| animus |
a feeling or attitude of enmity. |
| ascertain |
to learn without question; determine. |
| austerity |
a tightened or stringent economy, as when there are high taxes, frozen wages, and shortages of consumer goods. |
| cognoscente |
someone who has exceptional knowledge in a given area, especially of fashion, literature, or the fine arts; connoisseur. |
| deterge |
to cleanse, wash, or wipe off. |
| extort |
to extract or obtain (money or the like) by force, threats, or abuse of authority. |
| frangible |
easy to break; breakable; fragile. |
| jeremiad |
a long complaint about life or one's situation; lamentation. |
| mélange |
a mixture, usually of very dissimilar elements. |
| ostentation |
a showy display to impress others. |
| panegyric |
a formal speech or piece of writing devoted to publicly praising a person or thing. |
| parturient |
giving birth or about to give birth; in labor. |
| peroration |
the concluding part of a speech in which there is a summing up of the principal points. |
| raffish |
carelessly unconventional or disreputable, sometimes appealingly so. |
| splenetic |
ill-tempered or spiteful. |