to commingle; to debase by mixing with something inferior; (unalloyed means pure)
alloy
to take for one's own use; to confiscate
appropriate
to suspend; to engage; holding one's attention; as in arrested adolescence, an arresting portrait
arrest (arresting)
majestic, venerable
august
leaning, inclination, proclivity, tendency
bent
to bring up; to announce; to begin to talk about
broach
to tolerate; to endure; to countenance
brook
major, as in cardinal sin
cardinal
a blindly devoted patriot
chauvinist
to change as if by dyeing, ex: to distort, gloss or affect
color
pompous, self- important
consequential
to diminish the intensity or check the vibration or a sound
damp
a tool used for shaping, as in a tool and die shop
die
to test or try; to attempt; to experiment
essay
to demand; to call for; to require to take
exact
to cause to fall by striking
fell
to sag or droop; to become spiritless; to decline
flag
sarcastic, impertinent, as in flippant; a flip remark
flip
to wade across the shallow part of a river or stream
ford
to complain or grumble
grouse
a rope, cord, or cable attached to something as a brace or guide; to steady or reinforce using a guy; thinking guide
guy
to imply, suggest, or insinuate
intimate
to tilt or lean to one side
list
to move heavily and clumsy
lumber
fitting, proper
meet
to exploit; to squeeze every last ounce of
milk
to pronounce or speak affectedly; to euphemize, to speak too carefully. Also to take tiny steps, tiptoe
Mince
exacting, fastidious, extremely precise
nice
to be establish, accepted, or customary
obtain
hidden, concealed, beyond comprehension
occult
commonplace, trite, unremarkable, quotidian
pedestrian
multicolored, usually in blotches
pied
to lose vigor (as through grief); to yearn
pine
moldable, pliable, not rigid
plastic
courage, spunk, fortitude
pluck
to pry, to press or force with a lever; something taken by force, spoils
prize
to complain about bitterly
rail
torn (past tense of rend); an opening or tear caused by such
rent
to lose courage; to turn frightened
quail
to limit
qualify
to enervate or weaken the vitality of (verb)
sap
a fool or nitwit (noun)
sap
contemptible, despicable
scurvy
exceptional, unusual, odd
singular
a group of trees
stand
to saturate or completely soak, as in to let a tea bag steep
steep
the supporting structural cross-part of a wing
strut
to remove (as a parliamentary motion) from consideration
table
to proffer or offer
tender
to equivocate; to change one's position
waffle
wit, joker
wag
to renounce or reject solemnly; to recant; to avoid
abjure
to foreshadow vaguely or intimate; to suggest or outline sketchily; to obscure or overshadow
adumbrate
a solemn or ecclesiastical (religious) curse; accursed or thoroughly loathed person or thing
anathema
soothing; something that assuages or allays pain or comforts
anodyne
farthest or highest point; culmination; zenith
apogee
one who abandons long-held religious or political convictions
apostate
deification; glorification to godliness; an exalted example, a model of excellence or perfection
apotheosis
severity, rigor; roughness, harshness; acrimony, irritability
asperity
to aver, allege, or assert
asseverate
diligent, hard-working, sedulous
assiduous
omen, portent
augury
belligerent, pugnacious, warlike
bellicose
to slander, to make a false; accusation
calumniate
disposed to point out trivial faults; calculated to confuse or entrap in argument
captious
to find fault without good reason
cavil
speed, alacrity; think accelerate
celerity
an illusion; originally, an imaginary fire breathing she-monster
chimera
insubordinate, rebellious
contumacious
rout, fiasco, complete failure
debacle
an outcome or solution; the unraveling of a plot
denouement
to discriminate or discern
descry
disuse
desuetude
random; aimless; marked by a lack of a pan or purpose
desultory
transparent, gauzy
diaphanous
reserved, shy, unassuming; lacking in self confidence
diffident
a song of grief or lamentation
dirge
glowing and enthusiastic praise; panegyric, tribute, eulogy
encomium
to shun or avoid
eschew
to censure scathingly, to upbraid
excoriate
to denounce, to feel loathing for, to curse, to declare to be evil
execrate
critical examination, explication
exegesis
to atone or make amends for
expiate
to destroy, to exterminate, to cut out, to exscind
extirpate
silly, inanely foolish
fatuous
quarrelsome, rebellious, unruly, refractory, irritable
fractious
to deny, to dispute, to contradict, to oppose
Gainsay
unorthodox, heretical, iconoclastic
Heterodox
difficult or embarrassing situation
Imbroglio
not easily exhaustible; tireless, dogged
indefatigable
certain, inevitable
ineluctable
one of a kind, peerless
inimitable
unconcerned, carefree, heedless
insouciant
deep rooted, ingrained, habitual
inveterate
vapid, uninteresting, nugatory; childish, immature, puerile
jejune
lewd, wanton, greasy, slippery
lubricious
a beggar, supplicant
mendicant
cheap, gaudy, tawdry, flashy, showy; attracting by false show
meretricious
menacing, threatening (reminds you of the minotaur)
Minatory
low point, perigee
nadir
baffled, bewildered, at a loss for what to do or think
nonplussed
noisily and stubbornly defiant, aggressively boisterous
obstreperous
tending to become more rigid, conventional, sterol, and reactionary with age; literally, turned into bone
ossified
to make something seem less serious, to gloss over to make less severe or intense
palliate
formal praise, eulogy, encomium
panegyric
cheap, miserly
parsimonious
transparent, easy to understand, limpid
pellucid
the concluding part of a speech; flowery, rhetorical speech
peroration
pounding, thundering, resounding
plangent
long-winded, verbose
prolix
to appease; to conciliate
propitiate
childish, immature, jejune, nugatory
puerile
power, strength
puissance
cowardly, craven
pusillanimous
to protest, to object
remonstrate
having sound sound judgment; perceptive, wise; like a sage
sagacious
lustful, lascivious, bawdy
salacious
remedial, wholesome, causing improvement
salutary
cheerful, confident, optimistic
sanguine
gloomy, dark, sullen, morose
saturnine
aphoristic or moralistic; epigrammatic; tending to moralize excessively
sententious
extremely loud and powerful
stentorian
gloomy, dark
stygian
toady,servile, self-seeking flatter; parasite
sycophant
biased; showing marked tendencies
tendentious
timid, fearful, diffident
timorous
novice, greenhorn, rank amateur
tyro
to corrupt, to debase, to spoil, to make ineffective
vitiate
fluent, verbal, having easy use of spoken language
voluble