| abstruse |
difficult to comprehend or understand; esoteric; arcane. |
| appellation |
a name, title, or other designation. |
| avow |
to assert or affirm. |
| constrict |
to pull or squeeze in; make smaller or more narrow; tighten. |
| decedent |
in law, one who has died. |
| derision |
mockery or ridicule. |
| deterge |
to cleanse, wash, or wipe off. |
| discountenance |
to embarrass or disconcert. |
| facetious |
not serious; humorous or frivolous. |
| intransigence |
refusal to alter one's ideas or position in response to the wishes of others. |
| neophyte |
a beginner or novice at any activity. |
| peroration |
the concluding part of a speech in which there is a summing up of the principal points. |
| sanguine |
having an optimistic temperament or outlook. |
| saturnine |
gloomy, sullen, or cynical in temperament or appearance. |
| trabeated |
using horizontal beams or lintels as supports instead of arches. |