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burgeon |
grow forth, send out buds |
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boorish |
crude, offensive, rude |
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pungency |
sharpness; stinging quality |
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castigate |
to chastise, correct by punishing |
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recreancy |
cowardice, a cowardly giving up |
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torpor |
lethargy, sluggishness, dormancy |
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multifarious |
varied, motley, greatly diversified |
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quiescent |
at rest, dormant, torpid |
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laconic |
brief, to the point, terse |
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discomfit |
to defeat, put down |
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tenacity |
firmness, persistency, adhesiveness, tending to hang on |
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hirsute |
hairy, shaggy |
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imprecation |
an invocation of evil; a curse |
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welter |
turmoil; a bewildering jumble |
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audacious |
daring; bold |
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lachrymose |
causing tears, tearful |
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apostate |
one who abandons long-held religious or political convictions |
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turbid |
muddy, having the sediment stirred up |
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venal |
corruptible, bribable, unprincipled |
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squalid |
foul, filthy |
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ossify |
to turn to bone; to settle rigidly into an idea or practice, become closed-minded |
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insensible |
unconscious, unresponsive, unaffected |
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disingenuous |
sophisticated, artful, trying to deceive, cunning |
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epitome |
representative, a summary or abstract, a typical example |
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saturnine |
gloomy, dark, sullen, morose |
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erudite |
learned, scholarly |
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diaphanous |
transparent, gauzy |
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abeyance |
suspended action |
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misogynist |
one who hates women/females |
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misanthrope |
one who hates mankind |
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auspicious |
favorable, successful, prosperous |
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auspice |
protection or support, patronage |
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refractory |
stubborn, unmanageable, intractable |
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apprehension |
misgiving, dread. Also a stopping or arrest. Also an understandingprosaic |
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credulous |
gullible, too willing to believe |
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verisimilitude |
appearing true or real |
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edacious |
voracious, devouring |
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punctilious |
precise, paying attention to trivialities, especially in regard to etiquette |
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urbane |
elegant, refined in manners |
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contentious |
quarrelsome, competitive, quick to fight, pugnacious |
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boisterous |
loud, noisy, rough, lacking restraint |
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guileless |
without deceit, honest |
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implacable |
incapable of being placated, unpleasable |
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render |
deliver, provide, represent |
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hallow |
to make holy; consecrate |
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baleful |
harmful, ominous, causing evil |
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garner |
to gather and save; to store up |
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dissemble |
present false appearance; deceive |
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dilatory |
causing delay, procrastinating |
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lugubrious |
mournful, excessively sad |
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intractable |
unruly, refractory, stubborn |
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fervid |
intense, zealous |
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exscind |
to cut out, cut away |
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nostrum |
a quack remedy, an untested cure |
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quail |
lose courage, turn frightened |
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wend |
to go, proceed |
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imbroglio |
difficult or embarrassing situation |
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salutary |
remedial, wholesome, causing improvement |
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salacious |
obscene |
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personable |
pleasing in appearance, attractive |
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expostulate |
argue earnestly to dissuade, correct, or protest |
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sublime |
lofty, noble |
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aver |
affirm, assert, prove, justify |
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upbraid |
reprove, reproach |
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pellucid |
transparent, easy to understand |
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craven |
cowardly |
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lassitude |
weariness, tiredness |
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effete |
infertile, worn out, weak |
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supine |
lying on the back. Also slow to act, passive. |
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pith |
heart of the matter, basic trait. Also force, strength, or vigor |
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contumacious |
insubordinate, rebellious |
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obstreperous |
noisy, loud |
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arrant |
in every way, being completely such. |
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feckless |
lacking purpose or vitality; ineffective; careless |
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remonstrate |
to protest, object |
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impute |
to attribute to a cause or source, ascribe |
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inveigh |
to attack verbally, denounce, deprecate |
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anachronism |
something out of place for its time |
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pragmatic |
practical, favoring utility. |
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precepts |
rules establishing standards of conduct |
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veritable |
unquestionable, true. |
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decorum |
propriety, properness. |
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arabesque |
a complex, ornate design. Also a dance position. |
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penchant |
strong inclination, a liking. |
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garrulity |
talkativeness. Adjective is garrulous |
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equivocate |
lie, mislead, conceal the truth. |
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seminal |
like a seed; constituting a source, originative. |
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striated |
striped, grooved, or banded. Having stripes. |
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assay |
an analysis, examination, test. To put to a test |
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consequential |
pompous, self important. Also having consequence, important. Also following as a result, or being an effect of some cause. |
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paucity |
scarcity, a lacking of |
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malinger |
to fake illness or injury, in order to shirk a duty. |
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assiduous |
diligent, hard-working, sedulous. |
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enervate |
weaken, deprive of strength, attenuate. |
