• abate: to decrease in force or intensity
  
  ⤿ to become defeated or become null or void (as of a writ or appeal)
• abattoir: a place where animals are butchered; slaughterhouse
• abscond: to depart secretly and hide oneself
• acolyte: a person who attends or assists a leader
• acrimony: anger and bitterness; harsh or biting sharpness especially of words, manner, or feelings
• admonitions: gentle or friendly criticism
  
  ⤿ counsel or warning against fault or oversight
• affront: to insult especially to the face by behavior or language
• a fortiori: with greater reason or more convincing force; used in drawing a conclusion that is inferred to be even more certain than another
• akimbo: having the hand on the hip and the elbow turned outward
  
  ⤿ set in a bent position
• alacrity: promptness in response
• ambulatory: able to walk about and not bedridden
  
  ⤿ of, relating to, or adapted to walking
• anathema: someone or something intensely disliked or loathed
• apercus [a-per-sue ]: a brief survey or sketch
• aphorism: a concise statement of a principle
  
  ⤿a terse formulation of a truth or sentiment
• apocrypha: writings or statements of dubious authenticity
• apoplectic: of, relating to, or causing apoplexy or stroke
  
  ⤿ extremely enraged
• arbitrate: to settle (a dispute between two people or groups) after hearing the arguments and opinions of both
• asperity: roughness of manner or of temper; harshness of behavior or speech that expresses bitterness or anger
• atavism: recurrence in an organism of a trait or character typical of an ancestral form and usually due to genetic recombination
• augure: to foretell especially from omens
• aver: to declare positively

• barmy: full of froth or ferment
• bibelot [bee-ba-low]: a small household ornament or decorative object; trinket
• bowdlerize: to expurgate (something, such as a book) by omitting or modifying parts considered vulgar
  
  ⤿ to modify by abridging, simplifying, or distorting in style or content
• bucolic: relating to or typical of rural life
  
  ⤿ of or relating to shepherds or herdsmen

• cacophony: harsh or jarring sound; dissonance
• calumny: a misrepresentation intended to harm another's reputation
• canard: a false or unfounded report or story
• carbuncles: any of several red precious stones
  
  ⤿ a painful local purulent inflammation of the skin and deeper tissues with multiple openings for the discharge of pus and usually necrosis and sloughing of dead tissue
• caul: the large fatty omentum covering the intestines (as of a cow, sheep, or pig)
  
  ⤿ the inner fetal membrane of higher vertebrates especially when covering the head at birth
• chagrin: distress of mind caused by humiliation, disappointment, or failure
• cicatrise: to induce the formation of a scar
• circumspect: careful to consider all circumstances and possible consequences
• clandestine: marked by, held in, or conducted with secrecy
• comestible: edible
• commonweal (commonwealth): the general welfare
• comport: to be fitting; accord
• compunction: anxiety arising from awareness of guilt
• concupiscence: strong sexual desire
• consecrate: dedicated to a sacred purpose
• consternation: amazement or dismay that hinders or throws into confusion
• convalescence: time spent recovering from an illness or medical treatment; recuperation

• daguerreotype: an early photograph produced on a silver or a silver-covered copper plate
• deliquesce: to dissolve or melt away
• delsultory: marked by lack of definite plan, regularity, or purpose
  
  ⤿ not connected with the main subject
  
  ⤿ disappointing in progress, performance, or quality
• demarcate: to set apart; distinguish
• depilatory: an agent for removing hair, wool, or bristles
• desiccant: a drying agent
• derision: the use of ridicule or scorn to show contempt
• diaphanous: characterized by such fineness of texture as to permit seeing through
  
  ⤿ characterized by extreme delicacy of form; ethereal
• dolorous: causing, marked by, or expressing misery or grief
• domicile: place of residence; home
• dotage: a state or period of old age especially when accompanied by mental decline

• edifice: a large or massive structure
  
  ⤿large abstract structure
• effleurage: a light stroking movement used in massage
• effluvium: an invisible emanation
  
  ⤿ an offensive exhalation or smell
  
  ⤿ a by-product especially in the form of waste
• effrontery: shameless boldness
• eidolon [i-dolon]: an unsubstantial image
  
