| asperity |
harshness or roughness, especially of tone or manner. |
| benign |
causing little or no harm. |
| canny |
difficult to fool or take advantage of; shrewd; wary; clever. |
| cynosure |
a thing or person that is the center of attention and admiration. |
| foment |
to encourage the development of; instigate or foster. |
| froward |
unwilling to agree or obey; stubborn; perverse. |
| heterodox |
deviating from an officially approved belief or doctrine, especially in religion. |
| immiscible |
not able to be mixed or blended. |
| indomitable |
too strong to be subdued or discouraged; unconquerable. |
| liminal |
of or at the threshold of a physiological or psychological response or change of state. |
| pinchbeck |
false, sham, or counterfeit. |
| shibboleth |
a slogan, phrase, or belief that characterizes or is held devotedly by a group. |
| solecism |
a gross violation of convention in grammar, etiquette, or the like; impropriety. |
| supine |
lying with the face upward. |
| symbiosis |
a close association, usually a mutually beneficial relationship, between two dissimilar organisms. |