accost
v. to approach and speak to first; to confront in a challenging or aggressive way
(s. buttonhole, approach)
(a. avoid, shun)
animadversion
n. a comment indicating strong criticism or disapproval
(s. rebuke, reproof)
(a. praise, compliment)
avid
adj. desirous, of something to the point of greed; intensely eager
(s. keen, enthusiastic, grasping)
(a. reluctant, indifferent, unenthusiastic)
brackish
adj. having a salty taste and unpleasant to drink
(s. saline)
(a. clear, sweet)
celerity
n. swiftness, rapidity of motion or action
(s. promptness, speed)
(a. slowness, sluggishness, dilatoriness)
devious
adj. straying or wandering from a straight or direct corse; done or acting in a shifty or underhanded way
(s. roundabout, indirect, tricky, sly, artful)
(a. direct, straightforward, open, aboveboard)
gambit
n. in chess, an opening move that involves risk or sacrifice of a minor piece in order to gain a later advantage; any opening move of this type
(s. ploy, ruse, maneuver)
halcyon
n. a legendary bird identified with the kingfisher;
adj. of or relating to the halcyon; calm, peaceful; happy, golden; prosperous, affluent
(s. tranquil, placid, palmy)
(a. turbulent, tumultuous)
histrionic
adj. pertaining to actors and their techniques; theatrical, artificial; melodramatic
(s. affected, stagy)
(a. muted, untheatrical, subdued)
incendiary
adj. deliberately setting or causing fires; designed to start fires; tending to stir up strife or rebellion;
n. one who deliberately sets fires, arsonist; one who causes strife
(s. adj. - inflammatory, provocative; n. - firebrand)
(a. adj. - soothing, qui
maelstrom
n. a whirlpool of great size and violence; a situation resembling a whirlpool in violence and destruction
(s. chaos, turbulence, tumult)
myopic
adj. nearsighted; lacking a broad, realistic view of a situation; lacking foresight or discernment
(s. shortsighted)
(a. farsighted)
overt
adj. open, not hidden, expressed or revealed in a way that is easily recognized
(s. clear, obvious, manifest, patent)
(a. clandestine, covert, concealed)
pejorative
adj. tending to make worse; expressing disapproval or disparagement, derogatory, deprecatory, belittling
(a. complimentary, ameliorative)
propriety
n. the state of being proper, appropriateness
pl. standards of what is proper or socially acceptable
(s. fitness, correctness)
(a. unseemliness, inappropriateness)
sacrilege
n. improper or disrespectful treatment of something held sacred
(s. desecration, profanation, defilement)
summarily
adv. without delay or formality; briefly, concisely
(s. promptly, peremptorily)
suppliant
adj. asking humbly and earnestly;
n. one who makes a request humbly and earnestly, a petitioner, suitor
talisman
n. an object that serves as a charm or is believed to confer magical powers, an amulet, fetish
undulate
v. to move in waves or with a wavelike motion; to have a wavelike appearance or form
(s. fluctuate, rise and fall)