| adulteration |
the act or process of making worse or impure by adding unnecessary or inferior ingredients. |
| augury |
the art or practice or an instance of predicting the future or obtaining hidden knowledge by interpreting omens. |
| austerity |
a tightened or stringent economy, as when there are high taxes, frozen wages, and shortages of consumer goods. |
| bathos |
a sudden descent from an exalted style or esteemed state to the commonplace. |
| corollary |
a readily drawn conclusion; deduction or inference. |
| equipoise |
a state of balance or equal weight, importance, or the like; equilibrium. |
| maverick |
a person who thinks and behaves independently, especially one who refuses to adhere to the orthodoxy of the group to which he or she belongs. |
| pedantic |
making or characterized by an excessive display of learnedness, or overly insistent on scholarly details and formalities. |
| penury |
severe poverty; pennilessness. |
| precursory |
coming before and serving to indicate what will follow; premonitory. |
| quondam |
having been in the past; former. |
| remonstrate |
to say in opposition, protest, or objection. |
| reprobate |
an evil or lawless person, often beyond hope of redemption. |
| risible |
provoking laughter; laughable or funny. |
| shyster |
a person, usually a lawyer, who uses underhanded, unethical methods. |