| aberration |
a deviation from what is considered normal or right; irregularity. |
| cantankerous |
irritable, stubborn, and quarrelsome. |
| effete |
marked by excessive refinement or delicateness of taste. |
| highbrow |
one who has or pretends to have highly sophisticated intellectual and cultural interests and tastes (often used disparagingly). |
| incessant |
never stopping; constant. |
| inculcate |
to cause to accept an idea or value; imbue. |
| inquest |
a legal investigation, usually involving a jury, especially a coroner's investigation of a suspicious death. |
| intelligentsia |
the elite class of highly learned people within a society, or those who consider themselves part of such a class. |
| ligature |
a band or tie. |
| opprobrious |
expressing condemnation or scorn; accusing of shameful behavior. |
| ostentation |
a showy display to impress others. |
| pedantic |
making or characterized by an excessive display of learnedness, or overly insistent on scholarly details and formalities. |
| recant |
to withdraw from commitment to (a former position or statement), especially publicly; retract. |
| 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). |