| apocryphal |
of dubious authorship or authority. |
| Byzantine |
characterized by complexity and intrigue. |
| calumny |
a harmful statement, known by the maker to be false. |
| figurehead |
a person whose title sounds important but who has no real power. |
| fledge |
to grow flight feathers. |
| halcyon |
tranquil; peaceful; calm. |
| lapidary |
an expert on or dealer in gemstones. |
| pandemic |
a widespread outbreak of disease that afflicts many people over different continents. |
| peroration |
the concluding part of a speech in which there is a summing up of the principal points. |
| saturnine |
gloomy, sullen, or cynical in temperament or appearance. |
| solecism |
a gross violation of convention in grammar, etiquette, or the like; impropriety. |
| stridulate |
to produce a shrill grating, creaking, or chirping sound by rubbing certain parts of the body together, as some insects do. |
| tamp |
to compress and pack tightly by repeated light taps. |
| transpose |
to exchange the position or order of (two things). |
| voluble |
characterized by a steady flow of words; fluent; talkative. |