| appellative |
a descriptive name or title, as "Terrible" in "Ivan the Terrible". |
| apprise |
to inform (often followed by "of"). |
| assail |
to attack with vigor or violence; assault. |
| assuage |
to make less severe or more bearable; alleviate. |
| dearth |
a shortage or scarcity of something; lack. |
| disabuse |
to free (a person) from misconception or deception; set straight. |
| insularity |
the condition of being closed to new ideas or outside influences; narrow-mindedness. |
| malingerer |
one who pretends to be ill or injured, especially in order to avoid work or duty. |
| mirabile dictu |
(Latin) wonderful to say or relate. |
| obfuscate |
to make (something) seem or be difficult to understand; obscure or darken. |
| pleonasm |
a redundant word, phrase, or expression. |
| stately |
dignified. |
| surcingle |
a girth or belt that wraps around the body of a horse to secure a saddle, pack, or the like to its back. |
| sylph |
a slender, graceful woman or girl. |
| tort |
in law, any civil rather than criminal harm or injury that violates the implicit duty of each citizen not to harm others, and for which one may bring a civil suit and collect compensation. |