| Byzantine |
characterized by complexity and intrigue. |
| canny |
difficult to fool or take advantage of; shrewd; wary; clever. |
| commodious |
comfortably spacious; roomy. |
| derision |
mockery or ridicule. |
| epicure |
a person who has cultivated tastes, as in food or wine; connoisseur. |
| fixation |
an obsession, especially one that interferes with normal functioning. |
| gnomic |
short and pithy, as an aphorism. |
| jeremiad |
a long complaint about life or one's situation; lamentation. |
| oppugn |
to oppose, contradict, criticize, or call into question. |
| ostentation |
a showy display to impress others. |
| otiose |
having no purpose or use; unnecessary or futile. |
| pungency |
sharpness or bite in taste or smell. |
| recurve |
to bend or curve back or backward, as the ends of certain shooting bows. |
| risible |
provoking laughter; laughable or funny. |
| stridulate |
to produce a shrill grating, creaking, or chirping sound by rubbing certain parts of the body together, as some insects do. |