| adamant |
unlikely to change in response to any request or argument; firmly decided or fixed; unyielding. |
| aleatory |
pertaining to or depending on luck, chance, or contingency. |
| animus |
a feeling or attitude of enmity. |
| boorish |
rude; ill-mannered; crude. |
| caste |
the status conferred by the class to which one belongs. |
| cloture |
in U.S. parliamentary procedure, a method of ending debate and causing an immediate vote on the matter being discussed. |
| cognoscente |
someone who has exceptional knowledge in a given area, especially of fashion, literature, or the fine arts; connoisseur. |
| despoil |
to forcefully take belongings or goods from; plunder. |
| ensconce |
to position (oneself) firmly or comfortably. |
| inadvertent |
not planned or intended; unintentional. |
| intelligentsia |
the elite class of highly learned people within a society, or those who consider themselves part of such a class. |
| lugubrious |
sad or mournful, especially in an exaggerated way; gloomy. |
| mirabile dictu |
(Latin) wonderful to say or relate. |
| obscurantism |
a deliberate lack of clarity or directness of expression, as in certain styles of art or literature. |
| penumbra |
an indefinite, borderline area. |