| A | B |
|---|
| acumen | keen insight; shrewdness |
| capitulate | to surrender; to give up resistance |
| bracing | strengthening; invigorating |
| iconoclast | a breaker or destroyer of images, especially those set up for religious worship; a person who attacks cherished beliefs, traditional institutions, etc., as being based on error or superstition |
| demur | to object, to raise doubts, or to show reluctance; hesitation |
| catholic | comprehensive or wide-ranging in tastes, interests, etc; broad-minded; universal |
| insurgent | a rebel; a person who revolts against lawful authority |
| prevail | to succeed; to exist everywhere; to urge successfully |
| fecund | capable of producing offspring, fruit, vegetation, etc., in abundance; fruitful; fertile; intellectually productive; prolific |
| vigil | a watch maintained, esp at night, to guard, observe, pray, etc; a period of sleeplessness |
| stultify | to cause to appear foolish or ridiculous; to make useless or ineffective |
| poignant | painfully affecting the feelings; deeply moving; to the point; pungent in smell |
| detritus | loose material (such as rock fragments) or any product that results from disintegration, destruction, or wearing away; debris; odds and ends |
| encompass | to form a circle around; to include; to accomplish |
| soporific | causing sleep; dulling awareness |
| reproof | criticism; rebuke; scolding |
| invigorate | to give life and energy to; to animate; to stimulate |
| hackneyed | lacking in freshness or originality; overused; clichéd |
| tycoon | a businessman of exceptional wealth and power |
| remonstrate | to argue or plead in protest, objection, or disapproval |
| mordant | sharply sarcastic; caustic; corrosive; pungent |
| catalyst | a person or thing that causes or speeds significant change or action |
| forestall | to delay, hinder or prevent by action in advance; to anticipate |
| inimical | unfavorable; harmful; hostile; unfriendly |
| buttress | any prop or support built to steady a structure; to support or prop up; to give encouragement to |
