| aggregate |
a sum, combination, or composite of separable elements. |
| assuage |
to make less severe or more bearable; alleviate. |
| castellated |
constructed with turrets and battlements like a castle. |
| conclave |
a secret, private, or confidential meeting or gathering. |
| conversant |
familiar; acquainted; practiced (usually followed by "with" or "in"). |
| diatribe |
a bitter, abusive attack in speech or writing. |
| engender |
to create or give rise to. |
| equipoise |
a state of balance or equal weight, importance, or the like; equilibrium. |
| figurehead |
a person whose title sounds important but who has no real power. |
| indolence |
the tendency to avoid exertion or effort; laziness. |
| irrefragable |
impossible to refute or dispute; undeniable. |
| pedagogy |
the act, process, or profession of teaching. |
| stipple |
a method of painting, drawing, or engraving by applying small points, dots, or dabs to a surface. |
| stridulate |
to produce a shrill grating, creaking, or chirping sound by rubbing certain parts of the body together, as some insects do. |
| welter |
to roll about or wallow, as in mud or the open sea. |