| adulteration |
the act or process of making worse or impure by adding unnecessary or inferior ingredients. |
| berate |
to reproach or scold severely. |
| comity |
mutual courtesy and respectful treatment among people or nations. |
| condone |
to pardon, disregard, or overlook voluntarily or without condemning. |
| constrict |
to pull or squeeze in; make smaller or more narrow; tighten. |
| expiation |
the act or the means of making amends, as for a sin or crime. |
| fealty |
faithfulness or loyalty. |
| festoon |
a decorative chain or strip of ribbons, flowers, leaves, or the like, suspended at the ends and hung in a curve. |
| inchoate |
partially or imperfectly developed. |
| insouciant |
having no cares or anxieties; light-hearted; carefree. |
| 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. |
| modus operandi |
a method of accomplishing something; way of working. |
| naturalism |
in literature, a method of depicting life that reflects a philosophy of determinism. |
| oppugn |
to oppose, contradict, criticize, or call into question. |
| sententious |
using or marked by pompous, high-flown moralizing. |