| cognoscente |
someone who has exceptional knowledge in a given area, especially of fashion, literature, or the fine arts; connoisseur. |
| derision |
mockery or ridicule. |
| descant |
a secondary, usually higher, melody that is played or sung at the same time as the chief melody. |
| desideratum |
something that is needed or wanted. |
| effrontery |
shameless impudence; insolence. |
| equivocal |
having at least two plausible alternative meanings, often intentionally so in order to deceive or avoid commitment; ambiguous. |
| fracas |
a noisy disturbance or quarrel. |
| guttural |
articulated in the back of the mouth; velar. |
| lambent |
glowing softly. |
| laudatory |
expressing praise. |
| parturient |
giving birth or about to give birth; in labor. |
| penury |
severe poverty; pennilessness. |
| pneumatic |
of, using, or concerning air or other gases. |
| pretentious |
assuming or marked by an air of importance or superiority that is unwarranted. |
| raffish |
carelessly unconventional or disreputable, sometimes appealingly so. |