| astringent |
a substance or drug that contracts body tissue and slows discharge or secretion. |
| cantankerous |
irritable, stubborn, and quarrelsome. |
| conduction |
the transmission or transfer, as of heat, electrical charges, or nervous impulses, through a medium. |
| disheveled |
not neat; messy. |
| epigraph |
a pertinent quotation or motto, especially found at the beginning of a literary work or of a chapter. |
| hagiography |
an admiring and uncritical biography of anyone. |
| hypocrisy |
the practice or an instance of stating or pretending to hold beliefs or principles that one does not actually live by; insincerity. |
| insipid |
having a bland or uninteresting flavor; tasteless. |
| intransigence |
refusal to alter one's ideas or position in response to the wishes of others. |
| lapidary |
an expert on or dealer in gemstones. |
| lugubrious |
sad or mournful, especially in an exaggerated way; gloomy. |
| preferment |
the act of promoting or being promoted to a higher position or office. |
| raffish |
carelessly unconventional or disreputable, sometimes appealingly so. |
| surcingle |
a girth or belt that wraps around the body of a horse to secure a saddle, pack, or the like to its back. |
| unscathed |
not hurt or harmed; completely uninjured. |