| abstruse |
difficult to comprehend or understand; esoteric; arcane. |
| adamant |
unlikely to change in response to any request or argument; firmly decided or fixed; unyielding. |
| apotheosis |
a perfect or ideal example; epitome. |
| appellation |
a name, title, or other designation. |
| atavism |
the recurrence or reappearance of a particular trait, style, attitude, or behavior that seemed to have disappeared, or that which has recurred or reappeared after such an absence. |
| augury |
the art or practice or an instance of predicting the future or obtaining hidden knowledge by interpreting omens. |
| disinter |
to dig up or remove from a place of burial; exhume. |
| extenuate |
to reduce the magnitude or seriousness of (a fault or offense) by offering partial excuses. |
| flummox |
(informal) to confuse or puzzle. |
| impugn |
to call into question; challenge or try to discredit. |
| intelligentsia |
the elite class of highly learned people within a society, or those who consider themselves part of such a class. |
| libertine |
acting without restraint; dissolute; amoral. |
| linguistics |
(used with a singular verb) the scientific and historical study of the form and structure of human language. |
| nonpareil |
a person or thing whose excellence is unequaled; paragon. |
| precursory |
coming before and serving to indicate what will follow; premonitory. |