| abstruse |
difficult to comprehend or understand; esoteric; arcane. |
| convoluted |
complex; intricate. |
| deter |
to stop or discourage from some action by creating doubt or fear. |
| disheveled |
not neat; messy. |
| engender |
to create or give rise to. |
| extenuate |
to reduce the magnitude or seriousness of (a fault or offense) by offering partial excuses. |
| glabrous |
having no hair or fuzz; bald; smooth. |
| jubilate |
to feel joyful; rejoice; exult. |
| malapropism |
the humorous or ridiculous misuse of a word, especially by using a word that sounds similar to the correct word, but whose meaning is inappropriate. |
| pastiche |
a work of visual art, music, or literature that consists mostly of materials and techniques borrowed from other works, sometimes done as an exercise to learn the technique of others. |
| preferment |
the act of promoting or being promoted to a higher position or office. |
| prolix |
wordy and boringly long. |
| pusillanimous |
shamefully timid; cowardly. |
| quondam |
having been in the past; former. |
| reprisal |
injury inflicted in retaliation for injury received, as in war; revenge. |