160+ Verbs That Start With D | Definitions & Examples
Whether you’re a teacher, a student, a puzzler, or just working on your vocabulary, lists of verbs that start with D can be a very handy resource. This article lists over 160 verbs beginning with D—split into a list of simple, everyday verbs, like “damage,” “demonstrate,” and “drink,” and a list of more advanced verbs, like “defraud,” “diffuse,” and “divulge.”
Start with a prompt like, “Give me a list of 10 transitive verbs that start with D.”
40+ common verbs that start with D
The following list contains 47 commonly used verbs that start with the letter D, each with a short definition.
- Damage: Cause harm or break something
- Dance: Move your body to music
- Dare: Have the courage to do something
- Date: Go out with someone in a romantic way
- Deal: Share out cards
- Decide: Make a choice
- Decrease: Become or make less
- Decorate: Make something look nicer by adding things
- Delay: Make something happen later
- Deliver: Bring something to a place or person
- Demand: Ask strongly for something
- Demonstrate: Show how something works
- Describe: Say what someone or something is like
- Design: Plan how something should look or work
- Destroy: Break something so it cannot be used
- Develop: Grow or build over time
- Die: Stop living
- Dig: Make a hole in the ground
- Dine: Eat a meal
- Dip: Put something into liquid for a short time
- Direct: Guide someone or tell them what to do
- Disagree: Have a different opinion
- Disappear: Become impossible to find or see
- Disappoint: Make someone feel sad because something didn’t happen as expected
- Disconnect: Break a link or stop a connection
- Discover: Find something new or learn it for the first time
- Discuss: Talk about something with others
- Dislike: Not like something
- Dive: Jump into water head first
- Divide: Split into parts
- Do: Perform an action
- Double: Become twice as much
- Download: Transfer a file from the internet to your device
- Drag: Pull something along the ground or another surface
- Drain: Make liquid leave a place
- Draw: Make a picture with a pen or pencil, or pull something
- Dream: See stories in your mind while you sleep
- Dress: Put clothes on yourself or someone else
- Drink: Take liquid into your mouth and swallow
- Drive: Control a car or other vehicle
- Drop: Let something fall
- Drown: Die in water because you cannot breathe
- Dry: Make something not wet
- Duck: Move down fast to avoid something
- Dump: Drop something in a place without care
- Dust: Wipe away dry, powdered dirt from a surface
- Dye: Change the color of something (e.g., clothing) using colored liquid
I normally like her films, but this movie disappointed me.
The population of the town has doubled since the factory opened.
Pablo ducked to avoid being hit by a snowball.
Maria dumped her bag in the hallway and fixed herself a sandwich.
Did you hang the laundry out to dry?
120+ advanced verbs that start with D
Here is a list of 121 verbs that start with D containing more advanced vocabulary—verbs that you might need to know to answer vocabulary questions and understand reading passages on advanced language proficiency tests, standardized tests, or college entrance exams.
Many of these verbs beginning with D start with “dis-,” a prefix that often forms words describing the opposite of the process, attribute, or condition conveyed by the rest of the word (e.g., “disentangle,” “disembark,” and “disprove”).
- Dabble: Experiment in a casual, non-serious way
- Dampen: Make something less strong, intense, or lively, or make something wet
- Debar: Officially stop someone from doing something
- Debase: Reduce value or quality, or harm dignity or respect
- Debilitate: Weaken so much that normal function is difficult
- Debunk: Show that an idea or claim is false, exaggerated, or misleading
- Decant: Carefully pour liquid so sediment stays behind
- Deceive: Mislead someone into believing something untrue
- Decentralize: Spread power or control away from a single center
- Decipher: Figure out the meaning of something unclear, coded, or hard to read
- Declaim: Speak in a forceful, dramatic way
- Decompose: Break down into smaller parts, especially through natural decay
- Deconstruct: Take apart an idea, text, or system to examine it
- Decry: Publicly criticize as wrong or harmful
- Deduce: Reach a conclusion by using evidence and logical steps
- Deem: Consider that something has a particular quality
- Defame: Harm someone’s reputation by spreading damaging claims
- Defeat: Overcome an opponent or block an effort from succeeding
- Defend: Protect against attack, criticism, or harm
- Defer: Put something off until a later time
- Deflate: Reduce the amount of air (e.g., in a balloon) or someone’s confidence or excitement
- Deflect: Redirect something away from where it was aimed, or shift attention off the main issue
- Defraud: Trick someone in order to take something valuable (e.g., money)
- Defuse: Make a tense situation less dangerous, or prevent something from exploding
- Defy: Resist openly and refuse to obey
She decanted the wine into a carafe and put it on the table.
Environmental groups have decried the decision to permit mining in the area.
- Degrade: Treat as less worthy, or lower in quality or condition
- Dehydrate: Remove water from something, or cause it to lose too much water
- Deify: Treat someone or something as a god or as perfect
- Delegate: Assign a task or responsibility to someone else
- Deliberate: Think carefully before acting or deciding
- Delineate: Describe or outline clearly, especially details or limits
- Delude: Fool someone into accepting a false belief
- Demarcate: Mark a clear boundary or dividing line
- Demean: Lower someone’s dignity through insulting or mean treatment
- Demolish: Destroy completely
- Demystify: Make something easier to understand by removing confusion or secrecy
- Denigrate: Attack someone or something unfairly in order to damage respect for it
- Denote: Indicate or stand for something
- Depict: Show or describe in words, images, or examples
- Deplete: Use up a supply so there is little left
- Deplore: View as deeply wrong or upsetting
- Deploy: Put resources to work
- Depose: Remove from a position of power, or give sworn testimony
- Deprecate: Express disapproval of, or play down the value of
- Depreciate: Lose value over time
- Depress: Make less hopeful or reduce in number or value
- Deprive: Keep someone from having something needed or desired
- Derail: Cause a plan or process to fail or go off course
- Deride: Mock with scornful humor
- Derive: Get something from a source, or develop something from earlier material
Experts believe the color denoted wealth and status.
