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de • rail v., hinder or impede the progress of. Her plans to join the track team were temporarily derailed when she broke her leg.

dis • traught adj., agitated; troubled. The bird was distraught over the loss of her nest.

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mer • e • tri • cious adj., falsely attractive, pretentious, superficially significant. People who don’t know Jim well admire him for his meretricious attributes, but I value his kindness and generosity.

in • fringe v., trespass on, intrude on, overstep the bounds of. Yolanda infringed on her older sister’s privacy when she read her sister’s diary.

dim • i • nu • tion n., act or process of diminishing. At the end of the sale, the shopkeepers were pleased by the diminution of goods.

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cur • tail v., make less. The mayor hoped that more police officers on the streets would help to curtail crime.
curtailment, n.