| astute |
keen in understanding and judgment; shrewd. |
| corollary |
a readily drawn conclusion; deduction or inference. |
| decedent |
in law, one who has died. |
| disheveled |
not neat; messy. |
| diurnal |
occurring or active during, or belonging to, the daytime rather than nighttime. |
| equivocal |
having at least two plausible alternative meanings, often intentionally so in order to deceive or avoid commitment; ambiguous. |
| glean |
to gather or discover (facts, information, or the like) a little at a time. |
| lenitive |
mitigating pain, discomfort, or distress; soothing. |
| noisome |
offensive or disgusting, especially in smell; foul. |
| pathos |
a quality in life or art that evokes pity, sadness, or compassion. |
| periphrasis |
an indirect or roundabout way of phrasing something; circumlocution. |
| quondam |
having been in the past; former. |
| reprisal |
injury inflicted in retaliation for injury received, as in war; revenge. |
| revetment |
a facing of stone, masonry, or the like to support or protect a wall, embankment, or mound of earth. |
| splenetic |
ill-tempered or spiteful. |