| austerity |
a tightened or stringent economy, as when there are high taxes, frozen wages, and shortages of consumer goods. |
| beatify |
to admire or exalt as superior. |
| berate |
to reproach or scold severely. |
| blatant |
completely obvious or undisguised, sometimes offensively so. |
| condone |
to pardon, disregard, or overlook voluntarily or without condemning. |
| dissemble |
to disguise or hide behind a false semblance; conceal the true nature or state of. |
| impediment |
an obstacle or hindrance. |
| insularity |
the condition of being closed to new ideas or outside influences; narrow-mindedness. |
| laudatory |
expressing praise. |
| louche |
of questionable decency, morality, or taste; shady; disreputable. |
| maverick |
a person who thinks and behaves independently, especially one who refuses to adhere to the orthodoxy of the group to which he or she belongs. |
| panegyric |
a formal speech or piece of writing devoted to publicly praising a person or thing. |
| phlegmatic |
not given to shows of emotion or interest; slow to excite. |
| stative |
in grammar, of or designating a category of verbs that express state or condition. |
| tort |
in law, any civil rather than criminal harm or injury that violates the implicit duty of each citizen not to harm others, and for which one may bring a civil suit and collect compensation. |