| Term | Definition |
|---|
| acumen | quick, keen, or accurate knowledge or insight |
| adulterate | to reduce purity by combining with inferior ingredients |
| archaic | outdated; associated with an earlier, perhaps more primitive, time |
| aver | to state as a fact; to confirm or support |
| dissemble | to disguise or conceal; to mislead |
| eccentric | departing from norms or conventions |
| endemic | characteristic of or often found in a particular locality, region, or people |
| evanescent | tending to disappear like vapor; vanishing |
| exacerbate | to make worse or more severe |
| grandiloquence | pompous speech or expression |
| hackneyed | rendered trite or commonplace by frequent usage |
| hedonism | devotion to pleasurable pursuits, esp. to the pleasures of the senses |
| hegemony | the consistent dominance of one state or ideology over others |
| iconoclast | one who attacks or undermines traditional conventions or institutions |
| impassive | revealing no emotion |
| impunity | immunity from punishment or penalty |
| inchoate | in an initial stage; not fully formed |
| infelicitous | unfortunate; inappropriate |
| insipid | without taste or flavor; lacking in spirit; bland |
| loquacious | extremely talkative |
| luminous | characterized by brightness and the emission of light |
| malevolent | having or showing often vicious ill-will, spite, or hatred |
| misanthrope | one who hates all other humans |
| mitigate | to make or become less severe or intense; to moderate |
| occlude | to obstruct or block |
| pedagogy | the art or profession of training, teaching, or instructing |
| penury | poverty; destitution |
| pine | to yearn intensely; to languish; to lose vigor |
| pith | the essential or central part |
| pithy | precise and brief |
| placate | to appease; to calm by making concessions |
| platitude | a superficial remark, esp. one offered as meaningful |
| plummet | to plunge or drop straight down |
| prodigal | recklessly wasteful; extravagant; profuse; lavish |
| profuse | given or coming forth abundantly; extravagant |
| proliferate | to grow or increase swiftly and abundantly |
| queries | questions; inquiries; doubts in the mind; reservations |
| querulous | prone to complaining or grumbling; quarrelsome |
| recalcitrant | obstinately defiant of authority; difficult to manage |
| repudiate | to refuse to have anything to do with; to disown |
| rescind | to invalidate; to repeal; to retract |
| reverent | marked by, feeling, or expressing a feeling of profound awe and respect |
| specious | seeming true, but actually being fallacious; misleadingly attractive |
| spurious | lacking authenticity or validity; false; counterfeit |
| subpoena | a court order requiring appearance and/or testimony |
| succinct | brief; concise |
| superfluous | exceeding what is sufficient or necessary |
| surfeit | excess; overindulgence |
| tenacity | the quality of adherence or persistence to something valued |
| tenuous | having little substance or strength; flimsy; weak |
| tirade | a long and extremely critical speech; a harsh denunciation |
| transient | fleeting; passing quickly; brief |
| zealous | fervent; ardent; impassioned |
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