adjective

1. having an intense craving; greedy avid for power
2. eager and enthusiastic an avid reader

adjective

1. of the lowest degree; miserable; wretched abject poverty
2. lacking self-respect; degraded an abject coward

noun pl. asperities -·ties

1. roughness or harshness, as of surface, sound, weather, etc. or of circumstances
2. harshness or sharpness of temper

arrogate

transitive verb 

1. to claim or seize without right; appropriate (to oneself) arrogantly
2. to ascribe or attribute without reason

agnostic

abrogate

transitive verb 

amenities

pl.n.

allege

1. to assert positively, or declare; affirm; esp., to assert without proof
2. to offer as a plea, excuse, etc.
3. ARCHAIC to cite as an authority (for or against)

bestial

adjective

1. of beasts or lower animals
2. like a beast in qualities or behavior; brutish or savage; brutal, coarse, vile,

benign

adjective

1. good-natured; kindly
2. favorable; beneficial
3. MED. doing little or no harm; not malignant; specif., not cancerous benign tumors

banal

adjective

adjective

1. somewhat salty, as the water of some marshes near the sea
2. having an unpleasant taste; nauseating

cognizant

adjective

calumniate

charlatan

noun

convivial

adjective

1. having to do with a feast or festive activity
2. fond of eating, drinking, and good company; sociable; jovial

cacophonous

 congeal

transitive verb, intransitive verb

1. to solidify or thicken by cooling or freezing
2. to thicken; coagulate; jell

credence

noun

1. belief, esp. in the reports or testimony of another 
2. credentials
   
   

coup

noun 

1. a sudden, successful move or action; brilliant stroke

desiccated

1. to dry completely
2. to preserve (food) by drying

dilettante

derelict

deign

deprecate

to feel and express disapproval of; plead against

1. to depreciate; belittle
2. ARCHAIC to try to avert by prayer

demur

1. to hesitate because of one's doubts or objections; have scruples; object

devious

adjective

1. not in a straight path; roundabout; winding
2. deviating from the proper or usual course; going astray
3. not straightforward or frank; deceiving

discrepancy

noun 

eulogy

noun 

1. speech or writing in praise of a person, event, or thing; esp., a formal speech praising a person who has recently died
2. high praise; commendation

effrontery

noun

1. unashamed boldness; impudence; audacity; presumption

ethereal

adjective

1. of or like the ether, or upper regions of space
2. very light; airy; delicate ethereal music
3. not earthly; heavenly; celestial

ebullient

adjective

1. bubbling; boiling
2. overflowing with enthusiasm, high spirits, etc.; exuberant

adjective

1. lasting only one day
2. short-lived; transitory ephemeral glory

euphemism

noun

1. the use of a word or phrase that is less expressive or direct but considered less distasteful, less offensive, etc. than another
2. a word or phrase so substituted (Ex.: remains for corpse)

figment

noun

flaccid

adjective

1. hanging in loose folds or wrinkles; soft and limp; flabby flaccid muscles
2. lacking force; weak; feeble

foible

noun

1. a small weakness; slight frailty in character
2. the weakest part of a sword blade, from the middle to the point

fatuous

adjective

1. complacently stupid or inane; silly; foolish
2. ARCHAIC like an ignis fatuus; illusory; unreal

frenetic

adjective

felicitous

adjective

1. used or expressed in a way suitable to the occasion; aptly chosen; appropriate; apt
2. having the knack of appropriate and pleasing expression

flotsam

noun

1. the wreckage of a ship or its cargo floating at sea
2. odds and ends
3. unemployed people who drift from place to place

fiat

noun

1. an order issued by legal authority, usually beginning with fiat (let it be done); decree
2. a sanction; authorization
3. any arbitrary order

gambit

noun

1. CHESS an opening in which a pawn or other piece is sacrificed to get an advantage in position
2. an opening maneuver, action, or remark intended to gain an advantage or to offer an opinion

garish

adjective

1. too bright or gaudy; showy; glaring garish colors
2. gaudily or showily dressed, decorated, written, etc.

histrionic

adjective

1. of, or having the nature of, acting or actors
2. overacted or overacting; theatrical; artificial; affected

incendiary

impecunious

adjective

1. anything that exacts blind devotion or terrible sacrifice
2. any relentless, destructive, irresistible force

motif

noun

1. a main element, idea, feature, etc.; specif.,
   1. a main theme or subject to be elaborated on or developed, as in a piece of music, a book, etc.
   2. a repeated figure in a design

melange

noun

mendacious

adjective

mundane

adjective

1. of the world; esp., worldly, as distinguished from heavenly, spiritual, etc.
2. commonplace, everyday, ordinary, etc.

