| academicism |
in the arts, rigid adherence to accepted and traditional forms. |
| alluvium |
sand, soil, gravel, or the like deposited by moving water, as along a river bed. |
| antebellum |
in or of the period prior to a war, especially the American Civil War. |
| austerity |
a tightened or stringent economy, as when there are high taxes, frozen wages, and shortages of consumer goods. |
| baneful |
causing or leading to death, destruction, or ruin; harmful or deadly. |
| condign |
well-deserved or fitting, especially of punishment or reprimand. |
| disheveled |
not neat; messy. |
| Draconian |
(often lower case) harshly cruel or rigorous. |
| effete |
marked by excessive refinement or delicateness of taste. |
| feckless |
weak or incompetent; ineffective. |
| intersperse |
to place or scatter among other things. |
| quondam |
having been in the past; former. |
| rapacious |
capable of capturing and eating live prey; predacious. |
| scabrous |
characterized by a rough or scaly surface, as the leaf of a plant. |
| sepsis |
infection, especially by pus-forming bacteria in the blood or tissues. |