| antebellum |
in or of the period prior to a war, especially the American Civil War. |
| asperity |
harshness or roughness, especially of tone or manner. |
| curmudgeon |
an irritable or ill-tempered person. |
| equipoise |
a state of balance or equal weight, importance, or the like; equilibrium. |
| exponent |
one that expounds or interprets. |
| harbinger |
someone or something that signals or foreshadows a later arrival or occurrence; herald; forerunner. |
| humanism |
a doctrine or mode of thought that gives highest importance to human dignity, values, potentials, and achievements. |
| insouciant |
having no cares or anxieties; light-hearted; carefree. |
| inveigle |
to entice or ensnare by clever talk or flattery. |
| irrefragable |
impossible to refute or dispute; undeniable. |
| nonpareil |
a person or thing whose excellence is unequaled; paragon. |
| parlous |
full of dangers or risks; perilous. |
| precursory |
coming before and serving to indicate what will follow; premonitory. |
| quiescence |
a state of inaction, rest, or stillness; dormancy. |
| recondite |
involving profound concepts and complexities; not easily understood. |