Decent is all buttoned up. Descent has all the fun because it gets to climb down a mountain. Dissent is what you do when the glee club wants to get matching red outfits but you like purple.

Decent definition: 1. Socially acceptable or good: 2. Dressed or wearing clothes: 3. Socially acceptable or good:. Cambridge Dictionary +Plus; My profile +Plus help; Log out; Dictionary. Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English. English; Learner’s Dictionary.

Decent, pronounced 'DEE-sent,' means 'socially acceptable.' It's also an old fashioned way to say 'polite.' These days if you ask someone if she's decent, you probably don't care if she went to finishing school, you're just wondering if she's dressed so you can come in. Decent can also mean good but not excellent. Have it both ways:

He's a decent old chap, but isn't at home much. (Bertram Mitford)

'We're going to work hard out there, and earn a decent living.' (New York Times)

Descent, pronounced 'dih-SENT,' means the act of moving downward, either physically or socially, like an evil cartoon character's descent into the underworld, or a villain's descent into madness, or even your descent into the subway station or down a mountain:

Damned spirits definition. There are a few nasty, short climbs, but several long descents too. (Guardian)

Descent can also refer to a person's cultural background. Makes sense if you think about going down the family tree:

The women, U.S. citizens of Somali descent, are charged with conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. (Washington Post)

Finally, dissent, also pronounced 'dih-SENT' is to pipe up against popular opinion.

It can refer to an opinion that differs from an official or popularly held one.To dissent is to voice such an opinion. There are shades of meaning, but it always means to go against the grain:

Mr. Putin, who has rarely faced public dissent in his 11 years in power, appeared momentarily taken aback, but quickly recovered and finished his statement. (New York Times)

Mrs. Twining curled her mouth in bitter dissent. (Edgar Fawcett)

To recap: decent is fine and you're dressed, descent is to go down down down, and dissent is when your opinion doesn't mesh with others.

decent

The adjective decent means sufficient or acceptable. The local diner you like to frequent may not serve a four-star breakfast, but it probably has decent food. Continue reading..

descent

If you’re on your way down, you’re making a descent, whether that’s as a passenger in an airplane that's landing, or if you’re tumbling down a staircase you just slipped on. Continue reading..

dissent

To dissent is to publicly disagree with an official opinion or decision. Dissent is also a noun referring to public disagreement. Continue reading..

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descent,

in anthropology, method of classifying individuals in terms of their various kinship connections. Matrilineal and patrilineal descent refer to the mother's or father's sib (or other group), respectively. Bilateral descent refers to descent derived from both sibs equally. Descent groups are of basic significance in the social structure of most nonindustrial societies. They constitute a series of social groups that dominate the domestic organization and the process of socialization, the use and transfer of property, the settlement of disputes, religious activities such as ancestor worship, and certain political relationships. Some lineage systems extend to the limits of the society itself. The Tiv of E Nigeria, for example, all consider themselves descendants in the male line of an eponymous ancestor, and the genealogy of this progeny defines the complete outline of descent group structure.

descent

(ANTHROPOLOGY) the means by which individuals are allocated to specific ancestral groups. If a society has descent rules, they will specify the basis of the construction of LINEAGES, with all the rights and obligations which go with such membership. Descent may be based on PATRILINEAL, MATRILINEAL, BILATERAL or NON-UNILINEAL principles, and its discussion was central to postwar British SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY.

Descent

in astronautics, the downward trajectory of a spacecraft or descent vehicle through dense layers of an atmosphere or in a vacuum prior to landing on the surface of a celestial body. During descent onto the surface of a planet that possesses an atmosphere, the velocity of a spacecraft is reduced by any force of resistance to the spacecraft’s motion, for example, by aerodynamic drag. Descent with atmospheric braking is most useful for landing spacecraft on the surface of a planet with a rather dense atmosphere. In this case, only a descent vehicle is usually involved, not the entire spacecraft. Atmospheric braking reduces the velocity of the descent vehicle to 150–250 m/sec. Further deceleration and the landing are usually accomplished by means of parachute and other braking systems.

Descent with atmospheric braking may have either a ballistic or a glide trajectory. During a glide descent, the descent vehicle is subject to lift as well as the force of gravity and any resistance forces. The vehicle is subjected to less load in a glide descent than in a ballistic descent, and maneuvering is also possible. If descent in the atmosphere is not preceded by retrorocket braking—using a rocket engine that generates thrust opposite in direction to the motion of the spacecraft—the spacecraft will enter the atmosphere with a high velocity (of the order of orbital velocity for a spacecraft orbiting relatively near a planet or escape velocity for a spacecraft approaching a planet from a great distance). In this case, deceleration is accompanied by overloads and heating of the spacecraft. The reduction of these and other effects at velocities greater than orbital velocity is possible only in a controlled descent or as a result of gradual braking of the landing craft upon multiple passes of the craft through the atmosphere of the planet. Retrorocket braking is used for the descent of a spacecraft onto a celestial body without an atmosphere.

The first return to earth at orbital velocity after an orbital flight was accomplished by the American satellite Discoverer 13 on Aug. 11,1960. The first earth landing of a satellite after an orbital flight was accomplished by the second Soviet orbital spacecraft on Aug. 20, 1960. The first return to earth of a spacecraft with escape velocity was accomplished by the American spacecraft Apollo 4 on Nov. 9, 1967, and the first return to earth of a spacecraft with escape velocity after orbiting the moon was accomplished by the Soviet spacecraft Zond 5 on Sept. 21,1968 (ballistic descent). The first descent and landing on a celestial body when lacking an atmosphere was accomplished on Feb. 3, 1966, when the Soviet space probe Luna 9 landed on the moon. The first descent from escape velocity in the atmosphere of another planet (Venus) was accomplished by the Soviet space probe Venera 4 on Oct. 18, 1967. The first landing on another planet (Venus) was achieved by the Soviet space probe Venera 7 on Dec. 15, 1970, and the first descent and landing on Mars was accomplished by the Soviet space probe Mars 3 on Dec. 2, 1971.

What does it mean when you dream about a descent?

A dream of descending in an elevator—or by any other means—may indicate a decline in energy or status. Alternatively, it may symbolize descent into the unconscious in a journey of self-discovery.

descent

[di′sent] (aerospace engineering)

descent

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