word | definition |
askance | (adv) with suspicion, distrust, or disapproval |
attenuate | (v) to make thin or slender; to weaken or lesen in force, intensity or value |
benign | (adj) gentle, kind; forgiving, understanding; having a favorable or beneficial effect; not malignant |
cavil | (v) to find fault in a petty way, carp; (n) a trivial objection or criticism |
charlatan | (n) one who feigns knowledge or ability; a pretender, impostor, or quack |
decimate | (v) to kill or destroy a large part of |
foible | (n) a weak point, failing, minor flaw |
forgo | (v) to do without, abstain from, give up |
fraught | (adj) full of or loaded with; accompanied by |
inure | (v) to toughen, harden; to render used to something by long subjection or exposure |
luminous | (adj) emitting or reflecting light, glowing; illuminating |
obsequious | (adj) marked by slavish attentiveness; excessively submissive, often for purely self-interested reasons |
obtuse | (adj) blunt, not coming to a point; slow or dull in understanding; measureing between 90 and 180 degrees; not causing a sharp impression |
oscillate | (v) to swing back and forth with a steady rhythm; to flucuate or waver |
penitent | (adj) regretful for one's sins or mistakes; (n) one who is sorry for wrongdoing |
peremptory | (adj) having the nature of a command that leaves no opportunity for debate, denial, or refusal; offensively self-assured, dictatorial; determined, resolute |
rebuff | (v) to snub; to repel, drive away; (n) a curt rejection, a check |
reconnoiter | (v) to engage in reconnaissance; to make a preliminary inspection |
shambles | (n) a slaughterhouse; a place of mass bloodshed; a state of complete disorder and confusion, mess |
sporadic | (adj) occurring at irregular intervals, having no set plan or order |