| Term | Definition |
|---|
| pilloried | (noun) 1. a wooden framework erected on a post, with holes for securing the head and hands, formerly used to expose an offender to public derision. 9(verb) 2. to set in the pillory. 3. to expose to public derision, ridicule, or abuse. |
| paradigm | (noun) 1. Grammar. a. a set of forms all of which contain a particular element, esp. the set of all inflected forms based on a single stem or theme. b. a display in fixed arrangement of such a set, as boy, boy's, boys, boys'. 2. an example serving as a model; pattern. |
| pecuniary | (adj) 1. of or pertaining to money. 2. consisting of or given or exacted in money or monetary payments. 3. (of a crime, violation, etc.) involving a money penalty or fine. |
| penumbra | (noun) 1. Astronomy. a. the partial or imperfect shadow outside the complete shadow of an opaque body, as a planet, where the light from the source of illumination is only partly cut off. b. the grayish marginal portion of a sunspot. 2. a shadowy, indefinite, or marginal area. |
| peculate | (verb) to steal or take dishonestly (money, esp. public funds, or property entrusted to one's care); embezzle |
| promulgate | (verb) 1. to make known by open declaration; publish; proclaim formally or put into operation (a law, decree of a court, etc.). 2. to set forth or teach publicly (a creed, doctrine, etc.). |
| parsimony | (noun) extreme or excessive economy or frugality; stinginess; niggardliness |
| palliate | (verb) 1. to relieve or lessen without curing; mitigate; alleviate. 2. to try to mitigate or conceal the gravity of (an offense) by excuses, apologies, etc.; extenuate. |
| parse | (verb) 1. to analyze (a sentence) in terms of grammatical constituents, identifying the parts of speech, inflectional form, syntactic relations, etc. 2. Computers. to analyze (a string of characters) in order to associate groups of characters with the syntactic units of the underlying grammar. |
| peccant | (adj) 1. sinning; guilty of a moral offense. 2. violating a rule, principle, or established practice; faulty; wrong. |
| pedestrian | (adj) 1. going or performed on foot; walking. 2. lacking in vitality, imagination, distinction, etc.; commonplace; prosaic or dull. |
| pejorative | (adj) 1. having a disparaging, derogatory, or belittling effect or force: the affix -ling in princeling. (noun) 2. such a form or word, as poetaster |
| propinquity | (noun) 1. nearness in place, relation, or time. 2. affinity of nature; similarity. |
| proscriptive | (adj) 1. of or relating to proscription, outlawry, interdiction, or prohibition |
| prevaricate | (verb) to speak falsely or misleadingly; deliberately misstate or create an incorrect impression; lie |
| prosaic | (adj) 1. commonplace or dull; matter-of-fact or unimaginative. 2. of or having the character or form of prose rather than poetry |
| preternatural | (adj) out of the ordinary course of nature; exceptional or abnormal. |
| punctilious | (adj) strict or exact in the observance of the formalities or amenities of conduct or actions |
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