acumen
(n.) keenness of insight; quickness or accuracy of judgment
SYN: perspicacity, shrewdness, acuity
ANT: ignorance, stupidity, obtuseness
adjudicate
(v.) to act as judge in a matter; to settle through the use of a judge or legal tribunal
SYN: arbitrate, referee, mediate
anachronism
(n.) a chronological misplacing of events, objects, customs, or persons in regard to each other
SYN: chronological error
apocryphal
(adj.) of doubtful or questionable authenticity
SYN: fictitious, mythical, spurious, bogus
ANT: authentic, genuine, true
disparity
(n.) a difference or inequality in age, rank, degree, amount, or quality; a dissimilarity, unlikeness
SYN: discrepancy, incongruity
ANT: similarity, likeness, congruity
dissimulate
(v.) to hide or disguise one's true thoughts, feelings, or intentions
SYN: dissemble, pretend, misrepresent
ANT: reveal
empirical
(adj.) derived from, dependent upon, or guided by practical experience, observation, or experiment, rather than by theory; so verifiable
SYN: observed, experiential, pragmatic
ANT: theoretical, hypothetical, conjectural
flamboyant
(adj.) highly elaborate or ornate; vividly colored; strikingly brilliant or bold
SYN: showy, ostentatious, florid
ANT: staid, sedate, decorous, seemly, sober
fulsome
(adj.) offensively insincere or excessive; disgusting, sickening
SYN: inordinate, repulsive
ANT: understated, muted, restrained, agreeable
immolate
(v.) to kill as a sacrifice, especially by fire; to destroy or renounce for the sake of another
SYN: slay, kill
ANT: save, rescue, preserve
imperceptible
(adj.) extremely slight; incapable of being perceived by the senses or the mind
SYN: minimal, undetectable
ANT: conspicuous, noticeable, flagrant
lackey
(n.) a uniformed male servant; a servile follower
SYN: footman, toady flunky, hanger-on
ANT: lord, liege, employer, boos
liaison
(n.) the contact or means of communication between groups; someone acting as such a contact; any close relationship; a thickening or binding agent used in cooking
SYN: intermediary, channel
monolithic
(adj.) characterized by massiveness, solidness, and total uniformity
SYN: undifferentiated, massive, dense
ANT: diversified, variform, multifarious
mot juste
(n.) the most suitable or exact word or expression
SYN: right word
ANT: misnomer, misusage, malapropism
nihilism
(n.) a total rejection of existing laws, institutions, and moral values; extreme radicalism
ANT: conservatism
patrician
(n.) a member of the ruling class; a person of high or noble rank or of prominent social standing; (adj.) belonging to, befitting, or characteristic of such a person
SYN: (n.) aristocrat, peer, noble; (adj.) highborn
ANT: (n.) peasant, commoner, plebeian
propitiate
(v.) to make someone or something favorably inclined toward oneself; to conciliate, satisfy, or appease
SYN: placate, mollify
ANT: estrange, alienate, provoke, annoy
sic
(adv.) thus so; intentionally written so
sublimate
(v.) to redirect the energy of a biological or instinctual impulse into a higher or more acceptable channel
SYN: rechannel, elevate