| abstruse |
difficult to comprehend or understand; esoteric; arcane. |
| appellation |
a name, title, or other designation. |
| berate |
to reproach or scold severely. |
| chary |
not dispensing freely. |
| demotic |
of or relating to the common people; popular. |
| denigrate |
to deny the worth of; sneer at; belittle. |
| dissemble |
to disguise or hide behind a false semblance; conceal the true nature or state of. |
| elide |
to leave out or slur, as a syllable or letter, in pronunciation. |
| jejune |
lacking interest or liveliness; dull. |
| lenitive |
mitigating pain, discomfort, or distress; soothing. |
| malaise |
a state or condition of feeling generally unwell, mentally depressed, sluggish, or uneasy. |
| neophyte |
a beginner or novice at any activity. |
| periphrasis |
an indirect or roundabout way of phrasing something; circumlocution. |
| sepsis |
infection, especially by pus-forming bacteria in the blood or tissues. |
| travesty |
something so grotesque or inferior as to seem a parody. |