  ⤿ ideal
• enmity: positive, active, and typically mutual hatred or ill will
• enervate: lacking physical, mental, or moral vigor
  
  ⤿ to reduce the mental or moral vigor
• ensconce: shelter, conceal
• envisage: to view or regard in a certain way
• epaulette: something that ornaments or protects the shoulder
• epithelium: a membranous cellular tissue that covers a free surface or lines a tube or cavity of an animal body and serves especially to enclose and protect the other parts of the body, to produce secretions and excretions, and to function in assimilation
• equanimity: evenness of mind especially under stress
• ersatz: being a usually artificial and inferior substitute or imitation
• especial: directed toward a particular individual, group, or end
  
  ⤿ of special note or importance
  
  ⤿ highly distinctive or personal; peculiar
• evince: to constitute outward evidence of
  
  ⤿ to display clearly
• exalt: to raise in rank, power, or character

• fecund: fruitful in offspring or vegetation
  
  ⤿ intellectually productive or inventive to a marked degree
• filibuster: an irregular military adventurer
• flaneur: an idle man-about-town
• folderol [fal-del-rol]: a useless ornament or accessory
  
  ⤿ nonsense
• frisson: a brief moment of emotional excitement; shudder
• froideur: coolness or extreme reserve in manner
• futz: fool around

• gabardine: a firm hard-finish durable fabric (as of wool or rayon) twilled with diagonal ribs on the right side
• gambol: to skip about in play
• gauche: lacking social experience or grace
  
  ⤿ crudely made or done
• gloaming: twilight; dusk

• hamartia: tragic flaw
• harridan: a strict, bossy, or belligerent old woman
• hauteur: arrogance, haughtiness
• heliograph: an apparatus for telegraphing by means of the sun's rays flashed from a mirror
• hermetically: in an airtight manner
• hoi polloi: the general populace
• horology: the science of measuring time
  
  ⤿ the art of making instruments for indicating time
• hoyden: a girl or woman of saucy, boisterous, or carefree behavior
• hubbub: noise, uproar

• ignominy: deep personal humiliation and disgrace
• imbroglio: an acutely painful or embarrassing misunderstanding
• impecunious: having very little or no money usually habitually
• impetuous: marked by impulsive vehemence or passion
• impugn: to assail by words or arguments; oppose or attack as false or lacking integrity
• inanition: the quality or state of being empty
  
  ⤿ the quality or state of being empty
  
  ⤿ the absence or loss of social, moral, or intellectual vitality or vigor
• inclement: lacking mildness
• indefatigable: incapable of being fatigued; untiring
• in flagrante delicto: in the very act of committing a misdeed; red-handed
  
  ⤿ in the midst of sexual activity
• inoculate: to introduce immunologically active material (such as an antibody or antigen) into especially in order to treat or prevent a disease
• insouciant: lighthearted unconcern
• interlocutor: one who takes part in dialogue or conversation

• lachrymose: given to tears or weeping; tearful
• lacuna: a blank space or a missing part; gap
• latrine: a receptacle (such as a pit in the earth) for use as a toilet
• lily-livered: lacking courage; cowardly
• lothario: a man whose chief interest is seducing women
• louche: not reputable or decent
• loquacious: full of excessive talk; wordy
• lugubrious: exaggeratedly mournful

• maelstrom: a powerful often violent whirlpool sucking in objects within a given radius
• majuscule: a large letter (such as a capital)
• mendacity: given to or characterized by deception or falsehood or divergence from absolute truths
• milquetoast [milk toast]: timid, meek, or unassertive
• mollify: to soothe in temper or disposition; appease
• moue: a little grimace; pout

• non sequitur: a statement (such as a response) that does not follow logically from or is not clearly related to anything previously said
• neologism: a new word, usage, or expression

• obdurate: stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing
  
  ⤿ hardened in feelings
  
  ⤿ resistant to persuasion or softening influences
• obstreperous: marked by unruly or aggressive noisiness
  
