| descant |
a secondary, usually higher, melody that is played or sung at the same time as the chief melody. |
| disinter |
to dig up or remove from a place of burial; exhume. |
| divergence |
the act of separating and moving or leading in different directions. |
| doggerel |
trivial, crudely constructed verse. |
| expatiate |
to discuss something at great length; describe in great detail. |
| gullible |
believing almost anything; easily tricked. |
| highbrow |
one who has or pretends to have highly sophisticated intellectual and cultural interests and tastes (often used disparagingly). |
| homily |
any discourse offering moral advice or admonitions. |
| laudatory |
expressing praise. |
| macrocosm |
a large unit or entity that represents on a large scale one of its smaller components. |
| 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. |
| mirabile dictu |
(Latin) wonderful to say or relate. |
| nonfeasance |
in law, failure to perform a required duty, as by a public official. |
| obscurantism |
a deliberate lack of clarity or directness of expression, as in certain styles of art or literature. |
| salacious |
excited by lust; lecherous. |