His claim that the fruit can cure all kinds of diseases has been widely derided.
- Descend: Move downward, or come from an ancestor
- Designate: Choose and name for a specific role, purpose, or title
- Despair: Lose hope and feel that improvement is unlikely
- Despise: Feel strong disgust or contempt for
- Detain: Keep someone from leaving
- Detect: Notice, discover, or find evidence of
- Deter: Discourage someone from acting by emphasizing risk or difficulty or expressing doubt
- Deteriorate: Become worse in condition, quality, or strength
- Determine: Decide firmly, or figure out a fact by investigation
- Detonate: Set off an explosion
- Detract: Take away from the value, effect, or attention something receives
- Devastate: Cause great damage or overwhelming distress
- Deviate: Turn away from the usual path, rule, or expectation
- Devise: Create a plan, method, or idea through careful thought
- Diagnose: Identify a problem by examining signs and causes
- Differentiate: Recognize or show how things are not the same
- Diffuse: Spread out widely, or soften the intensity of something
- Digress: Wander away from the main point while speaking or writing
- Dilute: Make weaker by adding something, especially water or extra material
- Diminish: Make smaller, fewer, or less important
Investigators were unable to determine the exact cause of the fire.
Within five years, the technology had diffused to every corner of the continent.
- Disabuse: Free someone from a mistaken belief
- Disallow: Refuse to accept as valid
- Disarm: Remove weapons, or reduce someone’s hostility and suspicion
- Disavow: Deny responsibility for, or reject any connection to
- Disband: Break up a group so it no longer functions as a unit
- Disburse: Pay out or distribute money from a fund
- Discard: Throw away or set aside as not useful
- Discern: Notice or understand something subtle or unclear
- Disclose: Reveal information that was hidden or private
- Discontinue: Stop doing or providing something
- Discredit: Damage trust in someone or something, or show it is not believable
- Discriminate: Treat people differently in an unfair way, or distinguish between options
- Disembark: Leave a ship, plane, or vehicle
- Disenchant: Take away someone’s sense of wonder, satisfaction, or pleasure about something
- Disenfranchise: Take away the right to vote or participate fully in civic life
- Disengage: Stop involvement, effort, or connection
- Disentangle: Free something that’s twisted together, or break a problem into separate parts so it’s easier to understand
- Disfigure: Spoil the appearance or shape of something
- Disinherit: Stop someone from receiving your money or property if you die
- Disintegrate: Break apart into pieces
- Dislodge: Knock something loose from where it was stuck or settled
- Dismantle: Take apart piece by piece
Disparage: Speak about someone or something in a negative way - Dispatch: Send a message or parcel, or send someone to a place to do something
- Dispel: Stop someone from having a false idea or being fearful or doubtful of something
- Dispense: Give out or distribute
- Disperse: Spread over a wide area
- Displace: Force out of its normal position, or move people from their homes
- Disprove: Show with evidence that something is not true
- Dispute: Argue against or question strongly
He was disenchanted by the world of finance and qualified as a teacher last year.
Opponents claim that the new law risks effectively disenfranchising hundreds of thousands of people.
- Disseminate: Spread information or ideas to many people
- Dissipate: Fade away or scatter until it is gone
- Dissociate: Consider separate or unrelated
- Dissolve: Mix something into a liquid until it disappears, close an organization, or end an agreement
- Dissuade: Persuade someone not to do something
- Distill: Extract the most important parts of something
- Distort: Negatively change the shape, meaning, or effect of something
- Distract: Attract attention away from what’s important
- Diverge: Go in different directions, or develop in different ways
- Diversify: Increase variety, especially to reduce dependence on one thing
- Divert: Make something go in a different direction or serve a different purpose
- Divest: Sell something you own, especially a business or financial asset
- Divulge: Reveal information that was meant to be kept secret
- Dominate: Control or strongly influence, often by being more powerful
- Don: Put on clothing or a distinctive covering
- Dovetail: Fit together neatly, or coordinate smoothly with something else
- Downgrade: Lower the rank, importance, or quality of something
- Downplay: Make something seem less serious or significant
- Dramatize: Make something sound more exciting than it actually was
- Drape: Hang loosely over something
- Dredge: Bring up from deep water
- Dwindle: Shrink gradually in size, number, or strength
The merger makes sense because the two companies’ products dovetail neatly, with each filling gaps in the other’s lineup.
Sales have been dwindling for years, and the company is now considering closing several stores.
Frequently asked questions about verbs that start with D
- What are some irregular verbs that start with D?
-
Some irregular verbs that start with D include:
- Deal — dealt (past participle) — dealt (simple past tense form)
- Dig — dug — dug
- Do — done — did
- Draw — drawn — drew
- Drive — driven — drove
If you have questions about verb forms and tenses in English, just ask QuillBot’s free AI Chat.
- What are some long verbs that start with D?
-
Some long verbs that start with D are:
- Differentiate (13 letters)
- Discriminate (12 letters)
- Disassociate (12 letters)
- Decentralize (12 letters)
- Disadvantage (12 letters)
For more lists of verbs starting with D, just ask QuillBot’s free AI Chat.
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Challenger, T. (2026, February 19). 160+ Verbs That Start With D | Definitions & Examples. Quillbot. Retrieved February 21, 2026, from https://quillbot.com/blog/word-finder/verbs-that-start-with-d/
