a fancy French pear that tastes like a basic pear
A-Z Audio Dictionary - D Words
Welcome to the Aldo Zelnick audio-dictionary. If you’re reading an Aldo Zelnick book and you’re not sure how to pronounce any of the challenging words, just come here and we’ll pronounce them for you.
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d'anjou pear
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daffy
dumb in a silly way. Like that old-time cartoon character Daffy Duck, who says, "dethspicable!*"
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Dagwood
I asked my dad what Dagwood means. It's some old-guy comic character.
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daikon radish
Proof of just how gross these giant white radishes are: "daikon" means "large root" in Japanese.
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dastardly
Sneaky and mean
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dawdling
being slow and lazy on purpose. Also called dilly-dallying
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debris
random, leftover junk. Pronounced duh-bree.
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deceive
trick
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decent
acceptable to Moms
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deer in headlights
when you're surprised by something and have a frozen, stunned look on your face
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defenestrate
to throw something out the window. Weird. So, are there separate words for all the places you can throw things? What's the word for "to throw something under your bed," for example? (My mom's word for this is: "pigsty.")
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delectable
uber-yummy
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delicacy
a food that's kind of rare AND delicious. But also possibly gross, like caviar (fish eggs), fern parts (called fiddleheads), and truffles (the mushroom kind, not the chocolate kind).
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Delight, Turkish
the candy that Edmund loves so much that he betrays his brother and sisters to get it. Hm. I might betray Timothy for a platter of crispy bacon...
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delirium
when real life feels like a dream
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delusional
thinking so crazy and wrongly about something that you're basically making things up
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demanding
difficult to do
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Dementors
those creepy, floaty Grim Reaper-type guys in Harry Potter that suck your soul out of your face
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demolish
to wreck and ruin
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demoralizing
something that really takes away your enthusiasm and happiness
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denouement
a Frenchy word that Mr. Mot taught me. Pronounced day-new-mah. It means the conclusion of a story--the boring part that's left after the exciting climax.
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dense
stupidly unable to understand something
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depressor, tongue
those extra-large wooden popsicle-sticks-without-the-yummy-popsicle they stick in your mouth at the doctor's office
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derrière
fancy French word for butt. (Jack didn't actually say derrière. He said butt. But I was trying to be polite.)
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dervish, whirling
OK, this is weird. A dervish is a Turkish monk. Sometimes dervishes do a dance where they spin around in circles. Somehow the phrase whirling dervish has come to mean somebody who's very fast and has lots of energy.
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despair
deep sadness that seems like it will never end
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despicable
mean and icky
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destiny
what's going to happen to you, whether you like it or not
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destroyer
someone who likes demolishing. Marvin's all tough in P.E., but he's a wimp in band, thank goodness.
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determined (bound and)
This is a phrase that means you're not just determined--you're really determined.
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detest
hate a lot
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devastating
something that brings you to your knees it's so bad
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deviled eggs
those kind of eggs that are hardboiled then cut in half, with some extra delicious stuff mixed together with the yolk. Yumbo.
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deviousness
when you're being sneaky to gain an advantage
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devise
think of a way to
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dichotomy
when two things that are very different are put together
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die
Two or more dice are called dice. One dice is called a die. Don't ask me why.
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differ (beg to)
a fancier way of saying disagree
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dig
a hippie word for "like," as in, "Do you dig doughnuts? I do!"
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dime a dozen
common; easy to get
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diminutive
teeny-tiny
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dimwit
dumbhead
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dinky
the same as diminutive but easier to say and spell
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disapproval
The starter "dis" kind of means "opposite of." So disapproval means the opposite of approval. Not OK with.
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disbelief
the opposite of belief; beyond dubiousness into definitely not believing
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disco
My parents listen to this music from the 1970s sometimes and it makes them point their fingers up and down and shake their derrières. It's disturbing.
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discombobulation
serious mixed-upedness
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disgrace
the opposite of grace; shame
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disgust
the opposite of gust. What? OK, some of these dis words don't work that way. Disgust means being mad and grossed out.
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disparaging
making fun of in kind of a mean way
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diss
slang for disrespect, which means to be rude
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dissipate
release, get rid of
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distinct
sharp and clear
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DISTOL
text-speak for, "Did I say that out loud?"
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distracting
taking your concentration away from whatever it's supposed to be on
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distress, gastrointestinal
Uh...so, this is a nice way of saying diarrhea. What?! I can't help it! It's what happens to me sometimes when I'm nervous!
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dither
have a hard time deciding
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ditto
"I agree" or "me, too."
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divine
heavenly
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Dizzy Gillespie
only the most famous trumpet player of all time
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dodecahedron
a shape with 12 sides
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doldrums
unhappy, depressing days
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dolomite
some kind of rock. I don't know. Ask Jack.
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dolt
dumbhead
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dome
head, noggin. Uh, I guess I had some stuff on my dome and didn't realize it. Heh.
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Don Juan
I asked Mr. Mot about this one. He said Don Juan was a guy who had lots of girlfriends. Ick.
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doodling
randomly drawing for no reason
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doofus
dumbhead
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doozy
something that's extraordinary
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dopey
goofy-dumb
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dorky
embarrassingly uncool
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dread
scaredness that feels especially awful
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dribbling
rolling slowly; also means bouncing a basketball. Weird.
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dubious
full of doubt and unsureness
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dud
loserish
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dumber than a box of rocks
This is a saying that means uber-dumb. Despite Jack's disapproval.
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dumbstruck
when your brain gets struck with an idea or piece of information so surprising or confusing that you can't talk. You're literally speechless.
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dunderhead
dumbhead
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Dungeons & Dragons
a game where you pretend to be a medieval character and have battles and stuff with other people who are pretending to be different characters
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dunk
If you've ever had a cookie with milk, you already know what this means. Sheesh.
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duplicity
acting in two different ways to trick or cheat someone
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dusky
that getting-dark time when day meets up with night. You might be able to see the Big Dipper.
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dyed-in-the-wool
completely; through and through
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dyslexic
when your brain tricks you by mixing up letters when you read and write