| ambidextrous |
able to use both the left and right hands with equal skill. |
| animus |
a feeling or attitude of enmity. |
| astringent |
a substance or drug that contracts body tissue and slows discharge or secretion. |
| dearth |
a shortage or scarcity of something; lack. |
| disheveled |
not neat; messy. |
| erudite |
having or showing a high level of scholarly knowledge; learned. |
| garble |
to mix up, distort, or confuse (a message, translation, or the like); cause to be disordered or unintelligible. |
| impinge |
to encroach. |
| insipid |
having a bland or uninteresting flavor; tasteless. |
| kismet |
destiny, fortune, or fate. |
| malfeasance |
an illegal act or wrongdoing, especially by a public official. |
| mélange |
a mixture, usually of very dissimilar elements. |
| preferment |
the act of promoting or being promoted to a higher position or office. |
| reprisal |
injury inflicted in retaliation for injury received, as in war; revenge. |
| sequester |
to remove into protection and isolation; seclude. |