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D-2 — Desolate to Duplicity (50 words)

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Letter D, part 2: 50 words, from Desolate to Duplicity.

1. DESOLATE (adj.)

  • Urdu: ویران، سنسان؛ بے حد اداس
  • Meaning: empty and bleak; very unhappy and lonely
  • Synonyms: barren, deserted, bleak, forlorn, miserable
  • Antonyms: populated, lively, cheerful, joyful
  • Use: After the flood, the village looked desolate.

2. DESPONDENT (adj.)

  • Urdu: مایوس، ناامید
  • Meaning: in low spirits from loss of hope
  • Synonyms: dejected, hopeless, depressed, downcast, disheartened
  • Antonyms: hopeful, cheerful, optimistic, elated
  • Use: He grew despondent after repeated failures.

3. DESPOT (n.)

  • Urdu: جابر حکمران، آمر
  • Meaning: a ruler with absolute power, used cruelly
  • Synonyms: tyrant, dictator, autocrat, oppressor
  • Antonyms: democrat, liberal ruler, servant of the people
  • Use: The despot jailed every critic.

4. DESTITUTE (adj.)

  • Urdu: محتاج، نادار، کنگال
  • Meaning: without the basic necessities of life
  • Synonyms: poor, penniless, impoverished, needy, indigent
  • Antonyms: wealthy, rich, affluent, prosperous
  • Use: The floods left thousands destitute.

5. DESULTORY (adj.)

  • Urdu: بے ربط، بے ترتیب، بے دلی سے
  • Meaning: lacking a plan or enthusiasm; random
  • Synonyms: casual, random, half-hearted, aimless, erratic
  • Antonyms: methodical, systematic, focused, purposeful
  • Use: Desultory study won't get you through CSS.

6. DETER (v.)

  • Urdu: باز رکھنا، روکنا
  • Meaning: to discourage someone from doing something
  • Synonyms: discourage, dissuade, prevent, hinder, inhibit
  • Antonyms: encourage, persuade, motivate, prompt
  • Use: Nuclear weapons are meant to deter aggression.

7. DETRIMENTAL (adj.)

  • Urdu: نقصان دہ، مضر
  • Meaning: tending to cause harm
  • Synonyms: harmful, damaging, injurious, deleterious, adverse
  • Antonyms: beneficial, advantageous, helpful
  • Use: Excessive screen time is detrimental to children.

8. DEVIATE (v.)

  • Urdu: انحراف کرنا، ہٹنا
  • Meaning: to depart from an established course
  • Synonyms: diverge, digress, stray, depart, veer
  • Antonyms: conform, follow, adhere, comply
  • Use: Don't deviate from the question in your answer.

9. DEXTEROUS (adj.)

  • Urdu: ماہر، چابک دست
  • Meaning: showing skill, especially with the hands
  • Synonyms: skilful, deft, adroit, nimble, adept
  • Antonyms: clumsy, awkward, inept
  • Use: The dexterous surgeon completed the operation quickly.
  • 🔁 CSS 2015

10. DIATRIBE (n.)

  • Urdu: تلخ تنقید، تند تقریر
  • Meaning: a forceful and bitter verbal attack
  • Synonyms: tirade, rant, harangue, invective, denunciation
  • Antonyms: praise, eulogy, tribute, compliment
  • Use: The article was a diatribe against the government.

11. DICHOTOMY (n.)

  • Urdu: دو متضاد حصوں میں تقسیم، تضاد
  • Meaning: a division or contrast between two opposed things
  • Synonyms: division, split, contrast, polarity, duality
  • Antonyms: unity, similarity, harmony
  • Use: The dichotomy between rural and urban Pakistan is stark.

12. DIDACTIC (adj.)

  • Urdu: سبق آموز، تعلیمی، نصیحت آمیز
  • Meaning: intended to teach, often in a moralising way
  • Synonyms: instructive, educational, moralistic, preachy, pedagogic
  • Antonyms: entertaining, non-instructive, recreational
  • Use: Nazir Ahmad's novels are didactic in tone.

