Abut
(v.) to join at one end or be next to; to support, prop up
Acme
(n.) the highest point
Attribute
(n.) A quality or characteristic belonging to or associated with someone or something
(v.) to assign to, credit with; to regard as caused by or resulting from
Attire
(n.) clothes, apparel, garb
(v.) to dress, adorn, or bedeck
Appease
(v.) to make calm, soothe; to relieve, satisfy; to yield to
Belittle
(v.) to make something appear smaller than it is; to refer to in a way that suggests lack of importance or value
Belated
(adj.) late, tardy
Barter
(n.) to exchange in trade
(v.) to exchange goods
Bland
(adj.) gentle, soothing, mild; lacking interest or taste
Caustic
(adj.) able to burn or eat away by chemical action; biting, sarcastic
Calamitous
(adj.) causing great misfortune
Crony
(n.) a very close friend, pal, chum, buddy
Convey
(v.) to transport; to transmit; to communicate, make a known; to transfer ownership or title to
Curt
(adj.) short, rudely brief
Crucial
(adj.) of supreme importance, decisive, critical
Conventional
(adj.) in line with accepted ideas or standards; trite
Dexterous
(adj.) skillful in the use of hands or body; clever
Defile
(v., trans.) to make on clean or dirty, destroy the purity of
(v., intrans.) to march in a single line or in columns
(n.) a narrow passage; gorge, canyon
Disclaim
(v.) to deny interest in or connection with; to give up all claim to
Disgruntled
(adj., part) in bad humor, discontented, annoyed
Divergent
(adj.) going in directions; different from each other; departing from convention, deviant
Doctrine
(n.) a belief, principal, or teaching; a system of such beliefs or principles; a formulation of such beliefs or principles
Exasperate
(v.) to irritate, annoy, or anger
Estrange
(v.) to drift apart or become unfriendly; to cause such as separation; to move or keep at a distance
Enormity
(n.) The quality of exceeding on more bones; an exceedingly evil act; huge size, immensity
Encroach
(v.) to advance beyond the usual or proper limits, trespass
Epoch
(n.) a distinct period of time, era, age
Exotic
(adj.) foreign; charmingly unfamiliar or strikingly unusual
Endow
(v.) to furnish, equip, provide with funds or some other desirable thing or quality
Enmity
(n.) hatred, ill-will
Foreboding
(n.) A warning or feeling that something bad will happen
(adj.) right by fear, ominous
Gratify
(v.) to please, satisfy; to indulge or humor
Gallantry
(n.) heroic courage; respect and courtesy; an act or statement marked by a high-level of courtesy
Heritage
(n.) an inheritance; a birthright
Irascible
(adj.) easily made angry, hot-tempered
Intrigue
(n.) crafty dealings, underhanded plotting
(v.) to form and carry out plots; to puzzle or excite the curiosity
Impunity
(n.) freedom from punishment
Impending
(adj., part.) about to happen, hanging over in a menacing way
Imperative
(adj.) necessary, urgent
(n.) A form of a verb expressing a command; that which is necessary or required
Juncture
(n.) a joining together; the point at which two things are joined; any important point in time
Menial
(adj.) lowly, humble, liking importance or dignity
(n.) A person who does the humble and unpleasant tasks
Mien
(n.) air, manner; appearance; expression
Mediate
(v.) to bring about an agreement between persons or groups, act as a go-between
(adj.) occupying a middle position; indirect, acting through an intermediary
Naive
(adj.) innocent, unsophisticated, showing lack of worldly knowledge and experience
Negate
(v.) to nullify, deny, bring to nothing
Nullify
(v.) to make of no value or consequence, cancel, wipe out
Niche
(n.) a decorative recess in a wall; a suitable place or position for a person or thing
Obsess
(v.) to trouble, haunt, or fill the mind
Overbearing
(adj.) domineering, haughty, bullying ; overpowering, predominant
Outlandish
(adj.) strange, freakish, weird, foreign looking; out-of-the-way, geographically remote; exceeding reasonable limits
Parables
(n.) A short narrative designed to teach a moral lesson
Pivotal
(adj.) vitally important, essential
Personable
(adj.) pleasing in appearance or personality, attractive
Pallid
(adj.) pale, lacking color; weak and lifeless
Parry
(v.) to ward off, fend off, evade, avoid
(n.) a defensive movement in fencing and other sports
Proclaim
(v.) to declare publicly or officially
Prodigy
(n.) something wonderful or marvelous; an unusual feat; a child or young person with extraordinary ability or talent
Pert
(adj.) high-spirited; lively; bold, saucy; jaunty
Reciprocal
(adj.) shared; involving give-and-take between two persons or things; working in both directions
(n.)(math) a number that, one multiplied by another number, gives 1
Renown
(n.) fame, glory
Rote
(n.) unthinking routine or repetition, a fixed or mechanical way of doing something
(adj.) based on a mechanical routine
Strictures
(n.) A limitation or restriction; criticism; (medicine) a narrowing of a passage the body
Stance
(n.) A way of holding the body; an attitude or position on an issue
Shiftless
(adj.) lazy, lacking in ambition and energy; inefficient
Tedious
(adj.) long and tiresome
Taint
(n.) a stain or spot; a mark of corruption or dishonor;
(v.) to stain or contaminate
Tractable
(adj.) easily managed, easy to deal with; easily wrought, malleable
Tawdry
(adj.) showy and flashy but lacking in good taste
Trepidation
(n.) fear, fright, trembling
Veritable
(adj.) actual, true, real
Vitality
(n.) strength, energy; the capacity to live and develop; the power to endure or survive
Vaunted
(adj.) much boasted about in a vain or swaggering way
Vex
(n.) to annoy, anger, exasperate; to confuse, baffle
Whimsical
(adj.) subject to our ideas, notions, or fancies; playful; unpredictable