| acclivity |
a rising slope. |
| apotheosis |
a perfect or ideal example; epitome. |
| assuage |
to make less severe or more bearable; alleviate. |
| calumny |
a harmful statement, known by the maker to be false. |
| coddle |
to simmer in water that is almost at the boiling point. |
| convoluted |
complex; intricate. |
| fledge |
to grow flight feathers. |
| impinge |
to encroach. |
| neophyte |
a beginner or novice at any activity. |
| nonfeasance |
in law, failure to perform a required duty, as by a public official. |
| precursory |
coming before and serving to indicate what will follow; premonitory. |
| quotidian |
happening every day or once a day. |
| raffish |
carelessly unconventional or disreputable, sometimes appealingly so. |
| recidivism |
chronic return to bad habits, especially criminal relapse. |
| revetment |
a facing of stone, masonry, or the like to support or protect a wall, embankment, or mound of earth. |