- Acumen: n: keen insight: shrewdness.
- Adumbrate: v.tr; To give a sketchy or slight representation of; to outline.
- Affected: adj: assuming or pretending to possess that which is not natural.
- Anachronism: n: something or someone that is not in its correct historical or chronological time, esp. a thing or person that belongs to an earlier time.
- Ancillary: adj: Subordinate; subsidiary.
- Animate: v: to give life to; make alive.
- Animus: n: Basic attitude or animating spirit; disposition; intention.
- Anomie: n: a state or condition of individuals or society characters by a breakdown or absense of social norms and values, as in the case of uprooted people.
- Aplomb: n: imperturbable self-possession, poise, or assurance.
- Aqueous: adj: of, like, or containing water; watery.
- Avuncular: adj: of our pertaining to an uncle.
- Bailiwick: n: a person’s area of skill, knowledge, authority, or work.
- Banal: adj: devoid of freshness or originality; hackneyed; trite: a banal and sophomoric treatment of courage on the frontier.
- Braggadocio: n: a braggart or empty boasting.
- Caper: v: To leap or skip about in a sprightly manner; prance; frisk; gambol.
- Carouse: v: to engage in a drunken revel.
- Caustic: adj: severely critical or sarcastic.
- Cavalcade: n: A procession of riders or horse-drawn carriages.
- Chary: adj: wary; cautious.
- Clandestine: adj: characterized by, done in, or executed with secrecy or concealment, esp. for purposes of subversion or deception; private or surreptitious.
- Cognizant: adj: having cognizance; aware (usually fol. by of).
- Connubial: adj: Of or pertaining to marriage, or the marriage state; conjugal; nuptial.
- Copse: n: A thicket or grove of small trees.
- Crabwide: adj: sidewise or in a cautiously indirect manner.
- Curios: n.pl: any unusual article, object of art, etc., valued as a curiosity.
- Derogate: v.tr: To deviate from what is expected.
- Dialectic: adj: of, pertaining to, or of the nature of logical argumentation.
- Dialogue: n: a literary work in the form of a conversation.
- Diaspora: n: any group migration or flight from a country or region; dispersion
- Dorty: adj: sullen; sulky.
- Endeavor: n: to exert oneself to do or effect something; make an effort; strive.
- Equanimity: n: mental or emotional stability or composure, esp. under tension or strain; calmness; equilibrium.
- Eremite: a hermit, especially a religious recluse.
- Errant: adj: moving in an aimless or lightly changing manner.
- Exegesis: n.pl: critical explanation or interpretation of a text or portion of a text, esp. of the Bible.
- Farrago: noun: A confused mixture; an assortment; a medley.
- Fastidious: adj: excessively particular, critical, or demanding; hard to please: a fastidious eater.
- Favonian: adj: pertaining to the west wind; soft, mild, gentle.
- Fillip: n: A snap of the finger forced suddenly from the thumb; a smart blow.
- Gambol: v.it: TO dance and skip about in play: to frolic.
- Germane: adj: Appropriate or fitting; relevant.
- Gravitas: n: High seriousness (as in a person’s bearing or in the treatment of a subject).
- Habitue: n: One who habitually frequents a place.
- Harangue: n: A noisy or pompous speech; a rant.
- Harbinger: n: anything that foreshadows a future event; omen; sign.
- Histrionic: adj: Overly dramatic; deliberately affected.
- Howl: v: to utter a loud, prolonged, mournful cry, as that of a dog or wolf.
- Infiltrate: verb: to move into (an organization, country, territory, or the like) surreptitiously and gradually, esp. with hostile intent.
- Inquest: n: a legal or judicial inquiry, usually before a jury, esp. an investigation made by a coroner into the cause of a death.
- Irenic: adj: tending to promote peace; conciliatory.
- Islet: n: a very small island.
- Ken: n: Perception; understanding; knowledge.
- Malaise: n: A vague feeling of discomfort in the body, as at the onset of illness.
- Maul: n: to injure by a rough beating, shoving, or the like; bruise.
- Matriculated: v.tr & v.it: To admit or be admitted into a group, especially a college or university.