mutable

adjective

1. that can be changed
2. tending to frequent change; inconstant; fickle
3. subject to mutation

misanthrope

noun

moribund

adjective

1. dying
2. coming to an end
3. having little or no vital force left

moot

moratorium

noun 

1. a legal authorization, usually by a law passed in an emergency, to delay payment of money due, as by a bank or debtor nation
2. the effective period of such an authorization
3. any authorized delay or stopping of some specified activity

murky

adjective 

1. dark or gloomy
2. heavy and obscure with smoke, mist, etc. the murky air

myopic

modif.

1. Nearsighted

   nearsighted, shortsighted, astigmatic, bleary-eyed, shortsighted, halfsighted, dimsighted, presbyopic, moon-eyed*, mole-eyed*, goggle-eyed*, blind*. *

2. Narrow-minded

   close-minded, intolerant, bigoted, parochial; see prejudiced.

mordant

adjective

1. biting, cutting, caustic, or sarcastic, as speech, wit, etc.
2. causing corrosion
3. acting as a mordant

mandate

noun

1. an authoritative order or command, esp. a written one

nadir

noun

1. that point of the celestial sphere directly opposite to the zenith and directly below the observer
2. the lowest point

overweening

adjective

1. arrogant; excessively proud
2. exaggerated; excessive

oscillate

1. to swing or move regularly back and forth
2. to be indecisive in purpose or opinion; vacillate

picayune

noun

1. a coin of small value, as a former Spanish half-real of Louisiana
2. anything trivial

paltry

adjective 

piquant

adjective

1. agreeably pungent or stimulating to the taste; pleasantly sharp or biting
2. exciting agreeable interest or curiosity; stimulating; provocative

propinquity

noun

1. nearness in time or place
2. nearness of relationship; kinship

profane

adjective

1. not initiated into the inner mysteries or esoteric knowledge of something
2. not hallowed or consecrated
3. showing disrespect or contempt for sacred things; irreverent

perspicacity

n.

pariah

noun

1. a member of one of the lowest social castes in India
2. any person despised or rejected by others; outcast

penitent

adjective

panegyric

noun

1. a formal speech or piece of writing praising a person or event
2. high or hyperbolic praise; laudation

pejorative

adjective

1. declining; making or becoming worse: applied to words whose basic meaning has changed for the worse (Ex.: knave, cretin)
2. disparaging or derogatory

pusillanimous

adjective

1. timid, cowardly, or irresolute; fainthearted
2. proceeding from or showing a lack of courage

prepossessing

djective

pertinacious

adjective

1. holding firmly to some purpose, belief, or action, often stubbornly or obstinately
2. hard to get rid of; unyielding; persistent

prestigious

adjective

1. ARCHAIC of or characterized by legerdemain or deception
2. having or imparting prestige
   
   

progeny

plaintive

adjective

recumbent

adjective

1. 1. lying down; reclining; leaning
   2. resting; idle
2. BIOL. designating a part that leans or lies upon some other part or surface

ramified

adjective

saturnine

adjective

1. ASTROL. born under the influence of the planet Saturn
2. sluggish, morose, or taciturn

simplistic

adjective

sylvan

adjective

1. of or characteristic of the woods or forest
2. living or found in the woods or forest
3. wooded

4. noun

   one who lives in the woods

sacrilege

noun

1. the act of appropriating to oneself or to secular use, or of violating, what is consecrated to God or religion
2. the intentional desecration or disrespectful treatment of a person, place, thing, or idea held sacred

tyro

temporize

1. to suit one's actions to the time, occasion, or circumstances, without reference to principle
2. 1. to give temporary compliance or agreement, evade immediate decision, etc., so as to gain time or avoid argument
   2. to parley or deal (with a person, etc.) so as to gain time
3. to effect a compromise (with a person, etc., or between persons or parties); negotiate

viscous

adjective

1. having a cohesive and sticky fluid consistency; viscid
2. PHYSICS having viscosity

visionary

adjective

1. of, having the nature of, or seen in a vision 
2. existing only in the mind; not real; imaginary 
3. not capable of being put into effect; not realistic; 
4. seeing or disposed to see visions

wraith

noun

1. a ghost
2. the spectral figure of a person supposedly seen as a premonition just before that person's death