| abstruse |
difficult to comprehend or understand; esoteric; arcane. |
| acclivity |
a rising slope. |
| boudoir |
a woman's private sitting room or bedroom. |
| castellated |
constructed with turrets and battlements like a castle. |
| cognomen |
a last name; surname. |
| cognoscente |
someone who has exceptional knowledge in a given area, especially of fashion, literature, or the fine arts; connoisseur. |
| indomitable |
too strong to be subdued or discouraged; unconquerable. |
| ligature |
a band or tie. |
| maunder |
to speak in an aimless or foolish way; babble. |
| 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. |
| stridulate |
to produce a shrill grating, creaking, or chirping sound by rubbing certain parts of the body together, as some insects do. |
| transpose |
to exchange the position or order of (two things). |
| uxorious |
excessively or foolishly devoted to one's wife, and often thereby submissive to her. |
| veneration |
a feeling of great respect; awe; reverence. |
| vouchsafe |
to grant or give with condescension or as a special favor. |