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- abet v. ─ to actively second and encourage something, such as an activity or plan.
- ad hoc adv. ─ for the particular end or case at hand without consideration of wider application.
- adulation n. ─ extreme or excessive admiration or flattery.
- aporia n. ─ an irresolvable internal contradiction or logical disjunction in a text, argument, or theory.
- aristocracy n. ─ a governing body or upper class usually made up of a hereditary nobility.
- behest n. ─ a person's orders or command.
- bulwark n. ─ a strong support or protection.
- catechism n. ─ a series of fixed questions, answers, or precepts used for instruction.
- contentation n. ─ heated disagreement.
- credo n. ─ a statement of the beliefs or aims which guide someone's actions.
- deride v. ─ to subject to usually bitter or contemptuous ridicule or criticism.
- despotic adj. ─ having unlimited power over other people, and often using it unfairly and cruelly.
- dissident adj. ─ disagreeing especially with an established religious or political system, organization, or belief.
- dole v. ─ distribute shares of something.
- dramatis personae pl. n. ─ the characters or actors in a drama; people who figure prominently in something such as an event.
- enfeeble v. ─ to make feeble.
- exegesis n. ─ exposition; explanation.
- extol v. ─ to praise highly.
- fetter n. ─ a chain or shackle for the feet; something that confines.
- filch v. ─ steal.
- gainsay v. ─ to declare to be untrue or invalid.
- galvanizing adj. ─ stimulating in a way that provokes action or effort.
- hitherto adv. ─ up to this or that time.
- indigent n. ─ a needy person.
- journeyman n. ─ a worker who has learned a trade and works for another person usually by the day.
- lambast v. ─ criticize someone or something harshly.
- lurid adj. ─ causing horror or revulsion.
- panegyric n. ─ a public speech or published text in praise of someone or something.
- partisan n. ─ a firm adherent to a party, faction, cause, or person.
- pastiche n. ─ a literary, artistic, musical, or architectural work that imitates the style of previous work
- paucity n. ─ smallness of number.
- philistine n. ─ a person who is guided by materialism and is usually disdainful of intellectual or artistic values
- pilfer v. ─ steal.
- plodding adj. ─ slow-moving and unexciting.
- proclivity n. ─ a tendency to choose or do something regularly; an inclination or predisposition towards a particular thing.
- profligacy n. ─ reckless extravagance or wastefulness in the use of resources.
- promethean adj. ─ relating to or characteristic of the demigod prometheus, especially in being rebelliously creative and innovative.
- recalcitrant adj. ─ obstinately defiant of authority or restraint.
- reprisal n. ─ a retaliatory act.
- semiotics n. ─ a general philosophical theory of signs and symbols that deals especially with their function in both artificially constructed and natural languages and comprises syntactics, semantics, and pragmatics.
- shibboleth n. ─ a custom, principle, or belief distinguishing a particular class or group of people, especially a long-standing one regarded as outmoded or no longer important.
- siege n. ─ a military blockade of a city or fortified place to compel it to surrender.
- spoliation n. ─ the action of ruining or destroying something.
- stifle v. ─ to withhold from circulation or expression.
- subterfuge n. ─ deceit used in order to achieve one's goal.
- tenuous adj. ─ having little substance or strength.
- usury n. ─ an unconscionable or exorbitant rate or amount of interest.
- vanquish __v._ ─ to defeat in a conflict or contest.
- venal adj. ─ capable of being bought or obtained for money or other valuable consideration.
- verboten adj. ─ forbidden, especially by an authority.
- vicissitude n. ─ a fluctuation of state or condition.
- vituperation n. ─ bitter and abusive language.
- wrest v. ─ to gain with difficulty by or as if by force, violence, or determined labor.
dec 9 2024 ∞
jan 12 2025 +
jan 12 2025 +