Words I have had to look up
- raiment
- noun. Clothing; garments
- obdurate
- adjective. Hardened in wrongdoing or wickedness; stubbornly impenitent: "obdurate conscience of the old sinner" ( Sir Walter Scott)
- adjective. Hardened against feeling; hardhearted: an obdurate miser
- adjective. Not giving in to persuasion; intractable
- reify
- verb. To regard or treat (an abstraction) as if it had concrete or material existence
- mendacity
- noun. The condition of being mendacious; untruthfulness
- noun. A lie; a falsehood
- blandishment
- noun. Flattering speech or actions designed to persuade or influence
- enervate
- verb. To weaken or destroy the strength or vitality of: "the luxury which enervates and destroys nations" ( Henry David Thoreau)
- verb. Medicine To remove a nerve or part of a nerve
- adjective. Deprived of strength; debilitated
- attrite
- adjective. regretful of one's wrongdoing merely due to fear of punishment (compare contrite)
- bowdlerize
- verb. To remove material that is considered offensive or objectionable from (a book, for example)
- Antean
- adjective. Exceptionally strong or large. After Antaeus, the mythological Greek giant
- stultify
- verb. To render useless or ineffectual; cripple
- verb. To cause to appear stupid, inconsistent, or ridiculous
- verb. Law To allege or prove insane and so not legally responsible
- exigency
- noun. The state or quality of requiring much effort or immediate action
- noun. A pressing or urgent situation
- noun. Urgent requirements; pressing needs. Often used in the plural
- sequela
- noun. A pathological condition resulting from a disease
- noun. A secondary consequence or result
- supernal
- adjective. Celestial; heavenly
- adjective. Of, coming from, or being in the sky or high above
- genuflect
- verb. lower one's body briefly by bending one knee to the ground, typically in worship or as a sign of respect
- verb. show deference or servility
- alate
- adjective. (chiefly of insects or seeds) having wings or winglike appendages
- abstruse
- adjective. difficult to understand; obscure
- inchoate
- adjective. just begun and so not fully formed or developed; rudimentary
- adjective. (of an offense, such as incitement or conspiracy) anticipating a further criminal act
- imbroglio
- noun. an extremely confused, complicated, or embarrassing situation
- concomitantly
- adverb. at the same time; simultaneously
- vociferously
- adverb. in a loud and forceful manner
- privation
- noun. a state in which things that are essential for human well-being such as food and warmth are scarce or lacking
- didactic
- adjective. intended to teach, particularly in having moral instruction as an ulterior motive
- adjective. in the manner of a teacher, particularly so as to treat someone in a patronizing way
- concupiscence
- noun. strong sexual desire; lust
- codicil
- noun. an addition or supplement that explains, modifies, or revokes a will or part of one
- macadam
- noun. broken stone of even size used in successively compacted layers for surfacing roads and paths, and typically bound with tar or bitumen
- preternaturally
- adjective. beyond what is normal or natural
- cogitation
- noun. the action of thinking deeply about something; contemplation
- punctilious
- adjective. showing great attention to detail or correct behaviour
- mandraulic
- adjective. (informal) labor-intensive
- avoirdupois
- noun. weight, heaviness
- perfidious
- adjective. deceitful and untrustworthy
- sartorial
- adjective. relating to tailoring, clothes, or style of dress
- choleric
- adjective. characterized by anger
- adjective. easily brought to unreasonable anger
- sanctimonious
- adjective. excessively or hypocritically pious or devout
- cogent
- adjective. powerfully persuasive; appealing forcibly to the mind
- brinkmanship
- noun. the art or practice of pursuing a dangerous policy to the limits of safety before stopping, especially in politics
- superannuate
- verb. to set aside as, or remove as, obsolete or out-of-date
- verb. to retire on a pension