| cession |
the act of formally giving up or signing over, as a territory; ceding. |
| compunction |
uneasiness about the propriety or suitability of an action; qualm. |
| diatribe |
a bitter, abusive attack in speech or writing. |
| discomfit |
to upset or confuse. |
| equipoise |
a state of balance or equal weight, importance, or the like; equilibrium. |
| garble |
to mix up, distort, or confuse (a message, translation, or the like); cause to be disordered or unintelligible. |
| kibbutz |
an Israeli farming settlement whose ownership is shared by those who live and work there. |
| lachrymose |
weeping, tending to weep readily, or being on the point of tears; tearful. |
| lanugo |
fine, soft hair, especially that with which a human fetus or newborn is covered. |
| laureate |
one honored for achievement in a particular field or by a particular award, especially in the arts or sciences. |
| liminal |
of or at the threshold of a physiological or psychological response or change of state. |
| 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. |
| sanguine |
having an optimistic temperament or outlook. |
| schadenfreude |
(often capitalized) pleasure derived from the misfortune of others. |
| stridulate |
to produce a shrill grating, creaking, or chirping sound by rubbing certain parts of the body together, as some insects do. |