13. DIFFIDENT (adj.)

  • Urdu: کم اعتماد، جھجکنے والا
  • Meaning: shy and lacking self-confidence
  • Synonyms: shy, timid, modest, reserved, insecure
  • Antonyms: confident, bold, assertive, self-assured
  • Use: The diffident student rarely spoke in class.

14. DIGRESS (v.)

  • Urdu: اصل موضوع سے ہٹنا
  • Meaning: to leave the main subject temporarily
  • Synonyms: deviate, stray, wander, drift, diverge
  • Antonyms: focus, stick to the point, concentrate
  • Use: The speaker kept digressing from the topic.

15. DILAPIDATED (adj.)

  • Urdu: خستہ حال، ٹوٹا پھوٹا
  • Meaning: in a state of disrepair because of neglect
  • Synonyms: ramshackle, run-down, decrepit, crumbling, derelict
  • Antonyms: well-maintained, pristine, restored, sound
  • Use: Many schools operate in dilapidated buildings.

16. DILATORY (adj.)

  • Urdu: تاخیر کرنے والا، ٹال مٹول والا
  • Meaning: slow to act; intended to cause delay
  • Synonyms: slow, tardy, delaying, sluggish, procrastinating
  • Antonyms: prompt, quick, punctual, swift
  • Use: Dilatory tactics delayed the trial for years.

17. DILEMMA (n.)

  • Urdu: مخمصہ، دوراہا
  • Meaning: a situation requiring a choice between difficult options
  • Synonyms: predicament, quandary, plight, bind, conundrum
  • Antonyms: solution, certainty, resolution
  • Use: Pakistan faces the dilemma of growth versus stability.

18. DILETTANTE (n.)

  • Urdu: سطحی شوقین، اناڑی
  • Meaning: a person with superficial interest in a subject
  • Synonyms: dabbler, amateur, trifler, layman
  • Antonyms: expert, connoisseur, professional
  • Use: He is a dilettante who has tried ten hobbies.
  • 🔁 CSS 2025

19. DILIGENT (adj.)

  • Urdu: محنتی، مستعد
  • Meaning: showing care and effort in work
  • Synonyms: hard-working, industrious, assiduous, conscientious, meticulous
  • Antonyms: lazy, negligent, careless, idle
  • Use: Diligent students revise daily.

20. DIMINUTIVE (adj.)

  • Urdu: چھوٹا، پست قد
  • Meaning: extremely small
  • Synonyms: tiny, small, little, petite, minuscule
  • Antonyms: huge, enormous, giant, massive
  • Use: The diminutive boxer defeated taller opponents.

21. DIRGE (n.)

  • Urdu: مرثیہ، نوحہ
  • Meaning: a lament for the dead
  • Synonyms: elegy, lament, requiem, threnody, funeral song
  • Antonyms: celebration song, anthem, paean
  • Use: Mourners sang a dirge at the funeral.

22. DISAVOW (v.)

  • Urdu: انکار کرنا، لاتعلقی ظاہر کرنا
  • Meaning: to deny any responsibility or connection
  • Synonyms: deny, disown, repudiate, reject, disclaim
  • Antonyms: acknowledge, admit, avow, accept
  • Use: The party disavowed the violent statement.

23. DISCERN (v.)

  • Urdu: پہچاننا، تمیز کرنا
  • Meaning: to perceive or recognise; to distinguish
  • Synonyms: perceive, detect, recognise, distinguish, identify
  • Antonyms: overlook, miss, ignore, confuse
  • Use: It is hard to discern truth from rumour online.

24. DISCONCERT (v.)

  • Urdu: پریشان کرنا، بدحواس کرنا
  • Meaning: to disturb the composure of
  • Synonyms: unsettle, disturb, fluster, rattle, perturb
  • Antonyms: reassure, calm, compose, soothe
  • Use: The unexpected question disconcerted the candidate.

25. DISCORD (n.)

  • Urdu: نااتفاقی، اختلاف
  • Meaning: disagreement between people
  • Synonyms: conflict, strife, dissension, friction, disharmony
  • Antonyms: harmony, concord, agreement, peace
  • Use: Internal discord weakened the party.

