| Term | Definition |
| charlatan | quack, pretender to knowledge |
| acumen | keenness, knowledge |
| culpable | deserving blame |
| innocuous | harmless |
| obdurate | stubborn |
| avarice | greedy for wealth |
| debunker | known for exposing falsehoods |
| mendacious | untruthful |
| partisan | one-sided; prejudiced; committed to a party |
| misanthrope | one who hates mankind |
| pundit | an authority on a subject, one who gives opinions |
| surrogate | person or thing that takes the place of something else |
| interlocutor | a person who takes part in a conversation |
| pragmatic | practical |
| insipid | dull, lacking in flavor |