| banal |
lacking originality or liveliness; disappointingly ordinary; commonplace; trite. |
| canny |
difficult to fool or take advantage of; shrewd; wary; clever. |
| cognoscente |
someone who has exceptional knowledge in a given area, especially of fashion, literature, or the fine arts; connoisseur. |
| dawdle |
to waste time; be slow. |
| desiccate |
to remove the moisture in (food) so as to preserve it. |
| epigraph |
a pertinent quotation or motto, especially found at the beginning of a literary work or of a chapter. |
| facetious |
not serious; humorous or frivolous. |
| hirsute |
covered with hair or stiff hairs; hairy or shaggy. |
| immiscible |
not able to be mixed or blended. |
| maunder |
to speak in an aimless or foolish way; babble. |
| nostrum |
a favorite but unproven scheme or theory, offered as a remedy for social or political problems; panacea. |
| ontogeny |
the process of biological growth and development of a particular living organism. |
| parsimonious |
excessively frugal; stingy. |
| shibboleth |
a slogan, phrase, or belief that characterizes or is held devotedly by a group. |
| tort |
in law, any civil rather than criminal harm or injury that violates the implicit duty of each citizen not to harm others, and for which one may bring a civil suit and collect compensation. |