| amortize |
to deduct (expenditures) by fixed amounts over a period of time. |
| appurtenance |
(plural) equipment or instruments used for a given purpose; gear. |
| asperity |
harshness or roughness, especially of tone or manner. |
| benign |
causing little or no harm. |
| caste |
the status conferred by the class to which one belongs. |
| gadfly |
a persistent critic, especially of established institutions and policies. |
| gambit |
a tactic or maneuver designed to gain an advantage, especially one that involves some sacrifice on one's part. |
| glut |
a greater supply or amount than is needed. |
| ineluctable |
impossible to be avoided; inescapable. |
| intelligentsia |
the elite class of highly learned people within a society, or those who consider themselves part of such a class. |
| liminal |
of or at the threshold of a physiological or psychological response or change of state. |
| noisome |
offensive or disgusting, especially in smell; foul. |
| obscurantism |
a deliberate lack of clarity or directness of expression, as in certain styles of art or literature. |
| recondite |
involving profound concepts and complexities; not easily understood. |
| tamp |
to compress and pack tightly by repeated light taps. |