| arrears |
the state of being delinquent in the payment of financial obligations (usually preceded by "in"). |
| censorious |
highly critical or disapproving. |
| degeneration |
the process of decline or decay. |
| edict |
an order or decree proclaimed by a ruler or other of high authority. |
| enclave |
a small territory or country mostly or completely surrounded by another. |
| fatalism |
a belief or doctrine that the events of life are predetermined and cannot be altered by human free will. |
| firmament |
the entire arch of the sky; heavens. |
| inexorable |
not subject to change by any force or influence; unyielding or unrelenting. |
| irony |
a manner of using language so that it conveys a different or opposite meaning to that which is literally expressed in the words themselves. Irony is used in ordinary conversation and also as a literary technique, especially to express criticism or to produce humor or pathos. |
| necessitate |
to make unavoidable; require. |
| progenitor |
an ancestor or forebear. |
| refraction |
the bending of rays or waves of light, heat, sound, or the like when passed obliquely from one medium to another with a different rate of transmission. |
| relegate |
to send or consign to a condition, place, or position of lesser importance or esteem. |
| risqué |
very close to indecency or indelicacy; sexually suggestive; racy. |
| stoical |
showing little or no emotion in reaction to painful or pleasant experiences. |