- Mordant: adj: Biting; caustic; sarcastic.
- Motley: n: a heterogeneous assemblage.
- Nescience: n: Lack of knowledge or awareness: ignorance.
- Nom de guerre: n.pl: an assumed name, as one under which a person fights, paints, writes, etc.; pseudonym..
- Nulliparous: adj: having never borne a child.
- Ossify: v: To become hardened or set in a rigidly conventional pattern.
- Palter: v: to talk or act insincerely or deceitfully; lie or use trickery.
- Peripatetic: n: One who walks about; a pedestrian; an itinerant.
- Peccadillo: n: A slight offense; a petty fault.
- Pennant: n: any relatively long, tapering flag.
- Perchance: adv: Literary. perhaps; maybe; possibly.
- Perfunctory: adj: performed merely as a routine; hasty and superficial.
- Philately: n: the collecting of stamps and other postal matter as a hobby or an investment.
- Piebald: adj: Mixed; composed of incongruous parts.
- Posthaste: adv: with the greatest possible speed or promptness.
- Prima Facie: adv: At first view; on first appearance.
- Proclivity: n: A natural inclination; predisposition.
- Prolix: adj: Extending to a great length; unnecessarily long; wordy.
- Provender: n: Food or provisions.
- Purpresture: n: The wrongful enclosure of or intrusion upon lands, waters, or other property rightfully belonging to the public at large.
- Quest: n: a search or pursuit made in order to find or obtain something:
- Quixotic: adj: extravagantly chivalrous or romantic; visionary, impractical, or impracticable.
- Realpolitik: n: political realism or practical politics, esp. policy based on power rather than on ideals.
- Reliquary: n.pl: a repository or receptacle for relics.
- Rendezvous: n: an agreement between two or more persons to meet at a certain time and place.
- Repugnant: adj: distasteful, objectionable, or offensive.
- Ressentiment: n: any cautious, defeatist, or cynical attitude based on the belief that the individual and human institutions exist in a hostile or indifferent universe or society. (I would argue with this definition a bit.)
- Schtick: n: (esp. in comic acting) a routine or piece of business inserted to gain a laugh or draw attention to oneself.
- Sequitur: n: a logical conclusion from the premises; a logical consequence.
- Servant: n: a person employed by another, esp. to perform domestic duties.
- Sordid: n: morally ignoble or base; vile.
- Sprezzatura: n: An Italian term meaning the expression of aristocratic attitude. Sprezzatura is a complicated word that first finds its origins in Castiglione’s The Book of the Courtier. Its basic meaning within the book pertains to the art of concealing artifice. Sprezzatura involves showing disdain for the mundane work needed to create art, poetry, or even the air of appearing graceful and courteous.
- Striate: adj: to make with striae: furrow; stripe; streak.
- Syncopation: n: Music. a shifting of the normal accent, usually by stressing the normally unaccented beats.
- Tawdry: adj: (of finery, trappings, etc.) gaudy; showy and cheap.
- Unctuous: adj: Insincerely or excessively suave or ingratiating in manner or speech; marked by a false or smug earnestness or agreeableness.
- Vagary: n: An extravagant, erratic, or unpredictable notion, action, or occurrence.
- Varicolored: adj: having various colors; variegated; motley.
- Viol: n: a bowed musical instrument, differing from the violin in having deeper ribs, sloping shoulders, a greater number of strings, usually six, and frets: common in the 16th and 17th centuries in various sizes from the treble viol to the bass viol.
- Vulpine: adj: of or resembling a fox. / crafting or cunning.
- Wan: adj: Having a pale or sickly hue; pale; pallid.
- Wangle: verb: to bring about, accomplish, or obtain by scheming or underhand methods: (same meaning as that of a similar word: wrangle)
- Warp: v: to bend or twist out of shape, esp. from a straight or flat form, as timbers or flooring.
- Wassail: n: an occasion on which such good wishes are expressed in drinking, a drinking bout, a carouse.
- Zeitgeist: n: the spirit of the time; general trend of thought or feeling characteristic of a particular period of time.
All definitions taken from dictionary.com. When a word has multiple definitions the primary or intended definition is used.
