| assail |
to attack with vigor or violence; assault. |
| conclave |
a secret, private, or confidential meeting or gathering. |
| descant |
a secondary, usually higher, melody that is played or sung at the same time as the chief melody. |
| diatribe |
a bitter, abusive attack in speech or writing. |
| epistemology |
the branch of philosophy dealing with the origin, nature, and limits of human knowledge. |
| gossamer |
delicately fine, gauzelike, or filmy. |
| humanism |
a doctrine or mode of thought that gives highest importance to human dignity, values, potentials, and achievements. |
| incessant |
never stopping; constant. |
| intransigence |
refusal to alter one's ideas or position in response to the wishes of others. |
| macerate |
to soften (food or the like) by soaking, as in digestion. |
| oblique |
not direct or straightforward in intent, means, or achievement; indirect or devious. |
| parvenu |
a person who has suddenly acquired wealth or status, without acquiring the tastes, manners, customs, or the like of his or her new station. |
| penumbra |
an indefinite, borderline area. |
| topography |
the shape of the earth's surface across an area or region. The topography of an area includes the size and location of hills and dips in the land. |
| travesty |
something so grotesque or inferior as to seem a parody. |