| abstruse |
difficult to comprehend or understand; esoteric; arcane. |
| adulteration |
the act or process of making worse or impure by adding unnecessary or inferior ingredients. |
| burgeon |
to start to grow; send forth shoots, leaves, buds, or the like (often followed by "out" or "forth"). |
| canard |
a deliberately false story or rumor, usually defamatory to someone. |
| foment |
to encourage the development of; instigate or foster. |
| intransigence |
refusal to alter one's ideas or position in response to the wishes of others. |
| knurled |
having small ridges. |
| linguistics |
(used with a singular verb) the scientific and historical study of the form and structure of human language. |
| nostrum |
a favorite but unproven scheme or theory, offered as a remedy for social or political problems; panacea. |
| parlous |
full of dangers or risks; perilous. |
| pleonasm |
a redundant word, phrase, or expression. |
| prolix |
wordy and boringly long. |
| putrefaction |
the act or process of rotting or decomposing. |
| rebarbative |
tending to irritate or repel; forbidding or unattractive. |
| regicide |
the murderer of a king. |