| arbitration |
the consideration and decision of an issue or dispute by someone who has the official authority to decide such matters. |
| caprice |
a sudden, impulsive change of mind or direction, or an unpredictable action. |
| connive |
to join secretly in a plot; conspire. |
| disparity |
the condition or an instance of being unlike, unequal, or of different kinds; difference. |
| faction |
a group or party within, and often at odds with, a larger organization. |
| namesake |
one who has been named after another. |
| officiate |
to function as a priest or minister in a religious ceremony. |
| pessimistic |
feeling in a negative way about things; expecting the worst to happen. |
| proliferate |
to spread or increase quickly. |
| rectify |
to put right or correct (a bad situation, injustice, or the like); remedy. |
| retrograde |
moving or tending to move in a backward direction; retreating. |
| revelry |
noisy merrymaking. |
| shackle |
a metal band or one of a pair of metal rings used to bind the wrist or ankle of a prisoner or animal. |
| squabble |
to quarrel over trivial matters; bicker. |
| stanza |
a group of related lines in a poem that make up one section within the poem. Stanzas often have a regular meter and rhyme pattern. |