| appurtenance |
(plural) equipment or instruments used for a given purpose; gear. |
| disquisition |
a formal, often lengthy, oral or written discussion of a subject. |
| élan |
enthusiasm or vigor. |
| epistolary |
established or continued through letters. |
| gird |
to surround, bind, or encircle, as with a belt. |
| guru |
in a cult or religious movement, a spiritual guide or leader, sometimes believed to be divine. |
| humanism |
a doctrine or mode of thought that gives highest importance to human dignity, values, potentials, and achievements. |
| insularity |
the condition of being closed to new ideas or outside influences; narrow-mindedness. |
| kibbutz |
an Israeli farming settlement whose ownership is shared by those who live and work there. |
| 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. |
| quondam |
having been in the past; former. |
| regicide |
the murderer of a king. |
| Sabbatarian |
one who observes the Sabbath on Saturday, as Jews and certain Christians. |
| sententious |
using or marked by pompous, high-flown moralizing. |
| shyster |
a person, usually a lawyer, who uses underhanded, unethical methods. |