| burgeon |
to start to grow; send forth shoots, leaves, buds, or the like (often followed by "out" or "forth"). |
| cantankerous |
irritable, stubborn, and quarrelsome. |
| cynosure |
a thing or person that is the center of attention and admiration. |
| effluvium |
an outflow of usually invisible, foul-smelling vapor or gas. |
| elide |
to leave out or slur, as a syllable or letter, in pronunciation. |
| epistemology |
the branch of philosophy dealing with the origin, nature, and limits of human knowledge. |
| facetious |
not serious; humorous or frivolous. |
| imprimatur |
any official permission or sanction. |
| incredulous |
not able to believe something. |
| intelligentsia |
the elite class of highly learned people within a society, or those who consider themselves part of such a class. |
| munificent |
having or showing great generosity. |
| ontogeny |
the process of biological growth and development of a particular living organism. |
| salacious |
excited by lust; lecherous. |
| solecism |
a gross violation of convention in grammar, etiquette, or the like; impropriety. |
| solipsism |
the self-centered habit of interpreting and judging all things exclusively according to one's own concepts of meaning and value. |