| calumny |
a harmful statement, known by the maker to be false. |
| cantankerous |
irritable, stubborn, and quarrelsome. |
| dearth |
a shortage or scarcity of something; lack. |
| debauch |
to lead or seduce into immorality or intemperance; corrupt. |
| effrontery |
shameless impudence; insolence. |
| exegesis |
a critical explanation or interpretive analysis, especially of religious texts. |
| garble |
to mix up, distort, or confuse (a message, translation, or the like); cause to be disordered or unintelligible. |
| guru |
in a cult or religious movement, a spiritual guide or leader, sometimes believed to be divine. |
| hackneyed |
made trite or commonplace by overuse, as an expression or phrase. |
| hagiography |
an admiring and uncritical biography of anyone. |
| impermeable |
not permitting passage or penetration. |
| malapropism |
the humorous or ridiculous misuse of a word, especially by using a word that sounds similar to the correct word, but whose meaning is inappropriate. |
| 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. |
| sequester |
to remove into protection and isolation; seclude. |