| amortize |
to deduct (expenditures) by fixed amounts over a period of time. |
| baleful |
threatening harm; full of malice; ominous. |
| baneful |
causing or leading to death, destruction, or ruin; harmful or deadly. |
| beatify |
to admire or exalt as superior. |
| burgeon |
to start to grow; send forth shoots, leaves, buds, or the like (often followed by "out" or "forth"). |
| caste |
the status conferred by the class to which one belongs. |
| conclave |
a secret, private, or confidential meeting or gathering. |
| distraught |
mentally or emotionally unbalanced; crazed. |
| duress |
intimidation or coercion. |
| inflection |
change that occurs in the form of words to show a grammatical characteristic such as the tense of a verb, the number of a noun, or the degree of an adjective or adverb. |
| mendicant |
living on charity; begging. |
| parturient |
giving birth or about to give birth; in labor. |
| preferment |
the act of promoting or being promoted to a higher position or office. |
| seminal |
of critical importance; essential. |
| solecism |
a gross violation of convention in grammar, etiquette, or the like; impropriety. |