| ascertain |
to learn without question; determine. |
| augury |
the art or practice or an instance of predicting the future or obtaining hidden knowledge by interpreting omens. |
| cantankerous |
irritable, stubborn, and quarrelsome. |
| curmudgeon |
an irritable or ill-tempered person. |
| cyst |
a small pouch within body tissue that is filled with fluid or air. Some cysts are connected with serious disease, but most are not harmful at all. |
| doyen |
the senior or highest-ranking male member of a group. |
| froward |
unwilling to agree or obey; stubborn; perverse. |
| impute |
to ascribe or attribute to a source or cause. |
| inanition |
a state of exhaustion caused by a lack of nourishment. |
| insularity |
the condition of being closed to new ideas or outside influences; narrow-mindedness. |
| internecine |
of or pertaining to conflict, discord, or struggle within a group. |
| lambent |
glowing softly. |
| nonfeasance |
in law, failure to perform a required duty, as by a public official. |
| peripatetic |
walking or traveling around; going from place to place; itinerant. |
| tort |
in law, any civil rather than criminal harm or injury that violates the implicit duty of each citizen not to harm others, and for which one may bring a civil suit and collect compensation. |