| astringent |
a substance or drug that contracts body tissue and slows discharge or secretion. |
| atavism |
the recurrence or reappearance of a particular trait, style, attitude, or behavior that seemed to have disappeared, or that which has recurred or reappeared after such an absence. |
| blatant |
completely obvious or undisguised, sometimes offensively so. |
| contumely |
contemptuous insolence; rudeness. |
| deify |
to raise to the rank of a god; consider to be a god. |
| festoon |
a decorative chain or strip of ribbons, flowers, leaves, or the like, suspended at the ends and hung in a curve. |
| glean |
to gather or discover (facts, information, or the like) a little at a time. |
| incredulous |
not able to believe something. |
| nostrum |
a favorite but unproven scheme or theory, offered as a remedy for social or political problems; panacea. |
| pleonasm |
a redundant word, phrase, or expression. |
| pronate |
to turn or rotate (the hand or forearm) so that the palm of the hand faces down or backwards. |
| sententious |
using or marked by pompous, high-flown moralizing. |
| shunt |
to turn or move aside or out of the way; divert. |
| sotto voce |
in a low voice or undertone, so as not to be overheard; softly (often used as a musical direction). |
| travesty |
something so grotesque or inferior as to seem a parody. |