| apprehensive |
feeling fearful about future events. |
| baleful |
threatening harm; full of malice; ominous. |
| bilge |
the rounded part of a ship's hull between the bottom and the sides. |
| colloquialism |
a word or phrase typically used in conversational, informal, or regional speech or writing, hence sometimes considered inappropriate in formal writing. |
| engender |
to create or give rise to. |
| extenuate |
to reduce the magnitude or seriousness of (a fault or offense) by offering partial excuses. |
| halcyon |
tranquil; peaceful; calm. |
| hirsute |
covered with hair or stiff hairs; hairy or shaggy. |
| impermeable |
not permitting passage or penetration. |
| jeremiad |
a long complaint about life or one's situation; lamentation. |
| pedantic |
making or characterized by an excessive display of learnedness, or overly insistent on scholarly details and formalities. |
| pretentious |
assuming or marked by an air of importance or superiority that is unwarranted. |
| shunt |
to turn or move aside or out of the way; divert. |
| sotto voce |
in a low voice or undertone, so as not to be overheard; softly (often used as a musical direction). |
| travesty |
something so grotesque or inferior as to seem a parody. |