| backfire |
to have results that are the opposite of what one wanted. |
| bequest |
property handed down by will; legacy. |
| earthy |
realistic, practical, and unpretentious. |
| elegy |
a sorrowful or mournful poem or musical composition, especially a lament for the dead. |
| foray |
a quick raid or sudden advance, usually military and often to take forage or plunder. |
| gesticulation |
the act or an instance of using hand movements, as to add emphasis or expressiveness to speech. |
| infidelity |
unfaithfulness, especially to marital vows; adultery. |
| innuendo |
an indirect and usually derogatory hint, allusion, or insinuation. |
| lobbyist |
one who attempts, on behalf of a special interest group, to influence the way legislators vote. |
| protagonist |
the leading character in a literary work. |
| rabid |
extreme in opinion or action; fanatical. |
| referent |
anything in the real world or in the imagination that is symbolized or referred to by a word or other symbol. |
| satire |
a literary or dramatic work that ridicules or derides human vice or foolishness, usually through the use of parody or irony. |
| turgid |
overwrought in language or style; too solemn or too ornate; inflated; bombastic. |
| unworldly |
lacking sophistication; naive; provincial. |