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precarious |
uncertain, risky, dangerous. |
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attenuate |
make thin. weaken, enervate. |
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partisan |
one-sided, committed to a party, biased or prejudiced. |
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complaisance |
tending to comply, obliging, willingness to please |
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ostensible |
seeming, appearing as such, professed |
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tractable |
easily influenced, obedient, docile |
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qualify |
to limit |
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phlegmatic |
calm, sluggish temperament; unemotional |
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ignoble |
dishonorable, common, undignified |
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inimitable |
defying imitation, unmatchable |
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mince |
pronounce or speak affectedly, euphemize, speak too carefully. Also to take tiny steps, tiptoe |
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obdurate |
stubborn, inflexible, adamant |
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inveterate |
deep rooted, ingrained, habitual |
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tyro |
novice, amateur |
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forswear |
renounce, disallow, repudiate |
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umbrage |
offense, resentment |
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extirpate |
to destroy, exterminate, cut out, exscind |
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lucubrate |
write in scholarly fashion |
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irresolute |
unresolved, indecisive |
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wag |
to be incessantly active, to waddle; also a mischievous person |
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overweening |
presumptuously arrogant, overbearing, immoderate, being a jerk |
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transient |
temporary, fleeting |
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illusory |
deceptive; an illusion |
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impair |
worsen, diminish in value |
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cabal |
a scheme or plot, a group of plotters |
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sycophant |
flatterer, parasite; a suck-up |
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bellicose |
belligerent, pugnacious, warlike |
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perfunctory |
superficial, listless, not thorough |
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impetuous |
impulsive, forceful, with energy |
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libertine |
immoral person |
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luculent |
easily understood, lucid, clear |
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nascent |
coming into existence, emerging |
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polemical |
controversial, argued |
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apprise |
give notice to, inform |
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pusillanimous |
cowardly, craven |
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reprobate |
person hardened in sin; one devoid of decency |
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Quixotic |
extravagantly chivalrous, romantically idealistic, impractical |
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equipoise |
equal distribution of weight; equilibrium |
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impassive |
without feeling, not affected by pain |
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harrow |
to distress, create stress or torment |
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dross |
waste product, sludge; something worthless, common, or trivial |
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prodigal |
wasteful, reckless with money |
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intrepid |
fearless, brave, undaunted |
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salient |
conspicuous, highly relevant, prominent |
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demur |
to hesitate, raise objections |
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morose |
gloomy, sullen |
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piquant |
agreeably pungent, stimulating |
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raffish |
low, vulgar, base, tawdry |
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tawdry |
cheap, gaudy, showy, tacky |
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loquacious |
talkative, garrulous |
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desiccate |
to dry up, dehydrate |
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nice |
precise, sensitive to subtleness |
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volubility |
fluency, verbosity, easy use of spoken language |
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abysmal |
extreme; low, like an abyss |
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ardor |
warm interest, passion, enthusiasm, zeal |
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insouciant |
unconcerned, carefree |
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anomalous |
unexpected, not normal, odd |
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mellifluous |
sweetly flowing; usually used to describe use of words (sweetly flowing words, as when the speech is characterized by high volubility. |
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dulcet |
melodious, harmonious |
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approbation |
approval |
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taciturn |
untalkative, silent |
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stolid |
showing no emotion; impassive |
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raffish |
disreputable; tawdry |
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pariah |
an outcast, a rejected and despised person |
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pique |
resentment at being slighted |
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provident |
frugal; looking to the future |
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ascetic |
practicing self-denial, austere, stark |
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daunt |
intimidate, make fearful |
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delineate |
to portray, depict, sketch out |
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indefatigability |
not easily exhaustible; tirelessness |
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desuetude |
cessation of use; disuse |
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denouement |
an outcome or solution; the unraveling of a plot |
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conundrum |
a riddle, dilemma, enigma |
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perfidious |
violating good faith, treacherous, dishonest |
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sodden |
soaked, saturated |
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|
quaff-drink large quantities |
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fulminate |
berate, vituperate, to thunder out, to explode, |
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dynamo |
a generator, something that produces electric current; an energetic person |
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sophistry |
fallacious reasoning, faulty logic |
|
|
felicitous |
apt; suitably expressed, well chosen, apropos |
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disabuse |
to undeceive, correct a false impression |
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vituperate |
berate, rail against, attack verbally |
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diffidence |
shyness |
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apropos |
appropriate to the situation; apt |
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strut |
a supporting bar |
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gainsay |
deny |
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resigned |
unresisting, submissive |
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countenance |
(n) mien, face (v) approve of |
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prevaricate |
stray from or avoid the truth; equivocate |
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dogmatic |
positive, certain, arbitrary, without room for discussion |
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antipathy |
aversion, dislike |
|
|
inveigle |
wheedle, led astray |
|
|
hapless |
unlucky, unfortunate |
|
|
adamant |
hard and inflexible; unyielding |
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]pillory |
to punish, hold up to public scorn |
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turgid |
excessively ornate; swollen or bloated |
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