| canard |
a deliberately false story or rumor, usually defamatory to someone. |
| demarcate |
to set apart or separate, as if with boundaries. |
| despoil |
to forcefully take belongings or goods from; plunder. |
| duress |
intimidation or coercion. |
| figurehead |
a person whose title sounds important but who has no real power. |
| fixation |
an obsession, especially one that interferes with normal functioning. |
| ingenuous |
having or showing simplicity and lack of sophistication; artless. |
| invidious |
tending to arouse feelings of resentment or animosity, especially because of a slight; offensive or discriminatory. |
| lenitive |
mitigating pain, discomfort, or distress; soothing. |
| luminary |
a famous, important, or inspirational person. |
| modular |
designed with standardized units that may be arranged or connected in a variety of ways. |
| obtrusive |
aggressive and self-assertive, or inclined to be so. |
| recidivism |
chronic return to bad habits, especially criminal relapse. |
| solecism |
a gross violation of convention in grammar, etiquette, or the like; impropriety. |
| 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. |