- adverse: unfavorable, negative
- arid: extremely dry
- assailant: person who violently attacks
- billow: a large wave
- confront: to meet face-to-face
- constrain: hold back
- contemporary: belonging to the same time period
- depict: to show in the form of a picture
- disinterested: indifferent; fair-minded
- encompass: to go or reach around
- groundless: without any good reason or cause
- hypocrite: a two-faced person
- incomprehensible: impossible to understand
- manipulate: to handle or use skillfully
- maximum: the greatest possible amount
- mimic: to imitate
- ruffle: to wrinkle, annoy; a gathered strip of material used for trimming edges
- serene: peaceful
- sheepish: embarrased
- stamina: the strength needed to keep going