| assuage |
to make less severe or more bearable; alleviate. |
| canard |
a deliberately false story or rumor, usually defamatory to someone. |
| consternation |
surprise and alarm, leading to panic, deep disappointment, or total confusion. |
| effluvium |
an outflow of usually invisible, foul-smelling vapor or gas. |
| encomium |
a formal expression of praise. |
| exceptionable |
likely to be objected to; objectionable. |
| extenuate |
to reduce the magnitude or seriousness of (a fault or offense) by offering partial excuses. |
| hackneyed |
made trite or commonplace by overuse, as an expression or phrase. |
| impermeable |
not permitting passage or penetration. |
| indurate |
to make hard in texture; harden. |
| intelligentsia |
the elite class of highly learned people within a society, or those who consider themselves part of such a class. |
| kismet |
destiny, fortune, or fate. |
| maverick |
a person who thinks and behaves independently, especially one who refuses to adhere to the orthodoxy of the group to which he or she belongs. |
| peripatetic |
walking or traveling around; going from place to place; itinerant. |
| triage |
a system of determining priority of medical treatment, on the basis of need, chances of survival, and the like, to victims on a battlefield or in a hospital emergency ward. |