| abash |
to cause to feel embarrassed, uneasy, or ashamed. |
| agog |
highly excited and full of anticipation. |
| apprise |
to inform (often followed by "of"). |
| cachet |
prestige. |
| colloquialism |
a word or phrase typically used in conversational, informal, or regional speech or writing, hence sometimes considered inappropriate in formal writing. |
| disheveled |
not neat; messy. |
| facsimile |
an exact copy or duplicate of something printed or of a picture. |
| forswear |
to give up or renounce, often with an oath or pledge. |
| gullible |
believing almost anything; easily tricked. |
| guru |
in a cult or religious movement, a spiritual guide or leader, sometimes believed to be divine. |
| impugn |
to call into question; challenge or try to discredit. |
| inflection |
change that occurs in the form of words to show a grammatical characteristic such as the tense of a verb, the number of a noun, or the degree of an adjective or adverb. |
| invidious |
tending to arouse feelings of resentment or animosity, especially because of a slight; offensive or discriminatory. |
| linguistics |
(used with a singular verb) the scientific and historical study of the form and structure of human language. |
| reprobate |
an evil or lawless person, often beyond hope of redemption. |