jejune

not interesting; dull; lackinging maturity; childish; lacking in nutrition

jeremiad

a literary work or speech expressing a bitter lament or a righteous prophecy of doom

jingo

one who vociferously supports one's country; a chauvinist patriot

juxtaposition

act or state of placing side by side, esp. of comparison or contrast

kowtow

to kneel and touch the forehead to the ground in an expression of deep respect, worship, or submission; to show servile deference

koan

a puzzling, often paradoxical statement or story, used in Zen Buddhism as an aid to meditation and a means of gaining spiritual awakening

lachrymose

weeping or inclined to weep; tearful

laconic

using or marked by the use of few words; terse or concise

laissez faire

an economic doctrine that opposes governmental regulation or of interference; non interference in the affairs of others

lexicon

a dictionary; a stock of terms used in a particular profession, subject, or style; a vocabulary

loquacious

very talkative; garrulous

lucubrate

to write in a scholarly fashion; produce scholarship; elaborate writing

lugubrious

mournful, dismal, or gloomy, esp. to an exaggerated or ludicrous degree (eeyore the donkey)

meretricious

attracting attention in a vulgar manner; plausible but false or insincere; specious; of or relating to prostitutes or prostitution

malapropism

ludicrous misuse of a word, esp. by confusion with one of similar sound

magnanimous

courageously noble in mind and heart; generous in forgiving; unselfish

metamorphosis

a transformation; a marked change in appearance, character, condition, or function

missive

a written message; a letter

miscreant

an evildoer; a villain; an infidel; a heretic

moiety

a half; a part, portion, or share

milieu

an environment or a setting

nemesis

a source of harm or ruin; an opponent that cannot be beaten or overcome

nihilism

philosophy: an extreme form of skeptism that denies all existance; rejection or all distincitions in moral or religious value

nostrum

a medicine whose effectiveness is unproved and whose ingredients are usually secret; a quack remedy

nonsectarian

not limited to or associated with a particular religious denomination

obstreperous

noisily and stubbornly defiant; aggressively boisterous

oligarchy

a state governed by a few persons

obdurate

hardened in wrongdoing or wickedness; hardened against feeling; not giving in to persuasion

obsequious

full of or exhibiting servile compliance; fawning

obtuse

characterized by a lack of intelligence or sensitivity; not sharp, pointed, or acute in form; blunt

onerous

troublesome or oppressive; burdensome

ostensible

intended for display; open for view; outwardly appearing as such; pretended

orthography

the art or study of correct spelling according to established usage

pilloried

to expose to ridicule and abuse

paradigm

one that serves as a pattern or model; a set or list of all the inflectional forms of a word or of one of its grammatical categoriese

penumbra

a partial shadow, as in an eclipse, between regions of complete shadow & complete illumation; an area in which something exists to a lesser or uncertain degree; an outlying surrounding region

pecuniary

of or relating to money

peculate

to embezzle (funds) or engage in embezzlement

promulgate

to make known by public declaration; announce officially

parsimony

unusual or excessive frugality; extreme economy or stinginess

palliate

to make (an offense or crime) seem less serious; to make less severe or intense; mitigate; to relieve the smptoms of a disease or disorder

parse

to describe (a word) by stating its part of speech, form, and syntactical relationships in a sentence

peccant

sinful; guilty; violating a rule or an accepted practice; erring

pedestrian

a person travelling on foot; a walker

pejorative

tending to make or become worse; disparaging; belittling

propinquity

proximity; nearness; kinship; similarity in nature

proscriptive

prohibition

prevaricate

to stray from or evade the truth; equivocate

prosaic

consisting or characteristic of prose; matter of fact; straightforward; lacking in imagination and spirit; dull

preternatural

out of or being beyond the normal course of nature; differing from the natural

punctillious

strictly attentive to minute details of form in action or conduct; precise; scrupulous

quixotic

caught up in the romance of noble deeds and the pursuit of unreachable goals; idealistic w/o regard to practicality

quotidian

everyday; commonplace; recurring daily

recapitulate

to repeat in concise form; to make a summary

recondite

not easily understood; abstruse; concealed; hidden

remonstrate

to say or plead in protest, objection, or reproof

rubicund

inclined to a healthy rosiness; ruddy

redolent

having or emitting fragance; aromatice; suggestive; reminiscent

repugnant

arousing disgust or aversion; offensive or repulsive

sanguine

of the color of blood; red; of a healthy reddish color; ruddy; cheerfully confident, optimistic

sinecure

a position or office that requires little or no work but provides a salary

sophistry

plausible but fallacious argumentation

spurious

lacking authenticity or validity in essence or origin; not genuine; false; of illegitimate birth

stolid

having or revealing little emotion or sensibility; impassive

supercilious

feeling or showing haughty disdain

subjugate

to bring under control; conquer; to make subservient; enslave

sesquipedalian

a long word

syzygy

astronomy: the configuration of the sun, the moon, and Earth lying in a straight line; the combining of two feet into a single metrical unit in classical prosody

tacit

not spoken; implied by or inferred from actions/statements

tautology

needless repetition of the same sense in different words; redundancy

temper

to harden or strengthen by application of heat or by heating and cooling; to strengthen trhough experience or hardship; toughen; to adjust finely; attune

tempestuous

tumultous; stormy

tenebrous

dark and gloomy

termagant

a quarrelsome, scolding woman; a shrew

trenchant

forceful; effective, and vigorous; caustic; cutting; distinct; clear-cut

turgid

excessively ornate or complex in style or language; grandiloquent; swollen of distended, as from a fluid; bloated

turpitude

depravity; baseness; a base act

ubiquitous

being or seeming to be everywhere at the same time; omnipresent

ullage

the amount of liquid within a container that is lost, as by leakage; the amount by which a container falls short of being full

unctuous

characterized by affected, exaggerated, or insincere earnestness; having quality or characteristics of oil or ointment; slippery

usurp

to seize and hold by force or w/o legal authority; to take over or occupy w/o right

vacuous

devoid of matter; empty; lacking intelligence; stupid

vicissitude

a change or variation; the quality of being changeable; mutability

virago

a woman regarded as noisy, scolding, or domineering; a large, strong, courageous woman

vortex

a spiral motion of fluid within a limited area, esp. a whirling mass of water or air that sucks everything near it toward its center

visceral

instinctive

wanton

immoral or unchaste; lewd; gratuitously cruel; merciless; playful

wastrel

one who wastes, esp. one who wastes money; an idler or a loafer

wassail

a solution/toast giving in drinking someone's health or as on expression of goodwill at a festivity

winnow

to separate the chaff from (grain) by means of a current of air; to examine closely in order to separate the good from the bad; sift

xenophobe

person unduly fearful or contemptuous of that which is foreign, esp. of strangers/foreign peoples

yaw

to turn about the vertical axis used of an aircraft, spacecraft, or projectile; to move unsteadily; weave

yeoman

an attendant, servant, or lesser official in a royal or noble household; a petty officer performing clerical duties in the U.S. naby; a dilligent, dependable worker

Zeitgeist

spirit of the time; the taste and outlook characteristic of a period or generation

zenith

the point on the celestial sphere that is directly above the observer; the upper region of the sky; the highest point; the point of culmination; peak

zephyr

the west wind; a gentle breeze; any of various light fabrics, yans, or gramants; something that is airy, insubstantial, or passing

ziggurat

a temple tower of the ancient Assyrians and Babylonians, having the form of a terraced pyramid of successively receding stories