  ⤿ stubbornly resistant to control
• oeuvre: a substantial body of work constituting the lifework of a writer, an artist, or a composer
• opprobrium: something that brings disgrace
• orthography: the art of writing words with the proper letters according to standard usage
  
  ⤿ the representation of the sounds of a language by written or printed symbols

• panache: an ornamental tuft (as of feathers) especially on a helmet
• paucity: smallness of number
• penitent: feeling or expressing humble or regretful pain or sorrow for sins or offenses; repentant
• penultimate: next to the last
  
  ⤿ of or relating to the next to the last syllable of a word
• penumbra: a space of partial illumination (as in an eclipse) between the perfect shadow on all sides and the full light
• penury: a cramping and oppressive lack of resources (such as money); severe poverty
• peremptory: putting an end to or precluding a right of action, debate, or delay - specifically: not providing an opportunity to show cause why one should not comply
  
  ⤿ expressive of urgency or command
  
  ⤿ characterized by often imperious or arrogant self-assurance
• philander: to have casual or illicit sex with a person or with many people
  
  ⤿ to be sexually unfaithful to one's spouse
• piquant: agreeably stimulating to the taste
  
  ⤿ engagingly provocative or stimulating
• pliant: easily influenced
• porcine: of, relating to, or suggesting swine; piggish
• portend: to give an omen or anticipatory sign of
• prurient: marked by, arousing, or appealing to sexual desire
• putrefaction: the decomposition of organic matter

• quixotic: foolishly impractical especially in the pursuit of ideals
• quotidian: occurring every day

• rancor: bitter deep-seated ill will
• rebarbative: repellent, irritating
• refractory: resisting control or authority; stubborn, unmanageable
• reify: to consider or represent (something abstract) as a material or concrete thing
  
  ⤿ to give definite content and form to (a concept or idea)
• rheumy: a watery discharge from the mucous membranes especially of the eyes or nose
• rote: an established and often automatic or monotonous series of actions followed when engaging in some activity

• sagacious: of keen and farsighted penetration and judgment; discerning
• sartorial: of or relating to a tailor or tailored clothes
• sepulchre: a place of burial; tomb
• scintillating [sin-​til-lat-​ing]: obrilliantly lively, stimulating, or witty
• shirkers: to go stealthily
  
  ⤿ to evade the performance of an obligation
• smarmy: revealing or marked by a smug, ingratiating, or false earnestness
  
  ⤿ of low sleazy taste or quality
• sobriquet [so-bri-kay]: a descriptive name or epithet; nickname
• somnolent: of a kind likely to induce sleep
• sonorous: producing sound (as when struck)
  
  ⤿ full or loud in sound
• sotto voce: under the breath
• stalwart: marked by outstanding strength and vigor of body, mind, or spirit
• suppurate: to form or discharge pus
• sybarite: a person who is self-indulgent in their fondness for sensuous luxury
• syllogism: a subtle, specious, or crafty argument
  
  ⤿ deductive reasoning

• temerity: unreasonable or foolhardy contempt of danger or opposition; rashness
• tincture: a solution of a medicinal substance in an alcoholic solvent
• torpor: a state of mental and motor inactivity with partial or total insensibility
• traipse: to go on foot
• tumid: marked by swelling; enlarged

• unctuous: having, revealing, or marked by a smug, ingratiating, and false earnestness or spirituality
  
  ⤿ smooth and greasy in texture or appearance
• unguents: a soothing or healing salve

• valise: suitcase
• verisimilar: having the appearance of truth
  
  ⤿ depicting realism (as in art or literature)
• vertiginous: characterized by or suffering from vertigo or dizziness
  
  ⤿ inclined to frequent and often pointless change
• vestibule: a passage, hall, or room between the outer door and the interior of a building; lobby
• virago: a loud overbearing woman
• vituperative: containing or characterized by verbal abuse
• voluble: easily rolling or turning; rotating
  
  ⤿ characterized by ready or rapid speech

• wastrel: one who expends resources foolishly and self-indulgently
• wittering: a piece of information (as a sign, token, or hint)

• yokel: a naive or gullible inhabitant of a rural area or small town