vocabulary Tools A B revere to regard with awe; respect; devotion; venerate denounce to condemn openly; censure innovate to begin or introduce something new discern to perceive; detect enigma an obscure riddle provincial narrow and self centered capricious impulsive, unpredictable; fickle tentative experimental nature; provisional deference submission or courteous yielding to the opinion or decision of another vacillate to sway from one side to another; fluctuate dispassionate impartial, calm, unaffected alleviate to make more bearable; reduce pain ascetic a person who renounces the comforts of society and leads a life of self discipline (religious devotion) dogmatic authoritative, arrogant assertion of unproved or unprovable principles; over positive didactic designed or intended to teach disparage to lower in rank; degrade ephemeral lasting one day only expedient suitable for achieving a particular end in a given circumstance; concern with what is opportune; governed by self interest fastidious scornful, high standards; difficult to please languid weak, listless, slow, sluggish mitigate to cause to become less harsh or hostile; mollify; alleviate, relieve reprehensible culpable, guilty engender originate, produce fallacious tending to deceive or mislead incoherent loose, lacking cohesion, lacking clarity/intelligence/relevance