| asceticism |
self-discipline and self-denial as a means of spiritual improvement. |
| caste |
the status conferred by the class to which one belongs. |
| disheveled |
not neat; messy. |
| espouse |
to take up, hold, or commit oneself to (a cause, idea, or belief); embrace. |
| festoon |
a decorative chain or strip of ribbons, flowers, leaves, or the like, suspended at the ends and hung in a curve. |
| gloaming |
late evening; dusk; twilight. |
| gullible |
believing almost anything; easily tricked. |
| guru |
in a cult or religious movement, a spiritual guide or leader, sometimes believed to be divine. |
| panegyric |
a formal speech or piece of writing devoted to publicly praising a person or thing. |
| parsimonious |
excessively frugal; stingy. |
| peroration |
the concluding part of a speech in which there is a summing up of the principal points. |
| schadenfreude |
(often capitalized) pleasure derived from the misfortune of others. |
| sepsis |
infection, especially by pus-forming bacteria in the blood or tissues. |
| somatic |
of or pertaining to the body itself; corporeal. |
| stentorian |
extremely loud and powerful. |