| abut |
to adjoin or press against; be next to; border on. |
| baleful |
threatening harm; full of malice; ominous. |
| conclave |
a secret, private, or confidential meeting or gathering. |
| dearth |
a shortage or scarcity of something; lack. |
| denigrate |
to deny the worth of; sneer at; belittle. |
| disheveled |
not neat; messy. |
| hackneyed |
made trite or commonplace by overuse, as an expression or phrase. |
| homily |
any discourse offering moral advice or admonitions. |
| indurate |
to make hard in texture; harden. |
| lacuna |
a gap or omitted part. |
| laudatory |
expressing praise. |
| pedantic |
making or characterized by an excessive display of learnedness, or overly insistent on scholarly details and formalities. |
| proselytize |
to convert or try actively to convert (others) to one's own beliefs or religion. |
| salvo |
the firing of guns or other firearms simultaneously or in succession, especially as a salute. |
| shunt |
to turn or move aside or out of the way; divert. |