| A | B |
|---|
| brusquely | quickly; bluntly |
| junctures | where two points meet |
| morosely | in a sad, gloomy manner |
| recumbent | still; without movement |
| pugnacious | eager and ready to fight |
| scourges | anything that inflicts discomfort or suffering; in this case, any variety of insects |
| derision | ridicule and/or mockery |
| reprehensible | deserving of reproof; blameworthy |
| hovered | to remain or linger in or near a place |
| sullenly | showing irritation or ill humor by a gloomy silence or reserve |
| writhed | to twist the boy about or squirm, as in pain |
| aloof | at a distance, esp. in feeling or interest; apart |
| complacent | pleased, esp. with oneself or one's merits, advantages, or situations without awareness of some potential danger or defect |
| meager | deficient in quantity or quality |
| vestige | a mark, trace, or visible evidence of something that is no longer present or in existence |
| unctuous | characterized by excessive piousness or moralistic fervor, esp. in an affected manner; excessively smooth |
| atrophy | a wasting away of a body or organ; decline or decrease from disuse |
| repudiate | to reject as having no authority or binding force; to cast off or disown |
| mollify | to soften in feeling or temper; to pacify |
| largess | generous bestowal of gifts |
| mercenary | a professional soldier hired to serve in a foreign army |
| criterion | a standard of judgement or criticism; a rule or principle for evaluating or testing something |
| anomaly | a deviation from the common rule, type, arrangement, or form |
| milieu | surrounding, esp. of a social or cultural nature |
