| adulteration |
the act or process of making worse or impure by adding unnecessary or inferior ingredients. |
| attenuate |
to cause to be thin, rarefied, or fine. |
| bathos |
a sudden descent from an exalted style or esteemed state to the commonplace. |
| colloquialism |
a word or phrase typically used in conversational, informal, or regional speech or writing, hence sometimes considered inappropriate in formal writing. |
| corporeal |
having to do with a physical body; bodily. |
| effluvium |
an outflow of usually invisible, foul-smelling vapor or gas. |
| magnum opus |
a great work of art, literature, or music, especially a particular person's masterpiece. |
| maunder |
to speak in an aimless or foolish way; babble. |
| munificent |
having or showing great generosity. |
| obviate |
to prevent or eliminate in advance; render unnecessary or irrelevant. |
| periphrasis |
an indirect or roundabout way of phrasing something; circumlocution. |
| quondam |
having been in the past; former. |
| reprisal |
injury inflicted in retaliation for injury received, as in war; revenge. |
| rodomontade |
puffed-up boasting or bravado. |
| sequester |
to remove into protection and isolation; seclude. |