| apocryphal |
of dubious authorship or authority. |
| apprise |
to inform (often followed by "of"). |
| bellicose |
easily incited to quarrel or fight; belligerent. |
| dawdle |
to waste time; be slow. |
| disabuse |
to free (a person) from misconception or deception; set straight. |
| élan |
enthusiasm or vigor. |
| gadfly |
a persistent critic, especially of established institutions and policies. |
| impugn |
to call into question; challenge or try to discredit. |
| 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. |
| knurled |
having small ridges. |
| ostentation |
a showy display to impress others. |
| quiescence |
a state of inaction, rest, or stillness; dormancy. |
| recessional |
a piece of music that accompanies the exit of participants in a program or religious ceremony. |
| solecism |
a gross violation of convention in grammar, etiquette, or the like; impropriety. |
| surcingle |
a girth or belt that wraps around the body of a horse to secure a saddle, pack, or the like to its back. |