| A | B |
|---|
| Askance | with suspicion, distrust or disapproval |
| Attenuate | to make thin or slender; to weaken or lessen in force |
| Benign | gentle, kind; forgiving, understanding; having a favorable or beneficial effect; not malignant |
| Cavil | to find fault in a petty way; a trivial objection or criticism |
| Charlatan | one who feigns knowledge or ability; a pretender, an imposter |
| Decimate | to kill or destroy a large part of |
| Foible | a weak point, failing, minor flaw |
| Forgo | to do without, abstain from, give up |
| Fraught | full or loaded with; accompanied by |
| Inure | to toughen, harden; to render used to something by long subjection or exposure |
| Luminous | emitting or reflecting light, glowing; illuminating |
| Obsequious | marked by slavish attentiveness; excessively submissive, often for purely self-interested reasons |
| Obtuse | blunt, not coming to a point; slow or dull in understanding; measuring between 90 and 180 degrees; not causing a sharp impression |
| Oscillate | to swing back and forth with a steady rhythm; to fluctuate or waver |
| Penitent | regretful for one's sins or mistakes; one who is sorry for wrongdoing |
| Peremptory | having the nature of a command that leaves no opportunity for debate, denial or refusal; offensively self-assured, dictatorial; determined, resolute |
| Rebuff | to snub; to repel, drive away; a curt rejection, a check |
| Reconnoiter | to engage in reconnaissance; to make a preliminary inspection |
| Shambles | a slaughterhouse; a place of mass bloodshed; a state of complete disorder and confusion, mess |
| Sporadic | occurring at irregular intervals, having no set plan or order |