26. DISCREPANCY (n.)

  • Urdu: تضاد، فرق، عدمِ مطابقت
  • Meaning: a lack of compatibility between facts
  • Synonyms: inconsistency, difference, disparity, mismatch, conflict
  • Antonyms: consistency, agreement, correspondence
  • Use: Auditors found a discrepancy in the accounts.

27. DISCREET (adj.)

  • Urdu: محتاط، راز دار
  • Meaning: careful to avoid causing offence or revealing secrets
  • Synonyms: tactful, careful, prudent, circumspect, diplomatic
  • Antonyms: indiscreet, tactless, careless, reckless
  • Use: A diplomat must be discreet.

28. DISCRETE (adj.)

  • Urdu: الگ، منفرد
  • Meaning: individually separate and distinct
  • Synonyms: separate, distinct, individual, detached, unconnected
  • Antonyms: connected, continuous, combined, joined
  • Use: The course is divided into discrete modules.
  • Trap: discreet (careful) vs discrete (separate).

29. DISDAIN (n./v.)

  • Urdu: حقارت، تحقیر
  • Meaning: the feeling that someone is unworthy of respect
  • Synonyms: contempt, scorn, derision, disrespect, arrogance
  • Antonyms: respect, admiration, regard, esteem
  • Use: He looked at the poor with disdain.

30. DISGRUNTLED (adj.)

  • Urdu: ناراض، ناخوش
  • Meaning: angry or dissatisfied
  • Synonyms: dissatisfied, displeased, annoyed, discontented, resentful
  • Antonyms: satisfied, content, pleased, happy
  • Use: Disgruntled employees went on strike.

31. DISINGENUOUS (adj.)

  • Urdu: جھوٹا، منافقانہ، غیر مخلص
  • Meaning: not candid or sincere; pretending to know less than one does
  • Synonyms: insincere, dishonest, deceitful, hypocritical, duplicitous
  • Antonyms: sincere, candid, honest, ingenuous
  • Use: It is disingenuous to blame only the previous government.

32. DISINTERESTED (adj.)

  • Urdu: غیر جانبدار، بے غرض
  • Meaning: not influenced by personal advantage; impartial
  • Synonyms: impartial, neutral, unbiased, objective, detached
  • Antonyms: biased, partial, interested, prejudiced
  • Use: A judge must be disinterested.
  • Trap: uninterested = bored.

33. DISPARAGE (v.)

  • Urdu: حقیر جاننا، برا کہنا
  • Meaning: to regard or represent as of little worth
  • Synonyms: belittle, denigrate, deprecate, criticise, run down
  • Antonyms: praise, laud, extol, commend
  • Use: Don't disparage local products.
  • 🔁 CSS 2015 (lauded ↔ disparage)

34. DISPARATE (adj.)

  • Urdu: مختلف، غیر متشابہ
  • Meaning: essentially different; not comparable
  • Synonyms: different, dissimilar, distinct, diverse, contrasting
  • Antonyms: similar, alike, comparable, uniform
  • Use: The alliance united disparate political groups.

35. DISPARITY (n.)

  • Urdu: عدمِ مساوات، فرق
  • Meaning: a great difference
  • Synonyms: inequality, gap, imbalance, discrepancy, difference
  • Antonyms: equality, parity, similarity, balance
  • Use: Regional disparity fuels resentment in smaller provinces.

36. DISPASSIONATE (adj.)

  • Urdu: غیر جذباتی، معروضی
  • Meaning: not influenced by strong emotion; impartial
  • Synonyms: objective, impartial, neutral, detached, unbiased
  • Antonyms: emotional, biased, passionate, partial
  • Use: Historians need a dispassionate view of 1971.

37. DISPERSE (v.)

  • Urdu: منتشر کرنا، بکھیرنا
  • Meaning: to scatter or spread over a wide area
  • Synonyms: scatter, disband, spread, dissipate, disseminate
  • Antonyms: gather, assemble, collect, converge
  • Use: Police used water cannons to disperse the crowd.
  • 🔁 CSS 2024 (antonym of coalesce)

38. DISSEMINATE (v.)

  • Urdu: پھیلانا، نشر کرنا
  • Meaning: to spread information widely
  • Synonyms: spread, circulate, broadcast, distribute, publicise
  • Antonyms: suppress, conceal, withhold, contain
  • Use: Radio helped disseminate health messages in villages.

