| cantankerous |
irritable, stubborn, and quarrelsome. |
| collateral |
property or other security put forward to guarantee repayment of a loan. |
| cynosure |
a thing or person that is the center of attention and admiration. |
| determinism |
the belief or teaching that every effect, including human thoughts and actions, is completely and predictably brought about by preceding causes and that, therefore, free will does not exist. |
| ersatz |
serving as a substitute, especially when of inferior quality. |
| exegesis |
a critical explanation or interpretive analysis, especially of religious texts. |
| expiation |
the act or the means of making amends, as for a sin or crime. |
| facsimile |
an exact copy or duplicate of something printed or of a picture. |
| figurehead |
a person whose title sounds important but who has no real power. |
| occlude |
to close or obstruct (a passage or opening, one's vision, or the like). |
| parsimonious |
excessively frugal; stingy. |
| reprise |
repetition of a musical phrase or theme in an identical or slightly altered way. |
| sanguine |
having an optimistic temperament or outlook. |
| stanch1 |
to cause (a liquid, especially blood) to stop flowing. |
| syntax |
the word order or pattern of word order in a sentence. |