| A | B |
|---|
| cognizant | aware, knowledgeable, informed |
| deign | to think it appropriate or suitable to one's dignity to do something; to condescend |
| contrite | regretful for some misdeed or sin; plagued by a sense of guilt; thoroughly penitent |
| abstruse | extremely difficult to understand |
| canard | a false rumor, fabricated story |
| decorous | well behaved, dignified, socially proper |
| efficacy | the power to produce a desired result |
| cynosure | the center of attraction, attention, or interest |
| affront | an open or intentional insult; a slight |
| desiccated | thoroughly dried out; divested of spirit or vitality |
| captious | excessively ready to find fault; given to petty criticism |
| machination | a crafty, scheming, or underhanded action designed to accomplish some end |
| preempt | to seize upon to the exclusion of others, take over or appropriate |
| facade | the front or face of a building; surface appearance |
| putative | generally regarded as such; reputed; hypothesized, inferred |
| opprobrium | disgrace arising from shameful conduct, infamy; contempt, reproach |
| simplistic | highly oversimplified, simpleminded |
| mesmerize | to hypnotize; to fascinate, enthrall |
| engender | to bring into existence, give rise to, produce |
| ethereal | light, airy, delicate; highly refined, suggesting what is heavenly |
| ghoulish | revolting in an unnatural or morbid way; suggestive of someone who robs graves or otherwise preys on the dead |
| incongrous | not in keeping, unsuitable, incompatible |
