| apprehensive |
feeling fearful about future events. |
| corollary |
a readily drawn conclusion; deduction or inference. |
| determinism |
the belief or teaching that every effect, including human thoughts and actions, is completely and predictably brought about by preceding causes and that, therefore, free will does not exist. |
| divergence |
the act of separating and moving or leading in different directions. |
| extirpate |
to get rid of completely, as if by pulling up the roots; root out. |
| jeremiad |
a long complaint about life or one's situation; lamentation. |
| knurled |
having small ridges. |
| lugubrious |
sad or mournful, especially in an exaggerated way; gloomy. |
| mahatma |
(sometimes capitalized) in Buddhism and theosophy, any of a class of persons revered for their wisdom and love of humanity. |
| naturalism |
in literature, a method of depicting life that reflects a philosophy of determinism. |
| peremptory |
not permitting refusal or disobedience. |
| perilous |
causing or involving great danger; risky; hazardous. |
| reconnoiter |
to go through or over (an area) so as to gain information about it, as for military or engineering purposes. |
| reprisal |
injury inflicted in retaliation for injury received, as in war; revenge. |
| sere1 |
dried up or withered. |