| abash |
to cause to feel embarrassed, uneasy, or ashamed. |
| abut |
to adjoin or press against; be next to; border on. |
| appellation |
a name, title, or other designation. |
| curmudgeon |
an irritable or ill-tempered person. |
| demotic |
of or relating to the common people; popular. |
| desiccate |
to remove the moisture in (food) so as to preserve it. |
| epigraph |
a pertinent quotation or motto, especially found at the beginning of a literary work or of a chapter. |
| forswear |
to give up or renounce, often with an oath or pledge. |
| highbrow |
one who has or pretends to have highly sophisticated intellectual and cultural interests and tastes (often used disparagingly). |
| ineluctable |
impossible to be avoided; inescapable. |
| insularity |
the condition of being closed to new ideas or outside influences; narrow-mindedness. |
| lorgnette |
eyeglasses, such as opera glasses, that have a short handle by which one holds them in position. |
| minatory |
presenting a threat; menacing. |
| oligarchy |
a government or state in which only a relatively few people or members of a family have real power. |
| scabrous |
characterized by a rough or scaly surface, as the leaf of a plant. |