| amortize |
to deduct (expenditures) by fixed amounts over a period of time. |
| contretemps |
an embarrassing or unfortunate happening; mishap; mischance. |
| conversant |
familiar; acquainted; practiced (usually followed by "with" or "in"). |
| credulous |
disposed to believe, especially on scanty evidence; gullible. |
| dawdle |
to waste time; be slow. |
| eulogy |
a spoken or written tribute, especially to honor a dead person; high praise; formal commendation. |
| glut |
a greater supply or amount than is needed. |
| humanism |
a doctrine or mode of thought that gives highest importance to human dignity, values, potentials, and achievements. |
| imprecation |
a curse, uttered or thought of. |
| maverick |
a person who thinks and behaves independently, especially one who refuses to adhere to the orthodoxy of the group to which he or she belongs. |
| mendicant |
living on charity; begging. |
| pastiche |
a work of visual art, music, or literature that consists mostly of materials and techniques borrowed from other works, sometimes done as an exercise to learn the technique of others. |
| proselytize |
to convert or try actively to convert (others) to one's own beliefs or religion. |
| recrudesce |
to become active again or break out anew, as a disease or harmful condition. |
| tort |
in law, any civil rather than criminal harm or injury that violates the implicit duty of each citizen not to harm others, and for which one may bring a civil suit and collect compensation. |