| A | B |
|---|
| ascetic | adj. practicing strict self-denial for the sake of personal or spiritual discipline; n. one who leads a life of self-discipline, especially to express religious devotion |
| didactic | adj. intended to instruct, especially morally; inclined to moralize too much |
| inhibit | v. to restrain or hold back; to hinder or arrest |
| exculpate | v. to clear of guilt or blame |
| jeremiad | n. an elaborate or prolonged lamentation; any tale of woe |
| curmudgeon | n. an irascible, churlish person |
| burgeon | v. to put forth new buds, leaves, or greenery; to develop rapidly or suddenly |
| faux pas | n. a slip in manners or conduct; a social blunder |
| fustian | n. inflated or pretentious language in speech or writing; a cloth made of cotton and flax |
| hauteur | n. haughtiness in bearing or attitude |
| complement | n. something that completes a whole; the quantity or number needed to make up a whole; the full number or allowance; v. to complete |
| apotheosis | n. the elevation of a person to divine rank or status; the glorification of a person as an ideal; a glorified ideal |
| bauble | n. a small, showy ornament of little value or use |
| opportunist | n. one who makes a practice of taking advantage of circumstances to further his or her own self-interest, regardless of principles or ultimate consequences |
| fulminate | v. to denounce or condemn vehemently; to explode, detonate |
| beguile | v. to mislead or deceive; to cheat; to divert; to cause to vanish unnoticed |
| unconscionable | adj. not guided or restrained by conscience, prudence, or reason; unscrupulous; immoderate |
| disingenuous | adj. lacking in sincerity or candor |
| adumbrate | v. to outline or sketch broadly; to foreshadow or prefigure; to disclose partially |
| contumacious | adj. obstinately or willfully disobedient; openly rebellious |
