| abeyance |
temporary suspension or cessation. |
| abstruse |
difficult to comprehend or understand; esoteric; arcane. |
| canny |
difficult to fool or take advantage of; shrewd; wary; clever. |
| disaffection |
an absence or loss of good will, faith, or loyalty, especially toward a government, principle, or the like. |
| figurehead |
a person whose title sounds important but who has no real power. |
| hackneyed |
made trite or commonplace by overuse, as an expression or phrase. |
| impediment |
an obstacle or hindrance. |
| indolence |
the tendency to avoid exertion or effort; laziness. |
| kismet |
destiny, fortune, or fate. |
| malfeasance |
an illegal act or wrongdoing, especially by a public official. |
| mésalliance |
marriage with someone of lower social standing than oneself. |
| ontogeny |
the process of biological growth and development of a particular living organism. |
| parsimonious |
excessively frugal; stingy. |
| pedagogy |
the act, process, or profession of teaching. |
| stridulate |
to produce a shrill grating, creaking, or chirping sound by rubbing certain parts of the body together, as some insects do. |