| adulteration |
the act or process of making worse or impure by adding unnecessary or inferior ingredients. |
| asperity |
harshness or roughness, especially of tone or manner. |
| barrage |
a great number of things coming one after another very quickly. |
| canard |
a deliberately false story or rumor, usually defamatory to someone. |
| colloquialism |
a word or phrase typically used in conversational, informal, or regional speech or writing, hence sometimes considered inappropriate in formal writing. |
| dearth |
a shortage or scarcity of something; lack. |
| fungible |
interchangeable. |
| idiosyncrasy |
a characteristic of temperament, habit, or physical structure particular to a given individual or group; peculiarity. |
| imbricate |
overlapping in an even sequence, as roof tiles or fish scales. |
| modular |
designed with standardized units that may be arranged or connected in a variety of ways. |
| parlous |
full of dangers or risks; perilous. |
| recrudesce |
to become active again or break out anew, as a disease or harmful condition. |
| shyster |
a person, usually a lawyer, who uses underhanded, unethical methods. |
| 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. |
| woebegone |
displaying or full of distress. |