| agog |
highly excited and full of anticipation. |
| boudoir |
a woman's private sitting room or bedroom. |
| collateral |
property or other security put forward to guarantee repayment of a loan. |
| compunction |
uneasiness about the propriety or suitability of an action; qualm. |
| dearth |
a shortage or scarcity of something; lack. |
| dissemble |
to disguise or hide behind a false semblance; conceal the true nature or state of. |
| figurehead |
a person whose title sounds important but who has no real power. |
| inflection |
change that occurs in the form of words to show a grammatical characteristic such as the tense of a verb, the number of a noun, or the degree of an adjective or adverb. |
| kibbutz |
an Israeli farming settlement whose ownership is shared by those who live and work there. |
| loll |
to hang down loosely; dangle. |
| obtrusive |
aggressive and self-assertive, or inclined to be so. |
| parturient |
giving birth or about to give birth; in labor. |
| pelf |
money or wealth, usually regarded with disapproval or contempt. |
| preferment |
the act of promoting or being promoted to a higher position or office. |
| seminal |
of critical importance; essential. |