| boudoir |
a woman's private sitting room or bedroom. |
| deter |
to stop or discourage from some action by creating doubt or fear. |
| epigraph |
a pertinent quotation or motto, especially found at the beginning of a literary work or of a chapter. |
| equipoise |
a state of balance or equal weight, importance, or the like; equilibrium. |
| extralegal |
not regulated or permitted by law; outside of legal authority. |
| fealty |
faithfulness or loyalty. |
| hackneyed |
made trite or commonplace by overuse, as an expression or phrase. |
| impermeable |
not permitting passage or penetration. |
| inquest |
a legal investigation, usually involving a jury, especially a coroner's investigation of a suspicious death. |
| intransigence |
refusal to alter one's ideas or position in response to the wishes of others. |
| maladroit |
not skillful; clumsy; tactless. |
| pliant |
easily flexed; supple. |
| revetment |
a facing of stone, masonry, or the like to support or protect a wall, embankment, or mound of earth. |
| schadenfreude |
(often capitalized) pleasure derived from the misfortune of others. |
| tyro |
one who is beginning to learn a business, trade, sport, or the like; novice; neophyte. |