| cantankerous |
irritable, stubborn, and quarrelsome. |
| castellated |
constructed with turrets and battlements like a castle. |
| cession |
the act of formally giving up or signing over, as a territory; ceding. |
| conclave |
a secret, private, or confidential meeting or gathering. |
| corollary |
a readily drawn conclusion; deduction or inference. |
| derision |
mockery or ridicule. |
| forbear |
to keep or abstain from (an action or utterance). |
| lachrymose |
weeping, tending to weep readily, or being on the point of tears; tearful. |
| louche |
of questionable decency, morality, or taste; shady; disreputable. |
| macrocosm |
a large unit or entity that represents on a large scale one of its smaller components. |
| magnum opus |
a great work of art, literature, or music, especially a particular person's masterpiece. |
| naturalism |
in literature, a method of depicting life that reflects a philosophy of determinism. |
| stative |
in grammar, of or designating a category of verbs that express state or condition. |
| surcingle |
a girth or belt that wraps around the body of a horse to secure a saddle, pack, or the like to its back. |
| travesty |
something so grotesque or inferior as to seem a parody. |