| abeyance |
temporary suspension or cessation. |
| animus |
a feeling or attitude of enmity. |
| appellation |
a name, title, or other designation. |
| burgeon |
to start to grow; send forth shoots, leaves, buds, or the like (often followed by "out" or "forth"). |
| deign |
to consider some act to be appropriate or in keeping with one's dignity; condescend. |
| descant |
a secondary, usually higher, melody that is played or sung at the same time as the chief melody. |
| ersatz |
serving as a substitute, especially when of inferior quality. |
| eulogy |
a spoken or written tribute, especially to honor a dead person; high praise; formal commendation. |
| exegesis |
a critical explanation or interpretive analysis, especially of religious texts. |
| extenuate |
to reduce the magnitude or seriousness of (a fault or offense) by offering partial excuses. |
| feckless |
weak or incompetent; ineffective. |
| fulminate |
to vehemently denounce or criticize something. |
| lorgnette |
eyeglasses, such as opera glasses, that have a short handle by which one holds them in position. |
| 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. |
| nostrum |
a favorite but unproven scheme or theory, offered as a remedy for social or political problems; panacea. |