| acquisitive | able to get and retain ideas or information |
| arrogate | to claim or take without right |
| banal | hackneyed, trite, commonplace |
| belablor | to thrash |
| carping | tending to find fault |
| coherent | holding or sticking together |
| congeal | to change from liquid to solid |
| emulate | to imitate with the intent of equaling or surpassing the model |
| encomium | a formal expression of praise |
| eschew | to avoid, shun, keep away from |
| germane | relevant, appropriate, apropos |
| insatiable | so great or demanding as not to be satisfied |
| infransigent | refusing to compromise, irreconcilable |
| invidous | offensive, hateful |
| largesse | generosity in giving: lavish or bountiful contibutions |
| reconnaissance | a survey made for military purpose |
| substantiate | to establish by evidence, prove |
| taciturn | habitually silent or quiet, inclined to talk very little |
| temporize | to stall or act evasively in order to gain time |
| tenable | capable of being held or defended |