1.
acquisitive: (adj.) able to get and retain ideas or information; concerned with acquiring wealth or property
2.
arrogate: (v.) to claim or take without right
3.
banal: (adj.) hackneyed, trite, commonplace
4.
belabor: (v.) to work on excessively; to thrash soundly
5.
carping: (adj.) tending to find fault, especially in a petty, nasty, or hairsplitting way; petty, nagging criticism
6.
coherent: (adj.) holding or sticking together; making a logical whole; comprehensible, meaningful
7.
congeal: (v.) to change from liquid to solid, thicken; to make inflexible or rigid
8.
emulate: (v.) to imitate with the intent of equaling or surpassing the model
9.
encomium: (n.) a formal expression of praise, a lavish tribute
10.
eschew: (v.) to avoid, shun, keep away from
11.
excoriation: (n.) a strong denunciation; the act or state of stripping or wearing off the skin
12.
germane: (adj.) relevant, appropriate, apropos, fitting
13.
insatiable: (adj.) so great or demanding that it cannot be satisfied
14.
intransigent: (adj.) refusing to compromise, irreconcilable
15.
invidious: (adj.) offensive, hateful; tending to cause bitterness
16.
largesse: (n.) generosity in giving; lavish or bountiful contributions
17.
ramify: (v.) to divide and spread out like branches
18.
reconnaissance: (n.) a survey made for military purposes; any kind of preliminary inspection or examination
19.
substantiate: (v.) to establish by evidence, prove
20.
taciturn: (adj.) habitually silent or quiet, inclined to talk very little
21.
temporize: (v.) to stall or act evasively in order to gain time, avoid a confrontation, or postpone a decision; to compromise
22.
tenable: (adj.) capable of being held or defended
