| abstruse |
difficult to comprehend or understand; esoteric; arcane. |
| apprise |
to inform (often followed by "of"). |
| ascertain |
to learn without question; determine. |
| cynosure |
a thing or person that is the center of attention and admiration. |
| disheveled |
not neat; messy. |
| élan |
enthusiasm or vigor. |
| electuary |
a drug mixed with honey, syrup, or the like to form a paste to be smeared on the teeth or gums of a sick animal. |
| eulogy |
a spoken or written tribute, especially to honor a dead person; high praise; formal commendation. |
| exegesis |
a critical explanation or interpretive analysis, especially of religious texts. |
| highbrow |
one who has or pretends to have highly sophisticated intellectual and cultural interests and tastes (often used disparagingly). |
| malfeasance |
an illegal act or wrongdoing, especially by a public official. |
| maverick |
a person who thinks and behaves independently, especially one who refuses to adhere to the orthodoxy of the group to which he or she belongs. |
| parsimonious |
excessively frugal; stingy. |
| peremptory |
not permitting refusal or disobedience. |
| solipsism |
the self-centered habit of interpreting and judging all things exclusively according to one's own concepts of meaning and value. |