| A | B |
|---|
| affinity | a natural attraction to a person |
| bilious | peevish or irritable; sickeningly unpleasant |
| cognate | closely related in origin |
| corollary | a proposition that follows from one already proven; a natural consequence or result; resultant or consequent |
| cul-de-sac | a blind alley or dead-end street; any situation in which further progress is impossible; an impasse |
| derring-do | valor or heroism; daring deeds or exploits (often used to poke fun at false heroics) |
| divination | the art or act of predicting the future or discovering hidden knowledge |
| elixir | a potion once thought capable of curing all ills and maintaining life indefinitely; a panacea; a sweet liquid used as a vehicle in medicines |
| folderol | foolish talk |
| gamut | an entire range or series |
| hoi polloi | the common people |
| ineffable | not expressible in words; too great or too sacred to be uttered |
| lucubration | laborious study thought |
| mnemonic | relating to or design to assist the memory; (n.; a device to aid the memory |
| obloquy | public abuse indicating strong disapproval or censure; the disgrace resulting from such treatment |
| parameter | a determining or characteristic element; a factor that shapes the total outcome; a limit |
| pundit | a learned person; one who gives authoritative opinions |
| Risible | pertaining to laughter |
| Symptomatic | typical or characteristics; being or concerned with a symptom of a disease; Syn: indicative |
| Volte-face | an about-face; a complete reversal; Syn: turnabout |
| Aficionado | an enthusiastic and usually expert follower or tan; Syn: devotee |
| Browbeat | to intimidate by a stern or overbearing manner; to bully; Syn: cow |
| Commensurate | equal in size |
| Diaphanous | very sheer and light; almost completely transparent; Syn: translucent |
| Emolument | profit derived from an office or position or from employment; a fee or salary; Syn: pay |
| Foray | a quick raid |
| Genre | a type |
| Homily | sermon stressing moral principles; a tedious moralizing lecture or discourse;Syn: sermon |
| Immure | to enclose or confine within walls; to imprison; to seclude or isolate; Syn: incarcerate |
| Insouciant | blithely indifferent or unconcerned; carefree; happy-go-lucky; Syn: nonchalant |
| Matrix | a mold; the surrounding situation or environment; Syn: pattern |
| Obsequies | funeral rites or ceremonies; Syn: last rites |
| Panache | a confident and stylish manner |
| Persona | a character in a novel or play; the outward character or role that a person assumes; Syn: personality |
| Philippic | a bitter verbal attack; Syn: harangue |
| Prurient | having lustful desires or interests; tending to arouse sexual desires; Syn: lascivious |
| Sacrosanct | very sacred or holy; inviolable' set apart or immune from questioning or attack; Syn: holy |
| Systemic | of or pertaining to the entire body; relating to a system or systems; Syn: extensive |
| Tendentious | intended to promote a particular point of view |
| Vicissitude | . a change |
| Abortive | failing to accomplished an intended aim or purpose; only partially or imperfectly developed; Syn: miscarried |
| Bruit | to spread news |
| Contumelious | . insolent or rude in speech or behavior; insultingly abusive; humiliating; Syn: vituperative |
| Dictum | a short saying; an authoritative statement; Syn: maxim |
| (v. to settle comfortably and firmly in position; to put or hide in a safe place; Syn: nestle | lodge |
| Iconoclastic | attacking or seeking to overthrow popular or traditional beliefs |
| In Medias Res | in or into the middle of a plot; into the middle of things; Syn: in the middle |
| Internecine | mutually destructive; characterized by great slaughter and bloodshed; Syn: murderous |
| Maladroit | lacking skill or dexterity; lacking tact |
| Maudlin | excessively or effusively sentimental; Syn: mushy |
| Modulate | to change or vary the intensity or pitch; to temper or soften; to regulate |
| Portentous | foreshadowing an event to come; causing wonder or awe |
| Ant: auspicious | propitious |
| Prescience | . knowledge of events or actions before they happen; foreshadowing; Syn: foreknowledge |
| Quid Pro Quo | something given in exchange or return for something else; Syn: swap |
| Salubrious | conducive to health or well-being; wholesome; Syn: beneficial |
| Saturnalian | characterized by riotous or unrestrained revelry or licentiousness; Syn: dissipated |
| Touchstone | a means of testing worth or genuineness; Syn: criterion |
| Traumatic | so shocking to the emotions as to cause lasting and substantial psychological damage; Syn: jolting |
| Vitiate | to weaken |
| Waggish | fond of making jokes; characteristic of a joker; playfully humorous or droll; Syn: whimsical |