39. DISSENT (n./v.)

  • Urdu: اختلافِ رائے، انحراف
  • Meaning: the holding of views different from official ones
  • Synonyms: disagreement, objection, protest, opposition, nonconformity
  • Antonyms: agreement, consent, assent, conformity
  • Use: Democracy must tolerate dissent.

40. DISSIPATE (v.)

  • Urdu: منتشر ہونا؛ ضائع کرنا
  • Meaning: to disperse or disappear; to waste money or energy
  • Synonyms: disperse, vanish, scatter, squander, waste
  • Antonyms: gather, accumulate, conserve, save
  • Use: The fog dissipated by noon. / He dissipated his inheritance.

41. DISSOLUTE (adj.)

  • Urdu: آوارہ، بد چلن، عیاش
  • Meaning: indulging in immoral pleasures
  • Synonyms: debauched, immoral, wanton, degenerate, profligate
  • Antonyms: virtuous, moral, upright, puritanical
  • Use: The prince led a dissolute life.

42. DISSONANCE (n.)

  • Urdu: بے آہنگی، تضاد
  • Meaning: lack of harmony; a clash of ideas
  • Synonyms: discord, disharmony, conflict, inconsistency, clash
  • Antonyms: harmony, consonance, agreement, accord
  • Use: There is dissonance between the party's words and actions.

43. DISTRAUGHT (adj.)

  • Urdu: پریشان حال، بے قرار
  • Meaning: deeply upset and agitated
  • Synonyms: distressed, frantic, overwrought, agitated, hysterical
  • Antonyms: calm, composed, serene, untroubled
  • Use: The distraught mother searched for her child.

44. DIVERGE (v.)

  • Urdu: الگ ہو جانا، مختلف سمت میں جانا
  • Meaning: to separate and go in different directions; to differ
  • Synonyms: separate, split, branch off, differ, deviate
  • Antonyms: converge, meet, merge, agree
  • Use: Our views diverge on the role of the state.

45. DIVULGE (v.)

  • Urdu: افشا کرنا، راز کھولنا
  • Meaning: to reveal private information
  • Synonyms: reveal, disclose, leak, expose, let slip
  • Antonyms: conceal, hide, keep secret, withhold
  • Use: He refused to divulge his sources.

46. DOCILE (adj.)

  • Urdu: فرماں بردار، سیدھا
  • Meaning: ready to accept control or instruction
  • Synonyms: obedient, compliant, submissive, tame, meek
  • Antonyms: disobedient, unruly, rebellious, wild
  • Use: The docile buffalo let the child lead it.

47. DOGMATIC (adj.)

  • Urdu: ہٹ دھرم، اپنی بات پر اڑا رہنے والا
  • Meaning: asserting opinions as undeniably true
  • Synonyms: opinionated, dictatorial, inflexible, doctrinaire, rigid
  • Antonyms: open-minded, flexible, tolerant, undogmatic
  • Use: A dogmatic approach closes the door to dialogue.
  • 🔁 CSS 2012 (option)

48. DORMANT (adj.)

  • Urdu: خوابیدہ، غیر فعال
  • Meaning: temporarily inactive
  • Synonyms: inactive, latent, quiescent, sleeping, inert
  • Antonyms: active, awake, lively, operative
  • Use: The dormant volcano could erupt again.

49. DUBIOUS (adj.)

  • Urdu: مشکوک، غیر یقینی
  • Meaning: hesitating or doubting; probably not honest
  • Synonyms: doubtful, questionable, suspicious, uncertain, shady
  • Antonyms: certain, reliable, trustworthy, sure
  • Use: He made his money through dubious means.

50. DUPLICITY (n.)

  • Urdu: دوغلاپن، منافقت
  • Meaning: deceitfulness; double-dealing
  • Synonyms: deceit, double-dealing, dishonesty, treachery, hypocrisy
  • Antonyms: honesty, sincerity, candour, integrity
  • Use: The spy's duplicity was finally exposed.