- antiquarian: one who studies, collects, or deals in antiquities
- behemoth: any creature or thing of monstrous size or power
- litany: a ceremonial form of prayer consisting of a series of invocations with responses that are the same for a number in succession
- lugubrious: mournful, dismal, or gloomy, usually in an exaggerated manner
- palimpsest: a parchment from which writing has been partially or completely erased to make room for another text
- peccadillo: a very minor or slight sin or offense
- pedantic: overly concerned with minute details
- prolix: long and wordy
- quandary: a state of uncertainty or perplexity
- reproach: a cause or occasion of disgrace or discredit
- semaphore: any of various devices for signaling by changing the position of a light, flag, etc.
- susurration: a soft murmur; whisper
- sylph: a slender, graceful woman or girl; one of a race of supernatural beings supposed to inhabit the air
- talisman: anything whose presence exercises a powerful influence on human feelings or actions
- vouchsafe: to grant or give, as by favor, graciousness, or condescension
- zilch: zero; nothing