| A | B |
|---|
| MALADROIT | adjective: lacking in adroitness; unskillful; awkward; bungling; tactless: to handle a diplomatic crisis in a very maladroit way. |
| BILIOUS | adjective: peevish; irritable; cranky. |
| LABILE | adjective: apt or likely to change. |
| COALESCE | intransitive verb: 1. to grow together or into one body: The two lakes coalesced into one. 2. to unite so as to form one mass, community, etc.: The various groups coalesced into a crowd. 3. to blend or come together: Their ideas coalesced into one theory. |
| RECALCITRANT | adjective: 1. resisting authority or control; not obedient or compliant; refractory. 2. hard to deal with, manage, or operate. |
| QUOTIDIAN | adjective: 1. daily: a quotidian report. 2. usual or customary; everyday: quotidian needs. 3. ordinary; commonplace: paintings of no more than quotidian artistry. |
| ACERBIC | adjective 1. sour or astringent in taste: Lemon juice is acerbic. 2. harsh or severe, as of temper or expression: acerbic criticism. |
| RIBALD | adjective 1. vulgar or indecent in speech, language, etc.; coarsely mocking, abusive, or irreverent; scurrilous. |
| BRUSQUE | adjective abrupt in manner; blunt; rough: A brusque welcome greeted his unexpected return. |
| ABSTEMIOUS | adjective: 1. sparing or moderate in eating and drinking; temperate in diet. 2. characterized by abstinence: an abstemious life. 3. sparing: an abstemious diet. |
| DOGMA | noun: 1. an official system of principles or tenets concerning faith, morals, behavior, etc., as of a church. Synonyms: doctrine, teachings, set of beliefs, philosophy. 2. a specific tenet or doctrine authoritatively laid down, as by a church: the dogma of the Assumption; the recently defined dogma of papal infallibility. Synonyms: tenet, canon, law. 3. prescribed doctrine proclaimed as unquestionably true by a particular group: the difficulty of resisting political dogma. 4. a settled or established opinion, belief, or principle: the classic dogma of objectivity in scientific observation. Synonyms: conviction, certainty. |
| DISSIPATE | transitive verb: 1. to scatter in various directions; disperse; dispel. 2. to spend or use wastefully or extravagantly; squander; deplete: to dissipate one's talents; to dissipate a fortune on high living. |
| ASININE | adjective 1. foolish, unintelligent, or silly; stupid: It is surprising that supposedly intelligent people can make such asinine statements. 2. of or like an ass: asinine obstinacy; asinine features. |
| ROSTRUM | noun: 1. any platform, stage, or the like, for public speaking. 2. a pulpit. |
| EXCORIATE | transitive verb: 1. to denounce or berate severely; flay verbally: He was excoriated for his mistakes. 2. to strip off or remove the skin from: Her palms were excoriated by the hard labor of shoveling. |
