcomed by all the strikers except
a small dissident group who felt that the raises were too
small.

Draw away, or divert the attention of; confuse;
bewilder
◦ When the bus s in motion, passengers should do nothing
to distract the driver.

(literally, “go apart”) withdraw from an
organization or federation
◦ When Lincoln was elected President in 1860, South
Carolina seceded from the Union.

(literally, “a going apart”) withdrawal from an
organization or federation
◦ South Carolina’s secession was followed by that of ten
other states and led to the formation of the Confederacy.

Keep apart from the others; place in solitutde;
isolate; sequester
◦ Leighann was so upset over losing her job that she
secluded herself and refused to see anyone.

1. apart, or free, from care, fear, or worry;
confident, assured
◦ Are you worried about passin, or do you feel secure?
• 2. Safe against loss, attack, or danger
―Guests who want their valuables to be secure are urged to
deposit them in the hotel vault.

Going apart from, or against, an established
government; action, speech, or writing to
overthrow the government; insurrection, treason
◦ The signers of the Declaration of Independence, if
captured by the enemy, would probably have been tried
for sedition.

(literally, “set apart from the herd”) separate from
the main body; isolate
◦ During the swim period, the nonswimmers are
segregated from the rest of our group to receive special
instruction.