| Term | Definition |
|---|
| perestroika | The restructuring of the Soviet economy and bureaucracy that began in the mid 1980s |
| glasnost | An official policy of the former Soviet government emphasizing candor with regard to discussion of social problems and shortcomings |
| laconic | concise, using few words |
| acidulous | slightly sour; sharp; caustic; biting |
| admixture | the state of impairing the quality or reducing the value of something especially by adding other elements |
| aetataureate | pertaining to a golden age |
| bann | public announcement of intention to marry |
| cadger | someone who mooches |
| chary | wary; cautious; sparing |
| dexter | right, on the right. |
| dirigible | a steerable self-propelled airship |
| efflorescence | the period of greatest prosperity or productivity |
| estrous | meaning "heat" that modifies such words as "cycle". Estrous cycle is the heat cycle, or time from one heat period to the next |
| execrable | of very poor quality or condition; detestable |
| exophthalmic | Pertaining to an abnormal protrusion of the eye |
| febrile | feverish; pertaining to or marked by fever; frenetic |
| forbearance | patience, lenience |
| hirsute | having or covered with hair |
| immure | to enclose or confine within walls; to imprison; to seclude or isolate |
| inexorable | not capable of being swayed or diverted from a course |
| jambeaux | armor |
| lathe | machine tool for shaping metal or wood |
| lepidoptery | the branch of zoology dealing with butterflies and moths |
| lucubration | laborious study or thought, especially at night; the result of such work |
| oppugn | to oppose with argument; to contradict or call into question |
| peremptory | not allowing contradiction or refusal |
| philippic | a speech of violent denunciation |
| pique | cause to feel resentment or indignation; a sudden outburst of anger |
| plangent | loud and resounding |
| probity | uprightness; honesty; incorruptibility |
| prognathous | having a projecting lower jaw |
| querelous | complaining, whining, trembling |
| recherche | lavishly elegant and refined; rare and exotic |
| revenant | a person who returns (as a spirit) |
| satrap | a subordinate ruler, often a despotic one |
| sere | dry and withered |
| skein | a length of yarn or thread wound on a reel or swift; anything wound in or resembling such a coil |
| sluice | conduit that carries a rapid flow of water controlled by a sluicegate |
| spavined | Old, worn out, obsolete (said figuratively of a person); (of horses) disabled in the feet or legs |
| suppurate | cause to ripen and discharge pus |
| tergiversation | to change repeatedly one's attitude or opinions with respect to a cause, subject, etc.; equivocate; to turn renegade |
| termagancy | violent, brawling, turbulence, tumultuousness |
| torquemada | inquisitor general for spanish inquisition |
| verbitterte | filled with bitterness |
| vestigial | not developed |
| viridian | bluish pigment |
| omniveillant | fully concealed or veiled |
| ruelle | narrow back street, alley |
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