| abeyance |
temporary suspension or cessation. |
| assail |
to attack with vigor or violence; assault. |
| augury |
the art or practice or an instance of predicting the future or obtaining hidden knowledge by interpreting omens. |
| disingenuous |
not candid or sincere. |
| facetious |
not serious; humorous or frivolous. |
| homily |
any discourse offering moral advice or admonitions. |
| kibbutz |
an Israeli farming settlement whose ownership is shared by those who live and work there. |
| libertine |
acting without restraint; dissolute; amoral. |
| 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. |
| oligarchy |
a government or state in which only a relatively few people or members of a family have real power. |
| prerogative |
an exclusive right or privilege derived from one's office, position, age, citizenship, birth, or the like. |
| raffish |
carelessly unconventional or disreputable, sometimes appealingly so. |
| recrudesce |
to become active again or break out anew, as a disease or harmful condition. |
| schadenfreude |
(often capitalized) pleasure derived from the misfortune of others. |
| stridulate |
to produce a shrill grating, creaking, or chirping sound by rubbing certain parts of the body together, as some insects do. |